London restaurant sparks outrage over 'scam' fee they added to bill
A London restaurant has been the subject of anger online after its additional bill charge was revealed.
When you dine out, scouring the menu and calculating the cost is pretty normal.
If I want to spend £50 on a meal for two, you’d better believe I’m making sure that £50 is my limit.
However, if the bill came for my £50 meals and it instead showed an extra few quid, anyone would be questioning exactly why that is.
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For one Reddit user, they also found their bill was pricier than anticipated, and when they asked what the extra charge was, they were p*ssed off.
The eatery in question is The Pig And Butcher in Islington, and when the user shared a picture of the bill, it started a debate in the comments.
The image of the receipt has so far been called ‘sneaky’, a ‘scam’, ‘stupid’ and more.
It shows the customer paid £54 for two beef dinners, £4 for bread to share, £9.50 for a glass of red wine, £11.50 for another glass of red wine and £10 for a strawberry pavlova (yum).
But it was the 'optional carbon free dining' charge that became the focus of the debate.
The £1.23 'Carbon Free' fee that had been added to the total price of their meal was not going down well with anyone.
The Redditor wrote on the r/London thread: “I kind of got desensitised to the service charge already, but carbon free dining? That's something new.”
People were quick to call it out online, although the restaurant has clarified the money is being donated to a good cause.
One person said: “Yeah, this is a very stupid and sneaky thing that's coming over from the US. Service charge percent on top of the additional 'optional' fee that they've added (probably hidden away on the menu, if mentioned at all).
“When you ask for the £1.23 to be taken off, do you reckon they remove the 12.5 percent of £1.23 that they've also added for no reason?”
Another said: “As an American, I've never seen anything like this. Carbon free dining? Come on. The only thing I've seen is a service charge only when it's a large party. This is ridiculous.”
Someone else wrote: “I… do NOT feel good paying this. Total scam.”
Finally, another questioned: “Did they ask you before adding it to the bill, since it's optional? If not, I would ask them to remove it and will also reduce the service charge (also optional!) for all the time and bother they've caused me.”
What is a carbon-free dining charge for?
Carbon-free dining has been a thing since 2023, which was created as a way to lessen the environmental impact of meals.
As for the restaurant and what it thinks of adding the fee to bills, Nobel Inns, the parent company of The Pig and Butcher’s parent company, told Metro that all tables are asked to give a flat £1.23 to either GiftTrees or Street Smart schemes.
A representative said to the publication: “This is optional and we explain this to customers. They can just ask to remove it. So far this calendar year our customers have donated £31,000 to GiftTrees and £9,211.75 to Street Smart.”
Street Smart supports homeless charities. GiftTrees plants high-yielding fruit trees to help the poorest communities in the developing world, while simultaneously capturing CO2 from the atmosphere.
LADbible reached out to Nobel Inns for comment.
Topics: Food And Drink, UK News, London, Reddit, Environment
Britt Jones