Bring peer pressure to bear on tip-grabbing restaurants

Outlook

Did you choke on The Independent’s report on restaurant groups helping themselves to a substantial chunk of their poorly paid waiting staff’s tips? You aren’t alone.

Cynical doesn’t even begin to describe what the likes of Pizza Express, Ask Italian, Belgo, Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Giraffe (owned by Tesco), Las Iguanas, Prezzo, Spaghetti House, Strada and Zizzi have been doing with “administration” fees when service payments are made electronically.

It is one of the more notable downsides of the rapid growth in electronic payments and the related decline in the use of cash.

However, could the application of peer-to-peer through the use of payment services provide a solution? Operators might like to consider how they could help; it might engender a lot of goodwill. That’s always assuming that unlovely lot of restaurant operators can’t be shamed into doing the right thing.