Pub Tipping Argument

Was your perhaps friend also from the USA?
Never tip in pubs. It used to be considered rude, though these days less so. It implies the person you are giving the tip to is worth less than you, and can be bought.
I would also say never tip in restaurants, maybe if you are a large group, which often causes more work. But you are never wrong not to tip.

If you pay before you get your meal, don't tip. If your order is taken at the table, you eat, and then a bill is bought to you, you can tip if you wish. I don't tip at lunch time. Not tipping an evening meal in a restaurant would tend to indicate you were not happy with the food or service. Never need to tip on top of a service charge, unless you have a special reason too.

I've been going to pubs for more years than I want to remember. The only time I ever tip is if there is table service in the evening and the pub is more like a restaurant.

I think my friend thought I should tip because tip jars and tip "lines"lon credit card slips are now standard.

I never tip using card as i never know if the staff end up getting them or the owner keeps it, if i pay card and feel a tip is necessary i tip in cash. In pubs people often say take your own which is usually a 30 pence tip only do this if you felt you received good service with a smile on many occasions you get bar staff who dont smile and act like getting your pint is a chore so no tip on these occasions.

Enjoy your pints

As asked, was your friend also American?

I'd say tipping was if anything going out of fashion at the 'casual' dining end rather than becoming more common.

I cannot wait for an excuse to say "spouting arse-water" to someone.

Yes, my friend is from the USA.

Today, in another restaurant where you order at the counter and they bring your food to you. (Not a fast food place), there was a tip jar.

I watched as people left to see if they put money in. Twelve tables left while I was eating. Only one person, a local since it was a worker in uniform, left a tip. I didn't especially since the person taking my order had trouble understanding me when I asked for the "lunch special." She kept trying to make it the unadvertised larger size. I said the one on the menu. She said "the regular size. I said yes. She charged me more. Someone else came over to say the item on the menu was the "small" size and the
"regular" size was more. I said I just want what was on the menu.

This actually went on for a few minutes. Like a comedy routine.

Sometimes people will dump their change in a tip jar because they are already weighed down with "shrapnel" and don't want to add to it, my wife often does that.

This actually went on for a few minutes. Like a comedy routine.

Who's on first...What's on second.....

I've never noticed a spot on the CC slip to leave a tip. Is this something new or has it been going on for a while? I did notice that some restaurants in London added a service fee.

Thank you Keith for the laugh of my week!!

Rocket, according to British law, if there is a separate service charge, and the service was not adequate, you have the legal right to refuse to pay the service charge.
See here: http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/do-i-have-to-pay-a-service-charge-if-the-service-is-poor

Any service charge must be listed on the prices displayed outside the restaurant, and on the menu. But it is often in small print. A service charge is most prevalent in London. Outside London a Service Charge would be regarded as an attempt to con the customer by hiding the real prices.

If you are paying buy plastic and have a UK (or other European) card, there is no slip to sign or add a tip to, you just enter your PIN.

If the service charge is discretionary you cannot be compelled to pay it. They should be described as such, but you can tell this from the bill as these are not subject to VAT.

If there is a compulsory service charge and the service is poor then you have the option of not paying it (and leave your details if they want to sue you for it) or pay it under protest (mark on the bill) and decide whether to pursue them for it. Most though will simply pay and not go back ...

You can use the same procedure if you have been served food that doesn't match its description, is not of satisfactory quality, or hasn't been prepared with reasonable care or skill.

I would not tip if I had just had a drink,p at lunchtime, but in London, I would tip if I also had food, similar to in a restaurant, but just round up the bill rather than adding 10%. Certainly tip in the evenings.

As you have seen, there is no hard and fast rule! Many restaurants automatically add 10, 12.5 or 15%.

FWIW my sense is the same as Frank's -- tip if they come to your table, take your order, bring the food, and bring the bill, but otherwise not -- even if they bring the food to your table after you've ordered and paid at the counter. I follow that practice here as well as overseas. But I'm somewhat of a cheapskate.

Thanks for the account of your experience with the lunch special. Worthy of Fawlty Towers. (And R.I.P. Andrew Sachs, aka Manuel from Barcelona.)

"Im not sure why people think the situation is that different in London compared to the rest of the country"

I've eaten in many restaurants in Hampshire and West Sussex and have never come across a service charge, my SIL took an Italian relation to London last year and we're both surprised/annoyed to come across a service charge in some restaurants they went in. Always thought that London doesn't reflect what's happening in the rest of the country (a law unto itself, really).

Some of the national restaurant chains operate a discretionary service charge these days, even for a single customer, so it isn't confined to London.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills ran a consultation exercise on the whole business of tipping and service charges which produced a summary paper earlier this year. Under normal circumstances things might have moved on relating to this, but I daresay they have been busy since May with other things. It is noticeable that customers who responded to this consultation overwhelmingly expected the service charge to go to the person who served them, but this is rarely the case, mainly going through a tronc - although there is nothing legally to stop the restaurant management taking it all.