Service charges and add'tl ones?

classico52

My venue is charging us an 18% service charge, 7% sales tax and a 5% matre'd charge.  Is it me or does this seem high!?  Anyone remember your additional charges?

I <3 Seabass

I don't remember what mine is but I know I've seen 20% service charge at some venues.

uppereastgirl

We were charged 23% service charge (additional gratuities were not expected or even permitted) and 7% sales tax, but no other charges.

cvl105

does the 18% service charge include the tips for all the workers? If so, then no, that's not very high.

ShanaJune2010

When I went looking for vendors, all of them charged extra for tax and service charge. The venue I chose had it all included. That made a big difference for us.

ShanaJune2010

*vendors = venues....need coffee

DandT1206

my reception is in NY... they are charging 18% for tip and 8.375% for tax... I don't know why you have to pay a matre'd charge.  You should ask about that....

I <3 Seabass

Ohh that's why I don't remember what ours was. It was all included in the final price per person, they didn't break it out and specifiy what dollar amount went to what.

kewltif

I paid a smaller matre'd charge. 5% seems high.

mbcdefg

The service charge seems normal (like PP said, I visited some places who wanted 20%), and the 7% sales tax is standard. I didn't visit any places that used a percentage to determine what you'd charge the maitre d', but some places said it was a set fee of a few hundred dollars. Our hall doesn't make it mandatory, but quoted a suggested amount for us to think about.

The_Future_Mrs_Rickels

My service charge is 20% and that doesnt include tip.  Then I have a matre'd charge of $250.  And 7% sales tax.  You matre'd charge seems like it could be a little high but other than that it seems pretty standard. 

teamAandE

We also had 22% service charge. tax. no matre'd fee but were given a suggested tipping guide that we gave nearly $2k extra on top of.

classico52

Well I feel a little better about the service charge now, thanks!The matre'd charge is "recommended" at 5% but I guess you can make it your call.  It's kind of cheesy that they would give a certain percentage at what they think we should tip.  But at least we're in the ballpark with the other charges.

justkris10

Yes agree with pp, mine is 20% + 7% and no percentage but a recommended amount for maitre'd...the 5% seems high to me, but then again until day of you never really know what it'll all be "worth"

smiles62309

Classico, Our venue charged out 18 % SC and 7% sales tax but had it included in our overall price which we were happy with. They stated that their is a 4% matre'd fee however we do not need to give that until the end of the night. He also said if we were not satisfied we can give less. Most places we visited didn't have the matre'd fee but some service charges were up to 22% which I thought was high.

Aly217

mine was 20% service, 7% tax &  3%matre'd

mcconvillejulia

ours is 15% service charge 7% tax and 5%maitr D. I think it was good to have it all included now we dont have to worry about extras

brad1431

my venue was 18% plus 7% sales tax, they "say" that includes any and all tips, but I am sure the workers will still be looking for a little something later that night, even though I went over this with them a bunch of times.  They said the 18% includes any and all tips, that they do this so we dont have to walk around all night with envelopes, but somehow I still think they will be fishing for an extra tip.