# corkage



## sarahhurray (17 Dec 2004)

what the heck does it mean to say corkage is €8.50 plus a 12.5% service charge?


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## ClubMan (17 Dec 2004)

What do you mean? I presume you know that corkage is a charge levied by restaurants/hotels to open/serve wine that you purchase separately and bring along yourself? In this case the charge is c. €9.56.


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## terrysgirl33 (17 Dec 2004)

Heh?  Adding a service charge to corkage seems a bit strange as corkage is purely a service charge to start off with, surely??


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## CCOVICH (17 Dec 2004)

Corkage is levied to try and offset some of the money the restaurant is 'losing' by allowing you to bring your own wine.  I assume that even adding the corkage will allow you to save money against buying the overpriced plonk the restaurant is selling.


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## ClubMan (17 Dec 2004)

I'm still not clear on what the fundamental question is. Is it 
<!--EZCODE LIST START--><ul><li>what is corkage?</li><li>why is a service charge applied to corkage?</li><li>why do restaurants charge corkage or how do they justify it?</li><li>something else?</li></ul><!--EZCODE LIST END-->
Not being smart but if you think that a restaurant's corkage charge (with or without additional service charge) is unjustified then don't patronise the restaurant. Better still tell them what you think and why you are avoiding them so that they know.


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## terrysgirl33 (17 Dec 2004)

Having done a wine tasting course (very good fun) many years ago, the explaination I heard then is that the corkage charge is the charge for the resturant to open and serve the wine that you brought with you.


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## sarahhurray (17 Dec 2004)

I know what corkage is I just think it's a bit cheeky to call a charge on top of the corkage charge a service charge, surely it should just be one bit of maths to be done.


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## ClubMan (17 Dec 2004)

Isn't it the case that service charges are discretionary and punters can refuse to pay them if they so choose?


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## Kiddo (17 Dec 2004)

Service charge is the "tip"...when a restaurant charges "service charge" it should go straight to the employees, not to the owners pocket. If you pay a service charge you don't leave a tip....though most people do so in effect your tipping twice!


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## ClubMan (17 Dec 2004)

Yes - but as far as I know even when service charges are added to the bill by the restaurant (nowithstanding what happens to them thereafter) the customer is entitled to have them removed if they are not happy with service or don't feel that the service charge is justified. That's my understanding anyway but I can't find anything clearly authoritative on this. However [broken link removed] concurs with my understanding for what it's worth.


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## Kiddo (17 Dec 2004)

Didn't know that Clubman...

Interesting though....


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