Can a restaurant in Germany refuse service without a tip?
<p>So I live in Germany, and there is a restaurant about 10 minutes away from my house. I often order from there but now much less. Delivery times can vary from 1 hour to several hours… I just noticed on their website that they will cancel all orders that do not leave a tip at the time of placing the order… so you’re tipping for consistent late deliveries… on top of that you’re paying a delivery fee anyways. I don’t know but this seems very scammy to me. I usually leave a tip, but when I keep getting cold food at 22:15 when I placed the order at 18:30 I really don’t feel like I should be obligated to tip. Is this even allowed or acceptable in the German economy. (Bavaria)</p>

<p>tl;dr: If you are not satisfied with the service provided by the restaurant, you should take your business elsewhere and write negative, but honest reviews of the establishment. That will over time solve the problem as well without legal intervention.</p>
<p>To answer your question if the restaurant can refuse service if you don't tip is actually a much more difficult question than it might sound. I can't find any case law on this subject, such practice is however perhaps more widespread than commonly expected and my interpretation of the law is that they in most cases actually can, at least if they demand payment up front as take-away services often do. It is for example a 'well known fact' that if you don't tip the waiters at the Oktoberfest, they will usually ignore you and don't take any further orders. It is a dirty and unfair way to conduct business, but not necessarily a violation of law.</p>
<p>Even if a tip indeed is legally defined as a voluntary donation by the customer, there is in German law also the concept of 'freedom of contract'. Contrary to popular belief, restaurants and other businesses in Germany are not obligated to serve or accept a customer as long as they don't violate other laws, e.g. anti-discrimantory laws and they don't even need any particular reason for doing so. If you want to enter a club or fancy establishment and the bouncer doesn't like your face, he will make use of this right, refuse you entry and be fully within his legal rights to do so. When you order food for take-away, your order must first be interpreted as a contract offer and the restaurant can, albeit with some restrictions, in most cases freely decide to accept your offer and enter a contract which binds them to deliver food, or they can simply refuse your offer and return any payment you may have done in advance.</p>

<p>I answer the question here on Travel because I think price surprises etc. often confuse travellers, and some commerces use pressure tactics to them (although the question as stated may be out of bounds).</p>
<p>German <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/pangv_2022/BJNR492110021.html" rel="noreferrer">price information regulations</a> (Preisangabenverordnung) require restaurants to indicate the total price of all items, inclusive of service charges.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>§ 13 Gaststätten, Beherbergungsbetriebe</strong></p>
<p>... (5) Die in den Preisverzeichnissen nach den Absätzen 1 bis 3 aufgeführten Preise müssen das Bedienungsgeld und alle sonstigen Zuschläge einschließen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obligatory tips may become a service charge, so technically, you may be able to denounce the restaurant to authorities for false advertising of prices, depending on how the demand is worded. But the authorities may choose to not care about it very much and it may not be effective to improve their services.</p>
<p>For tourists, the best course of action is probably to avoid restaurants <em>requiring</em> unclear tips, but keep in mind (e.g. at the end of meal for sit-down restaurants) if you do not want to pay tips (after understanding the local customs), you have the option not to pay.</p>
<hr />
<p>The law in <a href="/questions/tagged/switzerland" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;switzerland&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;switzerland&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="switzerland-container">switzerland</a> is more clear on this front.</p>
<p>Under the price indication regulations (Preisbekanntgabeverordnung), it is <a href="https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1978/2081_2081_2081/de#art_12" rel="noreferrer">prohibited</a> to demand tips over the indicated price, unless the tips are clearly indicated with in figures (e.g. it is allowed to say &quot;15% service charges not included&quot;, but not &quot;service charges/tips not included&quot;).</p>
<p>Requiring unspecified tips is considered false price indication and may be denounced to the commerce police.</p>

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