Restaurant 3% surcharges for inflation, and health care, is a BIG Pet Peeve for Me

[ScoopKona]

but give me the actual price. Stop pretending that your price is lower than it is.

The reason companies do this is because it works.

People will complain all day long about the hidden fees. But they still won't choose the business which offers fair pricing. Companies have been forced to jump on the "employee healthcare fee" bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. And it's working.

Same with resort fees and the egregious service fees for concerts and sporting events.

We can't change human nature. This is how most people are wired.

 

[joestein]

Ask not to pay it. Tip less. Do not return. Post 1* reviews and why.

Restaurants and workers are out of control. Want minimum wage raised as well as tip % raised as well as price of food going up which already increases the total tip amount.

There is a reason why lots of restaurants close and trying to charge an extra 3% when presenting the bill is not going help.

Being a server should not be a career and should not be enough to support a family of 4. Should be students, starving artists/actors, retired etc.

I would say that you should not take out the policy's of the mgmt on the waitstaff. If you dont like, don't eat there. Plus there are many waitress/waiters who can make a great career out it. Servers in NYC can easily make 6 figures in a year - a lot of that cash.

 

[jp10558]

The reason companies do this is because it works.

People will complain all day long about the hidden fees. But they still won't choose the business which offers fair pricing. Companies have been forced to jump on the "employee healthcare fee" bandwagon because everyone else is doing it. And it's working.

Same with resort fees and the egregious service fees for concerts and sporting events.

We can't change human nature. This is how most people are wired.

Hence why I support regulation in this area. Just like the credit card fees. I've not only been surprised by this, I haven't even been told sometimes. I suppose if I felt like an asshole, I could have raised a stink and had them refund my card and then paid cash (not sure I had that much cash on me, but I might have). Really stick it to them I bet processing and refunding costs even more IDK. But yea, they didn't tell me there was a card fee, it didn't show up till I got the receipt to sign after they ran my card.

 

[jp10558]

I would say that you should not take out the policy's of the mgmt on the waitstaff. If you dont like, don't eat there. Plus there are many waitress/waiters who can make a great career out it. Servers in NYC can easily make 6 figures in a year - a lot of that cash.

Again, if you knew there was a charge up front, you might not eat there. But it's quite annoying to at best get the menu and see it, so now you've presumably gone through some effort, maybe waited to be seated, and potentially gotten drinks before you know (so what, drink and dash? Start a scene? Or just get less "ripped off"?). Othertimes you don't know till they bring out the bill, which is also the case with the crazy card fees.

And if you just silently stop eating places, or walking out, that kind of leaves people guessing what the problem is/was. At least I feel like letting people know you're actively looking for and preferring restaurants that don't have hidden / extra fees and just bill the menu listed amount might change something - at least till laws get changed (if they do).

I guess I just need to toughen up and get more OK with just walking out of places after I was seated. But I still think letting management know could be helpful.

 

[ScoopKona]

I guess I just need to toughen up and get more OK with just walking out of places after I was seated. But I still think letting management know could be helpful.

You're in the slim minority who isn't going to stand for it. Most people will complain -- and still pay. It's not like they're going to cook for themselves as an alternative. That isn't in the cards.

I remember being at a pricey deli in Manhattan. (It's one of the reasons I go to Manhattan -- a fresser sandwich. Before "When Harry Met Sally," you could still easily get a table.)

Fruit salad at the time was selling for $8 a pound, which was $7 a pound more than fruit being sold at a bodega. A woman complained about the mark-up. The deli guy behind the counter sounded like the man who did the Carvel Ice Cream commercials in the 1970s. "Who's going to chop all this fruit? You?"

She paid and left. She wasn't the kind of person who cuts food with a knife.

It's the same with the fees. Imagine the same $8 fruit salad. But it is listed at $5, and then another $3 is tacked on at the end. "Who's going to chop all this fruit? You?"

That's what we're dealing with.

 

[jp10558]

It's the same with the fees. Imagine the same $8 fruit salad. But it is listed at $5, and then another $3 is tacked on at the end. "Who's going to chop all this fruit? You?"

My problem isn't really an $8 fruit salad. Charge what they think they can get for it. My problem is basically false advertising in the second case, or maybe it's bait and switch. Things that supposedly are illegal already.

 

[ScoopKona]

My problem isn't really an $8 fruit salad. Charge what they think they can get for it. My problem is basically false advertising in the second case, or maybe it's bait and switch. Things that supposedly are illegal already.

I get it. But as far as the restaurants are concerned, it's working.

If they change to a more rational pricing model, they get the instant customer feedback of fewer reservations, slower nights, more cooks and servers being cut early for lack of business. Meanwhile, "Bait-and-Switch Seafood LLC, a Darden Rip-Off" is packed with a line out the door.

Most servers in fine-dining don't want the tip model to go anywhere. Most customers want tips eliminated. Any restaurant owner who announces "no more tips, higher menu prices" will watch as half his servers quit and half his customers go elsewhere. That's reality.

 

[zentraveler]

I get it. But as far as the restaurants are concerned, it's working.

If they change to a more rational pricing model, they get the instant customer feedback of fewer reservations, slower nights, more cooks and servers being cut early for lack of business. Meanwhile, "Bait-and-Switch Seafood LLC, a Darden Rip-Off" is packed with a line out the door.

Most servers in fine-dining don't want the tip model to go anywhere. Most customers want tips eliminated. Any restaurant owner who announces "no more tips, higher menu prices" will watch as half his servers quit and half his customers go elsewhere. That's reality.

I agree with all of this. I hate it as much as everyone else, but if people were rational beings much of the stock market would not work the way it does and those of us who are in the business of helping people with their irrational ideas of thought and behavior would not be needed. It is just how people generally act and many markets like gambling (and its subsets - casinos, betting, the lottery etc.) and the stock market, to name only a very few, take full advantage of this.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I love the whole "If you don't want to pay a service charge, go to a restaurant that doesn't have one". But that's the whole point of these complaints, you don't find out about the service charge in advance. And the logic that cost of staying in business shouldn't be in the you know, cost of the product you provide and instead be a hidden fee is insane. I've always felt they should have to put tax in there too. If I was dictator for a day, I'd have any advertised price be what I can walk in to or order from and I pay that exact amount with cash or card and that is the entirety of the charge.

Sure, have line items in an invoice showing what's tax, what's shipping, hell have your "f u pay me fee" as a separate line if you like, if you think that somehow appeases customers to "justify" the price, but give me the actual price. Stop pretending that your price is lower than it is. And TBH, if you can't work while paying a wage that keeps employees and provides health care etc while making that cost clear to customers - your business just isn't viable.

I just experienced a surprise service charge last night at dinner for my sons 29th birthday celebration. It was a hibachi restaurant that we have been too many times, with the last time being in January. They put a 20% surcharge on the bill and when I tried to pay with gift cards, they told me they now only accept 2 gift cards per table... I was livid and asked to speak to the manager and he came over twice and said sorry we will only take 2 gift cards and when I asked about the 20% surcharge and why no signage was out stating that this new surcharge went into effect, his response was ---"oh you see it here on the bill, that's how your notified"

He still would not budge on the gift cards and I told him that was my form of payment and you should not sell gift cards if you are deciding after the fact that now you can only use two at a time. The bill was $580, so I had been buying this every payroll for the past few months so that I could take my son to this restaurant he loves.

After 30 minutes back and forth, he finally agreed that he would take the gift cards but would not take the 20% off and then stated we will no longer accept any gift cards from you going forward and I told him in the loudest voice possible no worries I will never be back to your restaurant again and I will tell all of my family and friends not to come to this horrid place....

 

[geist1223]

When there is a Surcharge and you are paying by Credit Card (not the situation Post 159) then on the Tip Line write Zero "due to surcharge." Also now that Hamburger Flippers and Front Order Takers are getting $20 per hour in California there is no reason to Tip any amount.

 

[jp10558]

I just experienced a surprise service charge last night at dinner for my sons 29th birthday celebration. It was a hibachi restaurant that we have been too many times, with the last time being in January. They put a 20% surcharge on the bill and when I tried to pay with gift cards, they told me they now only accept 2 gift cards per table... I was livid and asked to speak to the manager and he came over twice and said sorry we will only take 2 gift cards and when I asked about the 20% surcharge and why no signage was out stating that this new surcharge went into effect, his response was ---"oh you see it here on the bill, that's how your notified"

He still would not budge on the gift cards and I told him that was my form of payment and you should not sell gift cards if you are deciding after the fact that now you can only use two at a time. The bill was $580, so I had been buying this every payroll for the past few months so that I could take my son to this restaurant he loves.

After 30 minutes back and forth, he finally agreed that he would take the gift cards but would not take the 20% off and then stated we will no longer accept any gift cards from you going forward and I told him in the loudest voice possible no worries I will never be back to your restaurant again and I will tell all of my family and friends not to come to this horrid place....

Well, this is why I try not to do gift cards - too many ways to get screwed. But if it was me, and they threw on a 20% surcharge I would certainly consider that the tip. They can figure it out themselves.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Well, this is why I try not to do gift cards - too many ways to get screwed. But if it was me, and they threw on a 20% surcharge I would certainly consider that the tip. They can figure it out themselves.

JP10558, I did exactly that, in the Tip section I wrote tip is your 20% surcharge.

 

[clifffaith]

I just experienced a surprise service charge last night at dinner for my sons 29th birthday celebration. It was a hibachi restaurant that we have been too many times, with the last time being in January. They put a 20% surcharge on the bill and when I tried to pay with gift cards, they told me they now only accept 2 gift cards per table... I was livid and asked to speak to the manager and he came over twice and said sorry we will only take 2 gift cards and when I asked about the 20% surcharge and why no signage was out stating that this new surcharge went into effect, his response was ---"oh you see it here on the bill, that's how your notified"

He still would not budge on the gift cards and I told him that was my form of payment and you should not sell gift cards if you are deciding after the fact that now you can only use two at a time. The bill was $580, so I had been buying this every payroll for the past few months so that I could take my son to this restaurant he loves.

After 30 minutes back and forth, he finally agreed that he would take the gift cards but would not take the 20% off and then stated we will no longer accept any gift cards from you going forward and I told him in the loudest voice possible no worries I will never be back to your restaurant again and I will tell all of my family and friends not to come to this horrid place....

I’d be all over Yelp and Nextdoor with this story!

 

[am1]

I just experienced a surprise service charge last night at dinner for my sons 29th birthday celebration. It was a hibachi restaurant that we have been too many times, with the last time being in January. They put a 20% surcharge on the bill and when I tried to pay with gift cards, they told me they now only accept 2 gift cards per table... I was livid and asked to speak to the manager and he came over twice and said sorry we will only take 2 gift cards and when I asked about the 20% surcharge and why no signage was out stating that this new surcharge went into effect, his response was ---"oh you see it here on the bill, that's how your notified"

He still would not budge on the gift cards and I told him that was my form of payment and you should not sell gift cards if you are deciding after the fact that now you can only use two at a time. The bill was $580, so I had been buying this every payroll for the past few months so that I could take my son to this restaurant he loves.

After 30 minutes back and forth, he finally agreed that he would take the gift cards but would not take the 20% off and then stated we will no longer accept any gift cards from you going forward and I told him in the loudest voice possible no worries I will never be back to your restaurant again and I will tell all of my family and friends not to come to this horrid place....

I would not have paid if they would not accept valid gift cards. Or ask for individual checks. If they are a chain I would report it to corporate. I would not have paid the surcharge either.

 

[jp10558]

I would not have paid if they would not accept valid gift cards. Or ask for individual checks. If they are a chain I would report it to corporate. I would not have paid the surcharge either.

I'm not sure how you'd do that unless you were paying cash though. I mean, depending on when they show you the surcharge, they might have already run your card. I'm not sure if the banks would back you up in this case in a dispute.

 

[austdav]

I guess at least with a 3% extra charge at a restaurant i could just leave 3% less tip. Try doing that with your timeshare and all the extra fees they are charging.

 

[Superchief]

When there is a Surcharge and you are paying by Credit Card (not the situation Post 159) then on the Tip Line write Zero "due to surcharge." Also now that Hamburger Flippers and Front Order Takers are getting $20 per hour in California there is no reason to Tip any amount.

Except at Panera, which is excluded from the new CA minimum wage law due to 'baking bread on site' (the CEO is friends with the governor).

Why Is Panera Exempted From California's New Minimum Wage Law?

Probably because Greg Flynn, who operates 24 of the bakery cafes in California, is a longtime friend of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

www.yahoo.com

 

[am1]

Except at Panera, which is excluded from the new CA minimum wage law due to 'baking bread on site' (the CEO is friends with the governor).

Why Is Panera Exempted From California's New Minimum Wage Law?

Probably because Greg Flynn, who operates 24 of the bakery cafes in California, is a longtime friend of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

www.yahoo.com

Always better to have market forces determine wages. Government interference causes these issues. What would "minimum wage" be now if there was never any minimum wage laws? How less would things cost? How much money would not have been wasted on the issue?

If its me I would fight for higher wages overall and not focus on minimum wages.

 

[Kozman]

I would be interested to know if there was a suggested tip on the receipt that you sign and if it was calculated based on the subtotal before taxes and fees or after.
I always adjust and pay my tip excluding taxes and I would exclude this fee as well.

I refuse to base the tip on the after tax amount. Many restaurants provide a suggested tip schedule and usually include tax in the calculations.

 

[Kozman]

I just experienced a surprise service charge last night at dinner for my sons 29th birthday celebration. It was a hibachi restaurant that we have been too many times, with the last time being in January. They put a 20% surcharge on the bill and when I tried to pay with gift cards, they told me they now only accept 2 gift cards per table... I was livid and asked to speak to the manager and he came over twice and said sorry we will only take 2 gift cards and when I asked about the 20% surcharge and why no signage was out stating that this new surcharge went into effect, his response was ---"oh you see it here on the bill, that's how your notified"

He still would not budge on the gift cards and I told him that was my form of payment and you should not sell gift cards if you are deciding after the fact that now you can only use two at a time. The bill was $580, so I had been buying this every payroll for the past few months so that I could take my son to this restaurant he loves.

After 30 minutes back and forth, he finally agreed that he would take the gift cards but would not take the 20% off and then stated we will no longer accept any gift cards from you going forward and I told him in the loudest voice possible no worries I will never be back to your restaurant again and I will tell all of my family and friends not to come to this horrid place....

What specific restaurant is this? I am also from your area and I'd like to avoid it! I'd also like to look up recent reviews so I can see what others say. BTW. Have you been up to Pinestead lately?

 

[Kozman]

Well, this is why I try not to do gift cards - too many ways to get screwed. But if it was me, and they threw on a 20% surcharge I would certainly consider that the tip. They can figure it out themselves.

Logan's Roadhouse just closed all their locations and I'm stuck with at least one gift card.

 

[geist1223]

Except at Panera, which is excluded from the new CA minimum wage law due to 'baking bread on site' (the CEO is friends with the governor).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-pane...171525705.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall[/URLURLi be

I believe the CEO of Panera said they would follow the new Wages.

Patti and I have always said that when the Government started talking about $15 to $20 per hour Minimum Wage that that would eventually become the new Poverty Level and that Big Macs/Whoppers would go up to at least $20. Every supplier to Restaurants/Stores/etc will have to raise the cost of stuff to cover the higher wage they are paying.

 

[Luanne]

I refuse to base the tip on the after tax amount. Many restaurants provide a suggested tip schedule and usually include tax in the calculations.

Sometimes. I have seen it stated on many restaurants I go to that the tip is calculated on the price BEFORE tax.

 

[billymach4]

I refuse to base the tip on the after tax amount. Many restaurants provide a suggested tip schedule and usually include tax in the calculations.

Sometimes this I find this to be calculated after tax. I wonder if the news ever exposes this at certain restaurants. Then I sit back and think about it and realize that the difference is minimal and not worthy of a news story.

To be quite honest if they suggest a tip after the calculated sales tax, really what is the big freaking deal. Only when the total bill exceeds hundreds or thousands of dollars will the calculated tip on top of the sales tax really make a difference.

We all know tipping at restaurants is customary in the US so just suck it up and leave a tip of between 15 to 20 percent and call it a day.

 

[ScoopKona]

We all know tipping at restaurants is customary in the US so just suck it up and leave a tip of between 15 to 20 percent and call it a day.

I've watched servers from the pass line for a long time.

The subset of "people who claim to be good tippers" and "people who actually are good tippers" is very, very small. I'm not accusing anyone here of anything. Only that servers get crap tips far more often than they get 15-20%.

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard some variation of the following, it would pay for the shipping container I'm currently loading: "I'm not tipping more than 10%. That's what it's always been. If they need more money, they can find a better job."

Don't get me wrong, working fine dining, even 10% is enough to pay the bills when a four-top costs $600 at a bare minimum. That's STILL an improvement on the sheer number of people who make servers run around like mad, and then write "get a real job" where the tip should go. (There are many variations of "I ain't gonna leave a tip." Get a real job is the least offensive.)

The people who treat servers like crap were basically our entertainment. Except in certain kitchens where the cooking is done within earshot of the dining area, they can't hear anything the kitchen has to say. And the kitchen has an awful lot to say. It's all we really had to talk about. "Get a load of table 12. They look like they just crawled off the set of Deliverance/Eastern Promises/Sprockets/Eastenders."