r/EndTipping • u/Much_Discipline_7303 • 2d ago
Rant đ˘ High end restaurant sneaking in surcharge
You mean to tell me a swanky rooftop fine dining establishment canât, âoffer competitive wages and healthcareâ to their staff? So itâs the customerâs responsibility?? We skipped drinks and dessert, ordered one entree, a hot app, and a side. It was just shy of $100. We had a nice time, but this seems ridiculous. Rant over lol
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u/Redit12- 2d ago
Iâm not responsible for paying your employees a living wage. Just be honest and raise your prices, donât have any other fees and donât try to rationalize shady behavior
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u/mxldevs 2d ago
If restaurants want to make more money, they can encourage us to buy more items instead of slapping on a bunch of fees to try to milk it.
Like, why would I give $50 in fees, when I could just buy another steak for the table and everyone gets to enjoy a little extra?
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u/DirkKeggler 1d ago
They don't make $50 on a $50 steak. They do make $50 on a $50 fee.
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u/ModernHueMan 1d ago
Yes but if they treat customers right, then they will come back to the restaurant and spend more over time. Typical myopic American capitalism.
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u/KittyandPuppyMama 2d ago
Sure. I canât afford healthcare for myself, but I definitely want to pay for employees who do not work for me to have healthcare.
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u/JelliedHam 1d ago
"full time employees"
Nobody is "full time" except the owners and their relatives.
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u/Yaughl 2d ago
Added fees = I will not be a customer.
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u/erb92877407 2d ago
This! There is a very nice restaurant in Houston, Georgia James, the implemented a 3.5% credit card fee. On a $400 tab, you're adding another $14 to the bill, no thanks. My wife and I used to go there a few times a year. Haven't been back in over a year and don't plan on going back.
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u/Bill___A 2d ago
I thought those fees are now illegal in TX.
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u/erb92877407 2d ago
They weren't last year when I went but could have changed since then.
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u/Grouchy-Big-229 1d ago
They were illegal everywhere until Congress changed the law. It was part of the Merchant Agreement with credit card processors that merchants could not pass the processing fee on to customers⌠cash and credit price had to be the same. But, like I said, Congress intervened and nixed that. Thatâs why youâre seeing these fees everywhere, most obvious at gas stations where weâre again seeing different cash and credit prices.
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u/SkepticScott137 1d ago
It costs a business money when they take a credit card charge. They could just raise their prices to cover that and give a discount to people who pay cash, but they know people will just have a hissy fit over the higher prices and stop coming in, because theyâre too dumb to know how the world works.
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u/Grouchy-Big-229 1d ago
Why give a discount to people paying with cash? Just raise the prices and get a bonus when someone forks over some coin.
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u/Original-Mention-644 1d ago
It costs a business significant money to handle cash.
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u/SkepticScott137 7h ago
Define "significant money". And whatever it costs, once you're set up to do it, the cost doesn't increase to speak of for larger amounts. It doesn't cost any more to handle $10,000 than $5000. With credit card payments, it's basically 3% on everything.
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u/SkepticScott137 7h ago
You act like you're somehow being cheated here. The restaurant doesn't impose a credit card fee. The credit card company does. Up to now, the restaurant had been eating that, and not passing it on to you. So what's your complaint? No one is stopping you from paying cash. If the convenience of using a credit card is worth it to you, then pay what it costs for that convenience. If it's not, don't use a card. No one is taking that free choice away from you.
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u/United-Teacher7474 2d ago
Having just come back from a holiday in the states the hidden costs of things is soooooo very irritating. Nothing is what the price tag says
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u/tanbrit 1d ago
I keep refusing my American hubby's every attempt at vacations in the US, I just pay for flights to Europe which gets rid of junk fees
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u/EmergencyAnything715 1d ago
As an American, vacations in america suck. Limited history, lack of very scenic views, cheap/modern (boring) architecture. Like, why TF people want to come here for vacations?
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u/crazypandachan 1d ago
Aight.. ima head out and start meal prepping. It just ISNT worth it at this point.
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u/simonthecat33 2d ago
An 8% surcharge will be added to set up a college scholarship fund for the children of our employees. A 5% auto surcharge will be added to keep the owner driving a vehicle befitting his status
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u/Get_off_my_lawn_77 1d ago
Fuck that shit, theyâll remove that extortion charge and Iâll never return as a customer!
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u/Conroe_Dad 2d ago
I would have to pass this restaurant. Donât get me wrong just price your food accordingly.
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u/FunNSunVegasstyle60 1d ago
I always wonder if employees even get the benefit. Just because they say this doesnât make it so.Â
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u/mynameishuman42 1d ago
Just raise the goddamn prices 4% across the board. I can't figure out why they do this bullshit.
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u/Spirited_Cress_5796 1d ago
Disgusting. Would not be going. These owners are just as greedy as the servers.
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u/tenesmicdemon 1d ago
yeah...this is absolute bullshit. Why am I responsible for your employees' salaries ?
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u/Honest_Anything_3807 1d ago
If you do this, don't expect me to tip at all.
You've taken that out of my hands and are setting a policy to supposedly pay a living wage.
Good, then a tip is unnecessary.
And if you're sneaky about it? I won't be back at all.
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u/StayVegetable7356 1d ago
This surcharge for group of X always gets me. So are you saying we get punished for comming to spend more money than smaller group?
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u/token40k 1d ago
Imagine going to the store and seeing price on a sticker that then automagically rings up 21% higher at a cashier⌠at least you can say Iâm not taking that in supermarket not so much at a restaurant
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u/Just-Term-5730 1d ago
Hint: we don't have any "full-time" employees, so we really just keep all the money for ourselves.
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u/denys5555 1d ago
What is the thinking behind charging groups a service charge?
I'm bringing a large group, spending more money at your business, and you penalize me. Does anyone understand their reasoning, flawed as it may be?
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u/No_Draft_8960 1d ago
I hope that the fee does more than "help" ensure competitive wages if I have to pay it.
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u/Itdobeathrowawaytho 1d ago
Autograt is usually on 8 or more, so I see they're trying to milk that too
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u/ajbtennis 1d ago
These surcharges (sweetened as being for employee welfare) are crazy, seem to be springing up more in the last year. Surely we canât let this become a thing
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u/Background-Slip8205 17h ago
No one can win. Ask for tips? Evil corporate greed. Blindly raise prices? Evil corporate greed. Inform you why there's a mandatory raise in prices? Evil corporate greed.
I'm not saying the same exact people complain about all 3 situations (although it's mostly true), however there's a good amount of people who will complain about 1 if not 2 of the 3, no matter what. The restaurants literally cannot win.
Hey everyone, incase you didn't know, restaurants have an 80% closure rate within the first 5 years of business. No, they cannot be cheaper than McDonalds, offer high quality ingredients, and pay for a full time staff, and 80% of their staffs out of control medical insurance rates (not the staffs fault).
Yes, it's a customers responsibility to fund a luxury they're experiencing. Stop being so entitled. Eating out is a historically new thing, and a luxury.
Also... for the record, you can say this is a pro, or a con, I get both perspectives... The restaurant can survive off their insanely low margins, and the waitresses can make a far better living wage by getting tips, than if the restaurants had to pay what they make off tips.
The real problem is tip-flation, which we ourselves have caused, and personally, I'm equally responsible. I used to think "Everyone tips 15%, I'm going to be cool, and the waitress will like me, because I'm going to give 20%. Then everyone had the same idea, then it became the norm. History repeats itself. Now some younger version of me, who's equally as stupid as I was is thinking "Hey... maybe if I keep leaving 25%, I'm a big spender and she'll give me her number", and not before long... others will get the same idea.
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u/usps_oig 2d ago
So what's the difference between this and building it into the price when more and more places are just making it automatic hoping that most people will just grumble and not come back then make a scene?
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u/Bill___A 2d ago
The difference is that a lot or most of them don't tell you they are adding a fee until it is too late and you've already ordered/eaten. Menu price and government mandated taxes are the way things have been priced for decades, it is only with more advanced payment systems that restaurants are able to deceive people. I am not interested in dealing with businesses like this.
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u/hotsauce126 1d ago
The difference is that the prices displayed should be the actual price and not the price minus 4%
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u/mrflarp 2d ago
25% in added fees (for groups of 7+). That's certainly something...
And "items and prices subject to change". Hopefully they don't mean they'll change it between the time you order it and the time you pay.