Restaurant adding fee for use of credit card

[tulak]

I don’t mind tipping and usually leave 20% unless something is off. But I find myself overriding the default tip suggestions often. I guess I can’t fault them for trying…

 

[prudent_one]

Two mom&pop restaurants around us instituted a 3% CC fee. I figure since I still have the option of paying cash, I can avoid it. So it doesn't really bother me.

 

[sengsational]

My current favorite Mexican place has done away with prices on the menu altogether.

That would be more likely to cause me to find another place to eat than a published upcharge for credit cards, but I think it's where things are going. The fast food electronic menus can change prices minute by minute. I don't want to be standing at the counter only to find my meal price is 20% higher due to a surge in demand. Next thing will be bidding on an upgrade for cheese on my burger! To heck with it! I'll break out my George Foreman and make my own burger!

 

[folivier]

I agree, I want to know what my cost is before I order. Not that I can't afford it but that's how I am. That sounds like gambling which I don't do.
The lodge at our cabin is starting ordering by scanning at your table. Don't know how that'll work out with so many old farts here and I like the personal interaction. They are continually short handed since we're so remote.

 

[MichaelB]

That would be more likely to cause me to find another place to eat than a published upcharge for credit cards, but I think it's where things are going. The fast food electronic menus can change prices minute by minute. I don't want to be standing at the counter only to find my meal price is 20% higher due to a surge in demand. Next thing will be bidding on an upgrade for cheese on my burger! To heck with it! I'll break out my George Foreman and make my own burger!

I think the big fast food chains are moving toward app ordering. If that’s the case, surge pricing while you wait in line is less likely, and more likely is you order ahead in the app, where you are more likely to see an offers or prices others may not see and be subject to personalized upselling.

 

[scrabbler1]

I don’t mind tipping and usually leave 20% unless something is off. But I find myself overriding the default tip suggestions often. I guess I can’t fault them for trying…

Last year, at my favorite Applebee's restaurant, the server seemed harried and we had trouble finding him at the end of the meal to get take-out boxes and the check. The store manager, a man I know by full name and have spoken to frequently over the years, brought us our take-out boxes. I left the server an average (20%) tip because his service otherwise was okay. I would have left him more if he had been more attentive at the end of our meal.

After we got back home, I went into Applebee's website and wrote about my experience, including how I would have left him a bigger tip if he hadn't forgotten about us at the end of the meal. The manager (the same man I mentioned above) called a few days later and explained what was going on with the server and would talk to him. I didn't ask but hoped that would include how his inattentiveness at the end of the meal cost him getting a bigger tip.

I feel this is a better way of dealing with subpar service than confronting the server or leaving a really bad tip.

Back in my (office) working days, we had a saying: "Don't tell me, tell my boss." This referred to someone getting good feedback from someone else. It should apply to bad service, too.

 

[disneysteve]

I think especially in recent years, most restaurant service issues stem from being understaffed as places struggle to find enough people willing to work for $5/hr in the midst of a booming economy and record low unemployment.

I can usually tell when our server is clearly spread too thin and being run ragged. In those instances I don’t hold anything against them as it’s clearly not their fault. We were in one restaurant a while ago where there was one server taking care of the whole place, all of the tables and the counter too. I left a 20+% tip on the bill and on our way out, went over to her and handed her $20 and said, “whatever they’re paying you isn’t enough. Thank you.”

Of course the staffing issue is In the back of the house too with the kitchen staff which is less visible but just as much a problem.

One thing that does annoy me is when the suggested tip on the bill is calculated after tax rather than pre-tax as it should be. I always adjust that accordingly.

 

[Music Lover]

I think especially in recent years, most restaurant service issues stem from being understaffed as places struggle to find enough people willing to work for $5/hr in the midst of a booming economy and record low unemployment.

It's not $5 after tips.

There's a very good reason why servers never ask that tipping be eliminated.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think the big fast food chains are moving toward app ordering. If that’s the case, surge pricing while you wait in line is less likely, and more likely is you order ahead in the app, where you are more likely to see an offers or prices others may not see and be subject to personalized upselling.

+1

From what I can tell if your aren't using the McDonald's app there's a good chance your paying too much.

A far as $5 minimum wage for tipped jobs, that may be true in some states, but in my area at a minimum servers get the full minimum wage plus tips. There is no tipping minimum wage.

 

[Badger]

My current favorite Mexican place has done away with prices on the menu altogether.

The few times we eat at a restaurant I want to see the menu and prices on their website before I go. Lately many have been omitting the prices. They could at least post a menu in their window but that is extremely rare in our area of Florida. It is also not required for the restaurant to post their cleanliness rating in their window like you find in other states. You just never know until after the fact when the local news has their restaurant reports. I just checked the restaurant inspections for the past 30 days and there were 144 restaurants that didn't pass inspection. Makes me appreciate home cooking.

 

[tulak]

And now you can pay fees for using cash too.

From the WSJ:

Want to Pay Cash? That’ll Cost You Extra

From ballpark hot dogs to parking tickets, more cash payments are coming with a fee

The stadium’s concession stands no longer take cash. An employee directed him to a kiosk that could convert his greenbacks into plastic. Khamallah, 41 years old, fed $200 into the reverse ATM, which subtracted a $3.50 fee and spat out a debit card with a balance of $196.50.

Here’s the link for Apple News subscribers:

Want to Pay Cash? That’ll Cost You Extra — The Wall Street Journal

From ballpark hot dogs to parking tickets, more cash payments are coming with a fee

apple.news

 

[sengsational]

^I'd say that's more galling than a CC fee!

 

[aja8888]

^I'd say that's more galling than a CC fee!

It will be even more galling when he goes to use the converted plastic and gets charged a fee to use it.

 

[MichaelB]

It’s just a price increase with a different name.

 

[explanade]

^I'd say that's more galling than a CC fee!

Cash handling does have costs.

Whether the costs are as great as credit card fees would depend.

But if say 75% or more of the patrons are using credit cards but a small but significant percentage insist on cash, they may need employees to count the cash, make sure it balances and then prep it for deposit.

They either have to send employees to the bank or hire armored vehicles to collect and deposit the cash.

 

[Music Lover]

It’s just a price increase with a different name.

As I stated earlier, some people are more upset about a 3% increase that can actually be justified than they are about tipping going from 10% - 15% to 20% - 25%...

 

[GenXguy]

As I stated earlier, some people are more upset about a 3% increase that can actually be justified than they are about tipping going from 10% - 15% to 20% - 25%...

What makes that increase in tipping percentage even worse is that the meals cost a lot more now, so it's a double whammy on the tip plus the higher meal cost, and most places, the sales tax has gone up as well. Now add on all these other fees they're throwing at us. It's ridiculous.

 

[FindingForward]

What makes that increase in tipping percentage even worse is that the meals cost a lot more now, so it's a double whammy on the tip plus the higher meal cost, and most places, the sales tax has gone up as well. Now add on all these other fees they're throwing at us. It's ridiculous.

That's why I dine out much less frequently now. Stopped buying live performance tickets, as I refuse to pay their ridiculous service charges. Only stay at hotels with no or lower resort fees.

People complain about restaurant service charges, resort fees, ticket surcharges, but continue to reward the worst offenders with their business, so nothing changes.

All of this is discretionary stuff. If people voted with their wallet, businesses would adjust. It'll be interesting to see how many places make it through the next serious recession.

 

[fh2000]

I read that California has a new law going in effect in July that bans extra fees over the menu prices. That apparently includes mandatory gratuity not being allowed. Illinois has a bill (Junk Fee Ban Act) for something similar.

Chinese restaurants routinely add 18% service charges on top of the bills, so if they eliminate that I will then tip 20% then?

California has also increased minimum wage to $20 an hour. So, I think customer will be paying more still.

 

[GenXguy]

California has also increased minimum wage to $20 an hour. So, I think customer will be paying more still.

It's nuts. That's even worse than Illinois - we're headed from $14 to $15 in less than 7 months at the state level, with some areas being higher. Tipped workers may earn a little less, depending on how that shakes out.

 

[MichaelB]

My grandparents never ate out, and when I was a young boy my parents ate out perhaps once a year, if that. Eating out is not a basic need, it’s entirely discretionary.

Today eating out contributes more than 5% of our GDP, roughly half the average food budget is for food out of the home, and hospitality employs 10% of the labor force. In response to higher prices and or gratuities, we all have the choice of going somewhere else or preparing and eating at home.

This is just another pricing trade-offs, we make them every day. Here is an interesting report on food from the USDA USDA ERS - Food Prices and Spending.

 

[punkinhead]

There used to be a restaurant near us with a very unique menu and excellent ingredients so we went there most Friday nights. They went through a phase when the waiters wouldn't write down orders. Not once in that time did the food come out right. Usually it would be a missing side or appetizer and sometimes we'd get what we called "salad soup" instead of dressing on the side. They always fixed things and we kept going back because the food was so good but when the waiter would ask, "are you ready to order?" I'd just say "yes". There's be an awkward silence then they'd tell me to go ahead. I'd respond, "I'm waiting for you to take out a pen and paper". They must have gotten feedback from others that not writing down orders wasn't working and they went back to doing it. Unfortunately, soon after that they went to kiosk ordering, sub-par ingredients, and no substitutions so we stopped going.

 

[tulak]

That's why I dine out much less frequently now. Stopped buying live performance tickets, as I refuse to pay their ridiculous service charges. Only stay at hotels with no or lower resort fees.

People complain about restaurant service charges, resort fees, ticket surcharges, but continue to reward the worst offenders with their business, so nothing changes.

All of this is discretionary stuff. If people voted with their wallet, businesses would adjust. It'll be interesting to see how many places make it through the next serious recession.

And we are voting with our wallets. I enjoy live shows, eating out, and spending money on places where I want to stay. If it’s too expensive, I don’t go. But I don’t work/save to hoard money, I work/save to enjoy life. As for the recession, seems like we’ve been waiting for that for long time?

I live in a VHCOL area. I would have said HCOL until recently, but in the local news there are articles stating that 1 out of 14 people are millionaires and home prices are a million+. And that’s just Seattle. I image the ratio is worse on the Eastside (Bellevue/Redmond/Sammamish), where there is more wealth. It amazes me how much wealth has accumulated in this area.

So lots of discretionary income in this part of the world and even with higher prices, a few percent here or there isn’t going to make a difference. I’m skeptical even the eventual recession will have a big impact (the tech layoffs sure didn’t).

In Seattle, it’s the millionaires next door — 54,200 of them

The odds of running into a millionaire here are better than almost anywhere else. One in every 12 adults in the city is a liquid millionaire, a new study finds.

www.seattletimes.com

 

[audreyh1]

My grandparents never ate out, and when I was a young boy my parents ate out perhaps once a year, if that. Eating out is not a basic need, it’s entirely discretionary.

Today eating out contributes more than 5% of our GDP, roughly half the average food budget is for food out of the home, and hospitality employs 10% of the labor force. In response to higher prices and or gratuities, we all have the choice of going somewhere else or preparing and eating at home.

This is just another pricing trade-offs, we make them every day. Here is an interesting report on food from the USDA USDA ERS - Food Prices and Spending.

I’m sure eating out mushroomed when the US transitioned to predominantly 2 earner families and single parents. This happened when I was growing up and a young adult: 70s and 80s.

 

[MichaelB]

I’m sure eating out mushroomed when the US transitioned to predominantly 2 earner families and single parents. This happened when I was growing up and a young adult: 70s and 80s.

That’s a good point, and you can see the increase in food away from home beginning late 70’s and early 90’s.