Went to a restaurant in LA today and when I got the check I noticed that it was a bit higher than it should be. Then I noticed this 18% service charge. So… We, as customers, need to help pay for their servers instead of the owners paying their servers a living wage. And on top of that they have suggested tip. I called bs on this. I will bet you that the servers do not see a dime of this 18% service charge. [deleted a word so it wasn’t a grammatical horror to read]
All the arguments about tipping here are missing the point. The restaurant owner just came up with a bullshit way of raising the prices without showing larger numbers on the menu. That should honestly be illegal.
A lottt of restaurants in socal do this, unfortunately. I’ve never seen it this high, though.
maybe it’s to allow take-away at a lower price, like a dine in vs eat out charge.
Very rare, I’m from Ireland & have only seen it once in a Chinese restaurant. They were very clear about it in the menu though so it wasn’t a sticker shock price
we have that in Egypt. normally like 15% service charge when eating in the restaurant but nothing when taking out.
I’ve seen some restaurants adding a take-out fee recently. It’s fucking insane.
It soon will be. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/prepare-for-renewed-ftc-regulatory-focus-on-hidden-and-junk-fees
Reading the article, I’m not feeling too encouraged that this will actually impact small restaurants. From the article it sounds like the FTC is just going after large corporations.
This is already about to pass in California. https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/SB478/2023
The FTC is going to write a rule similar to what local governments have given themselves power to regulate. The article gave some examples, but it is not exhaustive.
You can,
want the owner to take a smaller cut
be willing to pay more to raise the wages of the employees
want to control via tips how much people make
What is BS is hidden costs.