this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2024
330 points (99.4% liked)

News

22869 readers
3959 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Lawmakers want to crack down on “junk fees,” but restaurants are trying to stay out of the fight.

Surcharges or fees covering everything from credit card processing to gratuities to “inflation” have become more popular on restaurant checks in recent years.

Last year, 15% of restaurant owners added surcharges or fees to checks because of higher costs, according to the National Restaurant Association. In the second quarter, 3.7% of restaurant transactions processed by Square included a service fee, more than double the beginning of 2022, according to a recent report from the company.

Opponents of the practice say those fees and surcharges may surprise customers, hoodwinking them into paying more for their meals at a time when their wallets are already feeling thin. Fed-up diners compiled spreadsheets via Reddit of restaurants in Los AngelesChicago and D.C. charging hidden fees. Even the Onion took a swing at the practice, publishing a satirical story in May with the headline “Restaurant Check Includes 3% Surcharge To Provide Owner’s Sugar Baby With Birkin.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 116 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

We need to go to what other countries do.

No tips, people earn a living wage. And all taxes and percentage fee charges are baked into the price you see.

If something is $99.99 on the sticker/menu, then you pay exactly $99.99

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 35 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I forget how much I take this for granted until I visit the US. It's such a hassle, I guess it's one of those things you just get used to after while to be fair but when you're not used to it it's baffling.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 44 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

It's purposeful forced mental labor.

They want the customer to be confused, stressed, and ready to just pay to make it all go away. They make the customer do a lot of work to be informed about their products.

Anything where the customer knows the situation and the price is anathema to these dorks.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 11 points 3 weeks ago

Exactly. Perfect example: Microsoft 360 pricing.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, you just always assume you'll be nickle and dimed.

People bitch about it in food delivery apps, and it is a problem there, but it's a problem offline too. You just see it immediately on the apps, where if you're sitting down you don't realize till after you ate and you don't care as much.

Ironically seeing the real total up front makes people more angry than if they don't know till after they ate.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 weeks ago

I'm from the US. I assume outright beforehand that any private business I have to deal with is trying to scam me, because in my experience they are. After speaking to a few contenders, you pick the one that comes off as least slimy or do whatever it is yourself if they're all completely shitty.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My tinfoil hat theory is part of this is because conservatives want to keep people low grade mad at government. Like they keep stuff like "5% tax" highly visible so people see it and get mad, then later they can campaign on how the government is axiomatically bad etc etc.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

I mean, the strategy itself isn’t even a conspiracy theory. That’s literally their game plan for dismantling established departments and government branches. The US Post Office is a great example. Conservatives make it harder and harder for them to stay funded every year, all in an attempt to slow down postal service and drive up delivery prices. They intentionally add bloat, cut funding, and increase costs. This is explicitly so they can point at the USPS and go “look at how bloated and ineffective this is! We should privatize it instead!”

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 8 points 3 weeks ago

Agreed. The counter argument is that every state and county has different tax rates. One valid reason taxes that are percentages.

But the register can deal with all of that just fine.

[–] BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

I've been visiting Brazil the past couple weeks and this is something I see here, it's so nice to not have to arbitrarily round up prices in my head to figure out the true cost before going to the register. I'll miss that when I get back home.

[–] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago

This shit is just as abd in Japan. So many places have bullshit seating fees or they make you buy cabbage as an appetizer or something.

Taken the practice from host clubs and just ran with it.