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Emerald ,

Image Transcription: Text and Image

A receipt from a restaurant. A white circle was marked up on the photo and inside reads the text

18% Service Charge (18.00%)

$17.22

The full receipt text shown is as follows.

Ordered: 11/11/23 6:31 PM

GARLIC BREAD $4.90

2 KIDS SHELLS $32.50

FUSILLI $20.75

CANNOLI $11.00

LEMONADE $6.00

DRIP COFFEE $4.50

2 DRAFT BEER $12.00

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE $4.00

18% Service Charge (18.00%)

$17.22

Subtotal $112.87

Tax $10.73

Total $123.60

Cash -$123.60

Amount Due $0.00

Suggested Tip:

8%: (Tip $7.65 Total $131.25)

10%: (Tip $9.56 Total $133.16)

12%: (Tip $11.48 Total $135.08)

15%: (Tip $14.35 Total $137.95)

Tip percentages are based on the check price before discounts and taxes.

The service charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps facilitate a higher living base wage for all of our employees. Please scan the QR code at the top of the receipt for additional information, or speak with a manager.

RememberTheApollo_ ,

Really. What’s the new base wage? And if there’s better wage, the tip should be commensurately reduced.

WhipTheLlama ,

[The service charge is] an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps facilitate a higher living base wage

Great! I don’t need to tip because they already pay their employees a fair wage.

SocialMediaRefugee ,

The Ticketmaster economy

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

If the service charge is so they can pay the employees better, I guess they don’t need a tip on top of that unless they went above and beyond their basic duties. Like what a tip should be for

bmsok ,

The entire service fee thing is fraud at this point. Undercutting wages and skimming profits for owners off the backs of their employees.

I know it’s been happening forever but this shit has been escalating exponentially.

HawlSera ,

It’s to make you mad at their employees

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

It’s failing. I’m just mad at the employer.

HawlSera ,

Because you’re not a moron.

This is for Fox News watching Grannies to look at and go “Them libruls are making my food expensice because dey don’t wanna git no jerbs”

Zeroxxx ,
@Zeroxxx@lemmy.my.id avatar

It does seem tipping is American culture? Never heard this accross SEA and China. Who in the world would put suggested tip in the bill?

RogueBanana ,

It very much is and suggested tips seems to be common from what i heard

figaro ,

It is so engrained into society that suggested tip amounts on the receipt are welcomed, because then you don’t need to do the math

killeronthecorner ,
@killeronthecorner@lemmy.world avatar

The UK has been infected with service charges but it’s extremely common to either a) have it removed from the bill, as there is no obligation to pay it, or b) forego the tip because of it.

Karyoplasma ,

In 2019, I went to Shanghai to attend my cousin’s wedding and one thing he told me before going is that I should not tip under any circumstance. It’s regarded as an insult to the service provider because you insinuate that they are unable to pay their employees well enough.

Rootiest ,
@Rootiest@lemmy.world avatar

Why have a service fee at all then?

Just raise the prices and use the extra income to pay the employees better if that’s really your intention.

People won’t get upset about the tip on top of it if you don’t already have a “service charge” sectioned off in the receipt.

Aceticon ,

It’s so that they can deceitfully advertise prices which are lower than the real price.

I believe this is totally illegal in the EU (because they’re obligated to list prices and all charges, fully, upfront and that even includes taxes) but I guess that in the US there are States were it’s either not illegal or has never been challenge in court.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

I had a service charge like that added in Rome once. It is most likely illegal, but Rome is a pretty lawless place as it is where everybody tries to scam you all the time, so I didn’t bother spending time arguing it and getting all worked up about a couple of euros during my holiday, just avoided the place thereafter. I know that’s probably what they’re counting on …

Karyoplasma ,

Oh yes, the “coperto” or cover charge. Restaurants that are worth going to will tell you upfront about whether they charge you that and how much. Tourist traps will just put a small sign somewhere on the premises that informs you of their ass-pull fee.

I went to a small café in Venice and had a cup of coffee for 4€. They charged me a fixed 14€ coperto.

Aceticon ,

So that shit is actually legal in Italy?

In that case I was totaly wrong on my belief on it not being legal in the EU.

SkippingRelax ,

Coperto is perfectly legal and the norm everywhere. It would be clearly mentioned on the menu, typically at the bottom of every page and it is around a couple bucks per person. It’s for the bread and bread sticks you get on the table, water and electricity to wash cutlery and plates you use, and to pay for serving stuff and rent. Why not included in the price of that pizza you might ask? Because I might order that pizza to take away and not use all of the above.

Some touristy places take advantage of it, doesn’t make sense for a coffee in Venice (though I’m not surprised). A couple of bucks that op was charged at a restaurant in Rome on the other hand, 100% expected everywhere in Italy.

Source, am from there.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

I just read about coperto here, and I don’t think that was it. I’m pretty sure it said “Servizio” on the bill, and it was a percentage on top of the price of what we ordered.

Aceticon ,

Oh yeah, I live in Portugal and here too foreign tourists are natural targets for scammy shit. It’s not too much but there are certainly bad actors who will take advantage of people who don’t speak the local language and don’t know their rights.

However I suspect it’s a lot worse when some kinds of scams are actually legal.

Nahdahar ,

In my country (in the EU) usually if a service charge is added on top of the order, it’s because that particular place doesn’t accept tips.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

That would be illegal in the EU country where I live (Belgium). Here the rule is that the advertised price must always include any mandatory charges, like VAT and service charges, so that advertised price = price the consumer would have to pay.

Source: economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/…/prijsaanduiding

Translation:

Price indication

Companies offering goods or services must indicate the price in writing in a legible, visible and unambiguous manner.

The price is the total price to be paid by the consumer, including VAT and all other taxes or services that the consumer is obliged to pay extra. These prices are stated at least in euros.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

That would be illegal in the EU country where I live (Belgium).

Further evidence that America isn’t a legal country.

roofuskit ,

I the s legal most places in the US, some big cities like New York City have outlawed it.

Rivalarrival , (edited )

Look at how the tips were calculated. They were based on a bill of $95.65, the price of the meal before the service fee.

This service fee allowed them to increase the price of the meal by 18% without increasing the calculated tip by 18%.

They are stiffing their employees.

Edit: A $100 check would have an expected, 15% tip of $15. A $118 check would have an expected 15% tip of $17.70. What they are doing lets them calculate a 15%, $15 tip on a $118 bill. They are “stealing” $2.70 worth of tips on every $100 worth of sales.

WhipTheLlama ,

Alternative option: the service fee is the tip because there’s no way I’m paying more than what’s on that bill.

Rivalarrival ,

That just fucks over the waitstaff without harming the business at all.

Best option is to walk out as soon as you see notice of a service fee. It should be printed on the menu or a sign posted on entry.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Just raise the prices

They’re already selling lemonade for $6. The sky is clearly the limit.

Smoogs ,

Add to the fact all the food in the restaurant is much higher in caloric intake, sodium and sugar than any meal you could prepare at home. You get to have some wonderful heart disease with a side of stress. Hardly worth going out to restaurants anymore.

Blackmist ,

That’s the whole point of going to a restaurant. So you can convince yourself that the food is somewhat healthy, without seeing all the salt, sugar and fat they put in it.

youtu.be/YUeEknfATJ0?t=30

Tvkan ,

That’s the whole point of going to a restaurant. >So you can convince yourself that the food is somewhat healthy, without seeing all the salt, sugar and fat they put in it.

I thought the point of going to a reastaurant was eating tasty food. No one’s lying to themselves about reastaurant food being healthy.

sanguine_artichoke ,
@sanguine_artichoke@midwest.social avatar

It’s also eating food in a social atmosphere without having to shop, prepare or cleanup.

roofuskit ,

Kids shells are $16 each? Fuck this place.

test1 ,
@test1@calendario-lunar.com avatar

What are "kids shells"?

CC: @YoBuckStopsHere

T00l_shed ,

Likely a kids pasta shell dish.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, it looks like this person just went to an overpriced restaurant.

Dining at the Ritz and then throwing a fit over your bill is… idk, man. Maybe you should have walked out before ordering a $6 glass of lemonade.

WhipTheLlama ,

Restaurant: $11 cannelloni and $6 beer.

Lemmy: fuck the rich for paying these high prices!

sanguine_artichoke ,
@sanguine_artichoke@midwest.social avatar

That’s not the point though… it’s that everything is 18% more than advertised on the menu, regardless of whether the original price was high or fair.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

it’s that everything is 18% more than advertised on the menu

More than that if you factor in sales taxes. Or “valet only”. Nevermind tip.

Definitely qualifies as mildly infuriating, but this sort of bullshit surcharge is standard fair for upscale retail in the service sector.

Aarrodri ,

Ok where is this so we can avoid it?

Pratai ,

I would have not paid the 18% fee and let them explain it to the cops when they arrived. I guarantee that’s not posted anywhere that they do that- so…

False advertising.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

I would have not paid the 18% fee

Putting in a -18% tip when I swipe my credit card.

runner_g ,

I frequently see “an 18% gratuity charge will be applied to parties of 6 or more” on menus. It’s possible that this was posted and OP just missed it.

Edit: JK just read the text at the bottom where it calls it out as not a gratuity.

June ,

It’s not a gratuity, but restaurants like this often don’t expect tips either. At least in my area.

SeaJ ,

Places that do this will have fine print at the bottom of their menu mentioning the charge so they can avoid legal issues.

SeaJ , (edited )

I don’t return to restaurants that pull this bullshit. Raise your menu prices to provide a living wage or take a hit to your profits.

Snipe_AT ,
@Snipe_AT@lemmy.atay.dev avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    AnxiousOtter ,

    Ya this. The extra 18% should be baked into the menu pricing so that at least the cost is known up front. This is kind of like sneaking it in.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    As a european, not knowing and legit asking: isnt that the thing all over the usa? I mean, you pick up something at the store, go to the counter and then SUPRISE, tax is added on top of the price. Like, that also feels like sneaking in extra costs?

    Drivebyhaiku ,

    Basically. People just get used to the nebulous mental calculations of how much tax one can expect. It encourages a culture of routine overspending and should be illegal.

    People expect to budget roughly tax and tip, they are basically mad because this is not a cultural norm and they got stung by surprise.

    SeaJ ,

    A sales tax is expected in most states and is generally fairly similar within each state and almost never come to more than 10%. That also pays for services that most people use.

    This extra charge at this restaurant is not common nor is it expected. They also set it at 18% which is a standard tip rate but specifically say it is not a tip. They claim it is to provide decent wages but considering they still allow tips (some places do this but do not allow tipping on top) , that pretty obviously is not true. This is just a bullshit tactic to have prices seem lower than the menu price.

    albert180 ,

    Yes, we have sales tax too. It’s just stupid that it isn’t included in the sticker price

    SeaJ ,

    Sales tax is fairly rare outside of the US. Most countries have a value added tax instead. The end result is largely the same but a VAT has fewer incentives to skirt it.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    Sale tax is everywhere. And still, if its a static amount per state, why not include it on the sticker price so you know exactly how much you will be paying?

    Inventory and sticker work is done by computers, they know the price …

    SeaJ ,

    Believe it or not, some states do not allow that to be included on the sticker price since the sticker is there to note the price of the item. The sales tax is a tax on the transaction. You could probably note both but that might confuse dumb people.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    Thanks for the info! Ye, i think vat would be better too

    SeaJ ,

    Yes, prices on each item should increase. This is just a sneaky way of avoiding doing that. A bunch of dick head restaurant owners tried doing shit like this when my city passed a law making $15/hr the minimum wage with no exemptions for tipped workers. Restaurant owners like Tom Douglas had to raise prices but didn’t want to so they tacked on an extra fee and claimed it was a living wage fee but you were still expected to tip just as much. If I was certain that money was actually going to workers, I might be okay with it but there is nothing forcing them to give it to workers. Also, it is straight up admitting that you were paying starvation wages before.

    People expected tons of restaurants to close after the minimum wage went up. None really closed and prices are fairly similar to most large cities. Some place did love to a no tip model with higher prices but generally it has been the same where you to 18-20% on the cost of the bill.

    s_s , (edited )

    So, restaurants might do this to avoid the cost of printing new menus with new prices.

    Much easier and cheapers to just print signs at the table, especially if you think prices will go up again soon.

    But this looks like they’re trying to screw you.

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    That’s literally what they did and you just posted this comment flipping shit because they had the audacity to tell you it was going to the workers.

    Marin_Rider ,

    even in countries that actually pay their staff right, there’s no way those base prices don’t cover the cost of food, staff and overheads.

    then they have the gall to charge a “service charge” to pay the staff.

    THEN they have the gall to imply you still need to tip

    fuck that to hell

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    That’s not implying anything that’s just listing the amount that any given percentage would be if you want to tip the waiter specifically, you might notice that all the percentages are below what’s seen as the base for a good tip, save the 15% which is just at it depending on where you’re eating at.

    The service charge is for the pool for all the staff while the tip on this one is actually a good service reward since they adjusted price to facilitate a better wage, like they literally said at the bottom of the stub.

    Marin_Rider ,

    absolute crazy bullshit. don’t stand for that. restaurant price here what you see is what you pay. no stupid surcharges and no stupid tipping. fuck all that

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    Literally you’re being amgy that they told you money was going to the workers

    Marin_Rider ,

    spoiler: it’s not

    join the first world and just pay them properly without all your fancy extra charges

    KneeTitts ,
    @KneeTitts@lemmy.world avatar

    Or, you know maybe the owner could live without a 5th cottage possibly?? naaaaaaa

    SeaJ ,

    That would be the ‘take a hit to profits.’ Yeah, I don’t expect that either. What’s annoying is that it is always the very profitable douche bag restaurants that do this. Most restaurants struggle to make ends meat.

    Snapz ,

    Need a tip at the bottom - it’s a LOT of hard work to process those mandatory service charges!

    macaro ,

    $18.25 for a kids meal, $6 for lemonade is ridiculous. Don’t walk, run away!

    Pyr_Pressure ,

    The lemonade is the same price as a beer 🤣

    AgentGrimstone ,

    If this was my post, I’d be circling the whole receipt.

    FlyingSquid ,
    @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

    Hey, Restaurant Bill. What did you kill, Restaurant Bill?

    HappyPornDaze ,

    deleted_by_author

    •
    Rediphile ,

    I 100% would after offering to pay the full bill as indicated in the menu. I bet 99% of the time they would just accept it too. Only a sucker would pay a random tacked on fee they never agreed to.

    Chocrates ,

    Stuff like this is on the menu and posted on the restaurant windows usually.
    I agree tipping culture is insane and owners of restaurants use tips and fees to pass on labor costs to consumers, but this shouldn’t be a surprise to you.

    Edit: not you as in op I was responding to but “you” being whoever is going to the restaurant

    Rediphile ,

    A lot of times I don’t read the drink sections of the menu because I’m not having a drink. Or I might skip the dessert section. Sometimes the special that the server tells me about sounds so good so I just say ‘I will take that please’ without looking at the menu at all. I don’t read menus cover to cover nor do I inspect all signage on a window…but I guess I will now when visiting the USA since apparently that’s the expectation. If I did notice such a thing before ordering, I would just not eat there.

    And any mandatory fee is not a tip by definition so I see this as a completely different issue from tipping culture.

    mightyfoolish ,

    It actually makes me realize that I should ask for the service fee ahead of time to make sure I can afford to eat at such restaurant.

    That’s what a service fee does. Hides the true prices.

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