5 ms·

I haven't experienced the examples provided in the articles except at restaurants (kitchen fees) where I won't return ever again. I reduced the 20% tip to 15% b

I haven't experienced the examples provided in the articles except at restaurants (kitchen fees) where I won't return ever again. I reduced the 20% tip to 15% because of that. Sorry. My local municipality charges 5% to use a credit card to pay for automobile or property taxes. Insane. Its not just the US either. Went to Italy on a biz trip recently, and to my surprise, I was forced to pay a daily tax for every night of hotel stay, which had to be paid for in cash.

FFP999 3y ago
> I was forced to pay a daily tax for every night of hotel stay, which had to be paid for in cash. "I also thought it was weird that I had to pay this tax directly to the desk clerk, and we had to meet in a bar down the street for me to hand it over."
throwaway167 3y ago
Kitchen fee? A fee for the restaurant to cook something?
- morsch 3y ago
  I had to Google it, too. https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/kitchen-appreciation-fees https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/kitchen-appreciati...
bradleyjg 3y ago
My local municipality charges 5% to use a credit card to pay for automobile or property taxes. 5% is high, but so long as it is disclosed up front I don’t have a problem with this one. A merchant is entitled to demand a certain amount of money for what he’s selling, not 97% of that amount and then you and the credit card company split the other 3%.
- Eumenes 3y ago
  Its disclosed, indeed, but the problem is why is it so high? I can't recall the last time I've ever seen a payment processor so high outside of tax/government paid services.
  - bradleyjg 3y ago
    The interchange fee schedule is bizarrely complex. Maybe taxes have a really high percentage?
gs17 3y ago
My water bill from the city adds $3 for credit card. That's more than 10% most months!
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Do they offer direct payment from your checking account? If so, this is an incentive fee to do that rather than use a credit card. It is annoying however when the only alternative given to using a credit card is a paper check sent somewhere using a stamp (but that is where your bank’s autopay might be useful).
  - gs17 3y ago
    They do, but it's a "give us your account number and we promise to keep it forever totally secure and you agree to auto-pay" thing. They failed to get my name correct after having it spelled out multiple times, shut off our water because someone requested it for a different address (to their credit, they did turn it back on at the right address within a day after waiting on hold, and the person even agreed the name thing was funny, just not funny enough to fix), I just don't trust them to not make it a bigger issue down the line than the fee if I make that choice. I would gladly send a check instead (and yes, I'm aware the account number is on the checks), one of the only perks my bank has is the ability to send checks to pay bills easily.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      If you wrote them a check, they would also have your account number forever…so I’m not sure how this would be different. Auto pay works well for orgs that don’t want to bother with their own payment portal. Unfortunately the USA doesn’t hav something like the online pay slips they use in Switzerland. There you just pay any bill directly from your own bank’s portal.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  That's not really a junk fee since doing cc it does cost them a processing cost and you can opt out of it.
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
I saw a discussion about tipping on FB not long ago, where many participants were servers. One waitress posted "If you don’t tip at least 20%, you’re going to get some nastiness in your food next time." That attitude seemed to meet with others’ approval, too. So, in your case, you really would have to never go back.
- jfengel 3y ago
  People who think that way don't remain servers long. Managers absolutely do not tolerate it. Feel free to vent on the Internet but if you actually touch the food you get blackballed. Shitty tippers get brought up to management. They can get banned from restaurants. It sucks to get stuffed on tips, and a lot of places pool tips to spread the impact so one person doesn't get screwed. There are also shitty managers and servers have to deal with it when management doesn't protect them. But if you mess with the food you are done at every restaurant in the area. It gets restaurants shut down and charged large fines. I'm sure whoever posted that meant it. But they are going to have a short and unhappy career.
- Eumenes 3y ago
  If you include a 5% kitchen fee, and still expect a 20% tip, I ain't paying 25% ... The server will get 15%. I prob wont go back to that restaurant again if they charge ridiculous fees.

FFP999 3y ago

> I was forced to pay a daily tax for every night of hotel stay, which had to be paid for in cash. "I also thought it was weird that I had to pay this tax directly to the desk clerk, and we had to meet in a bar down the street for me to hand it over."

throwaway167 3y ago

Kitchen fee? A fee for the restaurant to cook something?

morsch 3y ago
I had to Google it, too. https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/kitchen-appreciation-fees https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/kitchen-appreciati...

bradleyjg 3y ago

My local municipality charges 5% to use a credit card to pay for automobile or property taxes. 5% is high, but so long as it is disclosed up front I don’t have a problem with this one. A merchant is entitled to demand a certain amount of money for what he’s selling, not 97% of that amount and then you and the credit card company split the other 3%.

Eumenes 3y ago
Its disclosed, indeed, but the problem is why is it so high? I can't recall the last time I've ever seen a payment processor so high outside of tax/government paid services.
- bradleyjg 3y ago
  The interchange fee schedule is bizarrely complex. Maybe taxes have a really high percentage?

gs17 3y ago

My water bill from the city adds $3 for credit card. That's more than 10% most months!

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Do they offer direct payment from your checking account? If so, this is an incentive fee to do that rather than use a credit card. It is annoying however when the only alternative given to using a credit card is a paper check sent somewhere using a stamp (but that is where your bank’s autopay might be useful).
- gs17 3y ago
  They do, but it's a "give us your account number and we promise to keep it forever totally secure and you agree to auto-pay" thing. They failed to get my name correct after having it spelled out multiple times, shut off our water because someone requested it for a different address (to their credit, they did turn it back on at the right address within a day after waiting on hold, and the person even agreed the name thing was funny, just not funny enough to fix), I just don't trust them to not make it a bigger issue down the line than the fee if I make that choice. I would gladly send a check instead (and yes, I'm aware the account number is on the checks), one of the only perks my bank has is the ability to send checks to pay bills easily.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    If you wrote them a check, they would also have your account number forever…so I’m not sure how this would be different. Auto pay works well for orgs that don’t want to bother with their own payment portal. Unfortunately the USA doesn’t hav something like the online pay slips they use in Switzerland. There you just pay any bill directly from your own bank’s portal.
throwawaymaths 3y ago
That's not really a junk fee since doing cc it does cost them a processing cost and you can opt out of it.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

I saw a discussion about tipping on FB not long ago, where many participants were servers. One waitress posted "If you don’t tip at least 20%, you’re going to get some nastiness in your food next time." That attitude seemed to meet with others’ approval, too. So, in your case, you really would have to never go back.

jfengel 3y ago
People who think that way don't remain servers long. Managers absolutely do not tolerate it. Feel free to vent on the Internet but if you actually touch the food you get blackballed. Shitty tippers get brought up to management. They can get banned from restaurants. It sucks to get stuffed on tips, and a lot of places pool tips to spread the impact so one person doesn't get screwed. There are also shitty managers and servers have to deal with it when management doesn't protect them. But if you mess with the food you are done at every restaurant in the area. It gets restaurants shut down and charged large fines. I'm sure whoever posted that meant it. But they are going to have a short and unhappy career.
Eumenes 3y ago
If you include a 5% kitchen fee, and still expect a 20% tip, I ain't paying 25% ... The server will get 15%. I prob wont go back to that restaurant again if they charge ridiculous fees.