4 ms·

It's unfortunately somewhat common these days and personally I actively avoid any place which does this. At least it's only somewhat common rather than the stan

by buzer 3mo ago

It's unfortunately somewhat common these days and personally I actively avoid any place which does this. At least it's only somewhat common rather than the standard so it's still possible. Couple of examples: https://sushiconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/sc_camp_fullmenu.pdf https://sushiconfidential.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/sc_... "3.5% Living Wage Surcharge added to each bill which allows us to provide the service you have always enjoyed!" https://www.pacificcatch.com/menu/ https://www.pacificcatch.com/menu/ "NorCal - A 3% surcharge (5% in San Francisco) will be added to all Guest checks to help offset the rising cost of wages and benefits. This is not gratuity."

patrickmay 3mo ago
Because increasing prices by that percentage is too hard?
- LordAtlas 3mo ago
  They're trying their best to make it seem that government policies and regulation compliance costs are responsible, hence the names of these charges.
  - ryandrake 3mo ago
    Yea, it's basically restaurant owners trying to get their customers involved in their political whining. Notice how you never see things like "Business License Fee" or "Restaurant Electricity Bill Surcharge" listed out as separate line items on customers' bills. Those are things restaurant owners have to pay, too, so why don't they get their own charges to customers? Why does only "Living Wage" get a line item on the customer's bill?
    - baq 3mo ago
      The elephant in the room would be an ‘employee salary surcharge’
    - xp84 3mo ago
      Hey now, let's not get carried away, these jackass restaurant owners want to make it clear, the "Living Wage" guilt trip is the tip part, and the fees THEY put on are to pay for "benefits like healthcare" and you're not allowed to consider it part of the tip. Nevermind that California doesn't even have a lower "tipped" min wage like some states do, so by supporting tipping, we're just saying that servers simply "deserve" more money for some reason than people who stock shelves or pick orders at Amazon or Walmart.
      - expedition32 3mo ago
        If it is hard to find staff the wages go up. At least that's how it works in my country. Although I will admit service is notoriously bad over here but in honesty that's secretly how we all want it.
      - AnthonyMouse 3mo ago
        > Nevermind that California doesn't even have a lower "tipped" min wage like some states do, so by supporting tipping, we're just saying that servers simply "deserve" more money for some reason than people who stock shelves or pick orders at Amazon or Walmart. Isn't this the thing the government is saying in California? They passed a law requiring restaurants to pay the same minimum wage as jobs where workers don't get tips, on top of the tips, essentially making it the law that people in tipped occupations have to be paid more than what can be paid to people doing any other kind of work. Unless the point is to get customers to stop tipping because a) the workers are now guaranteed the same minimum wage as anyone else even if they don't and b) they can't afford the tip on top of the prices that now have the higher minimum wage priced into them anyway.
    - robocat 3mo ago
      > Electricity Bill Surcharge "Fuel surcharge" on flights. Which should be illegal: the cost of hedging fuel cost risk should be included in any ticket price. A friend said that Uber was charging a fuel surcharge here in New Zealand, but that it wasn't passed on to the driver (who pays for the fuel). If true I would find that interesting.
      - lostlogin 3mo ago
        > A friend said that Uber was charging a fuel surcharge here in New Zealand, but that it wasn't passed on to the driver I did a bit of a dive on this and I think it’s not correct. I have a low threshold for hating them, after the reports of how females staffers were treated a few years back, but this new thing seems to be untrue. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128042303/uber-introduces-fuel-surcharge-citing-the-sting-of-recordhigh-prices-at-the-pump https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128042303/uber-introduces-f...
        robocat 3mo ago
        Great link. Sounded suss to me. Could easily have been a bullshit taxi driver, or a social outrage story. I should have tried to validate before repeating, sorry.
    - phil21 3mo ago
      > "Restaurant Electricity Bill Surcharge" Unfortunately you’ve spoken too soon on this one. I recently had an energy surcharge added due to the “Iran war” (as explained by the server) added to every check.
  - SoftTalker 3mo ago
    Well, they are responsible.
- fhdkweig 3mo ago
  If you want to claim "we have the lowest prices in town" in advertising, you can't increase the "price".
  - efreak 3mo ago
    That's why you don't say _in town_. That's verifiable and specific. You just say _lowest prices_ (nobody cares if you aren't specific), or add fine print that specifies a time/location (Amazon renewed: comparison price is the brand new version of same item on Amazon itself) or _only at $store_ (your competitors aren't participating in your branded sale).
- arnarbi 3mo ago
  Restaurant owners interviewed in the media here in SF are directly quoted saying they can’t do that because “customers would notice”, or think “oh that’s expensive, I can’t eat out twice a week”. These are arguments for including the fees that make the customer __still pay the same higher price__, implying that the whole point is that they won’t notice. And reporters don’t seem to even register the absurdity of those remarks or question them in any way. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-restaurants-junk-fees-law-19436419.php#:~:text=People%20will%20notice%20that. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-restaurants-junk-fees... https://www.kqed.org/news/11992412/californias-junk-fee-ban-begins-but-restaurants-get-a-pass#:~:text=You%20can%20raise%20the%20prices.%20But%20then%20we%20anticipate%20consumers%20will%20do%20what%20my%20husband%20and%20I%20do https://www.kqed.org/news/11992412/californias-junk-fee-ban-...
  - sieabahlpark 3mo ago
    [dead]
  - phil21 3mo ago
    It’s the same thing with any “menu” vs actual price. Airline baggage fees are probably the prototypical case for this. Airlines that did not display the lowest price during flight searches got outcompeted by those that did. This led the entire industry to change since it took an entire decade long marketing campaign centered around it (Southwest) to try to stay even. Consumers make irrational choices all the time, and this is one of them. They absolutely notice the final bill and complain while continuing to patronize businesses that engage in such behavior. Consumers would need to reward honest pricing if they wanted this to change. Or vote for regulation.
    - dzhiurgis 3mo ago
      More akin comparison would be charging for carryon vs condiments. I just did trip with family where our allowance was 8 suitcases of 184 kg total weight. Buying same on a budget carrier we used on our leg would cost more than flights itself.
    - arnarbi 3mo ago
quickthrowman 3mo ago
They need to price it in to the menu. I run Union electrical jobs and I don’t list out every fringe benefit they receive on an itemized invoice. It’s $163/hr with everything baked in. If restaurants want to pay a living wage, charge more money for food.
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]

by buzer 3mo ago

patrickmay 3mo ago

Because increasing prices by that percentage is too hard?

LordAtlas 3mo ago
They're trying their best to make it seem that government policies and regulation compliance costs are responsible, hence the names of these charges.
- ryandrake 3mo ago
  Yea, it's basically restaurant owners trying to get their customers involved in their political whining. Notice how you never see things like "Business License Fee" or "Restaurant Electricity Bill Surcharge" listed out as separate line items on customers' bills. Those are things restaurant owners have to pay, too, so why don't they get their own charges to customers? Why does only "Living Wage" get a line item on the customer's bill?
  - baq 3mo ago
    The elephant in the room would be an ‘employee salary surcharge’
  - xp84 3mo ago
    Hey now, let's not get carried away, these jackass restaurant owners want to make it clear, the "Living Wage" guilt trip is the tip part, and the fees THEY put on are to pay for "benefits like healthcare" and you're not allowed to consider it part of the tip. Nevermind that California doesn't even have a lower "tipped" min wage like some states do, so by supporting tipping, we're just saying that servers simply "deserve" more money for some reason than people who stock shelves or pick orders at Amazon or Walmart.
    - expedition32 3mo ago
      If it is hard to find staff the wages go up. At least that's how it works in my country. Although I will admit service is notoriously bad over here but in honesty that's secretly how we all want it.
    - AnthonyMouse 3mo ago
      > Nevermind that California doesn't even have a lower "tipped" min wage like some states do, so by supporting tipping, we're just saying that servers simply "deserve" more money for some reason than people who stock shelves or pick orders at Amazon or Walmart. Isn't this the thing the government is saying in California? They passed a law requiring restaurants to pay the same minimum wage as jobs where workers don't get tips, on top of the tips, essentially making it the law that people in tipped occupations have to be paid more than what can be paid to people doing any other kind of work. Unless the point is to get customers to stop tipping because a) the workers are now guaranteed the same minimum wage as anyone else even if they don't and b) they can't afford the tip on top of the prices that now have the higher minimum wage priced into them anyway.
  - robocat 3mo ago
    > Electricity Bill Surcharge "Fuel surcharge" on flights. Which should be illegal: the cost of hedging fuel cost risk should be included in any ticket price. A friend said that Uber was charging a fuel surcharge here in New Zealand, but that it wasn't passed on to the driver (who pays for the fuel). If true I would find that interesting.
    - lostlogin 3mo ago
      > A friend said that Uber was charging a fuel surcharge here in New Zealand, but that it wasn't passed on to the driver I did a bit of a dive on this and I think it’s not correct. I have a low threshold for hating them, after the reports of how females staffers were treated a few years back, but this new thing seems to be untrue. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128042303/uber-introduces-fuel-surcharge-citing-the-sting-of-recordhigh-prices-at-the-pump https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128042303/uber-introduces-f...
      - robocat 3mo ago
        Great link. Sounded suss to me. Could easily have been a bullshit taxi driver, or a social outrage story. I should have tried to validate before repeating, sorry.
  - phil21 3mo ago
    > "Restaurant Electricity Bill Surcharge" Unfortunately you’ve spoken too soon on this one. I recently had an energy surcharge added due to the “Iran war” (as explained by the server) added to every check.
- SoftTalker 3mo ago
  Well, they are responsible.
fhdkweig 3mo ago
If you want to claim "we have the lowest prices in town" in advertising, you can't increase the "price".
- efreak 3mo ago
  That's why you don't say _in town_. That's verifiable and specific. You just say _lowest prices_ (nobody cares if you aren't specific), or add fine print that specifies a time/location (Amazon renewed: comparison price is the brand new version of same item on Amazon itself) or _only at $store_ (your competitors aren't participating in your branded sale).
arnarbi 3mo ago
Restaurant owners interviewed in the media here in SF are directly quoted saying they can’t do that because “customers would notice”, or think “oh that’s expensive, I can’t eat out twice a week”. These are arguments for including the fees that make the customer __still pay the same higher price__, implying that the whole point is that they won’t notice. And reporters don’t seem to even register the absurdity of those remarks or question them in any way. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-restaurants-junk-fees-law-19436419.php#:~:text=People%20will%20notice%20that. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-restaurants-junk-fees... https://www.kqed.org/news/11992412/californias-junk-fee-ban-begins-but-restaurants-get-a-pass#:~:text=You%20can%20raise%20the%20prices.%20But%20then%20we%20anticipate%20consumers%20will%20do%20what%20my%20husband%20and%20I%20do https://www.kqed.org/news/11992412/californias-junk-fee-ban-...
- sieabahlpark 3mo ago
  [dead]
- phil21 3mo ago
  It’s the same thing with any “menu” vs actual price. Airline baggage fees are probably the prototypical case for this. Airlines that did not display the lowest price during flight searches got outcompeted by those that did. This led the entire industry to change since it took an entire decade long marketing campaign centered around it (Southwest) to try to stay even. Consumers make irrational choices all the time, and this is one of them. They absolutely notice the final bill and complain while continuing to patronize businesses that engage in such behavior. Consumers would need to reward honest pricing if they wanted this to change. Or vote for regulation.
  - dzhiurgis 3mo ago
    More akin comparison would be charging for carryon vs condiments. I just did trip with family where our allowance was 8 suitcases of 184 kg total weight. Buying same on a budget carrier we used on our leg would cost more than flights itself.
  - arnarbi 3mo ago

quickthrowman 3mo ago

They need to price it in to the menu. I run Union electrical jobs and I don’t list out every fringe benefit they receive on an itemized invoice. It’s $163/hr with everything baked in. If restaurants want to pay a living wage, charge more money for food.

deleted 3mo ago

[deleted]