Restaurants adding fees

[jmc]

I don't like having to decide how much to tip while the cashier or waitstaff is hovering over you.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Anyplace that adds ANY fee's to my meal, it's the last time I EVER go to THAT place, no need to, there's plenty of other places to go eat..

SR

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We almost never go out to eat. Fast food or otherwise. It is ridiculously expensive. We budget $100/mo for eating out. So basically 3 meals per month.

I do cook a lot. And since retiring, was able to get the monthly grocery bill down to $375/mo

There are so many other things I'd prefer to spend money on.

 

[bdhsfz6]

It isn't just restaurants. I booked a cruise last fall and the travel agent suggested we buy a package that included gratuities. Otherwise, there would be an 18% surcharge on all on board purchases. It sounded good so we bought it.

Well once aboard, all the service personnel had their hands out anyway. If you didn't tip them, you got the table next to the kitchen, or a seat in the back row at the shows.

Just another way the cruise industry extracts $$ from your wallet without raising the competitive cruise price.

 

[Oaktree]

Just another way the cruise industry extracts $$ from your wallet without raising the competitive cruise price.

And let's not even get started on the BS fees the phone company, electric company, internet providers, etc. tack on their bills. Back when we still had (a very limited) cable tv, the "broadcast tv" fee was more than the quoted service price more than doubling the actual monthly bill!
Many auto repair outfits tack on a poorly defined "shop fee" on your tab, others charge extra if they need to use torches. Seems to me this should be incorporated in your hourly rate.

 

[LittleBill21]

It isn't just restaurants. I booked a cruise last fall and the travel agent suggested we buy a package that included gratuities. Otherwise, there would be an 18% surcharge on all on board purchases. It sounded good so we bought it.

Well once aboard, all the service personnel had their hands out anyway. If you didn't tip them, you got the table next to the kitchen, or a seat in the back row at the shows.

Just another way the cruise industry extracts $$ from your wallet without raising the competitive cruise price.

what ship line was this? We cruise alot, I have never seen their hands out, and most seating is always prearranged, I have also never seen a gratuity package???

 

[Torvy]

With utilities, it has long been practice, if not legal requirement, for them to detail the costs. Often, they are passing along government fees. I've got zero issue with that. It gets different when they add on fees and blame the government when it isn't really a gov fee or requirement.

My least favorite tipping is those pre-purchase tipping. Coercion of a tip like that suggests that my service may be poor (or worse) if I don't tip. I avoid return visits to anyplace like that.

As to tip%. It used to be 10%. Easy to figure. Since prices go up, why would the % go up, too? Tips should always be for good service, not a default. Once we had horrible service at a fancy restaurant in Vegas (off strip). We made a point of tipping the water boy, who was excellent, and gave a dollar or less to the waiter who was awful.

One of my daughters waited tables at a regional chain. They assumed 20% tip and took from her total to tip out the back of house, too. Effectively, if she didn't average at least 20%, she was losing money.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Saw this article a few mins ago. Had no idea they can just make up a number to use a CC for gas.

MSN

 

[Jstpssng]

The general store in a local tourist town where my sister had a camp used to charge rather high prices. If somebody mentioned them he'd say "I charge that because I have it and you need it.

I believe that the real reason was a bit more mundane, he had to pay extra for delivery since he was so far out of the way, which I can understand. Yet because he was such a ******** about it, I always made sure I had gas or would drive 18 miles to get it elsewhere.

 

[ultrarunner]

We have the opposite near my WA place… a small gas station with general store with a little bit of everything…

The folks are so nice… even letting oversized parcels be dropped off and offer free coffee that the locals really support it… gas is 10 cents a gallon more but keeps me from driving the 20 mile round trip to town.