• Bonehead@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The service charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps subsidize the staff wages so that management doesn’t have to while still seeming to have reasonable prices on the menu. Also, management takes a cut as it subsidizes their wages too.

    Edit: I get why this upsets some people, but the downvote button is not a disagree button. I merely restated the restaurant’s explanation in plain language. I’m not agreeing with it…

    • cerevant@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      If you charge me for service, I’m not paying extra for service.

      Call it what it is - a junk fee so they can make their prices look lower than they are. I wouldn’t go to this restaurant a second time.

    • Wermhatswormhat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The problem is, this is still decietful. If this is an issue then the correct move would be to make every item on the menu 18% more expensive as a base. Because now, they still get to say “oh well our prices are still low come eat here and get “X item” for “Y price” but that’s not true anymore because of the service charge. It’s just a way to keep menu items lower in price but increase the price at the end.

    • ilikecoffee@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sounds like it does much the same thing as tipping then, right? But then the receipt says you should pay the service charge and a tip on top 🤔

      I’m not American so maybe someone can explain this to me, haha…

      • Dandroid@dandroid.app
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        1 year ago

        I’m an American, and I can’t explain this to you. If I saw this on a receipt, I would write down on it that I’m tipping $0 because of the service fee and to consider the fee my tip.

        • Illegal_Prime@dmv.social
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          1 year ago

          If you live in a place where this is becoming the norm, that’s exactly what you do.

          A far more above board and less vibes-based way to pay.

      • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It doesn’t make sense to any sane person. But basically:

        The restaurant feels that costs have increased and in order to remain profitable they must raise prices. Instead of raising prices on the menu, take the canoli as an example, from $11 to $13, they decided to add it after the calculation.

        This means the customer may go out with an idea of what they would like to spend (maybe it’s a special treat for them) orders based on the menu, figures tip and tax… Expects to be out for $100… But surprise! You owe a fucking service charge.

        Now-- I’m not into this particular restaurant’s finances. Let’s be generous and assume they need to charge more to break even. This is the shady (and should be illegal) way to do this. They should instead raise prices and be honest with the customer what they feel they need to charge.

    • fishos@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Except you’re wrong. It is a tip because the tip is the service charge. The tip specifically is “we pay them less than minimum wage and your tip covered the rest of their service cost”. A tip AND a service charge, especially a service charge not levied because there were X+ people at the table, is double dipping on the tip. Both fees are for the same thing. Either increase prices or increase the tip(or pay your workers fairly and don’t expect me to subsidized the rest with these secret fees). Make them upfront and honest. This isn’t. This is a perfect invitation to say “you already charged me for the service, so no tip is needed, because that’s what it is for”.

      • dan@upvote.au
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        1 year ago

        The tip specifically is "we pay them less than minimum wage

        Not everywhere. Some areas don’t allow wages that are lower than minimum wage for tipped jobs. The area I live in in California is around $17-18/hr minimum wage regardless of if the job is tipped or not.

        • fishos@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Nice reading comprehension. The TIP is a service charge. You got that backwards buddy. So a service charge and a tip is service charge x2. Or you’re admitting that a tip is only for “above and beyond thanks”, in which case it’s not mandatory and this is again a scam.

          • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You might want to read it again

            Service Charges: A compulsory charge for service, for example, 15 percent of the bill, is not considered a tip under the FLSA. Sums distributed to employees from service charges are not tips, but may be used to satisfy the employer’s minimum wage and overtime pay obligations under the FLSA.

            A place implementing a service charge cannot classify it as a tip, even if it’s 100% passed onto the employee… a mandatory charge is not a tip, even if the restaurant encourages you to treat it that way. Certain states and jurisdictions tax tips differently than regular wages, and service charges are wages, not tips.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      that helps subsidize the staff wages

      Allegedly

      But If that’s the reality, I feel no need to add a tip.

    • Gork@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      subsidize the staff wages so that management doesn’t have to

      Yeah that’s a pretty shit reason to levy this fee unsuspectingly.

    • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In Australia this would be illegal drip pricing. JUST INCLUDE EVERYTHING IN THE PRICE OF THE FOOD! Is it so hard?

      Absolutely wild you also don’t add tax in the price in the US.

      Is it too much to ask to just be told the price upfront on the menu?