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Tuesday, May 07, 2024

California is banning hidden fees on restaurant bills

Some California restaurants are bracing for big changes to how they charge customers as a new law takes effect this summer that bans hidden fees from people's bills.

The state is cracking down on fees tacked onto the bottom of restaurant bills.
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It must be a California thing. We don't eat out very often, maybe once every couple months, but I've never seen any hidden fees here.

20 comments:

  1. Last month saw a "hidden fee" on the bottom of bill, it was for kitchen staff. BS

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  2. You didn't see it because it was hidden.
    The practice of adding fees was tried in Hungary a number of years ago and several of the embassies there began publishing a list of restaurants that engaged in the practice. Stopped almost overnight.

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    1. So explain to me how it was hidden. I check over all my bills and the only thing I see is the cost of my food and a place for a tip. Nothing else. When I get home, I check my bank to make sure the charges on the bill for the food matches the amount I paid.

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    2. Hidden in this context means surprise. You know the cost of the food, can reasonably estimate any taxes and tip - but you don't expect any extra fees, and don't see them until the check arrives.

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    3. Again, I don't see hidden fees around here. Everything adds up the way it's supposed to.

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    4. It's not on the menu.
      The menu says $10 for the item (example).
      When you get the bill, it's $10 for the item, $2.50 for the labor surcharge, $1.5 for sales tax, and $3.50 for the tip.
      Since you've already eaten, you're stuck with the bill, although you can adjust the tip to more sane levels.
      [At one time, the tip was for the item cost, not the total of the bill and it wasn't 25% either.]

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    5. I hit publish too soon.
      I felt I had been the victim of a bait-and-switch when I received the bill, and remembered the restaurant, to never go back.

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    6. *Sigh* ONE MORE TIME..... I have never seen anything like that on a bill around here. I see the price of what I ordered, sales tax, and a place for me to add a tip. Nothing more.

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    7. Wirecutter. You haven't seen them because you don't live in Southern California or NYFC or some other craphole.

      It's something that restaurants in those places do to keep from having to pay for new menus to be printed. And people will bitch if the $10.99 fried fish dinner suddenly jumps to $12.99 and then to $14.99. But add fees to the bill when they've already eaten? Yeah, they've done that. And if you don't pay, then the restaurant will get you for defrauding an innkeeper.

      Again, it's something not found in (mostly) Free America. Just something found in Leftist Hellholes.

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    8. Yeah, every single diner or eatery in my area is locally owned and I'm sure they'd go out of business if they tried that crap on their friends and neighbors.

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  3. I stopped eating at places that do this.

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  4. The only fees I have seen added to restaurant bills around here lately is an additional charge if paying by credit card. Since I typically pay with cash at restaurants it doesn't affect me.

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    1. I've seen that as well and not just restaurants but other businesses as well. I carry cash for that reason. The nice part about that is around here, the cashiers will tell you about the cash 'discount' before they take your card.

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  5. Awhile back I ordered 6 pizzas from Domino's to be delivered to a job we were working overtime on. At that time they added a convenience/handling fee to the bill...... So when the driver gets here with the pizzas I said I had a put the tip on the bill, he tells me that fee doesn't go to him it's a add on fee for the franchise so I did tip him ... I ordered the pizza because we were trying to finish a job before the weekend and the guys were working hard so it was kind of a treat to thank them and it was worth the expense....I understand that being in business is expensive these days but those add ons are bullshit
    JD

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  6. California is getting ready for the new Gavin Nuisance fee that may not be seen on the bill.

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  7. Watch for the "automatic gratuity" added to the bill when there are six or more diners in your party. I got burned by that one exactly once before catching on. If I see a charge for water, or for anything other than the food and (non-water) drinks my party ordered, I go all Karen on the manager and get comped.

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  8. Here in South Florida more and more places have the gratuity built in to the software. I stopped to get some take out the other day, looked at the bill it already had a 15% tip built in (Mind you, I was not being served at a table) so when they ran my charge card, there was not way to adjust the amount of the tip. PLUS (drum roll) there was a place on the bill to add an additional gratuity, with a convenient table of how much an additional 15%, 20% or 25% would amount to! Well, F&CK that place I am never going back and the food was not that great either. Also, a lot of places now don't tell you there is an extra cost for using a credit card BUT they will charge you less if you offer to pay cash. This is The Biden Economy. Enjoy it all you Libtards who voted this in !

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  9. What the hell is with hidden fees that sounds just so bloody wrong, I would not eat there

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  10. If I ever received a check that added extra fees that weren't explained on the menu, well, they'd back off or I go to jail. One or the other.

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  11. Restaurant in Kingston, MA added a "Social Justice Fee" to the bill, 5%. I kind you not.
    As everyone else has said, never went back.

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