I recently picked up food from what seems to be a very successful and always busy local restaurant in Freehold. The quality of the food and experience dining in and taking out is always very good.
Now, I understand that businesses pay a sizeable chunk to credit card merchants and some have decided the best way (they think) to handle this is to pass the cost onto the customer if the customer pays via credit card. However, I’m definitely not in favor of this…accepting a credit card is and should be a cost of doing business. If your margins are tight, then increase the cost of everything on the menu $0.50 which will more than cover the credit card fee. Bake it in…don’t charge me an additional fee. But end of the day, it is my choice to use a credit card vs paying cash…I have an option to avoid the fee…until I saw this in the aforementioned restaurant…and interestingly enough there was not one mention of this one their website (that I saw) when online ordering…AND my total was X on my invoice and my card was charged X plus 2.95% (without any notification)–which I think is ridiculous and poor business practice.
Honestly, such practices have been in effect (at least in Monmouth County) since before Covid. Actually, I just looked up the thread where I first commented on such a thing, and it is from 2019.
Yes, it is tacky. Yes, a price increase of x on all menu items would be better than an announcement of a surcharge.
The surcharges are getting out of control if the restaurant’s margin is affected by a 2.95 fee maybe they need a new accountant or revisit their costs.
It’s truly annoying & petty
I don’t live or eat in NJ, but I also cry foul. Credit cards started to be accepted as currency in order to expand the customer base. During COVID, many places insisted on it. I also think it should be as much a cost of doing business as dishwasher detergent and to go containers. Bake it in, don’t “surcharge” me in front of my nose. It’s petty and distasteful.
Per the picture…the 2.95% is on all sales…cash or credit. Then they are discounting 2.5% for cash, effectively still charging 0.45% upcharge on cash. If this is not the case, then they need to have the Guest pricing notice reworded.
I just spoke to a manager at the restaurant…she tells me that only credit charges are subject to the 2.95% fee…ok fine, but that isn’t clear when it says “ALL sales”. But when I questioned the 2.50% discount on cash giving her the example of a bill being $100 and I pay in cash what do I owe you? She said $100 if you are paying cash. Ok, fine. so you aren’t paying the credit card surcharge but it certainly isn’t a discount in the true sense of the word as my bill was $100 to begin with and there is no such discount. I further explained that the notice (above pic) doesn’t have equal percentages., but she didn’t understand. The 2.50% discount for cash should say 2.95%…or simply the notice should be reworded accordingly to simply say credit card sales are subject to a 2.95% service fee. Cash is not subject to the service fee.
Something I was unaware of previously: Many commercial leases have the rent defined as a percentage of gross receipts of the business. What money is DEFINED as ‘gross receipts’ then becomes vitally important. In a restaurant, the menu prices diners are charged count. Tips don’t. Depending on the wording of the lease, surcharges may, or may not count. If they’re being separated out, odds are they don’t, and it becomes a way for the restaurant to raise prices without inadvertently raising their own rent.
Not necessarily so
Federici’s in Freehold only takes cash they have been around over 100 years so cash is reported maybe not accurately but it does get reported
Nothing to add beyond what has been said, other than – as a point of comparison – in some locales policies like this are becoming (some would say are already) the norm :
Every consumer that has remarked on it dislikes the policy and thinks costs should be baked in, however every (every one that has defended it) owner that resorts to it says that baking in the cost would destroy the business (and can cite examples of failed attempts to do so) because … well, customers, by and large, are horrible at math. It’s the same with Hotels and ‘resort fees’.
Such a fee says, “We won’t pay our employees a fair wage so we are adding another surcharge to make up for it.”
I’ve worked two food service jobs: one was a low paying hourly with tips and the other is a much better paying hourly with no tips. While I made slightly more with tips, it is nicer not having to rely on them and actually being paid a “fair wage” by the company itself.
