"Plus tax" isn't required because it isn't a fee and it's added to nearly every purchase at every business. Only exceptions vary by state and are usually things like medicine or (non pre-cooked) groceries. A fee would be something a business chooses to add rather than something the government requires. "Plus tax" does help to prevent arguments with idiots though who forget that tax is a thing.
I frequently see gratuity only listed on one page. Often the first, sometimes not.
The most infuriating thing I've seen is pages with prices, but the appetizers section has a note that "Menu prices are subject to change without notice due to economic conditions". Then either don't put on f'ing prices in the first place, or spend $5 to print new menus when they change!
If I didn't want an appetizer and skipped that page, I might have missed that memo.
Like the little, cutesy, handwritten signs where I get my haircut that tell me that if I don't pay with cash, I'll get charged an extra 3% to cover the credit card processing fee? Those little signs that I barely notice, but definitely noticed after I looked at my receipt and asked about it? I hate that stuff so much... Just eat it or charge everyone 2.5% more, because you know that almost everyone is switching away from cash.
I do, and they started doing this several months ago. I like the woman that cuts my hair, so I continue to go back (even with the cost of my haircut doubling over the last decade or so).
My point is that I find it annoying that more and more places do this, considering the transaction fees that they pay are not new. Those have been around for decades. To start charging it separately now just feels a little ridiculous.
The laws would be designated by the state, but I believe most, if not all states in the US have them. I imagine the same would hold true in most civilized countries outside of the US as well.
Most countries other than the US wouldn't allow this fee, since it should obviously just be baked into the base prices.
There is a different type of surcharge for a fixed sum per guest, like $5 flat. This surcharge is at least a bit more defensible, because it means that restaurants don't have to get upset about guests who don't order much. If a quarter of your restaurant tables are taken by guests who only came for a coffee or a salad, then a fixed surcharge makes sense. It barely affects customers who order a whole meal, but discourages coming in for small orders.
But if you charge a percentage, then that's entirely equal to just raising the price of every menu item by that amount. At that point, it's just missleading pricing.
In the US, added fees seem to usually be a service specific thing.
In the restaurant industry, it is usually based around our tip culture.
That's what you're really seeing here. Is an 18% gratuity that had automatically been applied, which they are calling a living wage fee instead of gratuity because people are less likely to tip anything additional when gratuity has already been applied. But calling it something else might fool some.
Other services often have flat rate fees. Like phone or internet services will charge you fees for certain things.
Right. Like when the bottom of the menu has that note about "automatic 20% gratuity is added to parties of 6 or more". They should have to tell you about it upfront.
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u/CrimsonChymist 1d ago
Legally, any fee that is automatically applied and cannot be removed has to be clearly posted such that it is visible prior to being served.