Nobody like a surcharge, just make the prices higher or burgers smaller.....................................
Restaurants who want to live will be offering free drinks.
I fully expect any situation that forces a business to operate at reduced capacity to cause a price increase.
Government regulations cost money
Eating out is not essential.
I can cook better at home in a cleaner environment, less stressful environment, and I know what’s in my food.
Because we all know how opposed the Dems are to deficits and debt...
I’ve been doing take out and finally into sit down sports bars. I know they have had a tough time of it, my response, I tip extremely well. But...I will not pay a covid surcharge. That’s insane. Won’t pay it.
These people are not monopolists — not even close — and they need to cover their fixed costs; so the social media crowd should leave them alone. Galling how leftists have so little to say about a semi-monopolistic U-Tube that controls so much of what they can see or hear.
Businesses need to recoup their costs to be profitable. If this amount represents the cost of employee PPE/ sanitation it should become part of overhead and rolled into pricing as a percentage increase. Listing as a line item surcharge is a poor business practice (lazy) and leads to customer dissatisfaction.
The “stimulus” was undeserved for anyone who had not lost their income, either as a retiree, or as someone whose business was not closed by government mandate, or as one of their employees, or as a government employee. The money to all such groups was not money really needed, “essential” or necessary.
The only stimulus money that was deserved were to those whose losses, of employment, income, or business were created by the “lock down” mandates imposed by state government edicts. The rest of us did not lose our incomes and didn’t need a “stimulus”.
I think a big chunk of the “stimulus” has not “stimulated” anything. It’s gone into increased savings of us folks that were not among the people that lost their incomes, jobs and businesses. I understand their “surcharge”. They were forced out of business by government edict on the premise doing so was “saving lives”, “saving” our lives presumably. I don’t accept the premise completely, but I also doubt the government “stimulus” will ever recover all the losses of most small companies. As one whose income was not deprived by government action, I will pay the surcharge without complaint.
2.19 isn’t such a huge mark up on the bill shown; I think I’d be outraged if I was not warned about it in advance then suddenly confronted with the charge on my bill.
If I had been warned in advance, then I would make a decision to either get a slightly less expensive selection to keep the final bill within a set limit, decide that the mark up was not a big deal, or eat somewhere else.
Also with this bill...because of the unevenness of the surcharge( $0.19??!!) it appears they may be applying a percentage AFTER the sales tax. That’s dirty pool!
They can tack on all the surcharges they want as long as they are fully disclosed upon ordering. If not, there is no agreement to pay.
So would they rather the restaurants raise prices that will stay even after the problem is over or have it clearly marked so people know when things go back to normal the surcharge will go away?
The restaurants’ choice and option—as long as it is communicated up front.
There are lots of saps that will gladly pay these fees, thinking they are doing an altruistic good. Same people who gladly wear masks as a sign of #MeeToo! and political obedience.
Are people really flipping out over a $2 surcharge? Geez, stay home another month then. I’d pay it with a smile.
I am slightly surprised by the outrage over the surcharge. To each his own, but I understand that these businesses need to stay alive. I want to help them.
Somewhat related — for years I have said “I shouldn’t buy from China”. But I’m lazy and I’m cheap, and I haven’t made a huge effort — I just buy whatever seems like a bargain, and that means I have been sending money to China.
But I am now making a serious effort to avoid Chinese goods wherever I can. I accept the fact that this will cost me money. I will pay extra money for products made in America because I want to help American businesses thrive.
I remember the supply houses adding a fuel surcharge to everything back when fuel hit $4.00+ per gallon.
Small business profit margin is already a small margin. Now they have to buy masks and sanitizer/disinfectant and there’s labor involved with all that disinfecting. Someone’s gotta pay for it. Should be China but ...
Surcharges are dishonest, especially when they sneak them in after the fact. If you need to raise your prices, raise your prices. Showing low prices on the menu, then tacking on a fee afterwards is deceptive.
The airlines do this crap all the time with baggage fees and “no crappy middle seat” fees and other endless nuisance fees. They get away with it because a lot of companies have dumb travel policies that say “lowest coach fare” without taking into account these rather significant fees.
It all comes down to the customer doing the paying because he/she is at the end of the line. So, if you are on fixed income(or worse)then I guess that means you don’t visit the establishments that are tacking on surcharges. That is the only recourse some of us will have. The government never settles for less tax; in fact they are continuously adding to the tax load, so that leaves only one recourse for those on fixed income. I would say it all comes back to the greed of the government. That seems to be the start of any & all increased cost in today’s economy.
Only government can levy a tax or fee which is a tax.