The FTC is trying to crack down on "junk fees." Restaurants are fighting to keep fees and surcharges on their checks.

Lawmakers want to crack down on “junk fees,” but restaurants are trying to stay out of the fight.

Surcharges or fees covering everything from credit card processing to gratuities to “inflation” have become more popular on restaurant checks in recent years.

Last year, 15% of restaurant owners added surcharges or fees to checks because of higher costs, according to the National Restaurant Association. In the second quarter, 3.7% of restaurant transactions processed by Square included a service fee, more than double the beginning of 2022, according to a recent report from the company.

Opponents of the practice say those fees and surcharges may surprise customers, hoodwinking them into paying more for their meals at a time when their wallets are already feeling thin. Fed-up diners compiled spreadsheets via Reddit of restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago and D.C. charging hidden fees. Even the Onion took a swing at the practice, publishing a satirical story in May with the headline “Restaurant Check Includes 3% Surcharge To Provide Owner’s Sugar Baby With Birkin.”

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    76·
    21 days ago

    Am I the only one? The whole thing of charging 4% if someone’s paying by credit card, because that’s what it costs to run their credit card, makes perfect sense to me.

    Maybe it is because I used to be involved with a business that paid credit card fees. What we eventually wound up doing was publishing prices that were nice round numbers that roughly included the CC fees, giving a discount below the published prices for cash payments, and including a separate 3% CC fee onto custom quotes that were itemized, if people were paying with a card. That seemed like a pretty solid system. But yeah I definitely get it if a restaurant wants to say that there’s a certain percent fee if you’re paying with a card.

    “Cost of living adjustment” can fuck off though

    • AlwaysTheir@lemmy.oneEnglish
      111·
      21 days ago

      Cash discount is the way to go. Price is the price but offering discounts is fine.

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      21 days ago

      Keep in mind, these “service charges” are usually double to triple what the actual thing costs…

    • 5opn0o30@lemmy.world
      2·
      20 days ago

      Cash has fees associated with it too when you have a business bank account. It’s probably not a as high but might be now that there is so much cashless.

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
        11·
        20 days ago

        ?

        What do you mean? Depositing $100 has always credited me $100. There are monthly fees and etc associated with the account sometimes, but they are irrespective of whether you’re depositing cash.

        Usually what we would be trying to motivate people towards is ACH instead of credit card (very low fee but still everything automatic, not a pain in the ass like cash is). But idk of any cash fees associated with any business account I’ve ever been involved with.