A CONSUMER was left baffled recently after encountering two sets of fees at a restaurant.
They blasted the charges and argued that some added costs while eating out nationwide are getting out of hand.
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”This is about tipping and please don’t tell me to ‘eat at home if you can’t afford to tip,'” the diner wrote in to MarketWatch’s financial expert, Quentin Fottrell, recently.
“This restaurant has a 3% surcharge for credit-card use. Fair enough.”
Except, more fees started popping up this year.
“Now they’ve added a 3% kitchen-service charge and 5% container fee,” they continued.
“During COVID, I started tipping very, very generously, but lately it seems things are going loco.”
The customer asked the expert if they should continue to offer large tips despite the fees.
Fottrell advised them to head somewhere else if the fees made the dining experience consistently end on a sour note.
“This should be an elevated experience, preferable to eating at home because, as you acknowledge, you are paying a premium to eat out, paying for food, labor, lighting, insurance, building rent, and other costs,” he wrote back.
Then again, if the diner valued the experience enough for the added costs, it was still well worth it to stay.
The expert also noted that the credit card charge isn’t out of the ordinary from merchants either.
Except, the 5% container fee was an issue.
“If you meal is $100, you have to pay $5 for a cardboard container to pack the food that you choose not to waste?” Fottrell asked.
“That’s ludicrously overpriced. I’m not surprised that offends you.”
GOOD INTENTIONS
The money expert also noted that the 3% kitchen-staff cost was commendable, as it supports staff who are often neglected in the back of the house.
Fast Food meal deals
Here are some of the current value meals offered by popular fast food joints.
Taco Bell’s $7 Luxe Cravings Box:
- Chalupa Supreme
- Beefy Five-Layer Burrito
- Double Stacked Taco
- Chips and nacho cheese sauce
- Medium drink
McDonald’s $5 Meal Deal:
- McDouble or McChicken sandwich
- Four-piece Chicken McNuggets
- Small fries
- Small soft drink
Wendy’s $5 Biggie Bag:
- Junior Bacon Cheeseburger or Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- Four-piece chicken nuggets
- Junior fries
- Small soft drink
Burger King’s $5 Your Way Meal:
- Whopper Junior, Chicken Junior, or Bacon Cheeseburger
- Fries
- Four-piece chicken nuggets
- Soft drink
It’s clear that the owner of the restaurant feels they deserve the extra cash.
Fottrell advised the diner to ask the server if the fee does indeed go directly to the kitchen staff, which would help determine the tip amount overall.
“You can choose to tip the waiter/waitress 20% or 15%, depending on how you feel about that charge,” he advised.
Either way, it wouldn’t be the first time that diners have called out added fees recently.
MCDONALD’S MADNESS
A McDonald’s customer was left up in arms last month after they saw the cost of a $4 meal surge to $13.89.
The order, made through DoorDash, featured a delivery fee double the cost of the meal, estimated tax of $3.91, and a dasher tip of $2.
That made for a meal with almost a full $10 added on after the base price point.
A similar and “absolutely insane” situation happened with another McDonald’s customer in May, where a meal jumped from $10 to $25.
After a $15 meal went to $20, a Popeyes customer also thought it was “a joke” with the “extra fees.”
