Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/12/downtown-l-a-restaurant-sneaks-absurd-4-5-security-charge-on-bills.html
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4 Likes
If they really want to incorporate a ridiculous charge like this then they should make it a cover charge for entering the restaurant. After all, everyone in the building gets the same amount of security protection whether they are ordering a cheap appetizer or a full banquet.
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Perhaps Optional Security Charge upselling?
Yes it’s optional, but it would be a shame if something were to happen to your ________.
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For an extra 5% your food will be guaranteed 100% feces free!
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And in the end this bullshit makes it worse for the business-as the cost of a meal out creeps ever higher, fewer people will choose to spend their money on places that add superfluous charges to an already pricey tab.
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On the topic of service charges… When San Diego dining was on the upswing with better choices (that also happened to coincide with the rise of our craft beer industry), there was a restaurant called The Linkery that went to a no tipping policy. The owner instituted an 18 percent service charge instead.
The backstory and all that make for interesting reading. MOST people didn’t mind (I didn’t) though you can imagine some did. They did wind up closing in 2013. And they for sure had their distractors (see below), though I always had a positive experience there.
Personally, I think one of the main reasons they were not successful long term is that the owner was not a restauranteur “by trade”. Sometimes that can work out. But that is a tough business.
NYTimes from 2008:
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/feast/2013/sep/03/tips-lies-and-the-linkery/
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Pay in the restaurant business is so screwed up-in the end very very few people even make a real wage.
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It’s literally protection money. Be a shame if something “unsafe” happened to your dining experience.
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Things like this must work against them once it comes out (…doesn’t it…?).
The one that gets me – and I have (politely) told the restaurants this – I won’t go to a restaurant that requires your credit card for a reservation.
I do understand the BS they must deal with; but, if I didn’t go you didn’t provide a service.
Now, if I didn’t tell you ahead of time, yea I know that’s BS, too…
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I really hate these things. If restaurant owner wants to breaks down the charges for your meal line by line, I guess sure. Just let me know before I order what all the charges are and the only break down I would actually care about? I want to know the owner’s expected profit. You going to make a production out of showing the “security fee” or the “Employee health care costs” I don’t care. Show me how much you’re putting in your pocket. That’s the only amount outside of the actual cost I care about. You ask that though? and I bet they will get pissed off.
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I went there once maybe twice. Struck me as trying-too-hard and overpriced, in addition to the bad service. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. From another article about them:
Hahahahahaha affordable to our neighborhood. Good one.
Seeing North Park gentrify over the years has been so annoying (and they were in on the ground floor). Can’t afford to eat out there anymore, and even when I want to splurge, just today I was trying to pick up Poke there on the way home but since all the road changes there is no parking anymore. So I left. Buh bye.
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What use is a 4.5% security charge when it apparently doesn’t protect you from thieves?
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We had a similar instance of restauranteer BS in Vancouver (B.C…seriously no one knows where that one in Washington is…no offence).
Plot: Owner gets knicker in knot, lashes out, gets called on it, goes out of business, blames it on someone on the interwebz called ‘Deborah’, gets called on THAT, doubles down… pouts
I have a feeling that ANYTHING this owner’s name gets attached to in the future will belly-flop…https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/heirloom-vancouver-opinion
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I like the Japanese system of no tipping. Everyone knows exactly where they are.
In France the tips is a standard percentage included in the price, but diners often leave their loose change on the table. At least that used to be a thing, maybe fewer people carry cash nowadays, I hardly ever do.
Here in the UK, more restaurants have begun to announce a standard 10% or 12.5% service charge on the menu, particularly for large groups, rather than simply leaving the tip to the diner’s conscience. I don’t mind paying that at all, in fact I’ll up the amount a fair bit if I’m in a specially good mood. I’ve worked in a restaurant kitchen, so I know what a tough business it is.
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Oooh, someone tried to be really clever - and came up with something that was bound to stick out like a sore thumb, attracting unwanted attention.
Instead of using an old standby everybody is used to in such a way that it practically flies under the radar.
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Yes, but nobody really thinks of it as a tip. There’s just a line at the bottom of the menu that says service compris (service included), and the percentage that is added is regulated by law according to the type of establishment. I don’t know how well that percentage corresponds to what the servers are actually paid, but they are paid a living wage and have health care.
People do sometimes still leave small change or round the bill up if paying electronically, but nobody expects a tip or bats an eye if you don’t leave one. Though around Paris, a tip menu has begun appearing on card readers in some restaurants that draw a lot of tourists – I don’t know if that’s just a software default or a deliberate choice by restaurant managers – but if the server thinks you’re French or otherwise a local they usually hit “no tip” before they even hand you the machine. I know many French people who are militantly against this, as they do not want tip culture spreading here.
When visiting relatives in the US and looking at menus there, I am always shocked by how cheap everything is for the first few days, until I remember I have to add at least 25% to account for sales tax and tip. I spend most of my time in the US in smaller cities, so it’s usually still a bit cheaper than Paris, but I’m certainly not saving as much as the price tags would lead me to believe.
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No. Here in Japan (where I live), there certainly are restaurants that tack on extras (typically that ambiguous “service charge” of 10% or so). It’s not the norm, nor maybe even common (however that’s defined), but it certainly exists.
More common is the well-known “otoushi” at some places, a small dish that effectively serves as a table charge. Doesn’t matter that you didn’t ask for it; you get it and you’re charged for it.
None of these are likely to be outrageous in amount (then again, neither is the 4.5% charge discussed in the article), but if you’re dining in Japan and counting your yen, do check the menu fine print for potential surprises like these.
(Then, of course, there are the back-alley “entertainment district” bars that exist solely to scam the unwitting out of tens of thousands of yen for essentially nothing in return, but that’s not something the typical resident or tourist likely need worry about.)
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I don’t think this exists here anymore, but when I was in Uni and working part time in a kitchen, we got $1 less than minimum wage - as a worker in the ‘service’ industry, but only the full cooks shared tips, so I was just making peanuts. Then at the end of the year when I did my taxes, the government ‘assessed’ that I must have not declared my tips and were going to tax me an extra $600 - I had to fight that. Was horrible and stressful all around (except the cool people I got to work with).
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Kitchen staff here aren’t considered tipped workers, so they get a wage, it’s just usually crap. I’ve had employers tell me their “regular” wage was ok, because “you’ll be getting 15-20 hours of overtime every week anyway”, which was my cue to walk away from the job.
But they loan you an uzi when you’re seated.
