New ways to rip off the customer: charge 3.5% to use a credit card.
This is apparently disclosed somewhere on the menu (the proverbial “fine print”), though I didn’t see it and I suspect the vast majority of customers don’t notice it. If you’re going...to rip off customers, the least you could do is to make it clear and let them know up front, i.e. before they get to the restaurant. They way, if they want to pay cash, they can come prepared.
Interestingly, the charge is applied to your check BEFORE you even indicate your intention to pay with a credit (or debit) card — the restaurant obviously knows that virtually everyone pays with credit cards these days. The restaurant is not cheap — how many people walk around with hundreds of dollars of cash in their pockets?
I’d also point out that the restaurant pays LESS than 3.5% to visa — thus, the restaurant is making an additional profit when customers pay by credit card.
This is a tourist area, and I’m sure they count on the fact that many customers are simply passing through, and thus the restaurant is less dependent on repeat customers than restaurants in a less touristy area. I would NEVER return to this restaurant, and I encourage you to avoid them until they change their dishonest, shameful ways. The only way to put an end to ridiculous fees and policies like this is to vote with your feet and dine elsewhere.More
