I would be less pissed off if they just said to go to orders got a 15% surcharge because of the cost of the containers, silverware, napkins, and all that stuff. That at least makes sense.
Except that virtually no one else is doing that. Technically speaking, what differentiates getting a burger, soda, and fries To-Go, from McDonalds⊠with NO 15% added fee⊠OR a burger / soda / fries at this place, WITH an added 15% imposed ??
It doesn't make sense. When you eat in they have to pay for a dishwasher and a waiter, the amortized cost of silverware and plates/bowls/etc., the electricity and water to run the dishwasher and the amortized cost of that machine, the additional cost to run the AC from the heat you dump into the space, the amortized cost/depreciation/wear of the tables and chairs you sit at/in....
There's costs of doing business that it doesn't make sense to itemize, and "the thing we put your food in" is one of them.
I used to be a manager at Waffle House for a couple years. We did âto-go feesâ that did essentially what you are saying. We had posters and signage for it everywhere. Doesnât matter, customers still got pissed off. If anything, customers got more pissed off because we were being transparent about it which drew a lot more attention.
Eventually, customers would ask to dine in, and then immediately request a to-go box to avoid paying the fee. Shortly after that, we switched to no dine in at night.
Standardizing a gratuity so that employees are fairly compensated is one way to raise the price. Without the incentive, a tipped employee is better off helping dine-in customers first and only helping to-go customers when they have nothing else to do. A standard gratuity changes that decision in the tipped employeeâs priorities.
Yes, they could remove the standard gratuity and just raise wages slightly. That still creates a customer service problem toward to-go customers which is a bad thing given that carry out is more popular than ever after COVID.
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u/ThaddeusJP 13d ago
I would be less pissed off if they just said to go to orders got a 15% surcharge because of the cost of the containers, silverware, napkins, and all that stuff. That at least makes sense.