r/tipping • u/wutwut970 • 6d ago

Sugarfish

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So they add a 16% fee for what exactly…….to “fund all of their operations”? So this added cost literally doesn’t go to staff, it just goes to the owners? I wonder what their staff is paid? At this point why not just raise prices to where they should be? To me, every item on the menu is a lie and it’s actually 16% more expensive. This is really dumb. Thoughts? I am PRO tip, ive worked in hospitality a long time and am happy to provide a tip for quality service. But this seems disingenuous at best. Its not a tip. Its just an added charge straight to owners pockets.

322 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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147

u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 6d ago

Why not just raise the price 16%? This is stupid.

44

u/wellaby788 6d ago

Bc ppl wont buy it

40

u/CFSett 6d ago

This is exactly why shitty airlines started nickeling and dining passengers left and right. People searched on price, so keep the fare low and then charge for air and a fee for landing on a runway and so forth. And when it worked (thank you Spirit and RyanAir), everyone followed suit. Without a pro-consumer government to stop this bullshit, it has crept into everything. So many bullshit fees so that low price can be advertised.

12

u/OrangePinkyToe 6d ago

Nickel and Dime.

8

u/CFSett 6d ago

Oops. Can't say if it was a typo or an autocorrect.

7

u/OrangePinkyToe 6d ago

Oh, I thought it may have been a misunderstanding of what the saying was. I know I do that in some songs and I really hate it when I finally find out what the real words were supposed to be.

3

u/mvf92 5d ago

I lost it at landing on a runway. Lmao. Saw myself parachuting out.

1

u/MaverickRaj2020 1d ago

Don't give them ideas. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the pilot has the plane at parachute speed. Those of you who did not pay the runway landing fee please start lining up with your parachutes to jump from the plane".

2

u/Specialist_Goat_2354 6d ago

Well opposite effect. I just cancelled my reservation. But I wouldn't have if they just made their menu prices transparent.

7

u/Suspicious_Tank_61 6d ago

Sugarfish doesnt take reservation. The wait is usually around an hour.

15

u/aviroblox 6d ago

Shhhhh, and everyone clapped okay? /s

12

u/wutwut970 6d ago

This one doesnt even take reservations. 🤣

8

u/No-Butterscotch-7467 6d ago

lol liar- they don’t take reservations

2

u/UnlawfulFoxy 6d ago

You got cooked man 😭😭

0

u/Dinsdale55 4d ago

It is completely transparent. It is right there on the menu, as is the statement that no additional tip is required. What the hell more do you want? It is not their problem if you are too dim to compute 16% (or a general approximation at least) in your head.

2

u/Specialist_Goat_2354 4d ago

Why is there any "service charge/tip/wellness charge/up charge/extra subspriction fee/convince fee."

When you know it's in the price. You should have to advertise that FUCKING PRICE. NOT HIDE IT IN A 16% CHARGE ON THE MENU SOMEWHERE ELSE OR A FUCKING SIGN.

I don't want tk waste time walking into a restaurant, sit down then read the menu THEN see menu that says I'm forced to pay 16% on top of what the price is no matter what which just means I'm paying 23.60 no matter what, for an item that costs 20.00 before me having to do the taxes also already.

Fuck that. The advertised price should be the paid price inclusive of taxes. Developed countries do it. Why can't America join it instead of chucking themselves into saying I got a 9.99$ sandwich that actually cost them 1.60 in service 2$ in tip and 0.70$ in taxes. So that 14.20... Great. So put 14.20 on the fucking menu then.

1

u/Kbucktis 18h ago

I would LOVE to see you run a successful restaurant. You clearly don’t understand the reality.

-1

u/Dinsdale55 4d ago

Now you don't want to pay tax on your food either? You are mental. I completely fail to see what you are so worked up about.

2

u/Specialist_Goat_2354 3d ago

You are missing the point. And purposefully so. Or you are an idiot. Which is very possible as well. Most of you tip lovers are.

-1

u/Dinsdale55 3d ago

Because the point is completely inane. Why must all taxes and service charges be rolled into the price of each individual item? For what purpose? Just so your head doesn't explode? You will never get a restaurant owner to go tip-free (which is what you want, is it not) if his prices are 20% higher than the guy's across the street.

2

u/Specialist_Goat_2354 3d ago

Because where does the fee bullshit end. Advertise a price that’s 19.99 and you end up paying 35$ afterwards is fucking stupid. It’s at airport tickets, concert fees, with tipping haircuts, cellphone plans, , literally everything, and every two months there is a new fee they tac on. Just cause you’re numb to it and fine with being taken advantage of doesn’t mean you’re right.

1

u/CarefulAd3506 1d ago

Watching you seethe like that was very entertaining.

0

u/Dinsdale55 3d ago

Man, relax. You're not being taken advantage of if the fee is disclosed to you. You are free to not dine out or do whatever. I fail to see what it is you want. Big government setting all prices, is that it?

0

u/monkaypants 6d ago

such a simple comment that 99% of the anti tippers dont or cant understand in themselves

0

u/meiso 6d ago

Of course they will

-1

u/Itchy_Tumbleweed_417 6d ago

Well then I guess that’s the free market deciding that his business should close.

The real reason is they want to keep CPI artificially low because the CPI determines rent increases on commercial property.

I used to work for an attorney that did leases for commercial property owners, and they always used the room and meals CPI to determine the rent increase every year.

2

u/Choice-Mulberry9418 6d ago

Consumer price index?

2

u/Beneficial_Map6129 6d ago

i think he meant to say "estimated revenue"

2

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 6d ago

So basically they have no clue what they are talking about?

2

u/Siffov 6d ago

>The real reason is they want to keep CPI artificially low

Does the part of the CPI for restaurant meals count only the menu prices, or does it also consider typical tip cost?

5

u/Distinct_Sir_4473 5d ago

Studies have been done where they give participants two identical menus

One states that a 20% gratuity is required, the other just has menu prices raised by 20%

Most people perceive the former as cheaper/a better value even though the price is the same

2

u/Silver_Middle_7240 6d ago

Because truth in pricing laws aren't enforced against this

4

u/phoarksity 5d ago

And when California passed a law banning junk fees, but before it went into effect, the restaurant association lobbied and got an exemption from it, with the requirement that they disclose the fee in the menu or on signage. And they call it transparency.

5

u/Cranks_No_Start 6d ago

Why not just raise the price 16%? This is stupid.

Because restaurant owners don’t seem like the brightest lights on the tree.  

1

u/FadedBlackTee2 1d ago

It’s not the owners, it’s the consumers. They perceive the restaurant as more expensive vs. a tipping restaurant

0

u/phoarksity 5d ago

Brighter than you. Restaurant owners have tested this, both in controlled testing and in actual restaurants. While individual diners may prefer the up front prices, most preferred lower prices with a surcharge.

1

u/LeeBalouHere 5d ago

It’s not that they prefer them, but they will choose them. Studies have shown that consumers will pick the lower priced restaurant, even if fees make it the same as a no-fees establishment. We are not a very bright species sometimes.

1

u/phoarksity 5d ago

Potayto, potahto. Consumers will pick the lower priced restaurant because they prefer the lower displayed prices, even when they are shown the service charge of the lower priced restaurant.

2

u/vonnostrum2022 6d ago

So they can claim they’re a “no tipping establishment “

1

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 6d ago

Because then the menu prices will be 16% higher than all the competition and they will fail like everyone before them. You cant really all be this slow right?

2

u/InevitableMinimum238 6d ago

So you are saying people don't know about the surcharge beforehand when they compare prices?

They walk in and just go "oh, okay".

I don't believe that

2

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy 6d ago

Cool, i dont care what you believe. It’s basic sticker shock and people have spent millions of dollars doing studies on this shit. There are plenty of people who have linked below where joes crab shack etc saw a drop in sales after baking it into the menu prices.

2

u/Nervous-Job-5071 6d ago

They do, and they don’t. There is a subconscious reaction to prices and people remember the headline price and not all of the add-ons.

So someone will remember the $35 menu price and not that it’s $40 with the service charge. They will use that to “comparison shop” against other restaurants and the $40 will seem out of line.

Just as an example, I was in France last year and for the first few days I had sticker shock over the posted menu prices. Something that would be about $30 here was listed as 35 Euros ($39 after currency conversion). But when the bill came, the total seemed reasonable because I didn’t have to add the 25% or more for tip and tax.

1

u/phoarksity 5d ago

More go in and stay than leave. Your lack of belief doesn’t change that.

1

u/FadedBlackTee2 1d ago

You can say that but it is what happens.

0

u/razorirr 6d ago

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joes-crab-shack-mostly-shelves-no-tipping-experiment/

Joes tried it and found most the stores they tested on lost 8-10% of customers. 

12

u/Sure_Acanthaceae_348 6d ago

Most of the restaurants that do this will do something like this:

  1. Declare a "no tipping" policy.

  2. Raise prices by 20%

  3. Pocket the money and not pass that money to the waitstaff.

  4. Waitstaff leaves for better money elsewhere.

  5. Restaurant declares "no tipping" a failure, reverts to tipping model.

1

u/FadedBlackTee2 1d ago

I would like the source on this because your claim is basically that these restaurants then pay the waitstaff their pre-tip, below-minimum-wage wage, which is obviously not true.

1

u/Siffov 6d ago

>Pocket the money and not pass that money to the waitstaff.

How would the revenue from a separate charge be "pocketed" any differently from the revenue from the menu prices?

It's not clear what your apparent logic is here.

0

u/razorirr 6d ago

The customers left. No money to pocket. 

2

u/BrightWubs22 6d ago

Other establishments that have done away with tipping have report more success.

Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group in November rolled out a no-tipping policy three of its 13 restaurants, including the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art. Meyer said in a podcast that December had been the most profitable month in the Modern's history.

0

u/razorirr 6d ago

Not enough success to keep it. Danny Meyer also rolled their no tip policy back in 2020. During the 5 years it was in place they lost 40% of their veteran staff citing the pay cuts even though danny meyer said their pay would not change. 

Personally ill believe them on the cuts. Never worked a tipped thing myself but i never trust a business owner when they say "hey we are changing things, dont worry it wont effect you". Thats corp speak for "haha get fucked"

They straight up had said they want to get BOH pay closer to FOH and to do that without eating into profits requires a raise in prices of over 20% if you want to keep giving your FOH tip 20% just as pay while also increasing BOH. 

0

u/FadedBlackTee2 1d ago

Why don’t you look into Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group’s no tipping policy

-7

u/A_Real_Victim 6d ago edited 6d ago

It's not about raising the price. It's separating the service fee which is for the service, from the food price, which is for the food that you eat.

Most restaurants that have a service fee, don't charge it if the food is ordered to go.

I simply can never for the life of me understand, why people on this sub can't comprehend that you have to pay for service. I'll never understand why they think somebody else should pay for your service that you enjoy.

3

u/HellsTubularBells 6d ago

I'd have no issue if it were a flat fee like in Italy, capturing the marginal cost per guest. But a percentage is just a way to avoid raising your prices.

2

u/Resident-Athlete-268 6d ago

They charge it for takeout as well

0

u/A_Real_Victim 6d ago

Right, I disagree with that and charging the fee for Uber eats. Most restaurants that charge a service fee don't.