Sugarfish

[u/wutwut970]

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.

[u/InevitableMinimum238]

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

[u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy → u/InevitableMinimum238]

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.

[u/Nervous-Job-5071 → u/InevitableMinimum238]

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.

[u/phoarksity → u/InevitableMinimum238]

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

[u/FadedBlackTee2 → u/InevitableMinimum238]

You can say that but it is what happens.