Click here to view original web page at www.zerohedge.com
As restaurants across the country feel the squeeze from rising inflation, a tight labor market, and minimum wage increases on an industry with notoriously thin margins , owners are passing along the pain in the form of various fees tacked onto the tab, according to the Wall Street Journal . Fees for a “noncash adjustment,” “fuel surcharge,” or “kitchen appreciation” have been showing up on more bills lately. Industry analysts say this wave of surcharges is mostly being driven by restaurants trying to cope with the impact of rising inflation and a tight labor market on their bottom lines. In addition, Mastercard and Visa in April raised transaction fees for many merchants . -WSJ According to point-of-sale software developer Lightspeed, fee revenue has nearly doubled from April 2021 to April 2022 , based on a sample of 6,000 restaurants on their platform. Restaurants adding service fees increased by 36.4% over the same period.
“As the costs of doing business have changed, we’ve seen more merchants leverage this tactic,” said exec Peter Dougherty. The fees are effective in part because unless people are paying close attention, many fail to notice them . When the bill arrived following a mid-April dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Lizzie Stephens was about to grab her wallet to pay. Instead, she pulled out her phone to Google the “temporary inflation fee” she noticed had been added to her check.
“ I was just like—wow, now we’re getting fees at a restaurant, too? ” said Ms. Stephens, 34 years old, who lives in the Stockton, Calif., area. Inflation has hit the average restaurant operator to the tune of 17.5% since last year , according to NPD Group. Consumer spending in restaurants, meanwhile, rose just 5% during the same period.
These charges are nothing new. In February, one […]
They’re Trying to Shut Us Down
Over the last several months, I’ve lost count of how many times the powers-that-be have tried to shut us down. They’ve sent hackers at us, forcing us to take extreme measures on web security. They sent attorneys after us, but thankfully we’re not easily intimidated by baseless accusations or threats. They’ve even gone so far as to make physical threats. Those can actually be a bit worrisome but Remington has me covered.
For us to continue to deliver the truth that Americans need to read and hear, we ask you, our amazing audience, for financial assistance. We have a Giving Fuel page to help us pay the bills. It’s brand new so don’t be discouraged by the lack of donations there. It’s a funny reality that the fewer the donations that have been made, the less likely people are willing to donate to it. One would think this is counterintuitive, but sometimes people are skeptical because they think that perhaps there’s a reason others haven’t been donating. In our situation, we’re just getting started so please don’t be shy if you have the means to help.
Thank you and God bless!
JD Rucker
