Restaurant Customers OUTRAGED As Unexpected Surcharge Appears On Receipts
Restaurant Customers OUTRAGED As Unexpected Surcharge Appears On Receipts
Customers at Buffalo Wild Wings locations in some parts of Texas were surprisedwhenthey found a new charge on their receipts in addition to taxes and gratuity.
Then they read it andwereoutraged.
As News Channel 10 reported, it turns out that the Amarillo and Lubbock locations of the popular chain had attempted to pass off the cost of Obamacare to their customers in the form of a new tax ontheir meals.
That tax appeared on customersreceipts on January 1, the very same day that businesses who employ more than 100 employees began to beforced to provide at least 70 percent of their full-time employees with health insurance coverage.These Buffalo Wild Wings like tens of thousands of businesses across America were forced by ObamaCare to make a choice: cut the hours of their employees, raise prices on the menu, or take the hit themselves.The franchises, run by Howard Restaurant Group, made their call, and added the 2% surcharge onto the total of every bill.
Needless to say, given the unpopularity of ObamaCare, the fee didnt sit well with customers,and many of them questioned the managers as to why they were being forced to pay it.
At first I thought this was ajoke , customer Joey Keenum said. I asked the server, What is this for? She said, Its for the Obamacare cost.
When he spoke to the manager, they explained that it was their way of subsidizing the companys healthcare costs, which is something many conservatives have been saying for quite some time would happen . However, Keenum was irate about it and doesnt feel its his responsibility to pay for others healthcare.
Its just absurd that I have to use my after-tax money to pay for someone elses health insurance, he said.
The company released a statement explaining why customers were seeing the new taxon their checks:
Due to the Affordable Healthcare Act and its requirement of healthcare coverage to all full-time employees, the companystatementsaid, Our restaurant group has decided instead of cutting employee hours and raising food and beverage prices, to implement a two percent surcharge on all guest checks to offset the cost of the federally mandated employee healthcare with the least possible impact to the consumer.
However this did nothing to quell the customer backlash and the company was soon forced to overturn their new fee.
The health care surcharge at our franchised Buffalo Wild Wings in Lubbock and Amarillo has been removed, she said. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. Our priority is to always provide our guests a great experience every day so they can enjoy our wings, beer and sports.
The bottom line decision for businesses: fire your workers, or pass through the costs to other consumers. Many have done the former, or converted full-time workers to part-time status. Increasingly more are opting for the latter, with the number of part-time workers exploding to an all-time high.
Of course, NONE of this was told to the American people, when the Democrats rammed ObamaCare through by one vote.
As Milton Friedman famously said: Theres no such thing as a free lunch. Turns out free healthcare is not exactly free. When government provides a service, the costs to the economy, and country are always far worse than advertised.
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When he spoke to the manager, they explained that it was their way of subsidizing the companys healthcare costs, which is something many conservatives have been saying for quite some time would happen. However, Keenum was irate about it and doesnt feel its his responsibility to pay for others healthcare.
Well it seems that the employees are being provided health insurance from their employer (that is good), he employees' hours have not been cut (also a good thing) and the customers are being asked to pay a 2% surcharge on their orders to offset some of the company's health care costs.
It is important to note that the restaurant could have simply raised their prices in order to garner the additional margin to offset the costs, but decided to be honest with their customers.
Customers are now free to decide to be ex-customers or to help the company pay for the employees' health insurance with the modest increase in price.
"You'll get to read it after you pass it."
Of course costs will be passed through to customers That's the way it's usually done.
Of course costs will be passed through to customers. Is anyone surprised? The only thing unusual is that this business made it explicit. Most will simply raises prices without explanation
Very true, they're damned if they do , and they're damned if they don't.
Any business that experiences an increase in it's costs, whether it's raw materials, fuel, labor costs etc will pass all or part of it on to the customer. If they don't, they won't be in business long.
This is the same thing, except they decided to make it a separate item on the bill. Trying to make a point I guess.
Its legal as long as it is disclosed. There is nothing in the article to indicate how the restaurant disclosed the surcharge (most likely on the menu.) In any event, they could have just increased prices and not disclosed the reason- totally legal. I hope this helps!
M M
Actually it is
Very similar to a S&H charge as a separate entry on a bill.
But, the people who are complaining are doing the same thing. Do they really begrudge the employees at that establishment getting healthcare that they can't afford to pay for themselves? IMHO, 2% is cheap enough. I think they are just trying to make Mt Everest out of an ant hill for political hay.
RW...I agree!