Additional charges on the bill
Discussion
Slowboathome said:
cliffords said:
We have a nice country pub right by us. Fairly young staff and chef and established and local customers. We had two meals in there last summer, not again.
Menu price is quite steep. Then at the bottom of the menu a 15% service charge will be added. At least they tell you. When the bill arrives there is a table charge to sit outside £5 and a condiments and bread sticks charge £3.50. I am not sure why we went twice but not again.
fMenu price is quite steep. Then at the bottom of the menu a 15% service charge will be added. At least they tell you. When the bill arrives there is a table charge to sit outside £5 and a condiments and bread sticks charge £3.50. I am not sure why we went twice but not again.
king hell. That's really taking the piss.I'm sure most people won't bother for a fiver, but multiply that by x tables over a sunny summer and it adds up.
Cheeky
s.Not so much additional charges but wrong charges:
Can't remember the last time I went into a garden centre and the bill was correct.
They never get the reduced plants right, and when they scan them they're always the wrong price. My mrs. always buys plants from the reduced section
and there's always a tray of plants to scan.
In Crews Hill yesterday and checked the receipt when we got outside and there was a £12 overcharge on plants and bird seed.
Happens all the time in different garden centres, the robbing bds!
Check your receipt!
Can't remember the last time I went into a garden centre and the bill was correct.
They never get the reduced plants right, and when they scan them they're always the wrong price. My mrs. always buys plants from the reduced section
and there's always a tray of plants to scan. In Crews Hill yesterday and checked the receipt when we got outside and there was a £12 overcharge on plants and bird seed.
Happens all the time in different garden centres, the robbing b
ds!Check your receipt!
vixen1700 said:
Not so much additional charges but wrong charges:
Can't remember the last time I went into a garden centre and the bill was correct.
They never get the reduced plants right, and when they scan them they're always the wrong price. My mrs. always buys plants from the reduced section and there's always a tray of plants to scan.
In Crews Hill yesterday and checked the receipt when we got outside and there was a £12 overcharge on plants and bird seed.
Happens all the time in different garden centres, the robbing bds!
Check your receipt!
I seem to get this with supermarket offers. I pick something up while getting other stuff, because its on offer or BOGOF etc. When I get to the self checkout it comes up full price. I can't be arsed to wait for an assistant so I just pay.Can't remember the last time I went into a garden centre and the bill was correct.
They never get the reduced plants right, and when they scan them they're always the wrong price. My mrs. always buys plants from the reduced section
and there's always a tray of plants to scan. In Crews Hill yesterday and checked the receipt when we got outside and there was a £12 overcharge on plants and bird seed.
Happens all the time in different garden centres, the robbing b
ds!Check your receipt!
RustyMX5 said:
Airlines
Banks / Building Societies
Oddly enough, these are the two industries where sneaking on extra fees is highly regulated.Banks / Building Societies
With airlines, if they quite that fare at £29, then it must be purchasable for £29. Sure they all love to advertise extras but you don't have to buy them.
Banks are largely the same. Fees must be obviously and clearly scheduled.
Merchant service fees are the ones no-one seems to be angry about... Probably because it's the worlds best worst kept secret. When you pay by card the banks and card processors (Visa/MC/AMEX) take a percentage of that money before the merchant sees it. So if you pay £5 for something by card the merchant is lucky to see £4.80 of that (often less, especially for low values) out of that he needs to pay all his costs and pray to make a profit.
Richmond Hyundai Southampton would add anything they could get away with on a bill
Couldn’t work out if it was intentional or slap dash
They had our car in for a week or so and forgot we hadn’t had it back between two rounds of paper work, tried charging twice for stuff that shouldn’t have been charged for once
I suspect most people don’t notice / too shy to challenge it
Couldn’t work out if it was intentional or slap dash
They had our car in for a week or so and forgot we hadn’t had it back between two rounds of paper work, tried charging twice for stuff that shouldn’t have been charged for once
I suspect most people don’t notice / too shy to challenge it
captain_cynic said:
Merchant service fees are the ones no-one seems to be angry about... Probably because it's the worlds best worst kept secret. When you pay by card the banks and card processors (Visa/MC/AMEX) take a percentage of that money before the merchant sees it. So if you pay £5 for something by card the merchant is lucky to see £4.80 of that (often less, especially for low values) out of that he needs to pay all his costs and pray to make a profit.
That's one of my biggest bugbears in life and the reason I still use cash in small, independent shops as much as I possibly can (while also buying from small independent shops as much as I can). If I absolutely have to use a card in an independent shop, I will primarily use a debit card as the merchant fees for debit cards are significantly lower than for credit cards. Cotty said:
98elise said:
Charging for WiFi is like charging for hot water. It should standard for a hotel.
Travelodge charge £3 for WiFi for the duration of your stay, regardless whether you stay one night or five.Free for 30 minutes every 24 hours
£3 for 24 hours access
£12 for 1 week access
£20 for 2 weeks access
£35 for 1 month access
WiFi can be purchased in advance on your hotel booking page or you can connect when you arrive at the hotel by simply selecting ‘Travelodge WiFi’. You can use a maximum of 2 devices for each purchase.
We are continually upgrading our network across our hotels, if you experience a problem accessing our WiFi service please call Virgin WiFi on 0330 6601141 – available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Alternatively, take a look at our WiFi FAQ’s. Please note that WiFi is non-refundable. T&Cs apply."
Edited by ninepoint2 on Wednesday 8th May 21:39
Lotusgone said:
Reminds me of a time a few years ago - OK, many years ago pre-internet, when I was ringing around for prices & availability of a couple of new tyres.
The bloke at one place said they'll be £90 plus VAT. So I asked what the price was - he said, £90 plus VAT.
This particularly annoys me when it comes to tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, joiners, etc),The bloke at one place said they'll be £90 plus VAT. So I asked what the price was - he said, £90 plus VAT.
most of whom seem unable/unwilling to quote the gross amount, even when asked to do so.
What I don't understand is that everyone (even VAT registered businesses who can claw back
the VAT at a later date) has to pay the gross price initially, so why isn't that the gross price legally
required to be quoted by tradesmen, as is already the case in places used by the 'trade', such as
Wickes??
Surely the fact that some customers may or may not be able to reclaim VAT is irrelevant as long
as a VAT receipt can be produced on request?
Sabai Sabai (chain of Thai restaurants around Birmingham) automatically added service charge of 10% (I recall) but worse still they also added a “carbon dining charge” of a couple of quid ish per person on top. Nothing on menu or anywhere to say they would do this. I have no idea what it covered and am suspicious it didn’t just go straight to the owner’s bank account rather than some environmental purpose.
I think they then charged vat on the whole lot (but could have remembered that bit wrongly)
And they charged £3.50 for a single portion of prawn crackers.
Won’t be going there again
I think they then charged vat on the whole lot (but could have remembered that bit wrongly)
And they charged £3.50 for a single portion of prawn crackers.
Won’t be going there again
Ken_Code said:
tim jb said:
Never been to a restaurant so those things don't affect me. Do i ever intend to go to a restaurant? No.
That’s quite unusual.Do you not eat out even on holiday, or when travelling?
A cafe, not far from me, has their till system, with it’s large pivoting screen, set to automatically add three levels of tip (which is common in the US, but then serving staff salaries, minus tips, can be very low). The three levels are 10%, 15% and 20%. You select the level of additional charge you are happy to pay.
Thankfully the staff, having just handed me a pastry or coffee, immediately clear that screen and I just get a bill for the item costs.
Very happy to pay for service, beyond just handing me something, however.
Thankfully the staff, having just handed me a pastry or coffee, immediately clear that screen and I just get a bill for the item costs.
Very happy to pay for service, beyond just handing me something, however.
dukeboy749r said:
A cafe, not far from me, has their till system, with it’s large pivoting screen, set to automatically add three levels of tip (which is common in the US, but then serving staff salaries, minus tips, can be very low). The three levels are 10%, 15% and 20%. You select the level of additional charge you are happy to pay.
Thankfully the staff, having just handed me a pastry or coffee, immediately clear that screen and I just get a bill for the item costs.
Very happy to pay for service, beyond just handing me something, however.
The MOT only centre that I use has a tip option on their card machine with the option to give a £5, £10, or £15 tip - for just doing your job. Thankfully the staff, having just handed me a pastry or coffee, immediately clear that screen and I just get a bill for the item costs.
Very happy to pay for service, beyond just handing me something, however.
Correct me if I am wrong, but in the UK at least, the whole point of a tip is to reward good or exemplary service, not just turning up for work and being average and surly?
captain_cynic said:
Merchant service fees are the ones no-one seems to be angry about... Probably because it's the worlds best worst kept secret. When you pay by card the banks and card processors (Visa/MC/AMEX) take a percentage of that money before the merchant sees it. So if you pay £5 for something by card the merchant is lucky to see £4.80 of that (often less, especially for low values) out of that he needs to pay all his costs and pray to make a profit.
I would suggest that your figures are seriously out of date.Fees for in-person card transactions are around 0.25% to 0.6% for debit cards, 0.3% to 0.9% for credit cards, and it is only business credit cards they are higher at 1.5% to 2.5%.
And so in your example of the retailer selling something for £5 the fee would be around 3p - not exactly significant and in the scale of what it would cost the business to deal with any cash payment.
When planning a holiday, Mrs. DG prefers to fly, personally I’d rather go by train (not a safety thing) I like looking out of the window. Flight booking websites, oh that price looks good, proceed with booking,
1st check bag
airport tax
fuel surcharge
environment tax
In reality it makes no difference how we travel, Mrs DG will sleep all the way. It’s difficult to argue in favour of the train, when the headline figures are nearly the same.
1st check bag
airport tax
fuel surcharge
environment tax
In reality it makes no difference how we travel, Mrs DG will sleep all the way. It’s difficult to argue in favour of the train, when the headline figures are nearly the same.
Spare tyre said:
Richmond Hyundai Southampton would add anything they could get away with on a bill
Couldn’t work out if it was intentional or slap dash
They had our car in for a week or so and forgot we hadn’t had it back between two rounds of paper work, tried charging twice for stuff that shouldn’t have been charged for once
I suspect most people don’t notice / too shy to challenge it
Forgot to add, you agree a deal, see the bottom line figure and it’s a bit more, there was some daft admin fee for buying a car. Just incorporate it into your bloody cost, bloody parasites Couldn’t work out if it was intentional or slap dash
They had our car in for a week or so and forgot we hadn’t had it back between two rounds of paper work, tried charging twice for stuff that shouldn’t have been charged for once
I suspect most people don’t notice / too shy to challenge it
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