As inflation continues to hammer American consumers, you’ll be feeling the pain in so many new ways as companies try to sneak in extra fees to avoid raising prices.
Especially in San Francisco.
Yahoo reported how diners find extra charges on their check after eating out. Here’s what John Savage told them.
“When you go out to a restaurant, you start doing mental math, you go, ‘Well, we spent $60 or $70 on food. And all of a sudden the bill comes out, you know, 30% to 40% higher sometimes.”
It’s hard to blame restaurants and other businesses hammered by political leaders whose decisions to shut down economies during the pandemic was a crushing blow many barely survived.
You may have heard of “shrink-flation,” where portions are smaller, and now there is what is called “fee-flation,” which is what Savage was referencing with his restaurant check.
It is happening all over the country. The Yahoo story reports that Romano’s Macaroni Grill added a $2 surcharge at every location to help with “macroeconomic” pressures.
Restaurants not only have to deal with inflated costs of goods they buy, but there are also being pummeled by job turnover.
The added fees trick is something hotels and airlines have done for years; ask anyone who drinks a bottle of water in a hotel room or wants to store a bag in an overhead bin on an airplane. And now, restaurants have to do the same thing to ensure their survival.
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