new at 11 a decab county man is calling for transparency from a local restaurant after he says a fee was tacked on to his bill it's raising questions about what should and should not be included when you dine out 11 Alive's Caris belger joining us live in Tucker and Caris what are fol say in here Well Jermaine Smith said he randomly went to catch Kitchen and Bar that's this restaurant just behind me here in Tucker after work one night and he was pleasantly surprised to see was a live performer h
e did not anticipate having to pay the band out of his own tab daine Smith says he's pretty good with numbers I am a insurance broker and I also own a tax franchise um I assist others in starting their own tax business that's why he says he was confused when his last restaurant tab didn't quite add up we went out to catch it is a restaurant around the corner for my office um um in Tucker I looked at the receipt and there was a band fee an entertainment band fee and I was like that's a little wei
rd for Germaine and his guest an extra $20 was tacked onto his total a spokesperson for the restaurant told 11 alive a $10 charge per person is standard with live performers to help with costs and businesses are seeing costs rise according to a recent report from the National Restaurant Association 98% of operators say higher labor costs are an issue for their restaurants 97% site higher food costs and 38% say their restaurants were not profitable last year a Georgia Restaurant Association repre
sentative told 11 alive those costs can be passed on to customers but the restaurant should be upfront about them but for Germaine it's about more than dollars and cents why do I have to pay for the entertainment in the restaurant when y'all can just book The Band up front and we just enjoy it it'd be a pleasant surprise when you walk in instead of a charge or a feet and while it won't stop him from eating out he hopes he won't get hit with too many more surprise fees in the future you're lookin
g to have fun so you don't want to have to be consciously looking for extra fees to be on your on your receipt now an employee with cat Kitchen and Bar told 11 alive they do tell patrons about that ban fee when they make a reservation Germaine said he did not have a reservation but was still not informed about the band fee when he was seated at the restaurant back to you
Comments
Just be upfront about all fees, let the customer decide if they want to dine there with the fee added or walk across the street to Popeye's.
Imagine going to a full service gas station and the attendant asks "Check under the hood?". Then you get a bill for 40 bucks worth of gas and a $15 labor charge.
Nope that business is completely incorrect if you're charging for a band you charge at the door you can't just randomly add s*** on to people's bills
Have a sign just before the door. Also have the host/hostess inform patrons before seating. (or have a cover charge) either way inform customers before getting seated.
What a scam. You hire bands to attract more people to your business. I think that's a tacky bait and switch.
Cover fee at the door for entertainment, not just charged to the card. I do know some restaurants are charging for water, they bring it and put it on your bill without telling the customer. We were charged for 2 waters we did not ask for, each glass was $2 and they were about 12 oz. glasses, this was about a year ago. We rarely eat out now, about once every 2-3 months since the prices on all went so high, never chains. With what we used to dine out on, we spent on good cookware. Never pay restaurant with debit always credit now because of this crap, we can dispute the bill.
The best way to do this is just raise the prices and you get your fee for the band. When you nickel and dime them the customer don't like it..
Restaurants are responsible for paying for a band,not the customers.
They know they are wrong for not telling customers, they were just hoping that most customers wouldn’t notice. The fact that this made the news shows it’s not “standard” to pass on a live entertainment charge to the customer. It should be illegal to not have some sort of sign or note in the menu explaining this charge.
Now The question Is, how much of those 10 bucks per customer goes to the entertain ppl
Fresh air fee - $20.00. Napkin fee $5.00. Silverware fee $8.00. Coming inside fee $12.00.
Looking at the receipt it reads a state tax on the entertainment and taxes the "Service Tax" (Tip).
Back in the day this was known as a "COVER CHARGE" and paid as soon as you walked in the door
Remind me again why I am curtailing eating out. It's too expensive. This fee, that fee, prices raised on everything. $25 to eat lunch? Sorry, too rich for my blood. These places are their own worst enemy, it's one thing to charge a fee, but not disclosing it at the door BEFORE you are seated is shady. If one is told upfront, one has the option to get up and leave. But once you order, consume the food, you really have little option at that point other than to pay it and dispute the ripoff fee with your credit card issuer. Shady shady shady
BS it's managements responsibility to pay for entertainment!!
Put a sign at the entrance informing customers there is a $10 cover charge per person for live entertainment and that's okay. Anything else is asking for trouble with disputed charges and arguments about not being told about it.
My late husband and I were chased out of a restaurant by a maître d’ who was expecting a separate tip. We had never been to anything that posh in our lives and didn’t know that they expected a separate tip for seating us at a table that was part of their job description. We only had five bucks between us and he was not happy about it. This was in New York City back in the 1980s.
I wouldn't pay it if there wasn't a sign posted
When I go out to eat I always budget for what I can affoard and only order what I can pay for plus tip. I have to calculate what before hand I pay. If they added 20$ for a band I didn’t even know was gonna be there and was not informed I had to pay for then I wouldn't have enough money. Would they call the police on me for a charge I didn’t agree too and couldn't pay?
A Tip is due to service ..but if you provide entertainment it is on your business not my pocket