Customers lash out over extra fees–but this café owner has a bold response
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Public holidays bring celebration, rest and a chance to indulge—but they also come with extra costs that can leave a sour taste.
Over the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends, many diners found themselves questioning those added charges.
The result was a heated debate that split opinion between frustrated customers and struggling café owners.
Public holiday surcharges stirred fresh outrage among Australian diners, prompting one café owner to publicly defend her pricing decision after receiving online abuse.
Brisbane café owner Ruby Rule revealed that despite adding a 15 per cent surcharge to customer bills over Easter, one of her stores still operated at a loss.
‘This Easter long weekend, I’ve worked every day, paid my staff holiday rates and charged customers a 15 per cent surcharge,’ Ms Rule said in a video posted to social media.
‘At one of my stores, we still didn’t even break even.’
‘I'm charging extra because it is a public holiday but I am still making less than [I would] on a normal weekday.’
She explained that one of her locations was overwhelmed with customers on Good Friday, another just broke even, and a third went into the red due to increased operational costs.
Despite the additional charges, Ms Rule claimed the long weekend did not result in profitable trading across the board.
Her remarks followed backlash from customers who criticised the surcharge, with one person even threatening to throw coffee at her.
‘If you’re pressed about paying 60 to 80 cents more on your coffee, then go ahead and throw it at me and make it a double shot,’ she said in her follow-up video.
‘Imagine running a team, covering wages, working the floor yourself and then going home with less money than you started with, because that is what I’m dealing with.’
The reaction online was mixed, though many commenters came to her defence.
One supporter wrote: ‘People complained of a surcharge, they should stay home and not complain.’
Another commented: ‘You didn’t ask them to come get a coffee … keep doing the surcharge, nothing wrong on public holiday.’
‘I went to three different coffee shops over the weekend and was more than happy to pay surcharge!’ a third person shared.
‘Grateful they were open and I could share quality time meeting friends & family!’
A further commenter agreed: ‘(Customers would) be upset if you were closed but get upset by having to pay 80c because you chose to open to give them the option to buy a coffee.’
Source: Tiktok/ruby..rule
Ms Rule was flooded with support following her firm response to the criticism.
Figures from money.com.au showed that Australians would fork out around $24.6million in surcharge fees over the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends.
Research indicated that diners were expected to spend an additional $98.4million at cafés, restaurants and takeaway venues across April.
The report estimated that the average public holiday surcharge was about 15 per cent, which helped businesses offset staff costs.
Melbourne café operator Dan Dick echoed Rule’s concerns and said public holiday rates made it unviable to open without the additional fees.
‘The award dictates that on public holidays, staff are entitled to double time,’ he told Yahoo.
‘Essentially, the casual award goes from $30s to $60s an hour and any full-timer gets a day in lieu.’
‘So it’s not feasible for businesses to absorb that.’
AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver noted that the extra charges could put a dent in consumer spending just before long weekends, but he still anticipated increased trading throughout April.
‘This may make some people a bit reticent and they might think twice about spending, but still I think most people would still spend,’ he said.
‘There’s the reality that, this year, it’s school holidays, people will be on holidays for longer lengths of period, which could complicate things.’
‘You can sort of think I would normally go out to the cafe or the restaurant on Easter Saturday, but might think, oh I’m on holiday I’ll eat in this Easter and go out later when it’s a bit cheaper, say Tuesday, so you could have perverse effects like that.’
Finance expert Sean Callery encouraged Australians to keep public holiday fees in mind when making dining plans.
In a previous story, we explored the growing trend of added surcharges and how they’ve been affecting businesses and consumers alike.
If you're curious about what experts are saying about this rising issue, be sure to check it out.
Click here to read more on the latest developments.
With public holiday surcharges sparking such heated debates, do you think they’re justified, or should businesses find another way to handle the costs? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Over the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends, many diners found themselves questioning those added charges.
The result was a heated debate that split opinion between frustrated customers and struggling café owners.
Public holiday surcharges stirred fresh outrage among Australian diners, prompting one café owner to publicly defend her pricing decision after receiving online abuse.
Brisbane café owner Ruby Rule revealed that despite adding a 15 per cent surcharge to customer bills over Easter, one of her stores still operated at a loss.
‘This Easter long weekend, I’ve worked every day, paid my staff holiday rates and charged customers a 15 per cent surcharge,’ Ms Rule said in a video posted to social media.
‘At one of my stores, we still didn’t even break even.’
‘I'm charging extra because it is a public holiday but I am still making less than [I would] on a normal weekday.’
She explained that one of her locations was overwhelmed with customers on Good Friday, another just broke even, and a third went into the red due to increased operational costs.
Despite the additional charges, Ms Rule claimed the long weekend did not result in profitable trading across the board.
Her remarks followed backlash from customers who criticised the surcharge, with one person even threatening to throw coffee at her.
‘If you’re pressed about paying 60 to 80 cents more on your coffee, then go ahead and throw it at me and make it a double shot,’ she said in her follow-up video.
‘Imagine running a team, covering wages, working the floor yourself and then going home with less money than you started with, because that is what I’m dealing with.’
The reaction online was mixed, though many commenters came to her defence.
One supporter wrote: ‘People complained of a surcharge, they should stay home and not complain.’
Another commented: ‘You didn’t ask them to come get a coffee … keep doing the surcharge, nothing wrong on public holiday.’
‘I went to three different coffee shops over the weekend and was more than happy to pay surcharge!’ a third person shared.
‘Grateful they were open and I could share quality time meeting friends & family!’
A further commenter agreed: ‘(Customers would) be upset if you were closed but get upset by having to pay 80c because you chose to open to give them the option to buy a coffee.’
Source: Tiktok/ruby..rule
Ms Rule was flooded with support following her firm response to the criticism.
Figures from money.com.au showed that Australians would fork out around $24.6million in surcharge fees over the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekends.
Research indicated that diners were expected to spend an additional $98.4million at cafés, restaurants and takeaway venues across April.
The report estimated that the average public holiday surcharge was about 15 per cent, which helped businesses offset staff costs.
Melbourne café operator Dan Dick echoed Rule’s concerns and said public holiday rates made it unviable to open without the additional fees.
‘The award dictates that on public holidays, staff are entitled to double time,’ he told Yahoo.
‘Essentially, the casual award goes from $30s to $60s an hour and any full-timer gets a day in lieu.’
‘So it’s not feasible for businesses to absorb that.’
AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver noted that the extra charges could put a dent in consumer spending just before long weekends, but he still anticipated increased trading throughout April.
‘This may make some people a bit reticent and they might think twice about spending, but still I think most people would still spend,’ he said.
‘There’s the reality that, this year, it’s school holidays, people will be on holidays for longer lengths of period, which could complicate things.’
‘You can sort of think I would normally go out to the cafe or the restaurant on Easter Saturday, but might think, oh I’m on holiday I’ll eat in this Easter and go out later when it’s a bit cheaper, say Tuesday, so you could have perverse effects like that.’
Finance expert Sean Callery encouraged Australians to keep public holiday fees in mind when making dining plans.
In a previous story, we explored the growing trend of added surcharges and how they’ve been affecting businesses and consumers alike.
If you're curious about what experts are saying about this rising issue, be sure to check it out.
Click here to read more on the latest developments.
With public holiday surcharges sparking such heated debates, do you think they’re justified, or should businesses find another way to handle the costs? Share your thoughts in the comments!
