Popular restaurant under fire for secretly charging 'hidden' fees: 'What a joke'
- Replies 16
Members, we have to ask: do you feel like you're paying more at restaurants and for takeaway these days? We sure do.
Experts recently said that the gradually rising prices of food and fuel, as well as ongoing problems with the supply chain, are some factors that are driving up restaurant costs.
And since these economic issues probably take up most of your attention, you may have missed a few more hidden costs that have risen since the pandemic—these include the cost of eating out and getting food to go.
Take, for example, this situation that recently happened in Brisbane, where customers of a particular restaurant found out that they had been paying a little bit more for the meals and customer service than they realised.
People were furious when they saw 'sneaky fees' on a popular restaurant's menu. Credit: Reddit.
One diner at El Camino Cantina in Southbank posted a photo of the 'sneaky fees' hidden in the fine print of the restaurant's menu, and more than a thousand people have already expressed their fury and disappointment on social media.
'Additional service fees every day of the week,' said the complaining customer in their post.
According to the customer's photo, a little disclaimer can be seen that states the Mexican restaurant levies a 10% service fee on Sundays, a 15% premium on public holidays, and a 5% service cost from Monday through Saturday.
Beyond those, the standard fees for credit cards and debit cards apply, and there is a 'discretionary' service charge for parties of 10 or more.
Under the customer's post, hundreds of other users and fellow regular patrons commented, many of whom were outraged by the deceptive advertising and the unfairly excessive fees implemented by the restaurant.
'That's such BS; service fees shouldn't be a thing. Include them in your (menu) price and stop deceiving customers!' one person wrote in the comments section.
A second user agreed and said: 'There is literally no way to pay the price listed on the menu. It's not about the price, it's about the underhanded way of stating the price.'
In response to another commenter, one person revealed that dining at El Camino on a holiday would incur a 25% extra for parties of 10 or more. 'What a joke,' they added.
Meanwhile, another customer said that the service charges were a bit unfair since the restaurant doesn't offer much service to begin with. 'You order everything off a QR code… so what is the service, exactly?'
There wasn't much service to speak about at El Camino Cantina, since customers have to scan QR codes to place orders. Credit: Josh Woning.
The company that operates El Camino Cantina has already issued a statement in response to the controversy, explaining that the additional fees are required to cover the rising costs associated with maintaining the business and keeping up with inflation.
'Service charges are commonplace across the Australian hospitality industry and cover various costs incurred by businesses, including penalty rate wages on particular days and higher costs of operating at certain times,' said a representative.
'In addition, recent soaring inflation and minimum wage increases have impacted our business, which continues to be impacted by COVID-19-induced hospitality hardship. We are fully transparent about service charges, which are noted on our menus, websites, and receipts.'
When asked if it would be more reasonable to raise El Camino's rates by 5% instead of implementing a daily surcharge, the representative did not provide a response. Since the 'hidden surcharges' have recently come under fire in Google reviews, the restaurant's overall rating has dropped.
The outrage over the 'sneaky fees' comes only two weeks after a customer at The Bavarian Bier Cafe on the Sunshine Coast was left perplexed by an extra charge that was added to their bill.
Both the Bavarian Bier Cafe and El Camino Cantina are owned by Pacific Concepts, a major player in the hotel industry that appears to have adopted the same pricing policy at all of its locations.
Earlier this month, a company representative stated the daily service charge will be applied to all invoices for an 'interim period', but they did not specify when it would conclude.
What do you think, members? Aside from Pacific Concepts-owned restaurants (Bavarian Bier Cafe and El Camino Cantina), have you recently noticed any 'hidden fees' when you ate out or ordered takeaway? If not, this might be a good time to check for any! Every dollar counts, so we should know where our money is going...
Experts recently said that the gradually rising prices of food and fuel, as well as ongoing problems with the supply chain, are some factors that are driving up restaurant costs.
And since these economic issues probably take up most of your attention, you may have missed a few more hidden costs that have risen since the pandemic—these include the cost of eating out and getting food to go.
Take, for example, this situation that recently happened in Brisbane, where customers of a particular restaurant found out that they had been paying a little bit more for the meals and customer service than they realised.
People were furious when they saw 'sneaky fees' on a popular restaurant's menu. Credit: Reddit.
One diner at El Camino Cantina in Southbank posted a photo of the 'sneaky fees' hidden in the fine print of the restaurant's menu, and more than a thousand people have already expressed their fury and disappointment on social media.
'Additional service fees every day of the week,' said the complaining customer in their post.
According to the customer's photo, a little disclaimer can be seen that states the Mexican restaurant levies a 10% service fee on Sundays, a 15% premium on public holidays, and a 5% service cost from Monday through Saturday.
Beyond those, the standard fees for credit cards and debit cards apply, and there is a 'discretionary' service charge for parties of 10 or more.
Under the customer's post, hundreds of other users and fellow regular patrons commented, many of whom were outraged by the deceptive advertising and the unfairly excessive fees implemented by the restaurant.
'That's such BS; service fees shouldn't be a thing. Include them in your (menu) price and stop deceiving customers!' one person wrote in the comments section.
A second user agreed and said: 'There is literally no way to pay the price listed on the menu. It's not about the price, it's about the underhanded way of stating the price.'
In response to another commenter, one person revealed that dining at El Camino on a holiday would incur a 25% extra for parties of 10 or more. 'What a joke,' they added.
Meanwhile, another customer said that the service charges were a bit unfair since the restaurant doesn't offer much service to begin with. 'You order everything off a QR code… so what is the service, exactly?'
There wasn't much service to speak about at El Camino Cantina, since customers have to scan QR codes to place orders. Credit: Josh Woning.
The company that operates El Camino Cantina has already issued a statement in response to the controversy, explaining that the additional fees are required to cover the rising costs associated with maintaining the business and keeping up with inflation.
'Service charges are commonplace across the Australian hospitality industry and cover various costs incurred by businesses, including penalty rate wages on particular days and higher costs of operating at certain times,' said a representative.
'In addition, recent soaring inflation and minimum wage increases have impacted our business, which continues to be impacted by COVID-19-induced hospitality hardship. We are fully transparent about service charges, which are noted on our menus, websites, and receipts.'
When asked if it would be more reasonable to raise El Camino's rates by 5% instead of implementing a daily surcharge, the representative did not provide a response. Since the 'hidden surcharges' have recently come under fire in Google reviews, the restaurant's overall rating has dropped.
The outrage over the 'sneaky fees' comes only two weeks after a customer at The Bavarian Bier Cafe on the Sunshine Coast was left perplexed by an extra charge that was added to their bill.
Both the Bavarian Bier Cafe and El Camino Cantina are owned by Pacific Concepts, a major player in the hotel industry that appears to have adopted the same pricing policy at all of its locations.
Earlier this month, a company representative stated the daily service charge will be applied to all invoices for an 'interim period', but they did not specify when it would conclude.
What do you think, members? Aside from Pacific Concepts-owned restaurants (Bavarian Bier Cafe and El Camino Cantina), have you recently noticed any 'hidden fees' when you ate out or ordered takeaway? If not, this might be a good time to check for any! Every dollar counts, so we should know where our money is going...
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