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Taking a Stand on Service Charges


scottiddled

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20 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

In good places the 10% service charge goes 100% to the staff. I have absolutely not problem with that.

And in Thailand it is well known that 10% service charge is charged in almost all places.

You can ask before you order and if you don't like it then walk away.

Enjoy the weekend.

 

we have this in Canada too in some places, I believe it was a response to cheap ass diners not tipping waiters who depend on gratuity to make a minimum wage job worth their while..

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7 minutes ago, scottiddled said:

You're doing a pretty selective reading there. Perhaps my attempt to write it as a linear narrative wound up muddling what happened, but I think the context was pretty clear.

 

It wasn't visible to me on the menu when ordering. In other words, not on the front, not on any of the pages where the food (and prices) are listed, and therefore, when I got the bill, my wording that "it wasn't on the menu" was accurate. I was given a menu and read it from the front cover most of the way through (Did I look at the deserts? I'm not sure, to be honest.). I didn't see it. And I was looking for it. I wasn't fresh off the airport line, unaware that service charges exist in many Bangkok establishments. I didn't see "++" and not know what it meant. I didn't miss it due to laziness, poor eyesight, etc. And I wasn't trying to pull a fast one by seeing it but getting creative by seeing it elsewhere but realizing it wasn't on the specific page as my entree.

 

When I brought the issue up, the manager instantly conceded that it wasn't clear and apologized. She promised that they'd soon have a clearer menu. I thanked them for that and told them that it still didn't resolve the current bill, as customers are not liable for unlisted service charges. She then essentially pulled a "well, technically it is listed" and pointed to the back page of the menu.

 

While you might be confused and/or doing some clever online "dabaiting" by pointing out that I wrote:

and then wrote that they:

...at best you're splitting hairs. On a scale of deceptiveness, with 1 being totally transparent and 10 being not compliant with the law, what's sneaking a service charge notice on the back page? 9? 

 

It's a footnote without a footnote. A supposedly binding addendum after the signature page without any reference prior to you signing. It's shady at best, and I'd argue it still doesn't comply with the legal requirements for a notice of service charge. I wasn't ordering affogato or something from the kids menu or whatever was on the back page. I didn't get that far, and didn't need to. So when I wrote "there was no legally required notice on the menu," despite your apparent confusion, I stand by that.

 

But really...is that the important takeaway? The degrees of shadiness (or laziness, or negligence, or indifference, or greed, or whatever) a business will go to in tacking on a service charge? This place didn't strike me as actively trying to defraud customers. Maybe it was an honest mistake.

 

The bigger issue is that a service charge, no matter how it's disclosed, is deceptive. The manner of disclosure only makes it relatively more or less deceptive. If you really want to quibble over how deceptive a back-of-the-menu disclosure is, go right ahead. But that's really just slapping lipstick on a pig.

It was visible to you on the menu. You mentioned you saw it. Moreover, your premise was "it is not on the menu, so it is not fair/legal". But, it was on the menu. You defeated yourself in your opening statement. 

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7 minutes ago, meand said:

It was visible to you on the menu. You mentioned you saw it. Moreover, your premise was "it is not on the menu, so it is not fair/legal". But, it was on the menu. You defeated yourself in your opening statement. 

" f you really want to quibble over how deceptive a back-of-the-menu disclosure is, go right ahead. But that's really just slapping lipstick on a pig. "

Apparently that is what he wants to do.

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10 minutes ago, stevenl said:

" f you really want to quibble over how deceptive a back-of-the-menu disclosure is, go right ahead. But that's really just slapping lipstick on a pig. "

Apparently that is what he wants to do.

Wait. And please, stop the presses! I do think I understand now.

 

You mean, a company, as they were communicating a price increase (or some other negative form of information), put the info in fine print somewhere! Wow! How dare they. Facebook and Instagram would never do that and give themselves say onerous rights to use your videos and photos. Utility companies would never put a price hike in fine print somewhere where you wont look on your old invoices. This stuff simply does not happen in everyday life. 

 

This is just shocking behavior that i simply do not see in everyday life. I am outraged. 

 

But wait, op's argument is even better. Using the power company, he complains they did not inform him on the invoice. But they did! So, not only is this everyday behavior, and in fact business 101 and the way corporations communicate negative info, but they also did in fact inform him, which was his gripe to begin with. Tough world it is. 

Edited by meand
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I don't have an issue with a service charge if I know that the money is being distributed equally amongst all the staff, so that not only do the waiting staff who served you get a divi up but also the person who washes the dishes, the cleaner who comes in and makes sure that the bathrooms are spick and span, so in fact the whole team involved in running the operation. That unfortunately, is very hard to find out.

 

You could query the staff prior to ordering your food or whilst making your booking ?

 

I have a good friend who works in one of the top hotels along Beach Rd, she is customer facing and regularly posts on her FB account how much each member of staff earned from the Service Charge for that month.

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