144

Chain restaurant fees are getting absurd (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by ArtVandelay@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world

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I got this fun fee after trying to order takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings (yes I'm naming and shaming). How exactly does adding a dollar help you operate takeout? It's literally less work than waiting on a table. This is nothing more than a shameful cash grab to pad profits.

I cancelled my order and got local street tacos instead.

EDIT: Look what I found this morning, lol https://www.today.com/food/restaurants/buffalo-wild-wings-takeout-fee-backlash-complaint-rcna90228

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[-] tpihkal@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

You voted with your wallet. That's how capitalism is supposed to work.

[-] ToxicHyena@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 years ago

except actual voting is 1 person = 1 vote. shareholders, corporate conglomerates, and lobbyists have made it that 1 person gets millions upon billions of votes. when we do vote with our wallets and buy from the places we want to support, the corporations always win in the end. either by buying them out, or because what we supported decided to cater to shareholders instead of customers. just look at what happened to reddit

[-] ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 years ago

If capitalism worked Buffalo Wild Wings wouldn’t exist. Trash food. Go to a local pub or something.

[-] IHeartBadCode@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago

Capitalism does work in the voting with your wallet. However there's two things that tend to get in the way. Laziness and mergers. Either customers don't care and/or all your other opinions got bought out.

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[-] blueskiesoc@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

We don't have pubs in the area next to my local BWW. Lots of places don't have pubs.

[-] ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

Ya that makes sense.

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[-] Nougat@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

That's how free markets work. Free markets and capitalism are different things.

[-] Venutianxspring@lemmy.fmhy.ml 11 points 2 years ago

Ah convenience fees. I love paying more money for causing less work. Ticket master, oh these digital tickets that will be distributed immediately will have an extra $14 fee... Per ticket!

[-] Zak@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

It’s literally less work than waiting on a table.

It's not as if they're paying their waitstaff normal minimum wage in most states; tipped employees can be paid less if the tips make up for it.

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[-] s1mplyme@kbin.social 8 points 2 years ago

Tiping culture has gotten wildly out of hand

[-] dune-@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

I hate when restaurants force me to tipe

[-] lankrypt0@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

Over COVID I tipped 20-25% times we're tough for everybody and service workers kept it all going. But in other words back to normal I've made a conscious effort to put it back in the 15 to 20 range.

And everyone wants a tip, even just picking up food you're asked to tip.

[-] downpunxx@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Cost of takeout bags, containers, IT, all that jazz, the company believes it should be able to pass on to the customer without raising it's menu prices. I don't know it's a classic "cash grab" so much as a business attempting to recoup as much as it can from a sale. Last time I checked BFF wasn't doing all that great. But in the end, I agree completely with you in that these Fees are so fucking annoying, one after another, never ending.

[-] ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Yeah, and that was on top of having it "suggest" a 25% tip, which I had to manually type in a custom amt of 0. I'm not tipping for goddamn takeout ffs

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[-] GnothiSeauton@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Cost of takeout bags, containers, IT, all that jazz,

And then we subtract the cost of plates, dishwashers, chairs, menus, tables, IT for their internal POS and seating systems... gosh, sounds like I should be getting a discount!

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[-] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

That’s crap too because of you dine in and have leftovers they don’t charge for a take home container. They didn’t have to wash plates or silverware. It should wash out.

[-] wotsit_sandwich@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

McDonalds is especially egregious recently. Time was you could get a set for ¥500 (about 5 dollars) Then suddenly all the menu items went up to ¥700 - ¥900. That starts to get very very close to the alternatives which are much better. The only competitive edge they had was price really.

[-] nostalgicgamerz@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

“Yes I’m naming and shaming”

God i love not being on Reddit

[-] Bobo_Palermo@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

I grabbed a single burger at Wendy's last weekend and it was $6.50. That was my last trip to Wendy's....I expected half that!

[-] wizard_cat@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago

I have to say, where I live Wendy's is actually cheaper than McDonald's, so if I'm craving a cheeseburger I hit up Wendy's instead. But yeah prices for fast food are absurd nowadays.

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[-] ProfessorZhu 5 points 2 years ago

Can lemmy please not be the curmugenoy spot where people whine about restaurants? Please?

[-] solarvector@lemmy.fmhy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

This is a community dedicated to what is... mildly irritating.

[-] GaryPonderosa@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

It can be, but it seems unlikely. Too many r/antiwork users are here already.

[-] tal@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Lemmy and kbin have a bunch of sublemmys/magazines, and there are probably going to be a lot more.

You could maybe argue that !mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world shouldn't have that, but anything and everything is going to show up somewhere on the Fediverse.

[-] Distributed@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

This may be imposed by the take out provider. Some states/municipalities also tack on extra fees

[-] ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

There is no provider. This is me, driving to the restaurant, walking to the counter, and getting my food.

[-] Distributed@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Payment provider. BWW may have a contract with a payment provider, in which they don't pay the fee to use this payment platform for a flat fee of $1 per.

This is of course, all speculation.

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

For only takeout orders?

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[-] speaker_hat@lemmy.one 4 points 2 years ago

As a non-US citizen, this is a ridiculous greed.

[-] NuclearArmWrestling@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

As a US citizen, this is a ridiculous greed.

[-] riktor@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

I haven't ordered from BWW in a few years but that is shameful what some of these corporations will add in "fees" to see how much they can nickel and dime their consumer.

[-] GaryPonderosa@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

It's a charge for the container your takeout food went into. They're a significant expense, especially if it's any type of sustainable packaging. This is not new. It has been a thing since at least the early 2000s.

[-] LillianVS@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

I'd disagree with that there, these things are bought in bulk for literal pennies from wholesalers

[-] GaryPonderosa@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I have never seen that style of container for takeout in my life and I spent two decades in the service industry. That's not common in America.

Still, for arguments sake that works out to about £.05 per box. Of course, that's if you go to the wholesaler to pick it up. If you're running a restaurant, you probably get it delivered with the rest of your dried goods. You pay for that, just like you pay for the cutlery and the napkins and the sauce packets and the bag it all goes in.

A buck really isn't unreasonable here. I've worked at spots where the takeout container was $0.30 each, and that's without figuring in the delivery/fuel surcharge.

[-] LillianVS@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

These containers are really common with independent curry/chinese places.

Even on this wholesaler website had loads of different containers, they aren't that expensive at all. There are places here that do charge for cutlary and only provide it if you ask.

Also I'm not disagreeing with the price, just that the containers are expensive. They really aren't, good businesses will buy them in bulk from a wholesaler. A place like that you get discounts anyway it just makes sense to do so.

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[-] overzeetop@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

If they have a $4.40 table area credit to compensate me for the lack of physical rental space I’m not taking up, and a $0.35 silverware wash&roll power, water, and labor credit, plus a $1.25 parking space credit for the hour I’m not using the lot, and a $0.45 reception/waiting area credit for not standing around paying someone to call me when my table is ready, then I’d accept the $1.00 boxing fee. But if I’m paying the cost of waiting to be seated, taking up a table for an hour, and parking - which is bundled into the entree price - I think they can spot me a take out container.

(Interesting that places like Gregg’s, Costa, and Pret sometimes actually do charge more if you eat in)

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[-] DirkMcCallahan@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

I had plenty of sympathy for restaurants when the pandemic first hit. Extra fees? Yeah, I get it, and I'll throw in an extra tip for the workers who are braving the place so that my fat ass can get some delicious food. The problem is that they haven't dialed back the fees/tipping requests. If anything, they've gotten much worse.

[-] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I'd bet all the cash in my wallet that the tacos were significantly better than anything from Buffalo Wild Wings.

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[-] Thadrax@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

If you are sitting in the restaurant, you are probably paying for some ridiculously overprized drinks as well.

Maybe compare it to ordering the same stuff but picking it up yourself.

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this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023

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