Shops and malls playing Christmas carols from open to close remind us of the list of presents we may try to purchase. Also, it’s the season to go out and chat in real time, face-to-face, having a special meal with those special ones.
Whether you want to pamper yourself for being good during the year, or you want to celebrate the advent of the new year with your peers or coworkers, going out to eat is the premise for this season.
If you are the one inviting, or you and your party will split the cost of the bill, here is my cautionary tale for you to avoid surprises when the check arrives.
I recently went out with my family to the Seaport area to a Christmas fair called the “Snowport.”
Looking for Betty the Yeti, trying different bites in the food area and visiting the little stands full of all sorts of crafts, we spent close to three hours.
We tried food and beverages from four different stands and all of them, except for the small stand selling hot cocoa and hot apple cider, were using Clover point-of-sale (POS) machines. Those POS have a noticeable 8-inch screen for the client to tap the card, select the tip and chose how we want the receipt –or not- to be sent.
Wait, what?
I understand a tip for service in a restaurant but why do I have to tip if there is no service given by the provider besides handling the food I’m already paying for? Which most of the time, is more expensive than going to a standard restaurant.
The venue has a limited area to sit down, one with beach chairs and a reduced area with benches covered with a tent. With a captive audience of thousands of people visiting on a bright but windy Sunday afternoon, there was not enough space to sit down. Eating — standing up — waffles dripping with chocolate can be very messy, especially for kids. So, what is the service tip for?
Tips suggestions on those screens can vary from 15% up to 25%. There is the option of “No Tip” but as the person behind in the line can easily see the client tapping the screen, there is a kind of pressure to add a tip just “not to look bad.”
We continued our visit, and my kid was chanting “I want this…I want that,” incessantly.
Wait, what? (Part II)
Money does not grow in the trees. So, I took advantage of my kid learning math, and before getting too far, I said, “This is your total amount to purchase whatever you want, take note of the things you like (luckily, she carried a tiny notebook and a pencil), and then do the math to make the right choices. No extra penny will be given.”
Assigning yourself a general budget for Christmas or if you are a parent, giving a limit on your child’s shopping could be helpful.
When the cold was getting intense, we went for dinner. We drove 20 minutes from Boston Seaport to Somerville.
Nothing luxurious nor too fancy, but cozy and with a promising delicious culinary experience is what I chose to close the field trip welcoming the Christmas season.
We were the first ones to arrive at the tiny casual restaurant. The staff were chatting placidly. The music was a little loud and repetitive and slightly annoying. However, we were laughing and talking about various things, and when we were hesitant to go for or skip the dessert, the bill arrived.
I almost fainted. The receipt had a list of tips percentages to choose: 20%, 22% and 25%, the equivalent value in money and the total including the tip. As a rule for a non-royal service, I add, without thinking, a standard 20%, which turned the check into close to $200.
Wait, what? (Part III)
We were three adults and one kid. We ordered three entrees and four beverages. I shared my meal with my fussy eating kid. How did it turn out to be that expensive?
It was not an everyday meal, but it was neither “Fugu,” a poisonous blowfish considered as a Japanese delicacy, nor even a filet mignon. It was basically a stew of chicken, stew of lamb, a vegan choice, and non-high-end drinks.
My husband and I scanned with our eight eyes the bill again. We realized the “tip” equivalent of 20% was already added to the bill. As we were not told about it, we mechanically were adding the standard tip in Massachusetts of 20%, exacerbating the total cost of our one-course dinner.
Under state law, section 152A, “service charge” is defined as fee or charge in lieu of a tip that the customer would expect to go to wait staff, and it is treated as tips because it belongs to the employees who provided service to the customer.
Also, the legislation says that employers can impose “on a patron any house or administrative fee in addition to or instead of a service charge or tip” but employers need to “inform” their patrons that fee is not assigned to staff employees.
This is the case for banquets like a wedding reception or a large party of guests, where the quote has an item that says, “service charge” and specifies that is not a tip.
Nonetheless, it did not say “service charge,” it did say “Gratuitity 20%.”
We should have been informed the tip was already included before ordering!
Ultimately, we left the 20-seat restaurant without adding extra tip and agreed to “no need to come back.”
So, if you are going out for dinner, remember to double-check if the chosen eatery includes the tip. If you are going with relatives or friends, ask after how many seats they consider a group and how much the service fee is.
Lastly, make sure to express among your party that the check will be split evenly including taxes, fees and tips, and please be mindful with what you order. Don’t go for the most expensive item on the menu! Also, beware of those pals that prefer to pay what they order based on the itemized cost in the menu. That price does not include taxes, neither service fee (if it’s charged) nor tips.
Remember the idea of the season is to have fun and enjoy each other’s company wherever you go without breaking into your savings.
