A New Type Of Charge When Dining Out

[caseydog]

I'm sure it is different in different places. I know in Texas, minimum wage of waitstaff/bar staff is $2.13/hour. Kitchen staff make considerably more money -- the Minimum wage for them in Texas is $7.50, but due to supply and demand, they probably make at least double that in the bigger metropolitan areas.

Perfect timing... this video was just posted by a comedian whose YouTube channel is a favorite of mine. He explains tipping in the US very clearly, in a way that is easy to grasp.

BTW, this guy does videos about a fictional restaurant. He plays almost all of the characters in his videos. Check out some of his other videos.

CD

 

[jennyema]

With homes in Boston and on Cape Cod, I'm guessing a $250 cancelation fee is not going hurt you? Sounds like you go to some pretty exclusive restaurants, too.

However, for many people, a $50 cancellation fee does hurt. That's a week's worth of gas for their car. What was supposed to be a special anniversary dinner at a nice restaurant, has turned into caring for a sick kid, and getting dinked for fifty bucks.

Also, if one cancels because they just changed their mind, and decided to do something else, that's one thing. If they cancelled because their kid came down with the flu, that's another thing entirely.

Owning any business involves risks. Profits are not guaranteed. It seems to me that any business plan for opening restaurant needs to figure in cancelations and no-shows.

CD

$250 would be ouch!

Thing is, cancellation fees are easy enough to avoid. By cancelling ahead of time. Most restaurants will waive the cancellation fee if there’s a valid emergency or something out of the diner’s control. Except for the restaurant owner in the article I posted.

It’s meant to deal with the selfish folks that book 3 places and then decide that day which one to choose.

Without cancellation penalties, the rest of the diners who do show up will pay for the selfish bad apples through higher prices. That’s why I think they are a good thing.