A customer had some reservations about his bill at a restaurant.
One frustrated customer claimed that they were charged a “quiet time surcharge” on their bill, which was added before the tip — because the restaurant they dined at was empty.
The user shared on Reddit that they decided to check out a local restaurant for the first time, which seemed to be a quiet place to dine.
What seemed like a good thing quickly went south.
“At the end [of the meal], I check my bill and there’s an extra 20% pre-tip charge labelled ‘Quiet Time Surcharge,’” they explained.
The diner assumed it was an error and asked the server what it meant. The server apparently looked “sheepish” before explaining.
According to the Reddit post, the server said something along the lines of, “management says when it’s not busy, you’re basically getting the place to yourself. It’s kind of like flying private instead of commercial.”
Let that sink in. The customer was astounded — and you probably are too.
“I had to laugh, but also… are you kidding me?” they wrote in their post. “I’m not ‘chartering a restaurant,’ I just wanted dinner.”
“If anything, it’s less service work when the place is empty.”
Many people in the comments agreed that this greedy situation was ridiculous.
“All charges not advertised are illegal and others can be removed,” one person wrote. “I would refuse to pay the bill until it was removed and get a receipt and check the charge online.”
“That’s a new one, typically restaurants offer discounts to get people to come in during the quiet time or certain weekdays. Charging more because the restaurant is empty is just f–king crazy and seems illegal. If you weren’t warned ahead of time I have no idea how this would be legal,” another said.
“Well, if I found out it were my private restaurant for Quiet Time, I guess I’d take off my shirt and shoes and stay a while,” chimed in another commenter.
Unfortunately, this diner was not the first one to get hit with a bizarre added fee.
While on vacation in Menorca, Spain, a man was charged $3 for an extra glass of ice.
Another diner posted a receipt from a restaurant that charged its guests a mandatory “living wage fee.”
Meanwhile, in France, a restaurateur was ripped online for announcing a new fine on dining parties whose number of members didn’t match their original booking.
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