An American ripoff in Paris.
Parisian servers have always been notorious for their rudeness, but now it looks like they’re ripping off customers as well. Paris restaurants are charging US tourists up to 50% more than local patrons, an undercover investigation has found.
Following several online complaints about the so-called American tourist tax, the city’s leading rag Le Parisien sent two reporters to a cafe on the heavily-touristed Champ-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower to see if the servers were guilty of fry-way robbery, the Telegraph reported.
One of the journalists went dressed as a typical Parisian while the other, writer Mathieu Hennequin, masqueraded as a classic US traveler with a baseball cap and Eiffel Tower T-shirt while putting on a passable American accent, the Independent reported.
To conduct the experiment, both men ordered a lasagna, Coke and water, wherein Hennequin noticed he was consistently charged quite a bit more.
The bona fide Frenchman was offered a choice of a small can of Coke or a medium or large glass. He chose the can for €6.50 ($7.63).
Meanwhile, Hennequin was not offered the smaller option and ended up forking over €9.50 ($11.15) for the medium size.
While the French customer was offered a free carafe of water, the faux American was given no such choice and instead had to pay another €6 ($7) for a small bottle of Vittel.
All told, Hennequin was charged €9.50 ($11.15) than his fois gras gobbling brethren.
To ensure that the culinary tariff wasn’t a coincidence, the epicurean narcs went incognito at another establishment to test out its tipping policy.
When the bill arrived, the French customer noticed he was given an obligatory 10% service charge while the “American” patron was asked if he wanted to leave a gratuity because “service isn’t included.”
He attempted to leave a 10% tip to match his compatriot’s service charge, but the waiter sneakily upped it to 15% while shielding the payment screen so he couldn’t see.
In both instances, the “American” paid 50% more than this croissant-crunching companion.
Franck Trouet of GHR hotel and restaurant group called the fleecing “a disgrace to the profession.”
“You can’t even call these people waiters,” he declared. “You should know that in France, water and bread are free. One can refuse a bottle of water.”
He added, “The tip is to express thanks for the service if one is very satisfied. Above all, it is not compulsory. This is not the United States.”
This was far from the first time Parisian restaurants had pulled the wool over tourists’ eyes.
In April, a similar probe by Le Parisien found that some City Of Light bistros were pouring cheap wine for foreign diners after they’d ordered top-shelf tipple.
Although these Parisian scam artists don’t hold a candle to the notorious seafood restaurant in Greece, DK Oyster, which has been known to charge diners $900 for some light bites and aperitifs.
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