An Aussie diner has expressed their frustration after being charged almost $4 extra in surcharges for their dinner at a restaurant.
The restaurant was outraged after noticing that its $36.96 bill on Saturday had been tacked on with two additional surcharges, increasing the cost by 10.79 percent to $40.19.
There was a 0.79 percent surcharge because they paid by card, while a 10 percent surcharge was tacked on because it was the weekend.
The restaurant claimed there was ‘no sign of any kind’ informing customers of the surcharges, claiming the trend has become all too common at venues.
“It seems like nothing is as expensive as the amount they are advertising,” they further wrote Reddit.
‘The charges are never explained and not mentioned anywhere in the store, they just hand you the EFTPOS machine without saying a word.
‘I wonder how much money I actually spend on tuition fees each year.’
Social media users responded enthusiastically to the restaurant’s comment, saying they were also fed up with hidden fees.
An Aussie restaurant has sparked fury after revealing a 10.79 per cent surcharge was tacked onto the bill for their Saturday dinner (pictured)
“A surcharge for Saturday, I wouldn’t go there again,” one person commented.
‘“Where’s the surcharge for breathing restaurant air?” joked a second.
One, who was from Perth, said they “obviously paid these fees” when they recently visited Sydney.
“My condolences to everyone who lives there, it’s so damn expensive to eat out,” they wrote.
Some took the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of using cash as there were no fees involved.
“Insist on cash… It’s a scam to take advantage of the ‘convenience’ of a card swipe,” one person wrote.
“I’ve gone back to cash because of all the fees… Once you start paying attention to it, it’s an eye-watering amount,” wrote another.
Others noted that the 0.79 percent card surcharge was relatively low, with some charging 1.5 percent on Visa or Mastercard transactions.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) prohibits companies from failing to properly notify customers of any surcharges they will incur.
It is also illegal for customers to pay more card fees than what the company pays to process the payment.
The amount passed on from a company varies and depends on a number of factors, such as ‘the size of the company, the technology used and the payment method’.
A number of Australians said they were fed up with the extra charges associated with paying by card (stock image) and have returned to using cash to save money
This can lead to some companies charging more than 1.5 percent for Visa and Mastercard transactions, while American Express can charge as much as 3 percent more.
Research from Canstar found that the average Australian spends around $140 a year on electronic transaction fees, which equates to around $4 billion a year.
Canstar financing expert Steve Mickenbecker said the increase can largely be explained by skyrocketing inflation.
“Most fees are paid as a percentage of the price of the transaction, the purchase price, and this automatically increases with inflation,” he said. 9News .
‘The bank does not have to increase your rate, you as a retailer are simply charged more, and that is of course passed on to the consumer.’