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Comment by the_snooze | Hacker News Reader

>Some restaurants have added mandatory gratuities and service fees to bills, driving up bills and resulting in some diners tipping less.

Businesses just need to be honest about pricing and wages. Let the listed prices be the actual price, and leave compensation matters strictly in the hands of workers and employers where it belongs.

Tips and fees reduce clarity and introduce resentment. Why not avoid that mess altogether?

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Employers save money by convincing the employee that part of their wages are owed by the customer. And as a bonus, when things don't work out, the employee's resentment is directed at the customer instead of the employer. It's brilliant, really.

It’s amazingly effective. They also hide a lot in complexity in wage laws. By the time you step through explaining everything, most people who might be interested have lost interest so the easier to deliver narrative wins.

The divide your enemy strategy works very well, to this day. It takes a fair bit of effort and time to dig around to figure out the reality of what’s really going on.

In general, I’d say this is one large factor as to why we’re losing the class war across all sorts of issues.

I do not go to a place with fees added on. I understand why they are doing it, and they are well within their right to do so, but I feel there is still an underhandedness to it. Just raise the prices, flat if possible, and make the billing as simple as possible.

I am ok with tipping, but I am not ok with being asked to tip on top of a mandatory fee.

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