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Comment by dfxm12 | Hacker News Reader

Or does a restaurant have to 'hide' these costs as an added percentage in order to make their prices seem reasonable?

You hit the nail on the head here. Some places "hide" this charge better than others. I once had another patron at a place let me know that my check already included tip so I wouldn't double tip, as my check just had a total on it. It wasn't itemized at all. That seemed pretty dishonest to me.

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I have a friend who worked at a chain restaurant where they circled the total on the receipt with a black sharpie.

It was the standard practice of all the servers there to make sure the circle went through the item showing the included gratuity for parties of six or more.

Apparently, as a result, they'd get double tipped for large parties about 50% of the time.

I would love to see that story hit the local news or a racketeering suit.

You saw the exact price beforehand in the menu, it's the same on the bill, you seemed to be ready to pay even more, and they told you you don't have to pay more. How is that dishonest?

You misunderstand. The prices listed on the menu did not include the automatic gratuity. Even if I added everything in my head, there's still other fees not included like tax. I didn't think twice about it because I've been to this place before & they didn't have an auto grat. They tried to sneak it in under the radar after years of operating without it.

Also, as I said, the "they" in this situation was another patron, not a worker at the restaurant.

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