A couple’s bill at a Panama City Beach restaurant included AE&P, a fee for artwork, entertainment and parking, and an extra charge for a slice of pie to go.
By Peter Fischetti
Another fine meal at one of our favorite restaurants on the beach. Always great food and friendly service. No surprises.
But wait a minute. What’s this? I’m looking at the check and here’s a charge for “occupancy tax.” Well yes, we did occupy a booth but they can’t be charging rent for sitting down. Can they? The “tax” was 91 cents. Not much, but there goes my stop at the Dollar Store.
While paying the bill, I asked the checkout lady about it. It’s a tax the city charges because of where the restaurant is located, she explained. Wrong. The city charges sales tax and that’s it.
At another restaurant, a “service charge” was added to our bill. I figured that meant the tip. But on the bill was an option to leave a tip. I guess that’s called “double tipping.”
A post on social media described a donut shop that charged a guy 50 cents extra for wanting a drink with no ice. I’d find that hard to believe except I recall the dinner we shared with another couple at a burger place. My friend ordered a cheeseburger but without the lettuce. His bill included a 50-cent charge for removing the lettuce. His response: “Lettuce never go back there.” (Sorry about that.)
But the topper might be the popular beachfront restaurant that charged a couple an “AE&P” fee of $2.98. That’s for Artwork they never saw as it was in another room, Entertainment that didn’t exist while they were there and Parking. And to end their visit, they were charged $1.25 extra to package a piece of pie to go.
Years ago, when I lived in Southern California, I owned Pete’s Deli. It was not a financial success; in fact, our best days were Saturday and Sunday, when the deli was closed. So I know that running a restaurant, especially when inflation is high, is a real struggle. Still…
You might wonder why restaurants add these strange charges to the bill rather than just raising the price of items. One reason may be the cost of reprinting menus every time the price changes. Another may be competitive: raising the prices could put a restaurant at a perceived disadvantage with others charging less on the menu but adding those fees to the bill.
No doubt this will all be resolved. But what worries me is that other businesses will adopt confusing add-on charges to the bill. So when you get your hair cut, be sure to look for an HD (hair disposal) charge that varies depending on how much hair was cut and had to be swept up and trashed. And don’t be surprised if you’re checking out of a clothing shop after buying some slacks and your bill includes a CR charge for using the changing room.
When we and others shared all of this with our elected officials, they arranged for a letter to be sent to restaurants located in Panama City Beach, reminding them that state law requires that any “automatic gratuity or service fee” must appear on the menu as well at the bill. (The entire letters appears on the city’s website. The link is https://www.pcbfl.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/24825/ 638557663936270000.)
Meanwhile, I sure hope that our bi-monthly water bill doesn’t include a postage charge for mailing the letters.
