A coffee shop customer was left shocked by the surcharge added to his cup of coffee on Bank Holiday Monday.
David posted on his TikTok account, @elbarba86that his medium morning cappuccino with almond milk from a cafe in East Melbourne cost a whopping $8.18.
The Melbournian said yahoo He expected a holiday surcharge, but was hit with a 15 percent increase, plus a fee for using his card.
“Don’t get me wrong, I know almond milk costs more, but I think 15 percent is excessive,” he said.
The cafe was full! The people were outside. And there weren’t that many staff. So while I recognize they have to pay fines, I thought it was excessive.”
David asked the “people of Melbourne” what they thought about his medium cappuccino with almond milk costing him $8.18 on a public holiday.
Australians were quick to share their displeasure at the holiday surcharge, with one even saying they paid a whopping “$9.50 in Canberra”.
—Did they bring it by plane from Italy? one wrote.
‘Did they grow the coffee beans in front of you?’ said another.
Another gave me advice: “Better coffee at 7 eleven for 2 dollars.”
Other coffee drinkers sided with small business owners.
‘The person who helped you charges more than $50 an hour today.
“The price may seem a little high, but I’m not sure what the cafe owners can do about it,” one wrote.
Holiday and weekend surcharges are legal in Australia and there is no limit to what businesses can charge, as long as they display prices.
‘People forget that takeaway coffee is a luxury and not a necessity. For cafes to make a profit, they will unfortunately have to raise their prices,” wrote another.
Despite this, David responded: ‘I understand. Although it was full. People everywhere. Outdoor. Footy was also present. They knew how to milk it.’
To make matters worse, when asked if the coffee was at least a “ten out of ten,” David replied, “No” and called it “average.”
While surcharges are not a new concept for a holiday or weekend to help pay for increased staff wages, some Australian businesses are charging up to 20 per cent extra, according to consumer advocate Christopher Zinn.
Although the normal surcharge is 10 to 15 percent, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says in its website Any surcharges should be prominently displayed to customers.
“If they charge such a surcharge, they must include these words on the menu: A (percentage) surcharge applies on (day or days),” it said.
In Australia there is no legal limit to which a business can set the price of a surcharge and it is also allowed to set a fee for customers using a card, but the card surcharge cannot be greater than what it costs the customer. the company will process that type of payment.