I just posted info on the Barbados Zagat survey, and I just received this e-mail from Zagat. Since we all eat out, and I have noticed these extra charges, I wanted to share this with our blog readers . . .
You enjoyed your meal – until you got the check and realized you’d been billed for something you assumed was free.
We recently asked zagat.com users to tell us about unexpected fees they’ve encountered at restaurants. Service charges were frequent culprits, from an unstated gratuity policy to a mandatory captain’s fee. Add-ons for things like sharing, or for bread baskets that arrived unbidden, also earned gripes. So did various petty charges: 75¢ for extra sprinklings of cilantro (on a check that totaled over $100); $2 for the unordered tea that appeared with a meal at a Chinese restaurant; $2.25 for the containers used to package a party’s doggy bags.
Read on for a selection of other complaints, as well as the restaurants’ responses and our take on the situation.
Filed under: Useful Resources
