US restaurant charges 18% service charge for party of 1. Internet has a lot to say

The Reddit user went to Pho Na Hoi, a Vietnamese restaurant in Cupertino. (Image: u/TRTL2k/Reddit)

A restaurant has created a flutter on social media after charging 18% service charge for a party of one. A photo of the bill was shared by a Reddit user and has gone viral online. The user went to Pho Na Hoi, a Vietnamese restaurant in California and opted for the branch in Cupertino.

The bill’s subtotal was $49.50 with a $4.52 sales tax and then a service charge of 18% that brought the total to $62.93, which is Rs 5,225 approximately. The customer was charged $8.91 service charge, approximately Rs 739.

"I've seen restaurants include gratuity when it's a large party but never for parties of 1!" the user wrote on Reddit. “For parties of one or larger, a 18% gratuity is applied automatically,” read a note on the bill.

This restaurants has an automatic 18% service charge for parties of ONE or higher
byu/TRTL2k inmildlyinfuriating

Needless to say, the post grabbed a lot of eyeballs and an array of reactions from social media users. While some were shocked, others shared their own experiences and opinions.

“It's crazy that in America you can just have whatever random hidden fees you like,” a user wrote.

Another user commented, “No tipping culture and standard liveable wages fixes all of this. Anyone who argues against it is clearly a business owner or an idiot.”

“Hate restaurants that do this. They call it a “living wage increase” or whatever buzz word is going around to make it seem like it’s the government/politicians raising the prices on your dinner when it’s actually them not wanting to pay competitive wages for their servers. Instead they push it onto their customers,” a third user remarked.

A fourth user chimed in, “Just leave them a 1-star review on google. I did that after getting a huge gratuity added to my bill without my knowledge. The owner responded and was extremely upset. He mentioned that ‘every restaurant around here does that’. Which somehow makes it ok. Lol.”

Over the past few months, restaurants have been making headlines for charging money for bizarre things such as a “living wage charge” or “wellness fee”.

Meanwhile, a pizzeria in Italy charged a customer 15 euros, approximately Rs 1,333, for cutting a store-bought cake. In another instance, a tourist in Italy was charged two euros extra after getting his sandwich cut in half.