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By Jasmine Birtles, financial expert from Moneymagpie.com
Restaurants are working hard to make sales, but they are also willing to make a profit by scamming you. Here's how to beat their tricks.
Serving smaller portions
Many restaurants are reducing the portion size of many of their dishes but still charging the same for them.
This is a trick you’re not going to notice if you haven’t been to the same restaurant before and ordered the same dish, so it can be hard to avoid. But if you do notice, make sure you complain – restaurant staff are likely to be quite embarrassed that somebody has noticed.
Clever menus
Menus are specifically designed to draw attention to the restaurant’s most profitable dishes.
The ‘power position’ of a four page menu is on the right hand page just above the centre. This is where the most expensive or profitable dishes will feature. Menus with lots of sub-sections place their most profitable dishes at top and bottom of these lists and those menus with one long list tend to sell more of the third item on the list – which again, will be the one that makes the most money.
Recommendations
Don’t feel obliged to order recommendations made by waiting staff. More often than not, they simply want to make more money out of you by upping your bill and therefore their profits.
Paying for water
If when you ask for water the waiter asks ‘still or sparkling?’ don’t be ashamed to say ‘tap’. Waiting staff are probably hoping you’ll be too embarrassed to ask and can then charge extortionately for bottled mineral water.
One thing to note, however, is that there is no legal requirement for restaurants to serve tap water free of charge. Premises that serve alcohol may have a clause in their license that requires them to provide free tap water on request but don’t assume every restaurant and bar will do this.
If you find you are charged for tap water, take a stand and refuse to leave a tip. An adult would pay just £1 a year in domestic water charges to drink their recommended 8 glasses of water a day, so one glass for a customer is going to cost the restaurant virtually nothing.
Using cheaper ingredients
In order to cut down on the costs of dishes, some restaurants have started substituting more expensive ingredients for cheaper ones to make a bigger profit.
Again, this is one of those tricks that you can’t really avoid but if you do notice, make sure you complain. If this gets shrugged off, tell them you won’t be coming back and refuse to leave a tip. The last thing restaurants want at this difficult time is to be losing valued regular customers.
Added items on the bill
Make sure you check your bill carefully! You’d be amazed at how easily extra orders can find their way onto your bill, especially if there is a large group of you. If something you didn’t order (or receive) appears on the bill, make sure you get it taken off.
Credit card surcharges
Luckily this is not common, but it has been known for restaurants to add a 5% surcharge if you’re paying by credit card. By law, this will have to be mentioned in the menu somewhere – if it’s not then you do not have to pay it.
Service charge
This is the amount (usually 12.5%) that is added to the bill before it is presented to you. In order for this charge to be mandatory, it must be stated as such in the menu or you must have been otherwise aware of it. If not, you can request for this amount to be taken off the bill.
What happens a lot of the time, is that customers do not realise they are paying a service charge or have not realised that this charge is usually discretionary and have ended up leaving a tip as well, which is normally around 10% of the bill. So the restaurant has managed to make an extra 22.5% from you.
Don’t forget that tipping is optional. If you receive bad service, don’t feel pressured into leaving a tip.
Seating customers close together
Restaurants will seat you next to other diners so that you’ll see the couple on the next table with those delicious looking desserts and hope that you’ll stay for two courses if not three, if you hadn’t planned to already. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask for a table which is a bit more private.
Ways you can save
Eat out on a Monday or Tuesday – early in the week is when restaurants most struggle with custom and will often run promotional offers that include discounts and drinks thrown in.
If you’re planning to eat out with a big group of people, ask if there is any sort of discount for large groups when booking your table. A lot of restaurants will be glad that they don’t have to fill up the tables with other diners and they won’t want your custom going elsewhere, so see what they’ll be willing to throw in – maybe a complimentary glass of wine?
Use Toptable.com or 5pm.co.uk to get great deals, often 50% off the whole bill, on a range of restaurants.
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