CASH ONLY

Knott's Chicken Dinner Waitress Illustration, 1952

I have to share something weighing heavy on my heart.

I had a recent experience in a local restaurant that has moved me, and not in a good way. Or maybe it is a good way. I can't really process what I feel about this other than a sense of utter disgust.

Apparently, in Texas, it is legal for a restaurant to charge you, the customer, something called a non-cash adjustment fee for using a credit card or using a debit card like a credit card.

Not all restaurants do this. Some, however, do.

If they don't charge that fee, then the restaurant can take it straight out of the tip you left specifically for your server when you used that credit card. They can do this as long as taking that tip does not drop the server's earnings to below minimum wage.

Frankly, we have no guarantee skimming tips isn't happening when it does drop a server's earnings below minimum wage, and I'll bet it's real hard to prosecute when it happens.

Put bluntly, you AND your server are being penalized for using your credit/debit card to pay for food and services. And, whereas it had not been legal before, it is now, in Texas.

It's a disgusting practice. Again, not all restaurants do this. Some, however, do.

I read at Restaurant Business Online that it's not a wise business practice either, legal as it might be. And I must agree. Here's the link to that article: https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/advice-guy/should-restaurants-pass-swipe-fees-guests

But the thing that eats at me most is that the business would take money off its own employees. I feel dirty having been through the experience now. And I'm choosing not to do business with that restaurant for the time being because of it.

Servers work HARD. Waiting tables is a terrible job sometimes. The sexual harassment, the overall disrespect from surly and entitled customers, and now...this. I feel like it is just one more assault on hospitality industry employees.

I understand that dining establishments need to make money and that they get nickeled-and-dimed to death in overhead. Knowing this new information, I'm choosing to pay cash only for dining with a restaurant now. And while I surely do not wish to harm the fine employees of my former favorite restaurant, I just can't bring myself to set foot back in there again after the experience I had. It's not about the 3% non-cash adjustment fee, which was less than $5 on my bill. It's an integrity thing. I can't patronize a business that, in my opinion, abuses its employees to make a profit. Just because something is legal does not make it right.

I hate that I had to learn this in a restaurant I loved. I feel like I'm breaking up with a close friend. I hope, that after I have a discussion with management and ownership, we can come to some kind of understanding and maybe I'll come out a little better educated than I am now. I want them not just to survive, but thrive. And I'd like to participate in that if that survival and thrival is done with integrity with regard to their employees.

To be fair, the restaurant itself is at the mercy of the credit card companies. It's the credit card companies demanding those fees in the first place. And because I really hate credit cards, I haven't had one in about eighteen years, so I use a debit card. And lately, I think I'm far too reliant on it, especially when I dine out.

Bottom line? Carry cash and use that when y'all go out to eat, not your credit or debit cards. Plan ahead. Save the plastic for emergencies. And know up front that you might be complicit in abuse if you use that plastic, so tip really, REALLY well in any case.

To all the restaurant folks, I'm really sorry y'all are getting hit like that by the credit card companies. That's hard, and I truly did not know. Kudos to all y'all who find creative ways to not pinch customers and employees for those fees, yet still make bank.

And to all the food service professionals slinging hash and enduring more than you should, I am truly and deeply sorry I did not know any of this sooner. Y'all are on my heart.