Diana Clement: Shun extra holiday charges

Eateries which don't have a surcharge should advertise the fact. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Public holiday surcharges get me all hot under the collar. They also hurt my wallet and that I'm not prepared to take, especially as today is Waitangi Day.

The first time I was hit with a surcharge - at the Buona Sera Ristorante in Devonport - I nearly fell off my chair when I got the bill.

Needless to say I've never been back. The restaurant has without a doubt lost far more than the 15 per cent it charged me that night, although ironically it did not add the extra last Monday (Auckland Anniversary Day).

Cafes, restaurants and bars can charge what they want. It's a free world. Likewise, I can choose not to pay by voting with my feet. After all, I wouldn't pay 15 per cent extra at my petrol station on a public holiday, so why should I at an eatery?

Conversely if I wrote this column on a public holiday I couldn't charge my customer, the Herald on Sunday, time-and-a-half.

If I ever do get caught out I sit there feeling disgruntled. Case in point was the Torpedo Bay Cafe in Devonport in January. I paid $5.40 for a latte when I could have used my pre-paid card at the Devonport Deli and had a slightly nicer coffee for $3.60.

I feel that it's my duty to support those cafes that have no surcharge. I have a habit of asking directly if there is a surcharge and politely explaining that I will go elsewhere if the answer is affirmative.

I realised with horror a couple of weeks back that I'd arranged to meet some other media types for a glass of wine on Anniversary Day and we ran the risk of being surcharged. I emailed the four possible venues to determine which, if any, did not impose the extra charge. Once the answers started coming in it turned into a little campaign, and I emailed every cafe, restaurant and bar in Devonport I could think of. When completed I handed the list to a local online news and gossip website, The Speculator, so others in my corner of the world could benefit from my research.

Surprisingly, a greater number of establishments weren't surcharging than were. A few gave limited answers, such as "not this time, but we can't guarantee in the future".

Another told me to say I was a "local" and wouldn't be charged. Only tourists would be.

Finally, my advice to cafe owners: if you have no surcharge, put a sandwich board out the front on the day stating that fact. It's bound to bring in additional customers.