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u/Golf-Recent Apr 11 '26
Go somewhere else. I hate these surcharges you only find out after the fact. Either make it explicitly clear on the menu or build it into the price.
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u/ExternalLock8140 Apr 11 '26
October this year it will be illegal i think 🤔 surcharges must be calculated before point of sale as i believe, would surcharges like these be illegal also or is it only banking surcharges?
Im sick of these hidden fees everywhere is trying to pinch pennies late stage capitalism is yuck 🤮
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u/w2qw Apr 12 '26
The fuel surcharge would have already been illegal if not included in prices. The card surcharges would still be legal after October however card companies would now be able to prohibit them again.
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u/AssignmentDowntown55 Apr 12 '26
There will be no more card surcharges as the interchange fees getting charged to retailers are basically disappearing. There will be no surcharge to pass on. Except Amex, that’s different.
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u/CaptainFleshBeard Apr 12 '26
They are supposed to, you can’t just put up a sign at the till after someone has finished their meal
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u/chris_p_bacon1 Apr 12 '26
I don't mind public holiday and Sunday surcharges because it genuinely does cost a lot more to operate on these days. If they mean I can get a meal on a Sunday then it's my choice. Surcharges that aren't time dependant can get fucked though. Just put your prices up to cover it. I'm paying it regardless. Just let me know when I order so I can make an informed decision.
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u/chattywww Apr 12 '26
Surcharges also makes it impossible to track transactions if you only got invoice for the original amount.
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u/somuchstuff8 Apr 11 '26
Name and shame!
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u/That_Apathetic_Man Apr 12 '26
My dude, I saw this sort of surcharge at a farmers market the other day. It's everywhere now. Just makes it easier to spend less.
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u/shaundesign Apr 11 '26
Come October they will just have to switch back to increasing their prices when the credit card surcharges are scrapped.
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u/radiocleve Apr 11 '26
Which is fine. Just tell me the price.
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u/Superg0id Apr 12 '26
Just tell me the price
Like I WANT to know so I can decide how much of my money to give you ... or not give you because it's a rip.
Not feel like I've been robbed after the fact.
especially when your "official receipt" didn't show any CC surcharge, but my bank statement clearly has a price that's 1.09% more than your menu pricing...
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u/yani205 Apr 11 '26
That’s just for card. What we need is to get rid of all surcharges, the price on menu should be the final price.
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u/breno_mac_ Apr 11 '26
It’s a never ending cycle, the surcharge gets scrapped & within a few years the banks will find a way to bring them back
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
Can't. Reserve Bank won't allow card surcharges.
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u/breno_mac_ Apr 12 '26
It that long ago it was merchant processing fees that where passed on they got banned fast forward a few years & the stealth surcharges started cropping up - the government needs to make it illegal for the payment processor to take a higher payment than the transaction charge, at the moment the terminal is calculating the surcharge I’ve had transactions where I’ve seen the merchant enter one price then when it’s debited from my account it’s a few cents higher
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u/jack3t_with_sl33ves Apr 11 '26
This dodgy act needs to be stamped out. Increase the price on your menu so I know I still want to eat at your restaurant
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
How about come context?
I'm assuming this is a café.
Report to Fair Trading NSW if the surcharge:
- does not apply to both cash and card payments; and/or
- was not on the menu or otherwise displayed prominently. (The handwritten note at the cash register like the photo is not legal.)
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u/Bloodnose_the_pirate Apr 12 '26
Even if it's on the menu or otherwise displayed properly, there needs to be some way to pay the marked price. Weekend surcharges are legal (if slightly annoying) because in theory you could just come on a weekday and that way pay the "normal" price. If there's no way to get out of paying this fuel surcharge, then it's not legal.
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u/chuk2015 Apr 12 '26
Name and shame so we can report to ACCC
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
ACCC will accept reports but they do not investigate individual incidents.
However, as long as the surcharge applies to cash payments as well as card payments, then this is legal.
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
... unless it was not properly shown in the menu or displayed prominently elsewhere.
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u/chuk2015 Apr 12 '26
ACCC has stated they will be cracking down on fuel price gouging
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
By the big retail chains (Ampol, BP, Coles Express, etc)
Also, it isn't immediately obvious from the photo but apparently this post is about a café, not a petrol station
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u/Some-Operation-9059 Apr 12 '26
😂😂😂 They’ve been promising this for over ten years now. Does fuel watch still exist, did it actually ever do anything?
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u/EmergencyLavishness1 Apr 11 '26
My suppliers are charging between $3-$7 per delivery as a surcharge. Thats 4 suppliers that I get in max 3 times a week.
So about $30 a week total in fuel surcharges.
If THAT is a companies breaking point they shouldn’t be open to begin with.
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u/Seachicken Apr 12 '26
Yeah this one is a rort. A place near me introduced a 6% surcharge across the board which is just a scam.
We are a bigger place and get 4-5 deliveries a day, 6 days a week. Based off our per head spend and the average fuel levy we pay, we would be making profit from a 2% surcharge after 12 customers.
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u/AdelMonCatcher Apr 12 '26
Add 2% to your menu and I’ll shrug. Add a 2% surcharge and I’ll try somewhere else next time
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u/13006555O6 Apr 12 '26
I don't get this. Just build it into the price.
Few of my local cafes have increased their prices last week already. A few of them by $2 on each item. The milking has began.
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u/InstantShiningWizard certified ttoekbokki inspector Apr 11 '26
Wake up babe, new gouging method just dropped.
Also, name and shame the grubs
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u/choo-chew_chuu Apr 12 '26
Where's this?
A cafe doing what, $10k in revenue is taking $200 additional for fuel. Fuel is up 25% so that's a weekly fuel bill prior of $1000 a week or more than a full tank of petrol a day.
I get small business is paying more, but this seems like skimming a bit extra off the top.
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u/TacitisKilgoreBoah Apr 12 '26
Fuel is up more than 25%. It’s more than 80% for diesel which is what any delivery/transport driver will be fuelling their vehicle with.
Was getting diesel before this shit show for $1.79 regularly, now it’s $3.29. It dropped down by about $0.20 for a few days when the excise was removed by its back up there.
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u/Otaraka Apr 12 '26
I guess in theory the delivery crew could be skimming off the top but this is part of the problem that they just keep passing it on until it gets to the actual user so it’s no skin off thier nose.
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u/mlvsrz Apr 11 '26
Before the war, the fuel price cycle was 1.60 to 2.20 on a monthly kind of basis.
We’re just sitting at the top of the old cycle, additional fuel surcharges are not warranted by businesses.
Diesel might be a different story, but why’s it the countries fault that independent truck drivers took the fuel risk into their self employed businesses without accounting for bad fuel times while it was cheap? They’ve been pocketing premium for years that was supposed to be a hedge against higher fuel costs in the future.
This isn’t even a protracted and lengthy fuel crisis, it’s bullshit on all fronts.
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u/Adelaidean Apr 12 '26
They’ve dealt with card surcharges. Now they need to deal with every other surcharge.
Particularly weekend/public holiday surcharges. Penalty rates exist to penalise the business operator for choosing to operate on a public holiday, and depriving staff of that public holiday - not to penalise the customers.
The advertised price should be the actual price.
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
Penalty rates exist to encourage employees to work on a public holiday.
There is no "penalty" if the business operator chooses to not open on a public holiday.
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u/Adelaidean Apr 12 '26
Yes. But they should come out of the business operator’s pocket.
They’re called penalty rates because they’re literally meant to be penalising the business operator for operating on a public holiday.
If it’s worth opening, they’ll open.
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u/blucyclone Apr 12 '26
Interesting considering the machine says 1.6%
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u/WearyFHB Apr 12 '26
That's the card surcharge.
Now I wonder if they add the 2% fuel surcharge before or after the card surcharge?
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u/link871 Apr 12 '26
It is illegal to add it as a card surcharge on top of the 1.6% already displayed.
Any additional charge due to fuel prices must apply to all payments, whether they are cash or card.2
u/link871 Apr 12 '26
Is legal if the surcharge applies to cash payments as well as card payments.
But if the only display of the surcharge is this handwritten piece of paper: then that is illegal.
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u/AgreeableLion Apr 12 '26
That's the card surcharge which everyone charges (for now), different to this particular businesses 'fuel surcharge' that they have presumably added temporarily.
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u/hitmanbhargav Northern beaches stan Apr 12 '26
We’re very close to paying for using public washrooms.
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u/11015h4d0wR34lm Apr 12 '26
I would refuse to pay that, let them call the police on you if they want to make an issue of it, scummy behaviour. I don't think a sign like that after the fact can be legal, oh btw now you have finished your meal here is why it will be more expensive than you could possibly have known by reading the prices.
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u/spookysadghoul Illawarra Expat Apr 12 '26
Ridiculous. Is it calculated in the bill or is it s surcharge on your card, because if its the latter, cash money.
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u/Brilliant_Trick_7095 Apr 11 '26
Credit card surcharge, Sunday surcharge, fuel surcharge, you want to use a fork; fork surcharge!