davie355

A surly cashier at a restaurant in the food court of a Durham, N.C. shopping mall asked me what I wanted to drink.

"Water, please."

"Tap water, bottled water?"

"Tap."

"$7.48."

She swiped my card. Hey, wait: the menu says $6.49. Is the sales tax in Durham more than 15 percent?!

She handed me a receipt (which had no line items other than TOTAL $7.48) and said that water was $0.25.

"You think you should have told me that before you swiped my card?" I asked. Saying nothing, she turned around and pointed to an inconspicuous post-it note. The handwritten scrawl read water 25 cents.

* * *

Sales tax in Durham is 7.5 percent, and $6.49 + $0.25 + 7.5% is not $7.48.

It is $7.25.

To whom can I complain? Should I bother to complain? Of course what concerns me is not the price but the principle. And so much for southern hospitality, hm?

CitizenWorld

What did the sales clerk say when you complained about the extra charge?

sactoflyer

Pardon me....$.25? If you can't afford that you shouldn't be out in public.

bedelman

It's proper grounds for a credit card dispute. Price not as agreed. Fraud (as to tax rate).

It's proper grounds for a complaint to mall manager. Most good mall owners are actually interested in these things.

It's proper grounds for a complaint to your state and/or local department of revenue, as to misrepresentation of sales tax.

CMK10

I don't think you have a case with the water, it's not inherently a free item.

Incidentally, were you at Northgate Mall? If so, were you at Cajun Cafe?

MSPeconomist

I would make a huge fuss about the extra "tax" being charged. This is downright fraud and should be brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities as well as local media.

BTW, some local jurisdictions and special services districts allow additional sales tax to be charged. Are you sure that the higher rate wasn't correct?

davie355

Thank you all.

sactoflyer, "afford" is not the issue. Read the penultimate sentence of my OP.

bedelman, I sought out a mall manager immediately upon realizing the scam, but it was late evening and none were available. I took down the management's phone number but have yet not found time to call.

I will not pursue a CC dispute because in my experience small disputes are immediately resolved in my favor and no investigation is conducted.

CMK10, my complaint was that the charge was undisclosed, not that it existed.

MSPeconomist, I wrote in a web tip to a local news station. Unfortunately the state department of revenue does not accept web submissions and I find the postal mail form too much of a hassle, especially since I lack evidence of systemic fraud. UPDATE: Online reviews like this one kvetch about the same issue.

I will certainly not return to this restaurant; the food was disgusting and drenched in grease. After one bite I asked them to replace an especially atrocious side dish with another option. Given their demeanor I expected a flat refusal, which I acknowledge would have been fair. But to my surprise they agreed, and I ate that and discarded everything else.

BamaVol

Mall cop. Preferably one on a Segway.

CMK10

But it was disclosed. Maybe not in flashing neon but it was there. I also don't mind a 25 cent water charge, it's not like the cups are free or they don't pay a water bill.

Airbridge

SALT AND PAPER ARE NOT FREE EITHER, NOR INDEED PLATES OR SILVERWARE. TABLES ARE REAL EXPENSIVE.

I ASSUME FROM YOUR COMMENTS ABOVE THAT YOU ARE QUITE HAPPY FOR A CHARGE TO APPEAR FOR THOSE ITEMS?

neuron

Very odd to not have an itemized bill and not surprising they would not wish to reveal how the charges break down. While its not a big difference, I would probably ask why and if they are overcharging on tax, well, that probably means all other folks ordering are in the same boat.

As for water, never been charged for tap water, and agree that a bit shady to hand write it in. Cup may not be free, but neither are napkins, straws, ketchup and mayo packets but people help themselves to that. (of course, maybe they do charge you extra for an extra napkin! )

davie355

delete

Lostabroad

This is one of those principle issues where it almost makes the victim look petty. However, imagine a large chain or corporation doing this thousands of times over a week (assuming the discrepancy was the chain's fault and not the employee). Your recourse all depends on how well documented you are and what you expect to get out of it. An apology? A refund? Both? Publicly shame the chain on Consumerist and their public Twitter/Facebook accounts if you want an apology. Research executive contacts if a corporation if you want a refund.

Had something similar happen in terms of petty money. Bought a sandwich in a D'Angelos once. Cashier asked me if I wanted to donate a dollar to some cause. I said yes, and they proceeded to add the dollar to my total as a misc line item and taxed me on the entire thing, including the donation. We're talking an argument of 6 cents here, but regardless of the price, it still isn't right. I didn't care about the 6 cents. Just about correcting the issue. D'Angelos taxed me on the donation and gets to pocket the tax, as it isn't a taxable item. Then, because it was a "misc" item, they get to take my donation and submit it as their own donation, which I assume they can write off. Double dipping.

BamaVol

I agree that a donation probably shouldn't be taxed, but there is no way it's double dipping. At most, they could declare your dollar as income and the subsequent donation as an expense. And as far as pocketing the tax, I don't think so. If their system registers "miscellaneous" as taxable, it should roll up with the other taxable sales and your six cents will be added to what they remit to the state.

Lostabroad

It isn't even a question. Donations should not be taxed as a matter of law. You aren't receiving any product or service to tax. In fact, the person donating should get to write it off, but in this method you are passing your money through a company and they are taking credit for the donation. They are the ones to write it off. Supermarkets and some retail chains do this too, and they leverage donation write offs against corporate taxes.

The main difference in my case is that they also taxed me, where supermarkets are typically set up to provide the donation line item separately from the taxable total. I highly doubt they were factoring the donation as income, as it would make their income artificially high until whatever quarter they actual make their donation, at which point it would look artificially low. If they then point to the "pass thru" as the explanation for the P/L changes, I'm assuming someone (IRS, stockholders?) would ask why they are collecting tax on a pass-thru to donation.