[AMcWhirter]

Piece today from The Brussels Times that one local restaurant has imposed a per person Covid-19 surcharge of Euros 5.

It is “to compensate [the restaurant] for the investments it had to make for the safety of both staff and clients.”

In fairness this restaurant has been closed for three months and now it has reopen it’s capacity has been cut by 50 per cent.

Nevertheless many people have complained … one client branded the surcharge as “pure theft.”

Brussels restaurant criticised for charging €5 Covid-19 supplement

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EU_Flyer

[capetonianm]

There are so many restaurants in Brussels that the consumer has the choice of eating there or going elsewhere. This may start a trend whereby others will follow, or it may die a natural death.

Since all establishments are obliged to take the same measures and incur the same costs, I would say this is a bit of profiteering, but in a city where most restaurants refuse to serve tap water, I am not surprised.

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Jeffrey, EU_Flyer, Jacob, AMcWhirter

[MartynSinclair]

Would it not have been easier to have added a few cents to each dish – it would probably then have gone unnoticed.

On a more serious note, is a C19 surcharge really unfair in some sectors? Looking at the PPE kit hairdressers need to wear, presumably changed for each client, perhaps in some circumstances it is fair to charge the client/customer…

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DerekVH

[Swissdiver]

C19 surcharge are not unfair to be as long as they reflect a real cost. EUR 5 per person is not reasonable, but 5 per table would. After all, we all accept cover cost in Italy…

[theworldtraveller]

The issue restaurants have is that if they make the meal too expensive, people just won’t eat out. Especially if they have just had a pay cut or been made redundant

[esselle]

So to have a “cover charge” has been normal for decades in restaurants around the world; calling it a “cover charge” made it easy to understand.

Calling it a “Covid 19” charge is perhaps a touch naive though.

But not as bad as the Sheraton at Schiphol; there, in the coffee shop, having ordered a Club Sandwich, I asked for some ketchup. When my bill arrived, it included “Ketchup, 1.75 euros”.

That was worse than naive.

[PatJordan]

esselle,

At that price, the ketchup must have been made with VERY special tomatoes. Might one even consider it a little saucy??

Pun most certainly intended😀

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EU_Flyer, Montysaurus

[esselle]

[postquote quote=1001985][/postquote]

PatJordan

Red-faced and browned off.

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PatJordan

[nevereconomy]

A lot of providers here in the personal care sector are increasing their fees to cover the additional supplies and equipment they now need to keep us and themselves safe.
Personally I have no issue with that. Tough to make money in a half full restaurant at the best of times.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=1002030]Red-faced and browned off.[/quote]

They sell HP sauce as well ?

As always, we’ve a choice — and it’s a powerful weapon that we collectively don’t execute any where near enough.

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EU_Flyer

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=1001978]So to have a “cover charge” has been normal for decades in restaurants around the world; calling it a “cover charge” made it easy to understand.

Calling it a “Covid 19” charge is perhaps a touch naive though.[/quote]

Spot on. It may be justified but calling it a Covid 19 charge is ridiculous.

The type of tactic adopted by airlines with things like fuel surcharge, and you can see how loathed some of them are.

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PatJordan, Montysaurus

[DavidSmith2]

Many people in Brussels are expats with either a living allowance or per diems, if they are short-term visitors. Presumably most of the international organizations based in Brussels, including the EU, will accept and be prepared to reimburse receipts showing this. One of the problems with places, especially top end hotels, who cater to those on expenses, is that owners know exactly what the rates are and what they can get away with. Rates for hotels around the world often mirror what the UN/US State Dept rates are for those cities.

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PhilipHart

[TominScotland]

I am clearly at odds with many folk here but I would be very comfortable with a charge of this kind. After all, most restaurants will see their capacity cut significantly by social distancing requirements and the consequent costs must be paid. Our local podiatrist has raised her charges because, with a PPE requirement and extra cleaning time required, throughput of patients has been reduced by 33%. Are restaurants any different?

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ASK1945, EU_Flyer, DerekVH

[EU_Flyer]

[quote quote=1002035]They sell HP sauce as well ?[/quote]

Yes. HP = High Priced?

As for the surcharge – surely no more than 2 euros pp can be justified?

[PhilipHart]

The hospitality trade in Brussels has grown fat on the back of the largesse of generous #EU expenses, so this is utterly unsurprising.

They know that it won’t really bother their clients – none of whom are horny-handed sons of toil – since they’ll just expense it back to #EU.

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NorskSaint

[Author]

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