Some companies are adding coronavirus surcharges to bills, infuriating customers enough to take their business elsewhere.
“Many customers are angry about the changes,” wrote Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at CreditCards.com. Rossman noted that roughly 86% of respondents from an American Express survey said they would stop patronizing a business if it applied surcharges to receipts.
A dentist in Florida charged patients $10 to help pay for the personal protective equipment worn by staff, which the mother of one patient felt she was not obligated to pay.
“I don’t feel that I’m required to pay that,” she told a local news station in Jacksonville, Florida.
In Texas, a hair salon added a $3 “sanitation” fee to customers’ receipts. The owner of the salon said the extra charge was to cover new expenses that are now required to run a business.
“The cost of reopening includes all the extra supplies that we need and all the cleaning supplies that we need. It’s worth it! It’s absolutely worth it,” Rachel Gower, owner of the Upper Hand Salon, told the local ABC news station.
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Scott Taylor of the University of Houston’s Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management told the news organization that surcharges will likely shock customers and that it might be better for businesses to increase prices on the services or products that they provide.
“It’s the same money at the end of the day, but psychologically, it’s a different impact,” he said.
In an effort to forewarn customers, Kiko Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Lounge in West Plains, Missouri, reached out to diners on Facebook and explained that their “Covid-19 surcharge” addressed rising food costs.
“We plan to take this surcharge off once all the prices [are] back to normal,” the post states.
Whether the surcharge is explained in advance or not, Rossman finds them to be a “bad look” that makes customers “feel like the merchant does not appreciate their business.”
