Common restaurant scams and dubious practices that could catch you out when your dinner check arrives: Internet Scambusters #1,119
This isn’t an easy time for hard-pressed American restaurants trying to recover from the pandemic, rising costs, and fewer diners.
Some of them, even well-known and reputable names, are using tactics to attract customers and lure them into spending too much.
In this week’s issue, we’ll explain the most common tricks that these eateries, or your server, may try to spring on you, and show you how to spot and avoid their pay-more strategies.
Let's get started…
How Struggling Restaurants Trick You Into Spending More
Many restaurants are struggling to survive in the post-pandemic era. Higher wages and food costs, labor shortages, and a big change in people’s dining out habits have forced many to the brink of failure.
That means they have to come up with ideas to lure their customers back. Sadly, some of those ideas border on scams.
For example, a would-be dater told on TikTok about a meet-up she agreed to on a dating app that named a specific restaurant for the get-together. But when she arrived, he was nowhere to be seen and, as she waited, she decided to order herself a meal.
She texted the guy – no reply. Then she returned to the dating app and found she had been “umatched” with him. But after posting on TikTok, commenters told her of similar experiences.
“There are restaurants now posing as people on dating apps just so you go to their business,” she claimed.
“Once you get stood up, they know that probably nine times out of ten, you’re gonna buy something from them. That just blew my mind.”
That may sound far-fetched but one of the commenters said the scam is currently making the rounds – claiming restaurant employees are setting up fake profiles on dating apps to trick women into coming to their restaurant.
More Restaurant Tricks
This is far from the only shady practice that eateries use to try to cajole people into visiting or spending more.
Here are some other ruses they may try on unsuspecting customers:
- Upselling: Most salespeople and retail websites constantly try to persuade you to spend more. That's their job! But some restaurants cross the line by suggesting additional and often expensive items without telling you how much these extras will cost or, for example, you'll already have enough on your plate without buying more.
- High pressure tactics: If you get flustered while ordering, upselling and other tactics, such as suggestions you'll miss out on a deal, plus a server's appearance of being in a hurry, can prompt you into buying something you don't really want or need.
- Downgrading: You buy your usual favorite for what seems to be the same price, but the amount is less. For example, you always buy coconut shrimp but, while you used to get six, you now get only four or five.
- Misleading menus: Illustrations on menus show generous food portions but what arrives at your table is significantly smaller than what you thought you were getting. Sometimes, too, the plate photos include items that are really extras or simply don't come with the dish. Look out for "for illustration purposes" in small print.
- Hidden extras: Charges for things like compulsory gratuities and service charges. In some cases, restaurants have been known to add items like contributions toward health insurance or other employment costs. These may be hidden in the small print or not made clear at all.
- Fake recommendations: How many times has a server said something like "that's my favorite" when you place your order, especially if you ask for recommendations? They may also post fake reviews or endorsements.
- Menu psychology: Believe it or not, there's a whole "science" behind the way items are arranged in restaurant menus. The aim is to lead your eyes toward the more expensive items. Concealing or simply not publishing prices is part of this process; the aim is to suggest you don't need to know prices because you have plenty of money, so it would be embarrassing for you to actually ask!
- Drinks costs: Restaurants make a lot of money from beverages. They mark up their prices significantly. For example, a soda that, say, costs you $3.99 can be made from syrups that cost only a couple of cents a pop. With alcohol, the markup may be less but you're likely to pay at least 50% more, and perhaps even 100% extra, than store retail costs. Often, too, you have no idea of how much wine or liquor will actually go into your glass.
- Special deals: You might be lured into ordering an item because it appears to be part of a special promotion. But, again, hidden in the small print may be terms and conditions that disqualify you from the deal. But the server doesn't tell you.
Be Vigilant
Most of these tactics may not be out-and-out scams but they are at least dubious or misleading. It pays to be vigilant, checking the small print, asking questions, and challenging your server if you don’t get what you thought you were paying for. Read that small print!
Take the time to study the menu carefully, ask about portion sizes and sides, and be cautious about those upbeat, five-star reviews.
Tipping is another contentious issue. US diners already pay among the highest tips in the world. Restaurants add to the pressure by printing high suggested tip amounts on your bill.
Another restaurant trick that targets customers – though nothing to do with the restaurant itself – is the fake waiter scam. It’s a simple piece of nastiness. These crooks walk around large restaurants looking for people ready to pay their bill with cash.
They simply pretend to be a server, ask a customer if they’re ready to pay, pick up the cash, and say something like “I’ll be right back.” But, of course, they never come back! Make sure you can recognize your server. Or, better yet, pay with a debit or credit card.
This Week’s Alerts
Fake designer websites: A new report from The Guardian newspaper says that over 800,000 shoppers in the US and Europe have been tricked into paying for supposed designer fashion items that either don’t exist or are cheap knockoffs. In what’s being called one of the largest scams of its type, investigators found 76,000 fake sites, mostly based in China. Always check the reputation of online sellers and, as ever, the lower the price the higher the risk it’s a con.
AI voice clones: Concern is mounting about the increase in fake distress calls that use people’s real voices. Crooks use artificial intelligence to create voice models that can even answer questions and hold conversations that sound exactly like the real person, usually asking for money to be wired to them urgently (the so-called grandparent scam). They only need 15 seconds worth of a person’s voice to do this. So, even if a caller sounds genuine, ask a question that only the real person could answer. Or better yet, have a shared family code word that you can ask for.
That's it for today – we hope you enjoy your week!