Karaoke Forums

New bar in town i started at a few weeks ago.  Brand new building brand new everything.

Tonight at the end of the night, a singer tells me her bill was $98.  There was a $5.66 PATRON FEE.  Anyone ever heard of this?  Is that a sneaky cover charge?  Or entertainment charge?

Thanks for filling the bar stool...charge?

Or could it be a fee for using a credit card.  Like 3% of the total.

Also the girlfriend suspects they are using top shelf liquor bottles with 3rd grade booze.

Now the best part. I'm cutting him a price break till we get things going.  One customer paid my fee.  :O

Should i feel like a jerk?

1st - you should never feel bad for the amount the bar charges, if it's worth it and people have a really enjoyable time there --they won't mind paying MORE than the ar down the street ..it's all about the atmosphere .  Some bars a bottle of BUD is $2 others $5 $6 $7 ....

If you really want to know about the charge ...ASK

Well the girl sat with my girlfriend all night so if i get involved then i'm going to look bad.  Girfriend took off so she wouldn't get drug in to it.  The girl was real upset and called the owner on it.  Raised a nice fuss.  I didn't know it was going on because i was loading the equipment.  Glad i didn't know till i got home.

20 oz draft $3.50.  Is that high, Low or normal?

"Also the girlfriend suspects they are using top shelf liquor bottles with 3rd grade booze."

She thinks it's happening at a couple other places i do.

Anyone complain at your bars about the top shelf whiskey switcheroo?

Surely if the bar is charging a Patron Fee it should be posted somewhere in the bar so that customers know up front that this will be added to the tab. Secondly, wow, if I was to drink $98 worth of alcohol they would have to carry me out the door , sounds like a bit of tab padding to me. I used to frequent a bar like that, I don't go there much any more and when I do I always pay cash and never run a tab. This bar is packed nearly every night of the week, as "Jamkaraoke" says if the crowd are entertained they will be willing to pay for it.

Never heard of a Patron Fee myself If it was not posted or I was not told about it I would not had paid it myself. If I had a tab of $98.00 Id probably had been passed out anyway....

The switcheroo is an old scheme . It sounds unlikely that a BRAND new bar would begin there business like that , chances are if they are charging Patron Fees and $3.50 drafts and the place is NEW they are targeting an 'upscale' clientele who are willing to pay the $98 bar tab.

The place I work at is completly oppoisite..it's an old bar ..nothing fancy - They don't take credit cards and won't run tabs ..unless you bought food.  
They sell A BUCKET OF 7OZ bottle beers for $6  ( 42oz for $6 ) so a 20oz draft for $3.50 isn't all that bad ..I guess.

just don't get involved in someone elses business unless it starts to impact yours.  :yes:

[quote="sidewinder @ Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:51 pm"]New bar in town i started at a few weeks ago.  Brand new building brand new everything.

Tonight at the end of the night, a singer tells me her bill was $98.  There was a $5.66 PATRON FEE.  Anyone ever heard of this?  Is that a sneaky cover charge?  Or entertainment charge?

Did you ever figure out what the charge actually was? I'd be interested to know.

K

It was itemized on the print out.  Don't have a clue.  There is nothing posted anywhere about it.   May be a credit card add on for the 3-5% processing fee????

Credit card cahrge to a business is like $.25 per transaction.  Might have been a built in gratuity, have seen clubs do this in the past.

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I use to have an account and it was 3-4-5% of the total bill. Depending on the company you went with.  That's why places ask you to spend a minimun amount.

They won't lose money on the transaction.

Can't put $3 on charge and expect to make money. It cuts into the profit margin.

You would be surprised at how fast those 3% charges add up. They deduct it right from your account before they mail you your check.

Plus anywhere from 1.3% to 4% charge. The biggest factors determining the percentage are fraud rate and charge volume.


That makes sense, but $5.66 seems low for that tab.

                 $84.00 drinks
                      7.40 tax
                      5.66 "Patron fee"

That would be only something like 7%.

$3.50 for a 20 oz draft is cheap. In NY, the average cost for a pint on draft is $4. Some charge higher. I've paid as much as $6 for a pint (which is overcharging, but then I milk the drink longer, so I buy less, and the night balances out for me).


As for the $5.66  Patron Fee, that's a strange number. If the Bar were charging a Cover Charge, they would use round numbers... $5, $10, $15, etc... It's got to be something else. For a $98 bill, it doesn't sound like it's a TIP that was included in the bill. When Bars and Restaurants do that, it is usually 15% and it says that it's the Customer TIP (or some wording similar to that). I've never heard of a Bar or Restaurant charging you a higher fee just because you use a Credit Card (as versus paying in cash). I'm not saying that it's never been done, just that I've never seen it or heard of it (other than in Gas Stations, where they charge you about 10 cents more per gallan if you use a Credit Card as versus paying in cash).

Top Shelf Bottles with inferior liquor poured in them is illegal (and if it's true, the Bar should be reported to the Liquor Board). And you said that this woman said she's had that happen to her at other Bars too???? It makes me wonder about why she would approach you with her bill. After all, you're only the KJ. You obviously have nothing to do with what she spent, or how much she was charged. As for a $98 bill, was she alone, or was that all hers? If it was all hers and she didn't eat there as well, I'd venture to say that she had too much to drink, and she couldn't taste the difference between Top Shelf and the cheapie stuff anymore, and she assumed that they did that. The reason I say that, is because of your added comment that she said she's been to other places that do this too. Sounds a little too coincidental.

You've got to remember New York is high-priced. Out here in the hinterlands it is much, much cheaper. I don't drink, so I don't really know what it costs -- but I see some sings for specials. $1.25 longnecks,  $1.00 pints, etc. I think normal is $2.00 to $2.50 for a bottle of beer.

She didn't approach me.  I found out after i got home.  But she was sitting with my girlfriend all night.  They are good friends.  Girlfriend  didn't want involved because of me, so she took off running.  Told me about it at home.  

The 5.66 just happens to work out to be 6% of her bill.  Still strange and nobody else i talked to can figure it out.

If it was a built in tip that would be 15-18-20%.

Hidden cover charge???

You should have her call the bar and ask exactly what that charge was for. I'd sure make sure anyone going there was made aware that this charge my magically appear on their tab. Not the best way to do biz.

It sounds like something they would do in a "dry" county...charge a "membership" fee to get round the law. But since you didn't mention it I take it it isn't.

Maybe it's a charge to cover the wonderful entertainment...

I don't want to cut my on throat, do i?

Just remember. If a bar charges for karaoke, leave before you go in. I did.