It’s no secret that some restaurants in the US are now resorting to some rather questionable hidden fees to boost sales numbers. Hence, one man from Las Vegas has issued a warning to those who like to eat out, especially those who pay through card or phone. The Vegas man allegedly caught some restaurants red-handed adding a weird fee on top of everything, something the establishment quickly waived after getting called out.
TikTok user jacobslifeinvegas, aka Jacob Orth, is the Vegas local in question, and he ate out at an unnamed restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip recently, then uploaded the incident. In the video, Orth indicated a vaguely disclosed “CNF” fee, which supposedly doesn’t appear in digital receipts or online payment, and only gets pointed out in an itemized breakdown via physical receipt.
Orth then asks, “What’s the CNF?” something the server struggled to answer. The diner then explains in the video that “that fee adds zero value to your meal. It’s not a service charge that goes to the server.” The Vegas man further explains that CNF “goes into the restaurant’s pockets, and they count on tourists not noticing or not caring.”
For the record, one of Orth’s CNF fees was only 27 cents, though this can vary per restaurant or depending on the total cost of your meal, and according to him, “that money definitely adds up over time.” Hence, Orth advised viewers to ask for the receipt and reject the CNF fee, something the restaurant thankfully did when he asked them to. It’s not clear how well other restaurants will respond to this diner preference.
People online are calling the practice illegal
Orth himself has outrightly called the CNF fee or other fees hidden by digital receipts a shady practice; as such, “There’s a good chance they’ll waive it immediately because they know it’s a rip-off.” More importantly, asking for a physical receipt is the crucial part of this trick, though we can’t say for certain how common this CNF fee is outside of Las Vegas or Nevada.
Meanwhile, viewers were accusing the restaurant of breaking the law, as one commenter put it, “How is this legal?” Another commenter appears to be getting tired of the constant cons when it comes to eating out at restaurants, asking, “Why do WE have to advocate FOR ourselves CONSTANTLY,” with another echoing the sentiment, “I caught a local store rounding up for a credit card purchase, so many dishonest people out there.”
Of course, not all commenters agreed with Orth’s advice, with some mocking his fussiness over 27 cents, “27 cents 😂 bro you need not to go to Vegas if you are worried about a quarter for every $5 spent.” However, arguments like those have sparked off further exchanges about the state of the restaurant industry in the US.
