Surcharge not deterring diners on Queen's Birthday holiday

Monday, 5 June 2017

Auckland diners did not seem fazed by surcharges on Queen's Birthday.

A 15 per cent public holiday surcharge at some cafes and restaurants did not appear to deter diners in central Auckland on Queen's Birthday.

That was despite some businesses' fears that the extra fee would cause customers to flee.

Ponsonby bar Revelry's general manager, Patrick Barcoe, said customers asked about a surcharge before looking at the menu.

Revelry general manager Patrick Barcoe said every bar he has worked in has avoided charging customers a surcharge on public holidays.

If a surcharge was on the table, they would leave straight away, he said.

* Customers 'peeved' at paying a surcharge on takeaways in holiday hotspots**

Barcoe said the Queen's Birthday holiday gave them a busy Sunday evening, but if they had charged a 10 or 15 per cent fee in the early hours of Monday morning the bar may not have done so well.

He said diners and drinkers were both anti-surcharge.

'If people are in a restaurant, they will still not want to pay it.'

But cafes and restaurants in Ponsonby remained busy on Queen's Birthday.

Diner Justin Durocher, 35, bought lunch and a coffee with a side of a 15 per cent surcharge.

He said the surcharge did not deter him from dining on Monday because he appreciated that staff needed to be paid more for working on a public holiday.

'They should be compensated, and therefore if a business needs to pay some of its overhead by charging more then I believe it is acceptable.'

Janice Hoban, 81, said she was not aware of the extra 15 per cent she was charged for her coffee and fruit loaf at the Longroom restaurant on Monday.

If she had known, she said, it would not have bothered her or affected her decision to dine out because she did not do it often.

A surcharge also did not cross 25-year-old Monika Baumann's mind when she settled at Ponsonby Road's Cafe Byzantium on Monday.

The cafe did not charge her a public holiday operating fee.

'I have never really thought about surcharges on Queen's Birthday,' Baumann said.

'If I noticed that a place had surcharges then I would probably keep walking until I found another place that did not.'

Hospitality New Zealand Auckland branch president Russel Gray said the decision to add a public holiday surcharge was up to the individual establishment.

He said surcharges covered the compulsory cost of paying staff time-and-a-half and in some cases giving them a day in lieu.

Gray said Hospitality New Zealand had not run into any major issues with surcharges, but he expected New Zealanders had mixed opinions on it.

'Those that understand the reasons why probably accept it as business.'