We’ve all been there, well, most of us; sometimes, drunken nights out end without taking your credit card home.
Worse than the traditional walk of shame, there’s nothing quite like having to revisit the bar that hosted last night’s drunken stupor during your lunch break.
While, aside from a little embarrassment, this is longstanding practice and tradition is harmless to the binge drinker, it does have a negative effect on bars, as they lose money when they aren’t able to close certain tabs.
This is why a pub in Newfoundland, Canada is charging an “idiot tax” of 25 percent for people who drunkenly forget to close their tabs and forget their credit cards at the bar.
The idiot tax added to the pain of an already bad hangover for one patron of Christian’s Bar in St. John’s.
“I can understand being charged a 15 percent tip,” said Katie Jackson, explaining the 25 percent clip is excessive.
“And the fact that they actually named it the ‘idiot tax.’ It’s not very good customer service.”
Jackson used her credit card to buy a round of drinks at Christian’s, but when she left, she realized she didn’t have her card. Upon retrieving it the next day, she couldn’t believe the 25 percent charge. Thinking it was a mistake, she checked with her other friend who also left his card at the bar.
“But then I checked with my friend who also accidentally left his card as well,” she recounted. “And he said, ‘Yeah, I got charged 25 per cent, too.’”
The practice may have adverse effects, as people are opting to close their tabs immediately instead of potentially ordering more rounds.
“I told him the only reason I had wanted him to close it off right away was because of what I had heard happen the weekend before,” said Allison Penney, Jackson’s friend, who went to Christian’s a week later. “And he said, ‘Yeah, we call that the ‘idiot tax.’”
There’s no word as to whether or not other bars will pick up this practice, but one thing’s for sure: you don’t want to leave your credit card overnight at Christian’s.
0 comments :
Post a Comment