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Some restaurants opt to charge servers for credit card tips

Posted at 7:50 PM, Feb 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-05 21:50:55-05

A few weeks back, a viewer let me know about a restaurant's plan to take money from servers to pay for processing credit card tips. They ended up not doing it. So we asked viewers: was it justified or not?

Many made the call on the Let Joe Know Facebook page, and overwhelmingly viewers are not in favor of the move.

Legally, restaurants can take up to three percent of tips to pay for credit card fees. When we heard about a different local restaurant had adopted the practice, we wanted to hear their side of the argument.

An owner of The Mission in Scottsdale's Kierland Commons says he can't confirm what percentage is taken, but that they started taking fees for credit card tips in late 2017. He says it's the last thing they wanted to do but with a minimum wage increase, rising costs, and to keep food prices from going too high, it was necessary.

He says his restaurant isn't alone.

Don't know if its policy at your favorite restaurant? Ask!  

One way to make sure your server gets all the money is to tip in cash.  

So how common is this? Are you keeping all of your tips? 

Let me know on the Let Joe Know Facebook Page.