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A receipt showing SkyCity Huami restaurant had a surcharge on Christmas Day, even though its website said it did not apply.
A customer at SkyCity’s Huami restaurant on Christmas Day says he had to fight for a refund after he was wrongly charged a 15 percent vacation surcharge.
Rebecca, a woman from Auckland, who did not want her last name used, said that she had specifically searched for a restaurant that would not charge more for Christmas Day lunch for her family.
“I have dined at Skycity several times. I was thinking, I really don’t want to pay a surcharge, ”he said.
According to Huami’s website when he booked, the restaurant had a 15 percent surcharge on holidays except Christmas Day.
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The customer says he was initially told that he was not overcharged before SkyCity agreed to reimburse him.
She made a reservation online for her family of four and said at no point during the booking was a holiday surcharge mentioned.
He didn’t see any signage in the restaurant and said that the first time the fee was mentioned was when he went to pay.
“There was no sign anywhere when I walked in, until I got the bill and saw it on the screen,” he said.
He contacted the restaurant later on Christmas Day to inquire about the surcharge and was asked to email the tax bill and receipt so Huami could process a refund.
Rebecca contacted them again four days later after receiving no response. They told him Huami had a 15 percent surcharge on Christmas Day under his public holiday policy, and had not been overcharged.
“I responded immediately directing you to the exact location on the website and to please refund and advise immediately before the end of the business day yesterday [December 30]. “
On January 1, Huami sent him an email to tell all the customers that they had been informed about the holiday surcharge when they entered the restaurant.
“When I responded, I double-checked with other members of my group and no one heard that,” he said.
A SkyCity spokeswoman said Tuesday that all Huami customers on Christmas Day were told twice before dinner that there would be a 15 percent surcharge, at the time of booking through their SevenRooms reservation system, and when entering the restaurant.
“It was incorrectly stated in the FAQ [frequently asked questions] on Huami’s website that Christmas Day is excluded from the surcharge and this has now been fixed.
“As this is an oversight on our part, we will refund the surcharge to the customer.”
Rebecca said the restaurant seemed to be at least 70 percent full when she was there for lunch, and some of the other diners seemed surprised when they came to pay.
Jessica Wilson, head of research at Consumer NZ, said that if a restaurant wanted to apply a surcharge, it had to inform diners before placing the order.
There were no specific rules around signage, but it had to be clear to customers whether a company was charging an additional fee, he said.
“Holidays are defined in the Public Holidays Law. It includes Christmas Day, so if this family had read the information on the SkyCity website and saw that the surcharge was excluded on Christmas Day, they have the right to rely on that and they should not be charged 15 percent unless SkyCity alerted you before you placed your order. “
It was a “rule of thumb” that companies were required not to mislead customers about price, he said.
If a customer has a complaint about a surcharge on a holiday, they should raise it with the restaurant first. If they weren’t happy with the answer, they could go to the Dispute Court, Wilson said.
If they paid by credit or debit card, they could also try to get their bank to reverse the transaction with a chargeback if the surcharge was applied incorrectly.
Consumer NZ regularly received complaints about surcharges at Easter, about companies attempting to charge a holiday surcharge on a non-holiday day. Only Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays during the Easter period.
Companies sometimes used a holiday surcharge to cover additional costs, such as higher staff salaries on the day, but it should always be clearly and accurately disclosed, according to the Commerce Commission website.
“You should be told about the surcharge and what it covers, in advance so that you can make a decision about whether you are ready to pay it or buy elsewhere.”
