How can you dispute a Chinese restaurant's charge practically, in Canada?

Question

Not living in Canada, my siblings visited Casa Victoria restaurant (紫爵金宴) in Toronto for lunch. Everything went swimmingly until they saw this on their bill:

SAUCE 芥 6.00

They were never notified of this charge, not written anywhere on the menus or dim sum sheet. They never requested any sauces. So they requested a manager, and a man in a business suit came. They don't speak a word of Chinese, and this dialogue followed:

Manager: This is for table covers, sauces, preparation.
Siblings: Why would we be charged for these? They're standard in any restaurant.
Manager: This is standard policy. It's in many restaurants. Have you never been to Chinese restaurants?
Siblings: Can we have your name please?
Manager: Sorry. I'm not allowed to give names.
Siblings: It's not fair to charge us for something that was never agreed. Will you please waive and remove this charge?
Manager: Sorry. I cannot. This is policy.
Siblings: Sorry. We don't like hidden charges. They're very unfair. Is there anything you can do to help?
Manager: Sorry. No. This is owner's policy.
Siblings: Is there someone else who can help with this?
Manager: I'm the only manager. Anyway, you have to pay it. If you don't, I report you.

Weary and frightened by this threat, my siblings paid the bill, but without the standard tip of 15%.

I base the titled question on ethics, not money, as suing for $6 CAD is obviously senseless.

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Further research

Googling "chinese restaurant" invoice "cover charge" yields other restaurants that charge this. Legend Chinese Restaurant in Thornhill, ON:

Park Chinois Restaurant at 17 Berkeley St, London:

Miss Ene explains how these charges stunned her:

Anyhoo, the point of this entry is not to rave about the food at Chin Lee. Instead, I would like to draw your attention to a little unknown cost. Well, it was pretty unknown to me until today.

Now, we all know that restaurants charge for the wet napkins and peanuts/pickles that the place on your table at the start of each meal. I don’t have a problem paying for it because I am sure it all adds to their operating costs. However, I was pretty appalled that we (4 pax) paid $10 (excluding 7% GST) for “cover charge” and 2 plates of “pickles”. They were steamed peanuts, by the way.

Answer 1

The key thing missing from your quoted exchange is this:

Customer: Please point out where this charge is listed on the menu, or perhaps a sign somewhere?

Then we're at a branching point:

1. The overwhelmingly-more-likely scenario is that it's there and your friends overlooked it:

   Manager: Here, sir. (indicating small print easily overlooked)

   In which case, pay the charge, leave, and take the lesson: Read the small print. It's small for a reason. Restaurateurs expect you to overlook it. This is particularly common in tourist areas where repeat trade is less important than one-off trade. And it's not specific to Chinese restaurants (though as noted elsewhere, a cover charge — indicated on the menu — is common in dim sum restaurants, some tapas places, etc.).

2. It's not there:

   Manager: I'm sorry, sir. It's not specifically listed, but it's standard policy.

   In which case, you have a choice:

   1. Pay it and leave, perhaps collecting evidence (pictures of menu, video of the manager telling you they can't point to the charge, etc.) and sending it to the board of trade or whatever relevant authority it is in the province you're in. You're out $6, but there we are.

   2. Refuse to pay it (which is a lot of hassle for $6, but perhaps it's the principle of the thing):

      Customer: No. Standard policy — indeed, law — in Canada is that you are not charged for things that are not listed on the menu or on signage. If it were on the menu or a sign, I'd pay it. Since it isn't, I will pay only the charges that were shown. I suggest updating your menu to list the charge to avoid future confusion. Here's my payment for what is actually owed.

      If you're paying cash, take a picture of the cash next to the menu and bill, and walk out.

      If you're paying by card and they refuse to take partial payment, start recording a video on your phone:

      Customer: You're insisting that we pay a charge you cannot point to on your menu or any sign in the restaurant. I'm offering to pay what we owe, what was on the menu. You've refused. Will you take that payment now? No? Okay, since you won't accept payment for what we owe now, I will be sending payment for the amount we owe to your restaurant within a week. Here are my details so you can sue me if I don't, or if you want to sue me for the $6. In the meantime, we're leaving.

      At which point, if you're anywhere near as conflict-averse as I am, you'd be off spending more than $6 on a couple of calming glasses of wine in the nearest pub. :-)

   
   In either case, if they try to physically prevent you walking out over $6 they can't back up with a menu item, I don't know the law in Canada but I suspect they're in for an uphill battle with the police you or they will eventually have to call if they do that. Certainly get video evidence of them physically barring you from leaving, and of you offering to pay the vast majority of the bill and saying why you aren't paying the rest.

Answer 2

Next time, pay and report the restaurant to the Ontario's consumer protection board here.

You need to pay and you should pay with a card so that there is paper trail of the payment.

Make certain you take pictures of the menus, bill, and anything that could/should state or not if there is a cover charge or extra charge. Try to take the picture of the menus with your bill next to it, again, to show that it is the proper menu.

If there is a cover charge, it should be plainly written on the menu.

Answer 3

For better or worse, it is quite standard for dim sum/yum cha places worldwide to charge cover charges, often mildly disguised as fees for peanuts, napkins, tea, sauces, which are all brought to your table without asking. I've seen this in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, etc, which are notably all also places where cover charges in restaurants are not the norm.

The rationale is simple enough: eating dim sum requires an extraordinary array of little plates, sauces and utensils, and people tend to make an event of it, sitting around for much longer than (say) your average noodle place. So the cover charge is the restaurant's way of ensuring they make a modicum of profit from everybody at the table, even if they only nibble on one dumpling over two hours.

Yes, the restaurant was at fault for not making the charge clear in advance; but no, you should not feel like you, personally, were targeted in some kind of scam. And if your meal cost more than $40 or so, stiffing them on more than $6 of tips in response is really not cool -- it's the owner's policy, not the waitstaff's.

Answer 4

I'm Chinese and think this is really a culture difference. Not all Chinese restaurant have this kind of fee. Only Guang Dong (广式茶餐厅) and Hong Kong restaurants have this kind of fee.
As a Chinese, the first time I went to Guangdong, I was surprised about this fee too. There, it's called 茶位费。- something like you go to restaurant and take a seat to drink a pot of tea. You will be asked to pay this little amount, no matter if you drink or not. The first time this happened to me I was surprised: "Why should I pay even I don't drink tea?". Later, I know there is a history here at Guang Dong.

In Guangdong province and HongKong people like to drink tea at a restaurant and have a chat for the whole day. They call this "喝早茶" (drink morning tea?).
Just like Westerners like to go to a bar and drink something and have social talk. Often, they only ask for a pot of tea, because what they eat and drink is not important, talking and friends are. And as a convention, the tea pot should be filled when it's empty. They may even order nothing.

But if everyone goes to a restaurant and orders nothing or only a pot of tea, and occupy the restaurant for a long time, the restaurant will go bankrupt. So, it's just common at Guangdong/Hongkong.

In fact, there is some discussion about this 'table cover fee' or 'tea position fee' in China too. Some people think this is unreasonable. But most Guangdong restaurants will charge for this to make themselves more authentic.

Answer 5

Pay the bill, then double-check the menu and the entrance for signs informing you about the "sauce fee". If you don't find anything, inform the restaurant in writing that you disagree with the charge, joining a copy of the bill and the evidence you would collect while double-checking, like photos of the menu and the entrance. Give the restaurant enough time to deal with your complaint (1 month would be considered enough almost universally), and ask them clearly to reimburse the charge you disagree with.

Chances are that the restaurant will decide to issue a refund. Or perhaps they will reply and provide convincing evidence justifying the charge. If not, you have solid paperwork to file a complaint with customer protection authorities.

This is as far as you can go without going over the budget of $6 which you're trying to get back.

Answer 6

Why not simple decline to pay (that part of the bill)? Whom would they report you to?

If they call the police, you can make your argument there, and you would potentially win. And whom else would they report you to?

Answer 7

Here in New Zealand, I've not seen cover charges like this in a restaurant - including at Chinese Yum Cha restaurants and similar. Also note that, like Australia, we don't do tipping here either (businesses pay waitstaff properly).

If I saw something like this, as an unannounced final charge, I would question it; and if I received an unsatisfactory answer, then it would be a negative review online, giving full details. Restaurants (and accommodation) here take their online reviews very seriously (as we're a tourist country) and too many people complaining can end a business.