To the Editor,
I read Ms. Cuddy’s letter with great interest. For those who charge their meals receiving a surcharge for using a card and I paying cash without a surcharge makes sense to me. That’s one of the reasons I switched to paying cash quite a while back.
Your position seemed mostly dealing with a surcharge is against NYS law. Then you went on to outline two options. 1. Which would cost the restaurant owner to lay out more money to reprint their menus indicating two different prices for each item. This extra cost would then, most likely, be passed on to all of us. Your 2nd suggestion is to post the high cost for the meal on the menu (again costing the owner additional money) and giving a discount to us who pay cash.
What exactly does either of those choices achieve in a time when it’s difficult for restaurants to stay in business? Those patrons who have been paying by credit card already know those restaurants that charge a “credit card usage” fee. It is not being done deceptively.
I would think that most of us who pay cash would rather not have our cost increased because an establishment now has to pay a fine and/or reprint their menus. Not all laws are rationally thought through before making them. I put forth this is one of those laws. As long as there is a side indicating a fee for credit card usage, patrons are aware without the additional expense as listed above.
I’ll continue paying cash thank you.
Sincerely,
Lenore M. Poggioli
Warwick, NY