A tourist in Prague checked her bill and was shocked. The restaurant added an extra 12.5% without warning
Tipping is a common way to show satisfaction with the service in a restaurant. However, the amount is usually decided by the guest themselves. In one Prague restaurant, foreign tourists encountered a different practice. They discovered an extra amount on their bill that they were not aware of in advance.
Polish woman discovers a strange amount in her account
The restaurant's unusual behavior was highlighted in a report by the TV Nova program On Your Side. The editors were contacted by a Polish tourist, Natalia, who visited a restaurant near Charles Bridge with her boyfriend. Without her knowing it, the establishment added 12.5% of the amount spent to her bill as a tip.
The Polish woman mentioned that the waiter did not even verbally warn her about the price increase and she did not even have to confirm the tip on the payment terminal when paying. If she had not checked her card payment, she would not have known that she had been charged this amount.
As TV Nova pointed out, this visitor to the Prague restaurant was not the first to alert the operator to similar behavior.
The reporter tried out the restaurant's process
The program's reporter decided to check the situation on the ground. He posed as an English-speaking foreigner and, before placing his order, tried to find information about a tip that could be added to his bill. However, he found no mention of such a surcharge on the menu or drinks menu.
When he asked for the bill, his expenses amounted to 583 CZK, but the final amount to be paid was 656 CZK. The difference was the aforementioned 12.5%, which the Polish tourist had informed about. In this case, it was 73 CZK. On the bill, the reporter found this amount listed as a suggested tip. However, he did not learn from the waiter that he was supposed to pay it.
When he decided to return to the restaurant a few days later, this time as a Czech-speaking guest, he found no 12.5% tip on the bill. At least in this attempt, the billing method differed depending on whether he was acting as a foreign or Czech guest.
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TV Nova also asked Bauer Hotel Group, which operates the establishment, for a comment on the whole situation. According to Petr Bauer Jr., it is not right for the staff to charge a tip without the customer's prior consent. According to him, the recommended amount stated on the receipt is not a problem in itself, and if the guest decides not to leave a tip, the staff must take this into account.
Because the information about the 12.5% tip is not listed anywhere, according to Bauer, the waiter should inform the guest about it before paying.
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What does the CTIA say about automatic tipping?
The Czech Trade Inspection Authority (CTI) also commented on the case, noting that the customer should know the final price before paying. CTI spokesman František Kotrba also explained in a TV Nova report that tipping is perceived as voluntary in European culture. Attorney Jiří Chlaň then described the automatic addition of a tip without prior notice as a practice that may constitute a "deceptive omission."
