bookwormstory.social

Service charges; resort fees; "surcharge" add-ons: If you've been startled by unexpected fees when you pay your check at a restaurant — or book a hotel room or buy a ticket to a game, you're far from alone. But if you live in California, change is coming. A new state law requiring price transparency is set to take effect in July.

"The law is simple: the price you see is the price you pay," Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Wednesday, as his office issued long-awaited guidance about a law that applies to thousands of businesses in a wide range of sectors.

When it takes effect on July 1, the law promises to upend how many restaurants operate. Their menus will be required to list comprehensive prices for each item, with all mandatory charges baked into one figure. Only fees that are entirely optional — like leaving a tip for staff — can be left out of the posted price.

If a business violates the mandate, the law allows a consumer to seek "actual damages of at least $1,000." In its new guidelines, the state says it won't focus initial enforcement efforts on "fees that are paid directly and entirely by a restaurant to its workers, such as an automatic gratuity. However, businesses may be liable in private actions."

Need this nationwide. I hate having fees added on to the price of what I'm ordering.