An Atlanta restaurant was hit after it added an unusual fee to customers' bills.
Jenchan's Pizza and Chinese in Cabbagetown, Georgia, received hate on social media after customers criticized the restaurant for including 4% of employees' health insurance premiums on their bills.
A customer posted a photo of his bill on Reddit last month, which showed a $2.02 surcharge listed at the bottom.
The Redditor has since deleted the original post, which received over 2,000 comments and nearly 9,000 reactions.
Criticism from others trickled in, with one Facebook user commenting on a photo of Jen Chan's owner (which shows the Jen couple, Emily Chan and their child) with the following creepy words: did. “I've never seen a family that had to be beaten.'' Please do more to make health care more convenient. ”
The owners responded in a statement posted to Facebook on Dec. 29, 2023, writing that “everything appeared to be in order” at the time the restaurant served the customer in question.
It also pointed out that health insurance premiums are completely voluntary and any customer can opt out of paying premiums.
“To avoid this, we have written this on the menu itself and on the receipt,” the restaurant wrote.
“It's been on the menu for about a year. We took inspiration from a couple of other restaurants here that are doing the same thing.”
In February 2023, Zhenchan posted on Facebook: “Employee health insurance premiums went from $408 to $650 per employee. It's unsustainable. Meetings? Buehler…”
The following notices are posted on restaurant menus and bills:
“If you look at your receipts, you will see that 4% health insurance has been introduced after premiums more than tripled last year. Thank you for your cooperation in our efforts to ensure this. We appreciate your positive feedback. Thank you! Please note that we will happily remove it without hesitation. .”
In the same Facebook post, the restaurant also said other businesses are dealing with rising costs by reducing quantities or raising prices.
In an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta, Emily Chan said many people are asking why business owners don't factor the cost of health insurance into the “price of fried rice.”
“We don't want to do that,” she said. “We want to raise awareness. We want people to understand that there is a crisis.”
“Rising food costs, taxes, inflation and more create a hostile environment for small business owners,” the restaurant said in a post.
The facility also said, “We are committed to keeping our doors open and our employees' health insurance covered, and we are doing so as transparently and honestly as possible. Because we care.”
JenChan's opened six months before the coronavirus pandemic, which strained business.
The owners claim they haven't yet made a “real profit” and point out that there are many other small, independent eateries in Atlanta that have not survived.
“If we don't do something, [had] Cancel your insurance or close your doors,” the statement said.
“So we do this because we're driven by passion and sentiment and a desire to gather people around the table… it's in our bones. Hospitality is what allows us to wake up in the morning.”
The restaurant claimed it refunded the entire $2.02 bill in hopes that the angry customer would delete the social post.
“Electricity companies, gas companies, phone companies, ticket companies…they are all being charged huge fees that are not very transparent,” the Chans wrote in the same statement.
“We have one [charge] …And we're very clear about that. Why do we destroy small and medium-sized enterprises? ”
The family went on to advise readers to “knock down the insurance companies that make a lot of money off of one-star reviews…but not the family-run companies that are trying to do their best.”
“We’re really just trying to do our best.”
Fox News Digital contacted the restaurant, which declined to comment.
Sean Kennedy, vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, shared his thoughts on the struggles small businesses face in trying to survive.
“This issue is about how thin restaurant profit margins are and how difficult it is financially every day for restaurants to be able to keep their doors open and serve their communities,” he said in a phone interview with FOX Business. It clearly represents that.”
“What this restaurant is trying to do is profit from its workforce so that it can retain and recruit more workers. And obviously labor issues are a tremendous challenge that any restaurant faces. It’s a challenge.”
The average U.S. restaurant has a profit margin of 3% to 4%, said Kennedy of the National Restaurant Association.
“When restaurants try to innovate, they run up against a brick wall because profit margins are so low,” he says.
President Kennedy and the National Restaurant Association are encouraging restaurant owners to take note of Genchan's approach to transparency with the public.
Kennedy revealed that the third-highest cost restaurant owners currently face is credit card fees. Meanwhile, business owners also have to contend with inconsistent demand and “runaway” inflation in food prices.
“The restaurant industry continues to be under significant cost pressures over which it has little control,” he said. “Currently, about 15% of restaurants are adding a surcharge to their bill. [bills]”
While surcharges may not be popular with all consumers, Kennedy reminds restaurant patrons that these fees may be the only option for small business owners to keep their doors open. It reminded me of.
“They are doing everything they can to ensure that their customers' meals are of the highest quality and lowest price as humanly possible,” he said.
“If you want to take your business elsewhere and go to another restaurant, do that. But at the same time, restaurants operate under incredible cost pressure and we're really trying to reduce costs. Recognize that you are the last industry to pass it on to your customers.”
Kennedy added that the industry is asking for patience, support and understanding.
“The restaurant consumer has a choice in what happens here,” he says.
“But their decisions will have a huge impact on whether restaurants like this can reopen in six months.”
