“Some restaurants only remove the value-added tax, without giving an actual discount on the items purchased”
During the yuletide season, restaurants and similar commercial establishments generate a very large volume of business.
That is good news for the economy, employment, and the government that badly needs revenues in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, there are many restaurants and similar commercial establishments, mostly in the National Capital Region, that violate the laws with impunity.
Overcharging is common in high-end restaurants patronized by wealthy diners.
Often, the racket is imposed on any large group of diners
Expensive dishes and multiple beverages which were not actually ordered or consumed by the group are stealthily inserted in the bill.
Frequently, the host simply pays the amount of the bill, without bothering to verify if the same is accurate or correct. This is especially true for hosts who pay using their credit cards.
If the irregular insertions are discovered by a very careful or discerning restaurant patron, the waiter gets the bill back and undertakes to bring it to the cashier for a second look.
Thereafter, the waiter returns with the “corrected” bill, apologizes for the “error,” and blames the mistake on the cashier or some other restaurant employee.
Multiply the inaccurate bill paid by the number of victims in each luncheon or dinner daily, and then multiply the product by the number of such exploitative restaurants, one will be shocked by the total amount of money cheated from restaurant customers.
Many high-end restaurants in Binondo and Ermita in Manila, Greenhills in San Juan, and in Makati and Quezon City, are engaged in this nefarious practice.
A number of restaurants offer half and whole orders in their menus. Customers who don’t check their bills often end up paying whole order prices for half orders.
Other restaurants shortchange their customers, that is, the change they give to their customers is far less than what the correct change is.
In many instances, the customers do not bother to count their change and just assume that the amount given to them is correct.
Another anomaly involves senior citizen discounts. The anomaly is often committed in two ways.
Under the law governing senior citizenship discounts, a senior citizen who wishes to avail himself of the discount is required to exhibit proof of his age through any government issued identification card indicating his or her photograph and birthdate.
Thus, a driver’s license issued by the Land Transportation Office, or a passport issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, should suffice. The law on senior citizen discounts mandates no specific government-issued identification card.
Unfortunately, many restaurants require the senior citizen to present a senior citizen card issued by the local government unit where they reside.
These restaurants illegally insist that they need to log down the serial number indicated in the local government-issued card.
The anomaly is magnified by the fact that other restaurants are able to honor the senior citizen discount on the basis of government-issued identification cards other than the senior citizen card issued by local government units.
If these restaurants do not need to see a local government-issued senior citizen identification card to be able to honor the discount, why can’t other restaurants do so?
A popular Chinese buffet restaurant in the South Triangle Area in Quezon City, a patronized Chinese restaurant along Ongpin Street in Binondo, Manila, and a famous Chinese deli operating several stalls in Metro Manila, among many other establishments, are engaged in this anomaly.
It looks like the Offices of Senior Citizen Affairs of Quezon City and Manila are not attending to their responsibilities to senior citizens in their localities.
The other anomaly involving senior citizen discounts takes the form of inaccurate discounts.
There are restaurants which, although they honor any government-issued identification card to establish one’s status as a senior citizen, the discount they give to senior citizens are inaccurate, or below what the law mandates.
Some restaurants only remove the value-added tax, without giving an actual discount on the items purchased.
I know someone who twice dined at the same restaurant, and ordered the same food items and beverages. While he was given a senior citizen discount on both occasions, the discounts varied.
One not so popular food chain is also noted for varying discounts given to senior citizens for the same food items ordered.
Someone I know ordered exactly the same food items, without drinks, on two separate trips to one and the same drive-in outlet.
In one trip, he was billed P101.00, while in the other trip, his bill was P89.00. Yes, two different discounts were given for exactly the same food order without drinks on two separate occasions.
Customers who have been victimized in any way similar to the instances mentioned above should report these anomalies to the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs of their local governments, or to the Department of Trade Industry.