{"id":10384,"date":"2025-01-28T08:43:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/?p=10384"},"modified":"2025-01-28T14:40:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:40:45","slug":"braai-chain-hauled-over-the-coals-for-hidden-service-charges-and-fined-r1m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2025\/braai-chain-hauled-over-the-coals-for-hidden-service-charges-and-fined-r1m\/","title":{"rendered":"Braai Chain Hauled Over the Coals for Hidden Service Charges and Fined R1m"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe secret of life is honesty and fair dealing\u2026 If you can fake that, you\u2019ve got it made.\u201d (Groucho Marx)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve all had this experience \u2013 meal over, relaxed and happy, you call for the bill and decide to reward your friendly and helpful waitron with a good tip. Only to find, on checking the bill when you get home, that the restaurant had already added a \u201ccompulsory service charge\u201d (perhaps 10% or 15% \u2013 sometimes even more). When you challenge it, the manager points to the small print on the menu which says something like \u201cservice charge applies to tables of six or more\u201d, or \u201cdiscretionary service charge may be levied\u201d.\u00a0<br><br>And it&#8217;s not only restaurants that engage in such shenanigans. Perhaps it\u2019s a builder or any other service provider adding on bits and pieces to an invoice that you hadn\u2019t noticed when you signed up with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is this kind of behaviour allowed?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The devil, as always, is in the details. If the add-on was properly disclosed to you upfront, you have no legal leg to stand on. It\u2019s up to you to check the menu, or the supplier\u2019s website and Ts and Cs, before ordering.\u00a0<br><br><strong>But it\u2019s a very different story if the add-on was not properly disclosed upfront by the supplier.<\/strong>\u00a0As a recent judgment of the National Consumer Tribunal (\u201cthe Tribunal\u201d) shows, heavy penalties await any \u201csupplier\u201d (widely defined to include not only restaurants and retailers, but anyone who markets or supplies any goods or services to consumers) who breaches any of their many obligations under the CPA (Consumer Protection Act). And that includes \u201cno hidden charges allowed\u201d.<br><br>Being found guilty of \u201cprohibited conduct\u201d will be an expensive exercise. Witness the R1m administrative fine imposed recently on a fast-food chain specialising in that beloved South African tradition \u2013 braaivleis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The braai fast-food chain and the disgruntled customer<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acting on a tip-off from a customer, the NCC (National Consumer Commission) found that a fast-food chain, specialising in \u201corganic braai fast food\u201d (chew on that description for a moment) with 16 outlets across Gauteng was adding a service fee over and above its advertised prices. No mention of this was advertised in its branches, on its menus, or on its website.\u00a0<br><br>Unabashed, the chain argued before the Tribunal that it was fully compliant with the CPA, that the charge was a fee \u201cto ensure the best service to the consumer\u201d and that there is \u201ca transparent general practice to disclose cost structures rather than hide behind an exorbitant price model.\u201d<br><br>The Tribunal, deeply unimpressed with this (frankly baffling) line of reasoning, found the chain guilty of prohibited conduct and gave it 90 days to pay a R1m administrative fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two breaches of the CPA\u00a0<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chain was found guilty of two contraventions of the CPA:<br><br>1. That as a supplier it<strong>\u00a0\u201cmust not require a consumer to pay a price for any goods or services higher than the displayed price for those goods or services.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><br><br>2. It must also \u201cprovide a written record of each transaction to the consumer to whom any goods or services are supplied.\u201d This record \u201cmust include at least the following information:\u00a0<strong>the address of the premises at which, or from which, the goods or services were supplied.<\/strong>\u201d Without that, as the Tribunal put it, \u201cvulnerable consumers could find it difficult to institute legal proceedings and enforce their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A R1m fine for \u201cpreying on unwitting customers for selfish financial gains\u201d<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chain, said the Tribunal, had \u201cacted deceitfully towards its customers and contravened the CPA&#8217;s significant provisions. It acted contemptuously towards the very consumers who supported it.\u00a0<br><br>Accordingly: \u201cthe Tribunal considers it appropriate to impose an administrative fine that will deter it and other suppliers from preying on unwitting consumers for selfish financial gains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px solid #dedfe0!important;padding-top: 20px!important;margin-top: 20px!important\">Disclaimer:\u00a0The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u00a9 LawDotNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe secret of life is honesty and fair dealing\u2026 If you can fake that, you\u2019ve got it made.\u201d (Groucho Marx) We\u2019ve all had this experience \u2013 meal over, relaxed and happy, you call for the bill and decide to reward your friendly and helpful waitron with a good tip. Only to find, on checking the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":10385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-constitutional-law","category-consumer-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Braai Chain Hauled Over the Coals for Hidden Service Charges and Fined R1m &#8226; LawDotNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotnewsconnect.co.za\/law\/2025\/braai-chain-hauled-over-the-coals-for-hidden-service-charges-and-fined-r1m\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Braai Chain Hauled Over the Coals for Hidden Service Charges and Fined R1m &#8226; LawDotNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe secret of life is honesty and fair dealing\u2026 If you can fake that, you\u2019ve got it made.\u201d (Groucho Marx) We\u2019ve all had this experience \u2013 meal over, relaxed and happy, you call for the bill and decide to reward your friendly and helpful waitron with a good tip. 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