Spiteful business adds a "living wage" surcharge as a political protest

[Oldgamer]

This is funny, because many who were interviewed didn't care about the surcharge and the ones that did, just said they won't use his service. He may be shooting himself in the foot by lashing out at his customers like this. There was another news article that said it doesn't cost that much for making up the difference on the min. wage hike, but that this business is being overly dramatic.

What do you all think?

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News link here

Quote: On every receipt from Masterpark, in between the "airport access fee" and the "sales tax," is a line that reads "Living Wage Surcharge." The company is tacking on an additional 99-cents per day fee now that the law requires paying employees at least $15 an hour.

"This is one way of business owners getting back at the public and passing on their costs," said Eric Colville, who has left his car at Masterpark in the past.

He was surprised to see the surcharge spelled out on a paper receipt.

"They park thousands of cars a day. I just really don't see that being totally spread out among all the employees," said Colville. "I'm sure that they're going to end up making a pretty good profit from this under the guise of living wage."

 

[Newell Steamer]

And yet, businesses like In & Out Burger and Trader Joes can pay above average wages,.. and still make profits.

This passing it onto the customer none sense is just sensationalism and misdirecting. Herp-a-derps love to play the victim all the time - nothing new here, just another example supporting how fucking stupid some of these good old boys can be.

 

[Herr Kutz]

If you want people to get paid higher wages, you are going to have to pay more for the services/products you're purchasing. What don't dumbocrats understand about this?

 

[hal2kilo]

Never used Wallypark, but if the outfit I regularly use trys to pull that crap, they will no longer be getting my business.

 

[blankslate]

Not sure about this particular business but a University study found that an increase in wages for employees of a major retailer would add $0.30 to $0.40 to the cost of an typical visit if 100% of the cost of increasing wages was passed on to the customer.

If 100% of the 99 cent surcharge is actually going to employee wages then that's fine even though they're obviously trying to turn peoples' opinion against an increased wage.



....

 

[BoberFett]

Never used Wallypark, but if the outfit I regularly use trys to pull that crap, they will no longer be getting my business.

Is it the line item that upsets you? Or paying more?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

If you want people to get paid higher wages, you are going to have to pay more for the services/products you're purchasing. What don't dumbocrats understand about this?

If they park thousands of cars a day and are charging $0.99 a car. They would need to have hundreds of employees for this to be nothing more than a profit grab while blaming the wage increase.

 

[Vic]

If you want people to get paid higher wages, you are going to have to pay more for the services/products you're purchasing. What don't dumbocrats understand about this?

Should we assume this applies to executive compensation as well? That every time a CEO gets paid a billion dollars, it's because we paid more for products and services?

 

[Matt1970]

Unless politics is your business, don't mix business and politics. Pissing off half your customer base is never a good idea.

 

[manimal]

I am sure they wont notice all the people staying away.

 

[OutHouse]

And yet, businesses like In & Out Burger and Trader Joes can pay above average wages,.. and still make profits.

comparing two national companies with sales in the millions to a small locally owned car parking lot is absolutely the same thing.

just stop posting.

 

[Newell Steamer]

comparing two national companies with sales in the millions to a small locally owned car parking lot is absolutely the same thing.

just stop posting.

Oh, one is greater than the other,.. right.

So, it is far greater and better to take away a school lunch, than a corporation's million/billion dollar subsidy.

OK.

Now I see how you view and weigh the seriousness of various things.

You can also stop reading my posts. So, stop reading my posts, you dolt.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Unless politics is your business, don't mix business and politics. Pissing off half your customer base is never a good idea.

This is possibly one of the most sane things I have ever seen posted in this forum.

 

[brycejones]

Unless politics is your business, don't mix business and politics. Pissing off half your customer base is never a good idea.

Yep

 

[OutHouse]

Oh, one is greater than the other,.. right.

So, it is far greater and better to take away a school lunch, than a corporation's million/billion dollar subsidy.

OK.

Now I see how you view and weigh the seriousness of various things.

You can also stop reading my posts. So, stop reading my posts, you dolt.

thanks for confirming you really do have the intelligence of a turnip. If my post bug you so much put me on your ignore list.

 

[Newell Steamer]

thanks for confirming you really do have the intelligence of a turnip. If my post bug you so much put me on your ignore list.

Eh, your posts don't bug me - I am not the one telling you to stop posting. I am the one telling you to stop reading my posts,.. since they bother you.

I have no intention of ignoring you, because you are one of the regulars on these forums that are scared stupid and crying bloody murder over every little thing that goes on in this world.

You are the problem with this country; lots of noise over nothing. And you get treated (by people like me) with mockery and ridicule.

I would never want to miss out on making fun of a dolt like you.

 

[Zorba]

Just in general, I find all "surcharges" to be BS. They are a way of hiding cost and are generally a huge profit center. If they actually did the math and found they needed to charge $0.23/car-day fine, whatever, but they are probably making a ton of extra profit at $0.99/car-day.

But I think the price you advertise should have to include all required charges, so at the end of the day it would just be a dollar increase in price. They are are the cheapest/best lot then I would still use them, if not I'd go some where else.

Unless politics is your business, don't mix business and politics. Pissing off half your customer base is never a good idea.

This

 

[Engineer]

Unless politics is your business, don't mix business and politics. Pissing off half your customer base is never a good idea.

/THREAD

:thumbsup:

By the say, if you're going to put a line item on a receipt, 100% of that line item should have to go toward the item intended, period. Anything else is deceptive and borders on false advertising.

 

[halik]

Oh I thought that extra money to add to $15/hr comes out of nowhere.

 

[halik]

Just in general, I find all "surcharges" to be BS. They are a way of hiding cost and are generally a huge profit center. If they actually did the math and found they needed to charge $0.23/car-day fine, whatever, but they are probably making a ton of extra profit at $0.99/car-day.

But I think the price you advertise should have to include all required charges, so at the end of the day it would just be a dollar increase in price. They are are the cheapest/best lot then I would still use them, if not I'd go some where else.



This

How many employees and average cars per hour did you assume they have?

 

[Cozarkian]

If they park thousands of cars a day and are charging $0.99 a car. They would need to have hundreds of employees for this to be nothing more than a profit grab while blaming the wage increase.

They have 5 parking garages (all 24 hours), each with at least 1 cashier and 1 valet. That's 10 employees each getting a $6.00/hour raise, for a total cost of $1440. But is one valet really enough during peak times? Let's say for half the day, they have 2 valets per garage. That adds another $360 for a total of $1800, which is getting pretty darn close to the extra $1980 they are making if they park 2,000 cars a day.

If any of the shuttle drivers make less than minimum wage or they ever have more than 1 cashier or more than 2 valets at one garage, they probably aren't even fully recovering the added cost.

Alternatively, you can calculate the hours needed to park "thousands" of car. Let's say it takes 5 minutes to park + return a car. If thousands is 2,000, that is $1,000 in valet hours + $720 in cashier hours (assuming 1 cashier). Again fairly close to the $1980 extra revenue, so better hope those valets have 0 downtime during their 8-hour shift.

If thousands = 3,000, they are making $2970 per day and paying an extra $1,500 in valet hours + $720 in cashier. The more cars they park, the more likely they are actually making money, assuming again, the shuttle drivers were already making $15.00 and they run with a minimum staff of 1 cashier + minimum number of valets to park "x" cars at 5 minutes per car with 0 breaks.

All-in-all, I'd bet they aren't fully recoupling the extra cost in wages, which is consistent with the company's statement that the surcharge covers a "portion" of the increase in costs.

 

[smackababy]

How dare you use math and logic to prove my outrage over a business being forced to pay increased wages so everyone feels good adding in extra charges to cover that cost! It is clear the money should come out of the business's profits. Otherwise, the rich will get richer!

 

[momeNt]

Everybody knows for a fact that if Walmart and McDonalds began paying employees a living wage they would go out of business. Yet Costco, Trader Joes, In N Out can do that.

The solution to this is maybe passing a bill that allows the Costcos and Trader Joes of the world to use federal funds to conduct buyouts of Walmart and McDonalds.

Eventually we need to end Walmart and McDonalds, this would be a clear solution to allowing the better and more fairly run stores to be the most prominent.

 

[waggy]

Everybody knows for a fact that if Walmart and McDonalds began paying employees a living wage they would go out of business. Yet Costco, Trader Joes, In N Out can do that.

The solution to this is maybe passing a bill that allows the Costcos and Trader Joes of the world to use federal funds to conduct buyouts of Walmart and McDonalds.

Eventually we need to end Walmart and McDonalds, this would be a clear solution to allowing the better and more fairly run stores to be the most prominent.

yes. lets end walmart and McDonalds. lets put all those poeple out of work! we know that company's will pick up the slack and hire all those poeple at $15 and hour and full time!

 

[momeNt]

yes. lets end walmart and McDonalds. lets put all those poeple out of work! we know that company's will pick up the slack and hire all those poeple at $15 and hour and full time!

Did I say that?

I said that Costco and In N Out need to be given federal funds to PURCHASE Walmart and McDonalds.

If you look at Walmart and McDonald's balance sheet you see it is impossible for them to pay their employees a living wage, because they have lost the ingenuity that made them great in the first place. Time to move them into retirement. Let companies like Costco and In N out with ingenuity and talent run those businesses, and get America working for a livable wage.