TEH HORROR, Obama care means you pay 36 cents more for pizza!!!111

[Hugo Drax]

Americans in general suck at math so they probably think 3% more for an average pizza at a restaurant means now they cannot afford pizza anymore. (Yet they do not flinch at paying 100 a month on cell and 200 bucks a month on cable)

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/02/pizza-joint-hikes-bills-because-of-obamacare-costs.html

I am all for paying 3% more for pizza if it means the employees no longer have to skip out on medical bills that taxpayers end up funding. Maybe healthier employees means better employees.


Frannys menu.
pizza bianca 11 dollars


11 x .03 = 33 cents more.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Regardless to label it as a separate charge is an asshole thing to do. Simply increase the cost .25 to .50 per item if someone asks tell them its for health care.
Do they add a new fee when the cost of tomatoes goes up or the cost of gas/oil to heat the place or I know pizza places can be hit hard by cheese costs if this increases is there now a cheese fee?

 

[werepossum]

I think these things are counterproductive. When someone posts a surcharge of 10% or less to provide health care for their employees, most people's first thought is why the fuck weren't you providing it already if that's all it costs?

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

I think these things are counterproductive. When someone posts a surcharge of 10% or less to provide health care for their employees, most people's first thought is why the fuck weren't you providing it already if that's all it costs?

Pretty much nailed it here. And then when they make the public aware of their financial 'misery' for providing their employees with medical coverage, it usually backfires against their cheap asses.

 

[tracerbullet]

Pretty much nailed it here. And then when they make the public aware of their financial 'misery' for providing their employees with medical coverage, it usually backfires against their cheap asses.

I wish it did, but we had an example locally a year or so ago that was the opposite. Well, maybe it was, perhaps in the end it balanced out. But people were documented by the paper as showing up in droves to a restaurant that made a huge stinky point about adding an additional fee for minimum wage to their bills.

Probably the same kinds of people that donated to Kim Davis or supported the bakery that wouldn't make a cake for some gay couple. They are out there.

 

[dullard]

1) The fee has been retracted already: http://nypost.com/2015/12/02/thanks-obamacare-for-making-pizza-more-expensive/

2) The fee was illegal in the city according to the link above.

3) They already raised prices to offset the costs according to this link. Sounds like this was more of a political stunt than an actual issue.

4) The penalty for not putting 50 employees on healthcare is up to ~$3000 per employee past the first 30. So, that is a $3000 * (50 - 30) = maximum $60,000 penalty, not $200,000 as they implied.

5) If a 3% fee truly made them whole (which I am just assuming), that means to cover the $200,000 charge that they claim to have faced, means that the business brings in ~$6.67 million a year. I'm not too worried that a multimillion dollar business may have to (A) pay a 0.9% penalty on their revenue or (B) pay 3% and take 50 people off government support. Someone please bring me a real problem.

 

[mikeymikec]

Regardless to label it as a separate charge is an asshole thing to do.

It would be interesting to break down the bill further, how much funds the boss's next luxury purchase, etc.

 

[Cozarkian]

Regardless to label it as a separate charge is an asshole thing to do.

I think the asshole thing to do is not explain the price increase.

It would be awesome to go to a pizza place and have the bill explain exactly how much of the price goes to ingredients, cashiers, management, overhead, tax, profit, etc...

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I think the asshole thing to do is not explain the price increase.

It would be awesome to go to a pizza place and have the bill explain exactly how much of the price goes to ingredients, cashiers, management, overhead, tax, profit, etc...

Then ask them why it's more expensive

 

[TheSlamma]

35 cents was my cutoff, I don't carry pennies. sorry

 

[theeedude]

Make it 50 cents and give those guys dental coverage too.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I think these things are counterproductive. When someone posts a surcharge of 10% or less to provide health care for their employees, most people's first thought is why the fuck weren't you providing it already if that's all it costs?

My idle speculation about this is fairly simple.

Putting those sorts of distinctions on a thermally-printed carry-out restaurant bill is a political statement by somebody who didn't like the ACA to begin with. It's sort of a political-campaign targeted at customers.

Since I'm retired, I spend more time cooking my meals with an eye toward many days (or months in the deep freeze) of leftovers. I may occasionally get a pizza at Papa John's, the Hut or Pietro's -- to save me the time.

But I make my own sauce and can it. I make my own dough. And with my objective and refined palate, I have to say my own pizza is better than any in a 20-mile radius.

I still get carry-out -- a convenience during grocery-shopping on an empty stomach (which I advise against -- impulse-buying, you see.) It's a mix. I've noticed nothing disturbing about my purchases of late.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Its definately a political statement. They are saying "Thanks to Obama I am forced to provide health insurance to my employees and you paid 35 cents more for your pizza"

I guess he feels Americans freak out if they have to pay an additional 35 cents on a discretionary pizza that they might order 2 times a month,

 

[K1052]

I've heard this and similar proposed by people I work with whenever min wage or healthcare cost goes up at all. I usually mention that we should call it the "We're Petulant Assholes Surcharge" and I get dirty looks but my point comes across and it's dropped. It's just not good business or customer relations.

 

[werepossum]

Pretty much nailed it here. And then when they make the public aware of their financial 'misery' for providing their employees with medical coverage, it usually backfires against their cheap asses.

Yep. The way to make political points on this issue would have been to provide health insurance BEFORE it was legally mandated and put up a nice little sign stating that if our pizza costs a little more, it's because we are providing health insurance to our employees. Lots of people are willing to pay a little more for a good product sold by nice people. All such a statement does now is say that everybody now has to do this, but we're the guys who are really pissed off we have to do it. Who wants to buy pizza from that guy?

35 cents was my cutoff, I don't carry pennies. sorry

lol +1

My idle speculation about this is fairly simple.

Putting those sorts of distinctions on a thermally-printed carry-out restaurant bill is a political statement by somebody who didn't like the ACA to begin with. It's sort of a political-campaign targeted at customers.

Since I'm retired, I spend more time cooking my meals with an eye toward many days (or months in the deep freeze) of leftovers. I may occasionally get a pizza at Papa John's, the Hut or Pietro's -- to save me the time.

But I make my own sauce and can it. I make my own dough. And with my objective and refined palate, I have to say my own pizza is better than any in a 20-mile radius.

I still get carry-out -- a convenience during grocery-shopping on an empty stomach (which I advise against -- impulse-buying, you see.) It's a mix. I've noticed nothing disturbing about my purchases of late.

Yep, definitely a political statement. Problem with that is all your customers see it, but only a small minority of non-customers. Thus you are pissing off roughly half your current customers while probably not attracting many new ones - plus, your existing customers are the ones who like your pizza whereas the new folks may come in once and decide that while they like your politics they don't particularly like your pizza. As a business move it's the equivalent of cutting off your own dick so you'll have something to shove up your own ass and thus can cry rape.

We made our own pizza at one time, but now we have a nearby Little Caesar's with fairly good pizza for less than we paid to make it plus a more distant Raphael's (a Greek and Italian restaurant run by Mexicans - go figure) with much better pizza than we can make and ~$15 gets two large four topping pies. And cold pizza is goood!

 

[her209]

 

[Sonikku]

They could provide healthcare for their employees for just 33 cents more a pie? Why the hell didn't they do it sooner?

 

[Indus]

They could provide healthcare for their employees for just 33 cents more a pie? Why the hell didn't they do it sooner?

Cheapskates.

 

[MongGrel]

I think these things are counterproductive. When someone posts a surcharge of 10% or less to provide health care for their employees, most people's first thought is why the fuck weren't you providing it already if that's all it costs?

Pretty much says is all I guess.

Trickle down "cough".

 

[Fanatical Meat]

This guy is the reason ill never eat at the PaPa Johns that opened near my house. I have plenty of pizza choices I'll stick with someone who doesn't make a scene over .12-.25 per pie.
F-Him

 

[Fanatical Meat]

To the six people who said no I won't pay $.36 more per pizza for health care is it?:
A) I hate Obama
B) I hate ACA
C) I see no value in pizza that is $.36 more expensive
D) I'm neffing around

 

[motsm]

I think these things are counterproductive. When someone posts a surcharge of 10% or less to provide health care for their employees, most people's first thought is why the fuck weren't you providing it already if that's all it costs?

I'm no expert, but do you realize that 10% is likely far more than their entire profit margin?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm no expert, but do you realize that 10% is likely far more than their entire profit margin?

That's why they'd mark up each item. Admittedly ACA has changed how small businesses can get healthcare simply by saying nobody can be rejected and you have to provide it (level playing field). I wouldn't make the leap of its only pocket change per item why didn't you do it 10 years ago. However I will say why is this charge on the bill am I supposed to be pissed off it costs pocket change per pie to cover your employees? More likely I'll be pissed at a business politicizing healthcare.
As I said earlier when the cost of cheese and gas to heat the building increases is there a cheese & gas fee?

With a pizza & pasta business I'd bet their margins are greater than 10%

 

[werepossum]

I'm no expert, but do you realize that 10% is likely far more than their entire profit margin?

Agreed, but it isn't coming out of their profit. It's tacked on like any other expense, as it should be. There should be no principle that your profit is greater than any particular expense. Especially with something like this that affects all your competitors, the price goes up a bit and sales go down a bit. Happens to a lot of businesses for a variety of new expenses.

 

[motsm]

Agreed, but it isn't coming out of their profit. It's tacked on like any other expense, as it should be. There should be no principle that your profit is greater than any particular expense. Especially with something like this that affects all your competitors, the price goes up a bit and sales go down a bit. Happens to a lot of businesses for a variety of new expenses.

Yeah, I don't disagree there, and the way it was added was mishandled on their part.

All I was trying to point out is that 3% is not as trivial an amount as many in this thread seem to think it is.