Why complicate this thread with facts.......as you can tell by the posts those that know nothing believe their "opinion" is correct and the servers and owners should pay, or the guy down the street should pay, just not them :)

It also goes against most credit card company policies by the Banks

Credit Card Charge
 

When I had a merchant account, I accepted Visa and MasterCard, and both charged a fee. I did not accept Discover because their merchant fee was much, much higher than Visa and MasterCard.

Common practice
 

Common practice for businesses all over America. Credit card company tacks on the 3.+% fee to transactions. Rather than absorb it, businesses tack on the transaction fee. Other businesses don't but simply charge you that much more for your food so that YOU and not them pay for YOUR credit card fee!

Should they also add a surcharge for the rent, the electric bill, washing the dishes, etc.?

I think it is good policy to not charge a credit card fee because it reduces crime by not requiring people to carry cash with them, and not requiring the employees to handle a lot of cash.

Common practice? I use a credit card for almost everything I buy, and I can't remember ever paying an extra fee.

It's not "your" credit card fee. It's the fee the credit card charges the merchant. The merchant can absorb it, pass it on, or build it into their price structure---all have their pros and cons. YOU can choose to use cash, or YOU can choose merchants who don't blatantly pass it on (but you won't know if it was already built into their price structure. Most fees are under 3%, some are higher. There are also laws governing these transactions as well as agreements between the merchant and the bank. Most of these appear to be poorly enforced, at best. Also, I'm not so sure how "common" it is---prior to the pandemic I rarely saw the fee added except at gas stations.

If we eat the same meal then we should both pay the same price. Anything else is a penalty on the one who is made to pay more. The cost of accepting credit cards is a cost of doing business and should be factored into their advertised price.

Now, if they want to give me a discount for being 65+ years old, great! If they want to give me a discount for having a AAA card great! If they want to give me a discount for paying in cash, great! But all these are presented as discounts off the advertised price, not surcharges added onto the bill.

I like my points cards too but any benefit I get from using the card is between me and the bank. I wouldn't accept a store owner telling me that since I get 2% cash back he is going to add a 2% surcharge so that my bank account drops by the same amount as the guy paying cash.

I can think of three businesses that have added a credit card surcharge. I don't avoid them entirely but I don't visit them as often as I might without the surcharge. Is it legal? Maybe. Is it fair? Arguably. Does it improve the customer experience? No, it has the opposite effect. Is it a good idea? Who knows; some restaurants will say they cannot survive without the 3.5%, some customers will say they did not even notice the 3.5%, and some customers will take their business that don't have a surcharge. Business decision - we'll see how it goes.

But you also regularly explain that you will NOT use a credit card in a restaurant. Since all the businesses where I can remember seeing this surcharge are restaurants it could explain why you've not seen it.

But no, it is not a common practice to add a surcharge. It seems to be popping up more frequently but still only fewer than five percent of the restaurants we patronize.

Correct. I would not know about restaurants. But, I use my credit card for everything else. Amazon, Publix, Walmart, Best Buy, Lowes, Home Depot, Walgreens, medical offices. No fee. I could go on and on. This is definitely not a common practice.

A Credit Card Fee in a Restaurant? Wow!
 

I think Arnold Parkers must be in Leesburg, it's not in The Villages.

Surcharge for using credit card
 

I just renewed my car's Florida license tag.
The payment options were:
Check in the mail- full price + tax
In person- full price + tax - 70¢
Credit card payment full price + tax + 2.75% surcharge

So lets say, Visa charges 2%, Amex charges 4 % and less popular cards charge 6%. If the restaurant accepts all these, then lets say the average charge is 4%. So the restaurant charges 4% to cover a blend of card charges. .

Disclose it or not disclose it? If the restaurant tacks 4% onto every item, they don't have to disclose anything, everybody pays the same, like yesteryear. However, their published meal prices are higher, so in a very competitive environment, against a published meal price which doesn't include the cc markup, people will pick the cheaper meal. So now to combat published meal prices without the fee, the all in restaurant has to publish a lower price structure, and tack on the fee.

That is why the restaurants are saying everyone is doing it, because remember the United States' economic competitiveness: the cheapest advertised rates get the eyeballs and the customers.

Are the meals and dining experience the same? If i owned the business, i would be watching my overall
1) repeat customers
2) my meal per size per person
3) the menu items sold
4) my nightly specials success

but I like data analytics for competitive edge

Gotcha.............