Australia is years behind most western countries when it comes to payments by cards/tap, surcharges and weekend fees. Restaurants and bars can have small print hidden inside the menu or drinks list that can catch you out, South Bank in Brisbane is the sneakiest I’ve come across. One restaurant had 15% ‘location’ plus a 15% weekend surcharge write up hidden in between food options and pictures. Then tried to add a made-up tap fee!
Businesses should only add the true cost of a card/tap transaction fee to your bill, but it’s more likely they will add 5 or 10% and hope you don’t notice.
The ACCC card-surcharges and price-display guidance should be applied but its ignored, because no one fears the ACCC.
Tips to avoid being ripped off:
This is a huge issue in Australia; big businesses use geo-political instability to profit from you. Government might say some hollow words on the news, offenders may even get an ACCC investigation and fine, but it’s a pittance to what they make from Joe Public.
Severe weather and natural disasters are common in Australia but it causes panic buying. As soon as the weatherman or fake news on Facebook declares bad weather is coming supermarket shelves get stripped bare. If the weather is real then roads get cut and supplies don’t get in. Supermarkets jack the prices so what little is left costs more.
Tips:
Paying monthly or quarterly for car REGO, insurance, state pet registrations, phone contracts, gym memberships, Disney, Netflix etc will nearly always cost more in the long term. Try to pay them upfront for as long as possible on arrival after getting the best defence discount you can. Then aim to put enough away earning interest for the next time you renew.