Restaurants lost, but did we win?

Service charges are gone, cover charges are gone, table fees are gone. 

As someone who first brought this issue to the agenda, I warned restaurant and cafe owners in every article I wrote. 

The path they were taking was not the right one. 

Everything has a limit and a sense of propriety. 

They started with a 10 percent service charge and pushed it up to 20 percent. 

I wrote it then, and I am writing it now. 

You cannot make us pay the salaries of the staff you employ under the name of a service charge. 

As if the service charge wasn't enough, you also added a cover charge to the bill. 

What is a cover charge? Bread and water. 

But you cheated on that too. You started providing the bread but charging for the water.

I'm sorry, but you lost your balance.

You deserved this.

So, now that the service charge is gone, is the problem solved?

Of course not. 

People really don't carry much cash in their pockets anymore.

Sure, we can pay a 1,000 lira service charge, which is 10 percent on bills up to 10,000 lira. But how are we supposed to pay the service charge on higher bills if we don't have cash on us?

A 10 percent service charge is the right of the staff who serve us.

A regulation must definitely be made for this.

Europe and America solved this years ago.

We would either determine and add the service charge to the bill ourselves, or we would select the service charge using a system with 10, 15, or 20 percent options.

This service charge, determined by us, could be charged to our credit card and be tax-exempt, so that the entire service charge would go directly into the pocket of the service staff.

What will happen now?

What will restaurant and cafe owners, who have lost the service charge, do this time? They will raise prices to make up for this money.

You are already selling food and drinks at very high prices. 

You deemed the people of this country worthy of the most expensive food and drink in the world. 

As soon as there was a raise in the minimum wage, you raised your menu prices by 27 percent. 

What happened in our country in three days that you raised prices by 27 percent?

Did the price of meat go up? Did the price of flour go up? Did drinks get a 27 percent price hike, so you immediately raised your prices by 27 percent?

You will say that rent prices have increased, you will say that staff salaries have increased. Please, cover that yourselves.

We are eating the world's most expensive meat here, we are eating the world's most expensive pizza here, we are eating the world's most expensive pasta here, we are eating the world's most expensive dessert here, we are drinking the world's most expensive alcohol here, we are drinking the world's most expensive coffee here. 

Cover your expenses from those expensive food and drinks you sell. 

You are selling a cola for 250 lira. It's shameful. A person should have a little bit of shame. You buy that cola for 20 lira. What is selling a cola for 12 times the price? 5 Euros for a cola. It's a disgrace. 

You sell a portion of anchovies, which cost 100 lira per kilo, for 2,000 lira. You sell turbot, which you buy for 1,000 TL per kilo, for 8,000 lira.

Are you not ashamed of this at all?

I have never seen such a greedy nation in my life. 

We cannot blame this on the government.

Our people are bad.

The government put its foot down. 

Service, cover, and table fees are gone.

Now it is time to put a stop to these exorbitant prices as well. 

If you don't do it, someone else will emerge to put a stop to these prices in your place. 

Faik Erdemli