The Buffalo Wild Wings Takeout Bill Backlash, Explained
In the summer of 2022, complaints surfaced from Buffalo Wild Wings customers regarding a mysterious service fee tacked onto takeout orders. In this day and age, it can be hard enough to keep up with inflation, let alone surprise before-tipping charges. So, when Buffalo Wild Wings introduced a flat fee of $0.99, customers took to social media to vent their frustrations. However, one user on Reddit noted that it seemed to only be at corporate stores, but according to Insider, most of the chain's locations are now corporate-owned.
Online outrage was quickly channeled into legal action, with a class action complaint filed in Maryland. This isn't part of the recent boneless wings versus nuggets lawsuit, either. The official July 2022 complaint claimed the takeout fee constituted a deceptive business practice on the part of Buffalo Wild Wings. It dubbed the late-added takeout fee a "stealth price hike," which supposedly prohibits consumers from seeing the accurate cost of their orders.
While the takeout fee is shown before purchase, customers only see it during the final step of ordering. The charge was explained with an asterisked note claiming it was applied to benefit the company's takeout business. The sports bar chain is now clarifying that the fee was being tested at various Buffalo Wild Wings locations over the past year. A spokesperson told Today the test is now ending, so the fee will disappear by the end of the summer.
Buffalo Wild Wings' takeout fee alienated customers
Generally, the blowback came from customers, who were appalled by the idea of paying extra to pick up their own food. Customers who placed small takeout orders faced paying a large percentage of their total cost in the fee, and some chose to tip less — or not at all — as a result. Feeling shortchanged, some saw the fee as the last straw after a growing list of disappointments in recent years.
Some Buffalo Wild Wings employees also seemed aggravated, sharing their experiences with the takeout fee. One worker wrote in r/BuffaloWildWings at the time of the fee's introduction, "Can confirm the morning cashier took a lot fewer tips yesterday than usual pre-fee and it does suck because we're seeing 0% of that fee towards our pay."
Others theorized on the reasoning for the fee. A Reddit user claiming to be a BWW manager said it was designed to cover takeout-associated cost increases, commenting, "The cost of take-out boxes, utensils, napkins, ranch cups, ketchup packets, etc. has legitimately increased way more than it used to be." Others backed up this explanation, citing signage at one restaurant that explained how the fee served as an alternative to across-the-board price increases.
It remains to be seen if Buffalo Wild Wings will replace the takeout fee with other measures to counter increasing costs. For now, frustrated customers can look forward to the takeout charge vanishing from checkout totals.