The Thing You Stopped Charging For

Something was chargeable. Somebody waived it once. Now it is never charged, and nobody remembers deciding that.

It is not generosity. It is drift, and it is a decision that was never made by anyone.

How it happens

A waiver becomes an expectation. ⚠️ Given once to be gracious, and the next guest hears about it or the same guest expects it.

Staff avoid the awkward moment. ⚠️ Charging for something small is uncomfortable at the end of a good evening — so it quietly stops.

Nobody knows whether it is still chargeable. So they do not charge, because that is the safer error socially.

The list of extras is not visible anywhere. What is not in front of somebody at the till is not charged.

What it costs

Directly. Small amounts, every night, indefinitely.

And the offer changes without a decision. ⚠️ What is included is your product — allowing it to drift means the product is being redesigned by whoever was on last Tuesday.

Reintroducing it is much harder. ⚠️ Charging for something previously free reads as a price rise, and a bigger one than it is.

Inconsistency while it drifts. During the transition, some are charged and some are not. Which is the worst state and it lasts months.

Finding them

Ask staff what they never charge for. ⚠️ They will list it immediately — everyone knows and nobody has been asked.

Compare the price list to what actually appears on bills. Items on the list that never appear are the answer.

Ask what they feel awkward charging for. ⚠️ The best question — awkwardness is the mechanism, so it points straight at the drift.

Deciding each one

Three outcomes, and all are fine:

Keep charging. ⚠️ Then make it possible — visible at the till, and staff told plainly that it is expected, not optional.

Make it genuinely included. Then say so, out loud, as part of the offer. ⚠️ A free thing nobody knows is free is buying you nothing — it is a cost with no benefit.

Remove it. If it costs and is not valued, stop providing it.

The unacceptable state is the current one, where it is officially chargeable and never charged.

Reintroducing a charge

If you decide to charge again:

Say it plainly, in advance. ⚠️ Discovering it at the bill is the version that produces complaints.

Start with new guests. Where practical — regulars who have had it free for a year deserve to be told first.

And accept losing a little goodwill. It is smaller than the ongoing cost, and it is a one-off rather than permanent.

Three to hold

Chargeable items that never appear on a bill. ⚠️ One query, and it is the whole list.

Items staff report feeling awkward about. Ask three people; take the union.

Included items guests do not know are included. ⚠️ Ask a few regulars what they think is included. The answers are usually a surprise in both directions.

Where the record has to sit

Seeing which chargeable items never get charged needs bills itemised, over months, against the list of what is chargeable. If extras are absorbed into a total, the drift is invisible and continues indefinitely.

tasteck keeps orders itemised against the takings they produced, so what was charged can be compared with what could have been.

Nobody gave anything away. One person was gracious once, and nothing in the operation was ever going to notice that it had become permanent.