Restaurant technology company Toast Inc. has delivered a big win to small businesses by announcing it will scrap a $0.99 processing fee that has irked customers and restaurant owners across the country.
Toast’s technology is used to process orders and bills in restaurants and has come under fire from mom-and-pop restaurant owners. It came to light that Toast added a $0.99 fee to customers’ bills without the restaurant owners’ consent.
“Order processing fees have been established by Toast to help provide affordable digital ordering services for local restaurants,” reads the disclaimer on customer receipts. Restaurant owners claimed they did not agree to the fee.
The fee, which is added to online orders over $10, will be removed by the end of the week, though some restaurants claim they’ve already waived it.
“While we had the best of intentions – to keep costs down for our customers – that’s not how the change was perceived by some of you,” Toast CEO Chris Comparato wrote in an email to restaurant customers. “We made the wrong decision and after careful review, including the additional feedback we received, the allowance will be removed from our Toast digital ordering channels.”
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The email has also been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Market overview reported that shares of Toast plunged more than 10% early Wednesday morning after the news broke.
Last week, US Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo on behalf of the House Committee on Small Business and said the fees scandal prompted a congressional investigation.
“We are continuing to fully investigate the appropriateness of their business practices,” he said FOX Business at the time.
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Are estimated that more than 85,000 suppliers use Toast.
