Pay more if you are rude in a restaurant, grocery store etc.

[tenni]

I just heard that a coffee shop in France has imposed a new fee for customers. If the customer is rude they will be charged an extra fee for rudeness. If a persons polite and friendly they will not be charged the rudeness fee.

Do you think that this is a good idea?

ie In Canada and some other countries there are express lines in grocery stores. (10 items or less) If a person is in the line and say has 22 items, they will be charged an extra fee.

Your thought on if you agree with this type of fee and what situations that you would want the rude fee added.

[Vagenvy]

As one who faces extreme rudeness on a daily basis, I LOVE the idea!!, however, where I work will never in a billion years do it.

[FunE1]

Love it in theory. Don't know how you pull it off in reality... "Rudeness" is defined individually and, unless you really define what is "rude", you're just asking for trouble...

[tenni]

The story where this started in Nice, France. (pronouced Nees)

http://kottke.org/13/12/french-cafe-charges-extra-for-rudeness

A cafe in Nice, France (http://www.thelocal.fr/20131210/photo-of-the-day-french-caf-charges-extra-for-rudeness) charges rude customers five times more for a cup of coffee than those who say hello and please.
"A coffee" will set you back €7, according to the sign, while "a coffee please" is a little more affordable, at €4.25.
If you want keep your expenses down, and stay friends with your local barista, however, the best option is "Hello, a coffee please," which will only cost you €1.40.

The manager says that although the pricing scheme has never been enforced, customer civility is up. Cheekiness is on the rise as well:
"Most of my customers are regulars and they just see the funny side and exaggerate their politeness," he said, adding "They started calling me 'your greatness' when they saw the sign."

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[Fzmr9t]

Yeah, who defines rudeness, the ones collecting the money? Seems like a scam to me. I think if the customer is rude, you ask em to leave

[tenni]

hmm
I don't know. Saying "please" and "thank you" seem to be a good cultural trait to encourage by any means possible until it becomes a strongly entrenched custom. I was getting off a city bus in Toronto on Thursday. A woman ahead of me passed by the bus driver and as she stepped down the steps said "thank you" as she got off the bus. The bus driver said, "You're welcome". Sounds good to me.

In my province it is fairly common for both people who accidentally bump or nearly bump into each other to say "sorry" or "sorry" for walking in front or cross over as both are walking or this or that. It is a cultural custom even in large cities (but to a lesser extent).

[Annika L]

I just heard that a coffee shop in France has imposed a new fee for customers. If the customer is rude they will be charged an extra fee for rudeness. If a persons polite and friendly they will not be charged the rudeness fee.

Do you think that this is a good idea?

ie In Canada and some other countries there are express lines in grocery stores. (10 items or less) If a person is in the line and say has 22 items, they will be charged an extra fee.

Your thought on if you agree with this type of fee and what situations that you would want the rude fee added.

I absolutely LOVE it and find it a reason to want to open coffee shop!

I would, however, not call it a "rudeness tax", since there are quite polite ways of asking for "a coffee". I would call it a civility discount.

For those skeptical of enforcement: American hyper-practicality will be our downfall! This isn't a rule. You don't enforce it. It is a quite clever statement...and from the sound of it, it's working quite well! How's that for practical?

[elian]

Well if people don't want to patronize the place I suppose they don't have to. A friend of mine works at a coffee shop and he said people routinely throw the money on the counter when he holds out his hand to collect it, etc. I guess maybe coffee is a bad business to be in, if your customer is not a morning person it is likely they WILL be rude until they get that fix..

We have a similar type of thing with the express check out too, I don't think they've ever penalized someone for having one too many items though. Actually lately what I've seen is they are reducing human cashiers in favor of the automated "self-check out" of course..

[jem_is_bi]

But you're in Toronto the city with suburban sprawl, hyper Political Correctness gone amok, and a city that's devoid of any actual culture and just borrows 80s Broadway musicals from the United States like Les Miserables. WOW!!! I find it hard to believe that where you live, it is the norm to show no sign of respect for other people. I am so grateful that is not my experience.

[Annika L]

WOW!!! I find it hard to believe that where you live, it is the norm to show no sign of respect for other people.

Hmmm...I'm not finding it that hard to believe.