A customer who recently visited the popular Astoria donut shop Dough at 21-70 31st St was puzzled after receiving a 3% service charge on their order. While service charges are somewhat common in the food industry, they are typically associated with restaurants rather than casual donut shops.

As a result, the customer took to social media to question the validity of the fee and wrote: ‘Is this normal for them to tack on a service fee of 3%..? I mean they’re literally putting donuts in a box…I don’t normally buy donuts so I wasn’t sure but it looks pretty shady to me.’

The receipt in question shows an order of four items totaling $22.90. It also shows the addition of a 3% service fee which came to $0.69. Having said this, it also seems a little harsh to be overly critical of Dough, and here is why.

According to fellow New Yorkers, this service fee was based on paying with a credit card as opposed to cash. In other words, many establishments will be charged extra for accepting card over cash which may have been the case here. Furthermore, it is legal to do this in New York, provided the venue clearly posts this in their establishment. Put another way, it may not be ideal for the customer to pay extra but in this case, the business doesn’t profit off the card transaction either. Instead, it is the card company that benefits.