This week, it was revealed that the popular LA coffee shop LaMill in Silverlake had introduced a new 5% surcharge which was apparently to help pay staff. News of the controversial surcharge was shared on social media when a photograph of the policy was shown and unsurprisingly, Los Angeles residents weren’t very happy.

As seen below, the sign reads ‘A 5% surcharge is added to every transaction. All surcharge amounts are dedicated to staff wages and benefits. Thank you.’ This was originally posted on Reddit, and gained over 250 comments with many of the users lambasting the coffee shop for its new policy.

Responding to this, one user named Fyacel wrote: “Why is it a surcharge? This is so annoying. Just raise displayed prices of the products sold if that’s truly what it costs to operate a profitable business and pay employees market wage or living wage, and customers will continue to vote with their feet and dollars. This whole circle jerk of surcharges and guilt tripping with tips and employee benefits fee and this fee and that fee is madness. I’m sure employees hate it too because they’d have to hear about customer complaints and explanations of charges in receipt.”

Taking it further, some even called for an outright ban on surcharges and vowed to boycott the establishment. Despite this, LaMill currently has a successful 4.2/5 star rating on Google across 624 reviews. Nonetheless, it looks as though LA residents are growing sick and tired of restaurant surcharges.

Interestingly, locals may get their wish. This is because a new law named SB478 is set to come into force on July 1st which may deter shops from using surcharges. Nonetheless, some locals are cynical as to whether this law will have any effect at all.