Health insurance premiums tripled last year. To deal with that, JenChan’s, a family-owned fusion restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, added a four percent charge to diners’ checks. This is just enough to cover insurance for its full-time employees.
Most customers have been impressed by the initiative. However, a few were unhappy about the increase and sent threats via social media platforms.
“I’ve never seen a family that needs to be beaten up more; make that healthcare come in handy,” one angry customer wrote on Facebook. It was shocking for the staff and owners. After all, the customer ate the food and made no complaints while he was in the restaurant.
Owner Emily Chan said the practice has been going on for a year and a half. “We feel like there’s a pretty huge crisis going on with health insurance. No one can afford it. Nothing has worked.”
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“We just felt like if we put it as a line item, then it would highlight that there’s an issue here, and we need to pay attention to it,” she added. Chan’s restaurant opened six months before the pandemic and provided health insurance for its full-time employees.
To be fair, the restaurant put a warning about the 4% health insurance change everywhere. It was on the menu, on each receipt, and outside the restaurant. The warning message even included a note that said the restaurant would gladly remove the extra 4%. Just in case there were people who didn’t want to pay it. But it was not enough.
The customer who sent threats did so under a family photo of the Chans on their Facebook page. This is even though he paid an extra $2 for the health insurance charge.
In response to the threat, the restaurant refunded the customer’s entire bill. It also made a statement that reads: “We refunded your entire bill over that $2 in hopes that we can move on from this and maybe you will remove whatever post is invoking people to flood our site, google, yelp, and our inbox with misinformation.”
The restaurant wrote on social media: “Threatening our family just puts one more mark on the ‘this isn’t worth it column.’ Because it isn’t worth it, our family is just trying to make pizza and Chinese food the best way we know how.”
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Hammer has been a staff at the restaurant since 2022. He said that he really needed the insurance when he had just got off his parent’s insurance.
He said: “I don’t have money like that, and so I was just living my life without it and finally found this job randomly, and I fell in love with the people and the place and because of them. I’m able to have health insurance.
It’s a special thing. It’s not an industry standard at all. I appreciate them for taking care of me too.” According to Chan, she included the extra four percent message in all menus and receipts for the sake of transparency and to bring attention to the health insurance crisis.
The restaurant has received backlash because of the 4% addition. However, it has also elicited encouraging responses from netizens and local diners.
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“I would not change a single thing. I read the notice about the health insurance add-on and was thoroughly impressed, so much so that I sent my daughter a picture of the text on the receipt,” one user wrote.
Another echoed the sentiment, saying: “Your transparency and advocacy give me two more reasons to appreciate your restaurant, and I wish you continued success.”
Those who disagreed with the policy believe that the cost of health insurance should not fall on the shoulders of the customers. Chan sees the comments but is adamant about ‘not changing a thing’ about the practice.
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