Yeovil’s cocktail and tapas bar has revealed a new surcharge on every purchase, stating in an open online video that it was a ‘charge or close’ situation. Owner Matt of Kazbah revealed the bar had been experiencing a downturn for the past two years in a video that was uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday, August 7.
The bar is in danger of closing, so in an effort to stay open, it will now temporarily add an 8% surcharge to every customer’s bill. Although the owner acknowledged that it was not an easy choice, the alternative might result in the closure of the company.
“I understand that it’s hard to swallow,” he replied. However, since everyone is currently having difficulties, we have two options: we can close or charge a surcharge, which is obviously not what we do.
Speaking to his clients, he said, “This is Matt from Kazbar sending you a brief message. All I wanted to discuss was the situation we find ourselves in right now.
We’ve probably been losing money for the past two years, but we were doing pretty well before then, so we were able to weather the losses. However, nothing is changing, and in order to survive, we must think creatively.”
“I’m making some changes to the business, but one of the things we need to do to survive is to charge a surcharge,” the statement said. As of right now, all bills will have an 8% fee.
We have two options: we can either close or charge a surcharge, which is obviously not what we want to have to do given how difficult things are for everyone right now. I sincerely hope you will be able to help us get through this difficult time, and we anticipate hopefully better times ahead in Yeovil. Furthermore, I hope to see you at Kazbar soon.”
In just two days, the video received 20,000 views, and devoted viewers expressed their support in the comments. Someone commented: “I’ve never had a bad night at Kazbar Cocktail [and] Tapas, I genuinely hope you can pick yourselves up and obviously will continue to support you to the bitter end!”
Another admirer remarked, “I’m with you! We do not wish to lose Yeovil’s one and only beautiful pub.”
Some questioned whether the surcharge was the best course of action to improve the situation, though. Someone else said, “Hate surcharges. Simply raise your price; if it’s worthwhile, customers will come.”
Another post that received forty likes said: “Have you wondered why people aren’t always visiting Kazbar? Personally, I like visiting Kazbar, but I only do it as a treat every few months rather than as a regular activity due to how expensive the tapas and cocktails can get. I’m aware that a lot of individuals with whom I’ve previously discussed nights out have also voiced thoughts along these lines.”
In response, Matt specifically stated that reducing table service and using less expensive ingredients would result in a lower priced menu. “Thank you for your feedback,” he clarified. I can appreciate your perspective. I’ve thought about altering our business strategy, which would entail doing away with table service, using less expensive ingredients, and weakening the cocktails.
“This would certainly save money and I wouldn’t need to charge a surcharge, but I feel this would undermine what we stand for.”
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