A hospitality group is drawing criticism for automatically adding a $1 donation to customer bills, a practice that requires diners to actively request its removal. Lucas Collective, which operates 15 venues including Maison Batard and Chin Chin, implements this "gold coin donation" to support the Collective Foundation, a charity established by the group's founder, Chris Lucas.
The practice came to light after a customer shared a photo of their Maison Batard receipt on Reddit, which stated: "A $1 charitable donation has been added to your bill in support of Collective Foundation. This can be removed from your bill at your request. Please let our team know." The receipt further explained that the funds support industry leadership programs and research aimed at improving professional development and understanding career progression within the Australian hospitality sector.
According to the Collective Foundation's website, the organization is dedicated to the long-term future of the hospitality industry. It states that funds raised assist in the design and delivery of industry leadership programs and support research into the challenges and opportunities facing professionals in the sector. The Foundation emphasizes that participation in the donation is entirely voluntary and can be removed from a bill upon request.
However, the automatic addition of the fee has sparked anger among some diners. One customer, who asked for the charge to be removed "out of principle," reported receiving "no prior notice" of the fee. Online reactions included calls for government intervention to make such donations opt-in rather than opt-out. Some commenters expressed a preference for choosing which charities to support directly, while others voiced disapproval of businesses asking customers to fund donations on their behalf. The practice also raised questions from some who were surprised that the charity benefiting was founded by the restaurant group's owner.
Lucas Collective has not publicly responded to the backlash, but the Collective Foundation reiterates that the $1 donations are optional and can be removed from bills upon request.