Restaurants near Eugene’s World Cup stadium add an 18 percent surcharge to the bill.
Restaurant worker Madeeha explains why there is an 18 percent surcharge on the bill. SANTTU SILVENNOINEN
Finnish World Cup tourist Jussi Koskinen runs hot. He digs out a restaurant bill from his pocket, which reads, in addition to the ordered products: “1 WAC Surcharge”.
– They explained that this is an additional payment for the World Cup. I said it’s pure bullshit. I’ve been to the United States numerous times, and I’ve never experienced anything like it, Koskinen muses.
WAC stands for World Athletics Charge. It means additional expenses due to the World Cup.
Some restaurants near Hayward Field, the World Cup stadium, have that policy. That’s an additional 18 percent on top of the purchased products. If you buy for $10, you pay a $1.80 World Cup extra on top.
– We can’t do anything about it, it’s a matter determined by the race organizers. The profit goes to them, explains an employee of the Wild Goat sports restaurant Madeeha.
Tourist prices
On top of the $39 purchases, there was a World Cup fee of $7.02. The US dollar and the euro are worth roughly the same. PASI LEISMA
Finns and many other race tourists have been caught off guard by the extra expense so badly that they have moved to other restaurants in the city.
– I understand well the customers’ frustration. The prices are high anyway and this comes on top. The US dollar is currently strong, so prices are high for foreign tourists. These are tough prices for us too, Madeeha states.
They say there are tourist prices for tourists.
This is absolutely true in Eugene. For example, breakfast at Wild Goat cost $10 last week before the start of the World Cup. The price jumped to $15 after the games started.
The value of the euro and the dollar is currently roughly the same.
– Otherwise, this region of Oregon is a nice area and the vicinity of the stadium is homely, but it does smell of Yankee business. Vomiting funding. In the state capital, Portland, you pay no more than ten bucks for breakfast, Koskinen commented.