Espresso's ends surcharge

Espresso Pizza's practice of charging 15 percent extra for using points ended last Saturday.

The announcement was posted on the Senate web site Wednesday by Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Zach Landau, who was informed of the change by Director of Dining Services Patti Lee Klos, at a meeting earlier that day.

Espresso's owner Anthony Salvato said he did not realize the surcharge violated the Meals on Points (MOPs) contract. "I'm not here to deceive students," he said.

Salvato cited the costliness and inefficiency of the MOPs program as his main motivation for charging extra. "There is lengthy paperwork involved at the end of the day," he said. "And, it's costing us money."

40 percent of Espresso's business comes from points. Landau said "the problem is that there is a 30 or 40 day time lapse between when the restaurant receives the points and when Dining Services pays." Espresso's must also pay a 15 percent commission to Tufts on each points order. The combination of these regulations can lead to a cash flow shortage, Salvato said.

According to the contract, a fixed surcharge for delivery is perfectly legal. Salvato said he was aware of this fee and thought it would also be permissible to apply the 15 percent surcharge. "I made the mistake of not reading the contract," he said.

Salvato blames the omission on the intense demand for Espresso's addition to the MOPs program. "The students were driving us crazy about signing on," he said. "In that rush, I never thoroughly read the contract."

He is adamant that his intentions were not to scam anyone. "I think I've been a pretty good neighbor to Medford and Somerville," he said, "and we've made a lot of friends in the Tufts community." He says that the prices on the menu he submitted to the school for use in the MOPs program included the added 15 percent.

The surcharge was applied at the beginning of Sept. It did not come to light until mid-Oct., when Landau realized he was overcharged for an order he had placed. The Senate brought the issue to Klos' attention at their Oct. 29 meeting.

Salvato said he received a call from a senator, who told him that he was in breach of the contract. He says he admitted to the surcharge, but did not take any action until he spoke with Klos last Friday.

Landau said "the Senate is extremely grateful to [Klos] for all her work." Her involvement, he said, added credibility to the complaints of the Senate.

At their meeting, Klos agreed to have Dining Services pay Espresso's twice instead of once each month.

"I believe this will help," Salvato said. However, he said there was still room for improvement in the program.

Salavto said he hopes to "fine tune [the agreement] to make everyone happier." "I know the students really want it," he said. He hopes to meet with the other vendors on MOPs - Pizzeria Roma, Wing Works, and Panda Palace, and later Klos, to talk about "changing the numbers a little."

It is possible that these other businesses have experienced the windfall of Salvato's actions. The owner of Panda Palace says his business has increased 5 to 10 percent since the beginning of the year, which might be due to the surcharge.

While the owners of the other two businesses have seen no such change, Rich Federico, general manager of Wing Works, thinks that "it makes us all look bad when one of us does something like this."

To compensate for the lost points, Landau said the Senate, Klos and Espressos were considering having a weeklong 15 percent discount on points orders. If the plan came together, Landau said it would be well publicized and in the first part of next semester.

Landau said offering refunds to overcharged students is "logistically not possible." Any correction would require Dining Services to individually sort through three to four thousand orders and send them to Espressos to refund students. Landau said the extra manpower by Dining Services would negate any money recouped from Espressos.