Why Did ReserveBar Charge Me a Service Fee? What That Extra Charge at Checkout Means

You added a bottle to your cart on ReserveBar, saw a price you were comfortable with, and then—at the very last step—the total jumped. A "service fee" you never agreed to, added at checkout. If that happened to you, you are not alone, and you may have more options than you think.

At Warren Terzian LLP, we are investigating whether ReserveBar's practice of adding service fees at checkout violates California law. This article explains what that fee is, why it may be a problem, and what California customers can do about it.

What is the ReserveBar "service fee"?

ReserveBar is an online seller of wine, spirits, and other beverages. Like most online stores, it shows you a product price while you browse and shop. We are investigating reports that an additional "service fee" then appears later — at or near the checkout page—that was not reflected in the price you first saw.

That kind of late-appearing charge has a name: drip pricing. It happens when the price you first see is lower than the price you actually have to pay, because mandatory fees get tacked on as you move through checkout. It is one of the practices California recently passed a law to stop.

Is it legal to add a service fee at checkout in California?

It may not be.

On July 1, 2024, California's Honest Pricing Law—also called the Hidden Fees Statute, and known as SB 478—took effect. The idea behind it is simple: the price a business advertises should be the price you actually pay.

Under this law, when a business lists or advertises a price for a product, that price generally must include all mandatory fees and charges. There are only narrow exceptions—for taxes and fees the government imposes (like sales tax), and for reasonable shipping costs to send you a physical item. Mandatory "service fees," "handling fees," and similar charges are not on that short list of exceptions. If they are required, the law generally says they belong in the advertised price — not added on at the end.

Even before the Honest Pricing Law, California law prohibited these undisclosed mandatory fees and illegal bait-and-switch schemes.

California's Attorney General has published official guidance on the Honest Pricing Law, and it is direct on this exact point. The Attorney General's office explains that a business generally may not advertise one price and then add a variable "service fee" later in the transaction. It also explains that a business cannot get around the rule simply by disclosing the extra fee before you finish checking out. The advertised price is supposed to be the full price, period. (You can read the Attorney General's plain-language FAQ on the Honest Pricing Law on the California AG’s website. Our website also covers the Honest Pricing Law.

So if ReserveBar charges a mandatory service fee that is not built into the prices it advertises, that practice may run afoul of California's Honest Pricing Law. Whether it does is exactly what we are looking into.

What does this mean for ReserveBar customers?

California has some of the strongest consumer-protection laws in the country. The Honest Pricing Law amended one of them—the Consumers Legal Remedies Act— and California law gives consumers real tools when they have been charged this way.

Depending on the facts, customers who paid these fees may be able to recover money and seek a court order requiring the practice to stop. We can't promise any particular result; every situation depends on its own facts. But you don't have to sort through any of this on your own, and finding out where you stand costs you nothing.

What can you do now?

If you bought wine, spirits, or other products from ReserveBar and noticed a "service fee" added to your order, we would like to hear from you. Tell us about your purchase using the short form on our investigation page. There is no cost and no obligation, and the information you share is kept confidential.

→ Tell us about your ReserveBar purchase by completing this form.