Hardworking small business owners in America’s restaurant sector saw a hard-fought triumph on Wednesday when major point-of-sale tech provider Toast Inc. backpedaled on a newly-implemented previously undisclosed dining fee.

This unanticipated charge was remotely added to customer bills without obtaining approval from the client restaurants, a decision that sparked indignation across the nation.

These charges, surreptitiously siphoned from restaurant owners’ bank accounts and funneled into Toast’s own, stirred national ire among the culinary community, prompting a congressional investigation and potential class-action lawsuits.

According to various operators interviewed by FOX Business, Toast manipulated its cloud-based tech capacity in what equated to a sweeping “hijacking” of their point-of-sale systems.

“While we had the best of intentions — to keep costs low for our customers — that is not how the change was perceived by some of you,” Toast CEO Chris Comparato said in an email sent to thousands of its clients nationwide.

“We made the wrong decision and following a careful review, including the additional feedback we received, the fee will be removed from our Toast digital ordering channels,” the email also said.

This email, bearing the subject “Removing the Order Processing Fee – A message from our CEO,” was forwarded to FOX Business. Several attempts to reach Toast for additional comment about the reversal went unanswered by the time of publication.

The fee controversy was spotlighted just a day after its national launch, eliciting a swift congressional inquiry within 48 hours.

REALTED: Restaurants Up In Arms Over New Fee Billed Directly to Their Customers by Big Tech

Representative Mark Alford, R-Missouri, lauded the decision as a “huge win for businesses and individuals all across America,” underscoring the power of public pressure to effect meaningful change.

However, the apology from the once-popular, Boston-based point-of-sale and credit card processing provider hasn’t managed to mend the deep-seated distrust sown among its 85,000 restaurant clientele.

“I feel like [Toast] showed us that we can’t trust them to be a business partner,” said Matt Wilhelmson, owner of Koehn Bakery in Butler, Missouri.

Wilhelmson also noted “that they’re not returning anybody’s money.”

The debacle began unfolding in February, following Toast’s partnership announcement with Google. The company began exploiting its access to the point-of-sale systems of thousands of client restaurants nationwide to levy a 99-cent charge on online orders exceeding $10.

These fees were imposed by Toast without the restaurants’ consent and misleadingly appeared as line-item restaurant charges on receipts.

On top of monthly fees and credit-card processing charges that can reach into the thousands, the added fee led to frustration among restaurant owners and patrons alike.

Restaurateur Elizabeth Van Wie, whose family owns Zookz Sandwiches in Phoenix, Arizona, voiced her relief that Toast is “finally doing the right thing.” However, Van Wie indicated they were looking into other potential vendors.

“But we’re still exploring our options,” she said. “We’re frustrated. We feel stabbed in the back. Toast still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.”

The additional fees infuriated consumers already burdened by escalating charges for standard services, who naturally assumed restaurants were inflating the bill.

The additional charge also meant that diners were forced to pay meal taxes on Toast’s fees, and restaurants had to report the revenue seized by Toast as taxable income.

Tony Naser, who owns pizza shops in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, was among those who vigorously protested Toast’s decision.

Echoing the sentiment of betrayal and questioning Toast’s ethical business decisions Naser said, “How can you trust them to make good ethical business decisions?”

“This is f—– up how they ever made this decision in the first place,” he also said.

Naser, like others, is contemplating different vendor options for his business.

The CEO’s email to clients concluded, “I’d like to close by thanking you for your input and support of Toast. We can accomplish far more together than we can apart and we remain committed to supporting your restaurant and the industry well into the future.”

Despite this assurance, the saga has left a sour taste in the mouths of many small business owners across the nation, revealing a stark demonstration of corporate overreach at the expense of hardworking entrepreneurs and the power of the consumer to affect change.