What do you do when...

[javasaurus]

What do you do when you go to a restaurant, order and eat, then get the bill and the price charged is not the menu price?

Suppose you point out the difference to the waiter/waitress, and they tell you, sorry, that's what's in the computer, that they can't do anything about it?

I can't believe how often this happens. I can understand that occassionally, new prices might not be on the menu -- something got overlooked in the programming. But the customer has a right to the advertised price. Period.

So what do you do? Do you make an issue out of it, ask for the manager, deduct from the tip, refuse to pay at all until they fix it? Is your answer different if the difference is twenty cents or ten dollars?

Comments

[rsteachout.livejournal.com]

If it's only 20 cents, I wouldn't make a fuss; but I might ding the tip depending on the server's attitude (helpful, apologetic vs. "tough crap, dude", could care less, not my problem).

$10 -- oh, H*** yes I want to speak to the manager. Actually, for anything more than a dollar or two (trigger point depending on overall dining experience, server's attitude, my mood) I'm talking to whoever can fix the problem.

No way I'd refuse to pay at all -- not worth getting arrested.

[dawntreader]

even if it's 20 cents, i would still bring up the issue with the manager if the server can't take care of it and deduct the price for me. it's not fair and it's not right. flat out, it's gypping customers. for every five customers who order that meal, that's an extra dollar they are earning. they should fix the menu or alert customers when they order, "the cost is $.20 more than what is listed, is that alright?" 99 times out of 100, they're going to say, "yeah sure." after arguing though, i would probably pay the stupid twenty cents.

if the server is a rotten stink about it, i wouldn't leave a big tip for them. however, if they are nice and helpful, i might even leave a bigger tip than usual because i feel like >I< am being a the stink.

a dollar or ten dollars, i'm getting hella pissy with everyone and not paying it. :)

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

If I caught it and it's even a penny off, I'd ask *politely* to get them to correct my bill. Can't do that? I'll speak with the manager. If the manager can't fix it, I'm going to bail on the tip. I would also thoroughly apologize to both the manager and the wait staff for the lack of tip but explain that I believe service includes fixing customer problems or complaints and that their service did not address my problem.

Then I'd go home, find out the corporate address and call them in order to notify them that they're pricing are incorrectly listed and that I don't plan to return.

Granted, I've *never* had it go beyond the manager (either by correcting the price or deducting something from the bill) and once fixed, I leave my usual (and quite generous tip).