Would you say something if a restaurant undercharged you?

[MrsClayneCrawford]

Went out for meal with DH & mutual friend. The bill came & they hadn't charged us for my meal. I thought cha ching & said to keep stum but friend ignored me & told the waitress. I was really miffed & abit pissed off with my friend. Would you have told them or kept quiet? It was a chain not a family run place if that makes a difference.

No, that's not what I was saying at all.

The point I was trying to make was that, for those people who said they would keep schtum about being undercharged, there's no damn way they'd keep schtum about being overcharged, would they?!!!!

I bet if Sky accidentally gave any of you mother Theresa types a free month by accident you wouldn't be ringing them up to query it

Yes I would. I don’t believe in using something I haven’t paid for.

Had this happen twice. Once at centre parcs where I immediately told the young waitress as I was worried about her losing her job. She forgot to charge for two meals.

Another time at a very expensive restaurant where the bill for 8 of us should have been about 1k. But they forgot to charge us for two of the bottles of wine so we saved £120. This was nearly 20 years ago. We shot out the restaurant (drunk) thinking fab result. Sobered up and went back the next day and paid....but I admit it was one of the others who said we should and then I felt guilty. Otherwise I might have justified it to myself back then saying the markup was horrendous.

I would not.

Their silly mistake and must pay more attention.

I bet if Sky accidentally gave any of you mother Theresa types a free month by accident you wouldn't be ringing them up to query it

Actually, when EE undercharged us I rang them up, they honoured the mistake but I did tell them.

And when British Gas gave us a refund for the total gas and electric bill for the previous year I rang them and told them. After speaking to upteen people I gave up though.

And when we moved in to our new house and found out our gas meter was unregistered but working I spent a year trying to register it, rather than take the free gas.

I'm not a saint, but I am honest.

Don’t compare me to mother Teresa, she was a vile hypocrite.

Meant I add a to that.

“FangFangFangFuries

No, that's not what I was saying at all.

The point I was trying to make was that, for those people who said they would keep schtum about being undercharged, there's no damn way they'd keep schtum about being overcharged, would they?!!!!”

No of course they wouldn’t. That’s exactly the point I’m making it’s daft to think they wouldn’t

I would usually say something, although there's been a couple of occasions in Harvesters where the service has been poor and we've waited ages or been forgotten about and a drink was missing from the bill. In that case I wouldn't say anything.

"No of course they wouldn’t. That’s exactly the point I’m making it’s daft to think they wouldn’t"

And that was the exact point I was making upthread in the first place.

Yes I would, and have done so quite a few times in the past

They should fill the houses of commons with you lot because we've discovered the world's largest spontaneous group of honest people in here

Worried things wouldn't add up at the end of the night? Do you really think they count how much mashed potato and peas they doled out over the night and stock take like a shop?? grin

No, it's not done like that, however most places (at least the ones I've worked) have a system where the order is taken on a notepad and then someone else (sometimes the server) puts it into the till.
Each order bill is kept and each order on a notepad is kept, one of our jobs cashing up is to ensure they match.
Few reasons why this is done-
To match against weekly stock takes and ensure that high wastage, or potential theft from fridges etc is identified.
To identify if someone is making a lot of mistakes and take steps to rectify that.
To ensure that staff aren't adding things on to tables for themselves or giving discount to mates etc.

To look back and recify overcharging if a complaint is made.

To look back and see exactly what is ordered, the time lapse between order at the table, order to the kitchen and delivery. And to identify if the server, the person entering into the till or the kitchen, or even the customer, have made a mistake in the event of a complaint.

The copy the server takes has to match the order that is typed into the till and recieved by the kitchen.

Busybarbara: first mother Teresa and now MPs! Who next, Trump?! Can’t get much lower than that chump.

I can’t believe how alien the concept of being honest is to some people.

If someone says they don’t flag when they’re undercharged I’m not shocked, it’s hardly crime of the century, but people being disbelieving that a lot of people are actually honest in the same situation is weird to me.

Yes I do; same in shops. Last time we did this in a restaurant they were really relieved as we had been massively undercharged so they gave us free booze and cake. The last time I did this full stop was at a car hire place abroad. They didn't charge the extra anyway.

Interesting to see sneering about "in the real world" from some who wouldn't say anything

Last time I looked the world around me seemed pretty real, but didn't contain too many people who'd do this ... but then, I guess we all mix with different people

I've had it before and not said. Not my fault they missed it off the bill

To Reggie Kray:
Morality free zone!
Where I come from Inhabitants of that area are called simply immoral,amoral crooks and complacent self indulgent asses to boot.
Nothing clever in being nasty!

It doesn’t matter if they don’t give you a bill. If you walk out without paying then I believe the law is on their side; restaurants often do come after people who walk out without paying (or even contact police).

Depends. We went out twice last week on consecutive nights (were on holiday). In the first restaurant, we were brought a bill for just £42 - given there were 8 of us dining we were taken aback, but on closer inspection they had only charged for drinks and not food. We told them, and they knocked the price of one of the meals off for our honesty.

Second restaurant, again 8 of us dining, the restaurant missed one g&t off the bill. We didn't say anything that time but left a generous tip.

I have done frequently although once in a new restaurant I had to send the bill back 3 times, by which point they were taking money off for messing us around so I just gave up and paid at that point.

Yes I would and have.

One of my concerns would be the waiter/waitress could be in trouble at the end of the night when the tills don't balance.

Da3 spent the summer waiting tables in an Edinburgh restaurant, and if people skipped out on all, or part of their bill - as @MrsClayneCrawford wanted to - it was taken out of the waiting staffs tips.

In other restaurants, it can come out of staff wages.

So, in answer to the question, yes, I would tell the restaurant they had undercharged me, because not doing so is dishonest.

No of course they wouldn’t. That’s exactly the point I’m making grin it’s daft to think they wouldn’t

And that’s what makes it disgusting. People who do this are perfectly content to profit from someone’s error - even if it means that person’s wages being docked - but they aren’t willing for the restaurant to profit from an error.

If it were a philosophical ‘if it’s an error, they have to wear it’, it should cut both ways. To only pipe up if it benefits you is despicable.