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.

As I've already said, my experience leads me to believe most people wouldn't say anything if a mistake was in their favour but would raise merry hell if it wasn't.
I do wonder though if the people being a little dismissive of wait staff that make a mistake, and the 'if they can't do their job properly it's not my fault' are actually human and have ever made an error through ya know, being human? Or are you all some kind of human android that is 100% perfect?
Funny how some seem to hold condescending views towards waiting and retail staff - yet expect perfection.

Yup, happened a few times and always would - mainly because I'd be worried about the server getting hassle further down the line, but also because it wouldn't sit right. I may debate it if the food or service had been shocking though!

Of course not - that’s a real no brainer! Can’t believe someone would do that? Weird!

It's not stealing - end of.

It is illegal to leave a restaurant without paying for your meal. If you know in advance your meal isn't on the bill due to a human error then you are leaving without paying. Not too hard to comprehend? Of course if the restaurant noticed after the fact as well as attempted theft you could just add in a lie and say you never noticed.

Convictions of course are highly unlikely, but that still doesn't make it the right thing to do.

It's not stealing - end of.

What a compelling argument.

Regardless of how and whether the law is applied for relatively small sums, knowingly taking and consuming a product (the meal) and a service (eating it in a restaurant) without paying is stealing that product/service in moral terms. You know what that product and service cost, you consumed it, and then you don’t pay for it? Yeah, morally, you’re a thief.

This thread fascinates me. Has anyone else noticed that those who wouldn't say anything are relying mainly on one of two arguments - either a) that everyone else does it too so that it's quite right for them to or b) that staff who have made a mistake should suffer for it, while those who would say something seem to divide into c) those whose moral compass requires honesty and d) those who don't want the staff to be out of pocket. I suspect there's also probably some overlap, so a and b aren't mutually exclusive and neither are c and d. Do you think we tend to move in circles where those around us share similar values and thought processes so that external reactions validate us in our own decisions (although OP says that her friend told when she wouldn't have) or is it hard wired in us from previous experiences such as child hood training in honesty or personal experience of being the waitress?

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Me and my husband owe a small restaurant and times are hard! If a mistake like this was made then we really would appreciate you being honest about it as we need to feed and clothe our kids too. And no we wouldn't take this away from our staff's tips or wages. But we are lucky with having had many honest customers bar a few c.f.! Mistakes happen and if you didn't notice that is different. However if you did notice that could have been the price of shoes for one of my kids. People earn a living and shock horror need the wages to pay for living!

People like you OP make me loose faith in society. This is one of the reasons we don't want to carry on anymore which is a shame as that means others have to leave their job because c.f. chance it like you op making everyone else's life difficult for the sake of say £20. Not cool op. That could be someone's wage for 2 to 3 hours

Why would people be so entitled to think they should get something free they've eaten and clearly need to pay for

Maybe because some folk simply are entitled?

Like nonevernotever I, too, noticed that many who wouldn't pay seem to feel they need something to back it up: "everyone else does it", "it was their mistake" and so on, which seems a bit odd ... if you're determined to be dishonest why not just own it?

Personally I liked the post: "Character is how (generic) you behave when no one is looking"

If you went into a shop, put your items up on the counter and notice that the checkout assistant has forgotten to scan one of your items, would you quickly stuff it into your bag and leave, or would you point it out?

It is illegal to leave a restaurant without paying for your meal. If you know in advance your meal isn't on the bill due to a human error then you are leaving without paying

If you ask for a bill, they give you a bill and you pay it then the contract is complete. Just the same in a shop, they accidentally sell something to you for the incorrect (lower) price. I’m sure someone with the legal knowledge will explain exactly but the contract has been offered and accepted. No theft involved. Morally on the other hand....

If you ask for a bill, they give you a bill and you pay it then the contract is complete. Just the same in a shop, they accidentally sell something to you for the incorrect (lower) price. I’m sure someone with the legal knowledge will explain exactly but the contract has been offered and accepted. No theft involved.
I’m not sure. I know that’s the case if a shop sells you something for the wrong price, but I don’t know if the same applies if they have forgotten to bill you for an item altogether.

TBH I would have assumed I would leave it. But, a few of us went to a restaurant near me (local, smallish restaurant, but always busy and seems to do well) and they missed a few things off the bill.
I told them straight away. I just didn't feel right otherwise

Wow what thinks you're entitled to the free meal? Your attitude is so wrong. What else would you steal. I wouldn't want a friend like that in my life!

It's not stealing - end of.

Of course it is stealing. You went into a restaurant, ordered food and drink and consumed what you had ordered. When you do that you are expected to pay for what you have consumed. So what if the waitress makes a mistake with the bill. If you notice the mistake, it is stealing to walk out without paying. Does not matter if you'd get convicted or not, it is still theft as you had something you did not pay for.

@BrokenWing

Actually, you’re incorrect there.

You can in fact leave as much or as little money as you think the meal was worth; a strange and little known quirk in our legal system.

If you ask for a bill, they give you a bill and you pay it then the contract is complete

Not really if you haven't been billed for certain items, you are then walking out and not asking for thr bill for those items you know are not listed. Your theory would only work if the bill was not itemised.

Either way I don't think it's really about legality though, for me it's about the morality. Particularly if you think the sever will be charged or the restaurant, as many do, are small family run and operate on low margins, you're kinda sticking it to thr little people for no good reason.

I have however, accidentally, not paid for a mattress. Bought a bed frame from a large DIY store, didn’t want the cheap mattress they were trying to flog with it. But when they brought the frame out to the car, they brought the mattress out too because that was how they were stacked in the warehouse. I quietly put it in the car and kept it as a spare
If you 'quietly' put the mattress in the car then there's nothing accidental about you not paying! That is pure theft!!! You should have said 'I only bought the base' so they could take the mattress back inside. You make OP look like a saint.

I am a little bit lackadaisical and don't scrutinise my bill so if an extra side or drink was included or excluded, I possibly wouldn't notice. But I am sure I would notice if one person's whole meal was not included and in that case, yes I would definitely point it out and actually I would feel good about doing so. Your attitude is awful, it doesn't matter if it is a chain or not.

I’ve been on both ends of this, on holiday recently we got the bill and noticed the coffees had been left off so I told the waiter and he thanked and me and said not to worry about it so we gave him a much bigger tip as we’d have spent the money anyway on the coffees.

I made a much more costly mistake though, I had a migraine starting to come on, I get really foggy, lose a lot of coordination and struggle with my speech either by not being able to get words out or slurring a bit, not a great combination when serving on a till!! I completely missed scanning an item that was about £80. The customer came back only about a minute later and asked to speak to me privately. She said she didn’t want to embarrass me or get me into trouble in front of anyone and told me what I’d done and she asked to pay for it. I thanked her profusely and when I put the product through for her I heavily discounted it for her honesty and inconvenience. She said I looked really pale and thought maybe I was having a bad day so didn’t want me to get into trouble with any managers.

The worst part is that I am the manager of the department 😂 I still told my manager what I’d done anyway but I’ll always remember how lovely and kind the lady was about the whole thing.

You can in fact leave as much or as little money as you think the meal was worth; a strange and little known quirk in our legal system.

I don't usually check the bill in places I know tbh. It has happened but in that case they had messed up our orders and taken forever, I think the waitress deliberately left the one dessert off so I didn't go back.

To those asking about tips, 10% is still the norm in the U.K. restaurant staff have to be paid minimum wage unlike in the USA, so the tip is extra

Particularly if you think the sever will be charged or the restaurant, as many do, are small family run and operate on low margins, you're kinda sticking it to thr little people for no good reason.

And even the large chains are struggling. Lots of store closures, tight margins. You may think ‘sod them, it’s just a big corporate’ but when the big corporate closes a restaurant because they’re losing money, a lot of people who really need those jobs waiting tables and cooking and cleaning will lose them.

Eating their food without paying for it is contributing to that.

Don’t know how people sleep at night, tbh.