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AIBU?

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Original poster

WIBU to be annoyed in this cafe?

582 replies

Hoppinggreen · 06/02/2023 18:42

Went for lunch today at a local cafe. I was paying as a treat for my friend. Bill was about £30.
When I went to pay the person on the till made a mistake and over charged me by £10. It was actually a lot more complicated as she mixed up my bill with someone else then tried to add on someone’s takeaway but that was basically it.
After a lot of discussion between 2 staff members they said the only thing they could do was refund and charge me again. No problem I said.
So they did the refund and I said it hadn’t appeared back on my banking app to be told that I had to wait up to 10 days to get it. I was then expected to pay again.
I (calmly) said that I wasn’t happy about that as I would have paid £70 for a £30 lunch until the refund arrived. I was told there was no other alternative. I said again that I didn’t think this was reasonable. The staff member who made the mistake kept apologising and I said that it was a simple mistake and everyone made them so she really didn’t need to be upset about it. The other staff member said that I just needed to pay again and if I hadn’t received it in 10 days to call in.
There was a queue at this point so I said fine but I wasn’t happy about it. The staff member then told me that I had “upset” her colleague and was very short with me. I said again that I didn’t blame her for a simple mistake, it was the lack of resolution I was annoyed at. I did not raise my voice at any point and was very calm and measured. We left and I could hear the staff member telling her colleague she could come out now (she had vanished into the back as apparently she was too upset to deal with me) since I had gone. I left feeling as if I had done something wrong, honestly happy to be told I did
Was I unreasonable being annoyed at this? It won’t cause me any issue financially but I’m a bit miffed at being £40 out of pocket due to their mistake for up to 10 days. It might come earlier I know

OP posts:
Patineur · 06/02/2023 22:56

SafeAsAHero · 06/02/2023 20:07

You would not be receiving anything out of the till and the police would be called.

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Loving that one. Can you imagine the call to the police? "We've got a horrendous criminal here, we've already overcharged them £10 and they're refusing to give us another £30, would you come and arrest them?"

I guess you'd at least give the cops a bit of a laugh.

Patineur · 06/02/2023 22:58

LanaCara · 06/02/2023 20:08

It's a stupid way of them dealing with it, but would I be annoyed and cause a scene? Definitely not, I'd just patiently wait for my refund that I'd know is on its way.

What if you couldn't afford to do that? Are you happy to pay overdraft fees or make your family go without because one business has made an avoidable mistake and hasn't got a system in place for rectifying it?

Puzzledandpissedoff · 06/02/2023 23:00

They should have given you £10 from the till

That’s what I thought but apparently that wasn’t possible

Why not? Surely it would have been the obvious solution - they'd keep the £40 you paid, you'd keep the £10 difference, nobody would have had to beat a tattoo on the buttons and everyone would have been happy with no need for anyone to boo-hoo in the back

MrsRosieBrew · 06/02/2023 23:00

I don’t think you were at all unreasonable and I think it’s possible the waitress who made the mistake just got flustered/was having a bad day generally.

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:01

Patineur · 06/02/2023 22:58

What if you couldn't afford to do that? Are you happy to pay overdraft fees or make your family go without because one business has made an avoidable mistake and hasn't got a system in place for rectifying it?

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I highly doubt anyone would be using the last £30 in their account to treat a friend to a sandwich in a cafe. 😕

Besides OP said it didn’t affect her financially at all….

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:02

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 06/02/2023 20:28

Tbf, knowing how annoying these systems can be, once she'd gone so far into the transaction, trying to unravel it would probably be someone only a senior supervisor or manager could do and even then probably not successfully.

It is, of course, their fault for messing up the transactions however, you paid without double checking it was correct. Once the sale has gone through its 10x harder to fix.

Those bills would be settled so refunding against that would knack the stocktake and costings (again, not your issue) so they couldn't do a partial refund. If they could do one, they would have.

At the end of the day, it's your responsibility to make sure you understand what you're paying for.

No, at the end of the day it's the café's responsibility to charge the right amount and, if it gets it wrong, to correct the mistake without inconveniencing the customer. That's assuming it wants to stay in business, of course.

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:04

SafeAsAHero · 06/02/2023 22:12

I know exactly what I’m talking about. I manage a restaurant and have had this exact situation happen.

I don’t know where you live but the police do come out in our area when people refuse to leave the premises or attempt
to steal.

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She wasn’t refusing to leave the premises or attempting to steal. The café made a mistake; the OP was unhappy with the terms by which they proposed to rectify it. The café chose to refund the full amount rather than just the overpayment - their decision, not the OP’s. They were then reliant on her honesty to pay again; OP was under no legal obligation, even if some would argue it’s a moral one.

No laws have been broken - so why on Earth would the police be involved? It’s a civil dispute at best.

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:06

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:04

She wasn’t refusing to leave the premises or attempting to steal. The café made a mistake; the OP was unhappy with the terms by which they proposed to rectify it. The café chose to refund the full amount rather than just the overpayment - their decision, not the OP’s. They were then reliant on her honesty to pay again; OP was under no legal obligation, even if some would argue it’s a moral one.

No laws have been broken - so why on Earth would the police be involved? It’s a civil dispute at best.

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Not true.
After a lot of discussion between 2 staff members they said the only thing they could do was refund and charge me again. No problem I said.

OP agreed to the full refund and charge again proposal. And then went back on her word and fussed.

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:06

LanaCara · 06/02/2023 20:29

I said again I didnt think it was reasonable

There was a queue at this point so I said fine

We all have different interpretations of a scene I suppose.

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You're seriously saying that the words "I don't think it's reasonable" and "Fine" constitute making a scene?

I hate to think how you would describe a full-on EastEnders-style shouting match.

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:07

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:01

I highly doubt anyone would be using the last £30 in their account to treat a friend to a sandwich in a cafe. 😕

Besides OP said it didn’t affect her financially at all….

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The staff in the café don’t know that though, do they?

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:09

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:07

The staff in the café don’t know that though, do they?

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They’re not idiots, they’d realise the same as I that someone spending £30 on lunch is going to have quite a bit more than that in their account.

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:11

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 20:30

They couldn’t give you £10 from the till as that would create business accounting issues and a fail for any financial audit. That’s also not how point of sale systems work and it’s all linked to their small business accounting systems. You can’t ring up and have you pay another customers bill and then fix it with cash difference. Because then your bill doesn’t get paid, and they can’t ask the other customer to pay your bill plus £10 cash. They HAD to back put the payment on the wrong bill and then you pay your actual bill.

Adding cash into the mix screws up their books for the business for HMRC and business taxes.

The delay in the refund hitting your account is due to the BANKS advertised potential delay on their end…it’s nothing to do with the business not refunding you and only “promising” as you’ve been saying.

It’s good you were calm, but you were acting like a Luddite with no concept of how refunds actually get processed or how business point of sale and accounting systems work & interact.

With every respect, what utter bollocks. It's not up to the customer to understand precisely how computerised refunds get processed and how accounting systems work and interact. It's up to the business to set up a system which means that, when they screw up, the customer doesn't go away £40 out of pocket and annoyed. Because ultimately if they annoy enough customers and get enough bad reviews, they just won't be in business any longer.

Howyiz · 06/02/2023 23:11

leithreas · 06/02/2023 19:08

I think it was a bit strange that you expected the refund to appear straight away in your bank, that isn't something that happens here is Ireland is that standard in the UK? You happily agreed to the refund in the first place, the staff would have assumed that you know that refunds are not instant(unless they usually are in the UK) when you agreed to it. You then decided the refund wasn't a good idea after it had already been done, at that point there was little they could do other than let you away without paying at all. Taking a tenner out of the til or cakes worth a tenner were useless at that point because they had no money from you.

The point to say actually no that isn't going to work for me was the point where you said 'no problem'

In Ireland it would show up as pending almost immediately, especially with a debit card .

28January · 06/02/2023 23:12

Of course they should have refunded you and worked out how to balance their till later.

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:14

28January · 06/02/2023 23:12

Of course they should have refunded you and worked out how to balance their till later.

They did refund the OP in the manner in which she agreed to. She just didn’t realise the time delay for the refund to trickle through the systems & via her bank.

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:17

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:06

Not true.
After a lot of discussion between 2 staff members they said the only thing they could do was refund and charge me again. No problem I said.

OP agreed to the full refund and charge again proposal. And then went back on her word and fussed.

Show quote history

She agreed thinking she’d get the refund straight away. They didn’t mention it could take up to ten days to get the refund. THAT’S why I said she was unhappy with the terms.

In any case, it still doesn’t change the key point - the fact that it is not a police matter. No police officer has ever said “Marigold Nosetrout, I am arresting you for going back on your word and fussing.”

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:18

Rosebel · 06/02/2023 21:32

They probably can't just take money out of the till as has been explained already. Refunds often take ages. 10 days is standard.

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So why not try something creative like offering £10 worth of cakes? OP's already said she would have accepted that.

whatadoodledo · 06/02/2023 23:19

Smartiepants79 · 06/02/2023 18:48

You’re not wrong to be annoyed but I think this is how the system works.
It’s probably not something the ordinary person behind the till can do anything about. Maybe not even something the manager can do anything about.
I’ve never noticed it happening to me but I have heard tales of even very large corporations such as Asda working exactly the same way.

What system? The OP doesn't care about 'the system' and should have just had £10 credited to her account.

Also I hate withering 'victims'. The hiding out the back rubbish would have ticked me right off!

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:24

SafeAsAHero · 06/02/2023 22:05

And you would be welcome to explain to the police how stubborn you are. They would still treat you as though you were a thief who hadn’t paid if a refund had been issued.

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That would be deeply stupid of the police, given that this doesn't even approach meeting the criteria for a theft charge. I don't think their superior officers would be in the least amused at having to deal with the justifiable complaint that would arise from that.

bellabasset · 06/02/2023 23:24

OP's card had been charged with £40 so a second bill should have been drawn up for £30 crediting off the overcharge leaving the business owing her £10, which could have been paid by cash.

whatadoodledo · 06/02/2023 23:24

God I'm an old grump this evening! Smile

Patineur · 06/02/2023 23:29

SafeAsAHero · 06/02/2023 22:12

I know exactly what I’m talking about. I manage a restaurant and have had this exact situation happen.

I don’t know where you live but the police do come out in our area when people refuse to leave the premises or attempt
to steal.

Show quote history

So the police came out to you because you slandered your customer by wrongly accusing them of attempting to steal? You were lucky not to get charged with wasting police time.

Cornchip · 06/02/2023 23:30

I’m baffled by the amount of posters bending over backwards to come up with excuses to why the cafe couldn’t fix this issue.

At the end of the day, there are a number of different ways that this could have been resolved. None of which involve OP paying twice and then being left out of pocket for up to 10 days.

It is an easy enough to fix this after the customer had left. Mistakes happen, it’s up to management to have the skills to be able to fix these and have the customers be as unaffected as possible. Of course there are guidelines and processes to follow but I highly doubt any company would want their staff members making any customer feel this way. If I did this I’d fully be expecting a complaint and upper management wanting answers.

At the end of the day, the take always from this are

  • OP probably shouldn’t go back to the cafe
  • The staff member needs some refresher training in how to process transactions correctly and to be diligent
  • The manager on shift needs additional training on how to fix very simple errors and in customer etiquette

If this was a chain cafe then there will be a department dedicated to loss prevention- they are the ones to contact after this to get advice on how to fix the issue. Not scolding the OP for doing nothing wrong other than wanting her money back.

I always defend retail workers on threads like these as I know how shitty it can be sometimes. I’ve had some absolutely vile customers over the years. I’ve been reduced to tears when I started out in my youth. And in my experience, the customer isn’t right as often as people might think.

But in this case I really don’t think the OP did a single thing wrong, here.

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:31

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:09

They’re not idiots, they’d realise the same as I that someone spending £30 on lunch is going to have quite a bit more than that in their account.

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It isn’t really relevant though, is it? You can’t decide your refund policy based on “Oh well, if she’s buying lunch she can probably afford to wait”. It’s not exactly professional.

Onnabugeisha · 06/02/2023 23:33

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/02/2023 23:31

It isn’t really relevant though, is it? You can’t decide your refund policy based on “Oh well, if she’s buying lunch she can probably afford to wait”. It’s not exactly professional.

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Yes that’s right, @Patineur s comment regarding what if OP had no more money is one of many irrelevant comments. I should have simply said that too.

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