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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
AllOfThemWitches · 07/02/2023 07:24

Ate you on glue? Of course there is a solution, and no magic involved. Open the fucking till and hand over the amount they had overcharged. Simple.

So witty. Nah, it doesn't work like that, you've clearly never worked in this kind if job. You can't just take money from the till, they'd be £10 down. Mistakes happen. And anyone who was down to their last £40 wouldn't be spending it in a cafe.

journeyofinsanity · 07/02/2023 07:26

AllOfThemWitches · 07/02/2023 07:24

Ate you on glue? Of course there is a solution, and no magic involved. Open the fucking till and hand over the amount they had overcharged. Simple.

So witty. Nah, it doesn't work like that, you've clearly never worked in this kind if job. You can't just take money from the till, they'd be £10 down. Mistakes happen. And anyone who was down to their last £40 wouldn't be spending it in a cafe.

They can reconcile the balance later. It's very common to ring up the wrong thing. There is no way a cafe couldn't reconcile it that evening when they cash up.

AllOfThemWitches · 07/02/2023 07:27

So many insufferable, condescending twats on this thread. You're exactly the kind of people who make it a thankless job. Please, just eat at home lol

Valeriekat · 07/02/2023 07:37

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.

How patronizing you are. It isn't the OPs fault that the cafe staff were completely useless. Why should she be deprived of 40 pounds?

AllOfThemWitches · 07/02/2023 07:52

She hasn't been 'deprived.' 😂😂 She'll get it back, probably far sooner than in 10 days. At worst, she's been inconvenienced.

Valeriekat · 07/02/2023 07:53

Sunsetintheeast · 06/02/2023 22:05

Standard fuck up processing is to put things right. Standard refund process ain’t relevant here.

I used to be a department manger at JLP (nearly 30 years ago!) and I can tell you the customer was queen.

Show quote history

I worked at JLP 30 years ago too! What a difference in customer service then and now.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 07/02/2023 08:04

IWonderWhyIBother · 06/02/2023 22:49

Option 1, they refund £10 to your card not the whole amount.

Option 2, leave a generous tip, £30 for lunch for two for a birthday treat is reasonable and your friend’s birthday isn’t soured by an argument at the end of a nice lunch.

There was no birthday involved and while I do tip I wouldn’t tip £10 on a £30 lunch

OP posts:
londonrach · 07/02/2023 08:06

Yanbu. I'd be furious if this happened to me. I'm shocked at people thinking it ok. You no idea the £40 go back in. No way I'd have paid an extra £10.

londonrach · 07/02/2023 08:06

£30 (sorry typo). Id have waited till they returned the £10 to me.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 07/02/2023 08:09

Onnabugeisha · 07/02/2023 00:15

Information even a 12yo old would be aware of. I’m done with the faux innocence….but but the refund isn’t on my banking app bullshit. Everyone knows that payment systems take your money faster than they refund it.

Oh, now she was ‘pressured’ into accepting a full refund! Shock horror!

Show quote history

I have never used a till in my life so I have no idea how it works. The lady refund I got was in an Apple shop and it arrived in my account while I stood there so how was I supposed to know it could take so long? If I had to guess I would have said 24 hours maximum
And yes there WAS pressure to accept it as apparently it was the only option and there were other people behind me waiting to pay and my parking was running out.

OP posts:
YetMoreNewBeginnings · 07/02/2023 08:10

Customer service has got so bad in so many places.

But you can see why they get away with it with how strongly some on here feel like it’s perfectly acceptable that the OP is £40 short for up to 10 days.

Though that’s probably in massive part to do with the number of people for whom £40 isn’t a big deal. Whereas for many many people that would have an impact on the next 10 days.

ChilliBandit · 07/02/2023 08:15

Blossomtoes · 07/02/2023 00:19

Of course it’s allowed. Any business that refuses cash really is signing its own death warrant. And I’m not buying banks dictating a café’s accounting systems either.

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Someone needs to tell my local Bills they’ve signed their own death warrant by being card only. You will have to speak up to be heard over the packed restaurant though.

FWIW I don’t agree with a cashless society but it’s the way the country is moving and it’s the cash only places that are going to struggle. Not the other way round.

Original poster
Hoppinggreen · 07/02/2023 08:15

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 07/02/2023 01:21

So you didn't check your bill, because you were busy 'talking to your friend', you paid it, then questioned it, and they have said they will refund you. What exactly are you bitching abut?

So £30 or £70?

And of course they can't just give you a tenner out of the till. The person operating it would be done for theft.

Why would they give you a tenner if the difference is £30?

Not sure how I am “bitching”
I am out of pocket £70 for a £30 meal solely down to their mistakes. They say I will get £40 of that back in up to 10 days.
The difference in what they first charged me and what I should have been charged was £10
hope that makes it clearer for you

OP posts:
Valeriekat · 07/02/2023 08:24

unsureatthispoint · 07/02/2023 00:17

Not allowed

Show quote history

Is that legal?

magicthree · 07/02/2023 08:26

Blossomtoes · 06/02/2023 22:54

It looks to me as if the “antiquated” system was better. Tech’s supposed to make life simpler and it’s supposed to be the servant, not the master.

Show quote history

I quite agree that the old way of doing things was often much simpler. However, I meant your banking system is antiquated if it takes 10 days for a refund to go through onto a card - why does it take so long? If I get a refund here it goes straight through.

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 07/02/2023 08:35

I would have been tempted to say that I'd come back and pay again once the refund had arrived in my bank account.

ChilliBandit · 07/02/2023 08:35

Have you got your refund yet OP?

GoodChat · 07/02/2023 08:39

Or if you feel you have to hide rather than deal with customers maybe don't go for a customer facing role.

Customers are cunts sometimes.

If I was in that situation I'd just speak to the other customer and get her to send me a tenner.
Problem solved.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 07/02/2023 08:40

It’s also a sign of businesses being cheap with staffing.

No-one around being paid enough, or trusted enough, to actually provide good customer service.

AllOfThemWitches · 07/02/2023 08:48

GoodChat · 07/02/2023 08:39

Or if you feel you have to hide rather than deal with customers maybe don't go for a customer facing role.

Customers are cunts sometimes.

If I was in that situation I'd just speak to the other customer and get her to send me a tenner.
Problem solved.

Customers ARE cunts sometimes. I went back to work 3 days after my mum died (coz, money). I made a mistake that resulted in a table having to wait longer for their food. Apologised, of course. That wasn't good enough, they felt the need to continue berating me. Even several apologies and offering to discount their food wasn't enough to stop them. I'm not letting some absolute fucking arseholes make me cry but I stopped engaging with them. Point being, you have no idea who you're talking to or what's going on in their lives but there won't be a single person here who hasn't made a minor fuck up.

ChilliBandit · 07/02/2023 08:51

@AllOfThemWitches - I am so sorry to hear that. They are probably on this thread judging by some of the comments here 😬

DragonHouse · 07/02/2023 08:52

Valeriekat · 07/02/2023 08:24

Is that legal?

Show quote history

Of course it is! Businesses don’t have to accept cash.

Blossomtoes · 07/02/2023 08:57

You can't just take money from the till, they'd be £10 down.

No they wouldn’t, the additional £10 on card payments would balance it.

DragonHouse · 07/02/2023 09:02

Blossomtoes · 07/02/2023 08:57

You can't just take money from the till, they'd be £10 down.

No they wouldn’t, the additional £10 on card payments would balance it.

Yes they would. They’re two separate cash sheets, they don’t marry up.

Blossomtoes · 07/02/2023 09:05

Nonsense.

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