WIBU to be annoyed in this cafe?

[Hoppinggreen]

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

😂😂😂

Absolutely this, it’s not difficult to rectify an admin mistake at the end of a days trading. Especially if the staff member had made a note of the cock up. (These things happen all the time)
The books will always balance if there’s good communication between staff.
The customer is king, return custom is a must in times like these. Charging someone twice is absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. Customers rarely speak to others regarding genuine errors that can be rectified on the spot, but it’s GUARANTEED that customers will speak unfavourably about your business when they feel ripped off, and rightly so.

Why should a customer “step aside” when they have a genuine issue? This could’ve been dealt with immediately with petty cash.
No need for anyone to “step aside” just a staff member using their initiative to solve the problem straight away.

You need to read the op properly.

They need to sort their system out.

They should have been able to give you a refund in cash, there and then, and not made their error your problem!

Then once you were gone on your merry way, sort out the other peoples bills which clearly had not been charged to them, so no transactions to void or reverse.

I wouldn't be happy at being £40 short for several days, there's been times in my life that would have meant going without electricity/food, so the fact that 'it's coming back to you' is not bloody relevant. It should be available to you right now, not in 10 days time.

I voted YABU, you have no idea what that member of staff has been through in their life, they could have severe anxiety, having been in similar situations, regardless of whether you didn’t raise your voice, it can be triggering. Sorry!

I hope the original staff member has had some training so they don't screw up other bills in the same way in future - and so they don't have a meltdown when their multiple mistakes are pointed out because a customer doesn't want to be out of pocket!

That's another thing I don't do.
I won't step aside and wait. I'm in front of you now, you sort my issue, THEN you can serve other customers.

No need to apologise, it’s a valid point.
However, as someone with a DD with severe anxiety I am aware that some people can find things overwhelming. However,I was very calm and told this person that we all make mistakes and the mistake itself really wasn’t the issue it was the lack of resolution.
If a middle aged woman calmly saying she wasn’t very happy with the situation sends her crying to a back room I would suggest that she probably isn’t equipped to deal with more challenging customers.

If a middle aged woman calmly saying she wasn’t very happy with the situation sends her crying to a back room I would suggest that she probably isn’t equipped to deal with more challenging customers.

100%

I'm not saying this applies to OP in the slightest, as it sounds as though OP was polite and reasonable BUT in my experience, 'middle aged women' can be the most challenging customers.

Firstly, if they couldn’t work out how to do the refund efficiently on the card reader, then yes, they should have taken £10 out of the till. Yes, it can be done. No, it doesn’t screw up the accounts, providing there’s a note put in there to say what’s happened.
Secondly, you should have told them that you’d be back to pay the £30 once the £40 had cleared back into your account.
Thirdly, if it’s somewhere you enjoy going, I’d message the owner to let them know about the situation, because they need to retrain their staff, on how to deal with complications and how to cope with customers who are not happy with the service for whatever reason. It’s part of the job.

Seriously? We can’t even complain about a cock-up in a café anymore without full knowledge of the waitress’s life history and the potentially “triggering” situation of being told she’s overcharged someone?

Life nowadays innit? Cock up and leave someone out of pocket, but they can’t express any annoyance cos hurty feelings

Literally made a mumsnet account to answer this. YABU, slightly but everyone has made a mistake here.
I used to work in a furniture shop and this happened frequently, to the point I learnt more about how transactions actually happen with cards. Although the payment automatically shows on your banking app, it doesn't go straight to the shop, it goes to a holding account in your bank then likely a holding account for the shop's bank then their account, this is to confirm funds as often 2 different banks are communicating. The reverse happens for refunds so it won't automatically show in your account and the number of days it takes to appear can vary due to the processes of the bank, nothing to do with the cafe. Its not an ideal process but one the cafe doesn't have any control over and as someone else explained a lot of POS systems don't let you alternate between cash and card easily, the method of payment has to be the method of refund. They should have explained up front that it would take some time to show in your account though.
The response on here from everyone about the staff member hiding out the back isn't great, you have no idea what else the staff member has been dealing with that day or has going on in their life and sometimes when working with the public you just need a minute, even if you were being perfectly nice.

I think the best thing this cafe could have done to resolve this was refund the 40 you originally paid, and offered for you to pay 5 or 10 pounds less for the trouble of having to wait Upto 10 days for the original refund.

Tbf refunds say up to 10 days but my experience it is usually 3 depending if there is a bank holiday in there or close to a weekend

Yes, of course they can give the OP the cash back from the till. It’s legal tender too.

They just need to pop a note in the till with the full details of the transaction.

It’s not ever the customer’s responsibility to solve the cafe’s mistakes. If they genuinely think it is, they’re going to be out of business very soon!

In the OP’s shoes, I would have stood and waited for the cash refund. I wouldn’t have accepted any daft excuses.

Although realistically, I would have spotted the £70 charge before I paid. I ALWAYS check what’s on the screen before paying and I always tot up my shopping so I know roughly to within a couple of euro how much my bill should be.

Yes, because we’re proper grown ups and not prepared to accept shit customer service. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm a bit fed up of "You don't know what kind of day they've had"
No. And they don't know what kind of day I've had either. I treat people the way I expect to be treated and if you can't cope with a little issue/problem in your everyday duties, might I suggest you find a job where you don't face the public.
I had some excruciating days in retail. I got on with it. I didn't hide from customers because I fucked up.
People really need to get a grip.

Yes, because we’re proper grown ups and not prepared to accept shit customer service.

Nah, grown ups don't resort to nastiness over minor issues.

Assertiveness isn’t nastiness.

Could you please highlight the part of my post where there was any “nastiness”?

It is if you are a woman apparently.
Maybe we should just all shut up and go away instead of politely expressing our unhappiness with a situation.

Well if you bothered to read properly, you'd see that I said 'this doesn't apply to OP who sounds as though she was reasonable and polite.' 🤣🤣

Oh, middle aged men and women can be equally nasty 'assertive,' rest assured. Always a certain 'type' of person.