Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

Original poster

to think that if you are given an incorrect, cheaper bill

19 replies

Undercovamutha · 01/03/2010 16:25

in a restaurant, then you should own up and ask for the correct one?

We went to a restaurant a few days ago with some friends. The service was awful, the food was cold, and overall it was a pretty dire experience.

When we came to pay, we were given completely the wrong bill, which worked out at more than a third cheaper than it should have been. I had said that I would pay for it all by card, as I didn't have any cash. Everyone else would then pay me for their share.

When I and a few of my friends husbands saw the bill we realised that it was wrong. I was about to go and ask for the correct one, but my friends husband barged past and paid the bill with his card, totally knowing it was wrong and over £100 cheaper than it should have been.

He then encouraged us to all but scarper from the restaurant before the waitress realised the mistake.

I feel terrible that we did this. A few of my friends thought it was fine to do because of the bad service, but I think it was incredibly dishonest and feel really uncomfortable about it. To my mind I think we should have reflected the bad service/food by not leaving a tip and/or speaking to the manager and asking for a bill reduction.

AIBU and what would you have done?

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 01/03/2010 16:28

this happened to my parents and aunt & uncle in a restaurant with dreadful food & service (you weren't in the lakes were you?)
they owned up & discovered the other table had already paid their more expensive bill & left!!
ywbu but it wasn't really you it was him!!

mumto2andnomore · 01/03/2010 16:31

To be honest if Id had a bad experience I would have paid the cheaper bill too and kept quiet. If everything was fine I wouldnt own up in a chain type restaurant but if it was an independent one I would. Not saying thats right though...

onagar · 01/03/2010 16:33

Telling them and paying the right amount is the right thing to do.

I must admit though they given the poor service/food I'd have been very tempted not to. But as my old mum would have said "two wrongs don't make a right"

shonaspurtle · 01/03/2010 16:33

I know that some places would have docked the wages of the waiting staff for the difference.

sarah293 · 01/03/2010 16:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

alarkaspree · 01/03/2010 16:35

If the service was really bad and they had forgotton to add, say, a cup of coffee to the bill then I might just pay and leave. If the service was good enough that the revised bill could be expected to arrive in a timely fashion I would point it out.

Anything more major I would always tell the staff. Especially if it's actually someone else's bill, because the other people will end up having to argue about your more expensive bill.

Fluffyone · 01/03/2010 16:35

I would have asked to speak to the manager before even being given the bill. We had a huge family gathering in a Beefeater recently, service was rubbish, food took ages to come etc etc. At the end I asked to see the manager, quietly explained that a special family gathering had been rather spoilt, and got 50% with no argument.
I can see why your friends decided to pay the smaller bill, but I think that we should be up-front about poor service.

TrillianAstra · 01/03/2010 16:37

If you have had bad service and odn;t think the food was worth the money the way to approach this is to speak to the manager and discuss not paying the full bill.

Sneaking off doesn't let the people in charge know what you were unhappy with the service, it just lets them know that you are dishonest customers.

MaryBS · 01/03/2010 16:39

YANBU. Its dishonest. If things are wrong, you need to complain at the time. I usually send food back if its cold.

IME, service is often bad because restaurants are short-staffed and expecting too much of those they DO have working there. If I see this is the case, I point this out when complaining.

OtterInaSkoda · 01/03/2010 16:48

As shona says - some places will dock the waiter's wages. I once had two ladies who lunch do a runner on me - it cost me as much as I earned that day in wages. Ought to add the food was fine and the service delightful

shockers · 01/03/2010 16:55

Would he have kept quiet if the bill had been £100 more...?
It works both ways and if he was dissatisfied with the service/food, he should have said so.

Original poster

Undercovamutha · 01/03/2010 17:54

Riven - totally agree. That's what I said to my friends, but most of them (predominantly the men strangely) didn't have any qualms at all - which really suprised me. But then I often get laughed at by friends, acqaintance and in-laws for being too honest, so I thought it might be just me (can you BE too honest???).

I would have far rather paid the whole bill, as the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Even DH thought it was a bad thing to do, and he is nowhere near as honest as me .

I almost wanted to pay my friends what I would have had to pay anyway, so that I was kind of not responsible IYSWIM!

I REALLY hope the waitors pay isn't docked !

OP posts:

Rebeccaruby · 01/03/2010 19:20

I wouldn't be too bothered about the restaurant losing out, tbh. I would be worried about the fact that the waiting staff might pay up, rather than the restaurant.

However, it would depend on the reason for the bad service. If the waiter was obnoxious or didn't care, fine. If it was just that the food took a long time coming, that isn't the fault of the waiter necessarily. If the order was wrong (i.e steak well done rather than rare) then the waiter might not notice from the outside appearance, so it's bad service but not the waiter's fault. Or if they are economising on waiting staff, and the waiter is running about like a blue-arsed fly, or is a 17 year old newbie with no experiance left to flounder on the minimum wage on his first night, then I might pay up.

From the OP's response, I gather the waiter wasn't obnoxious.

LittleSilver · 01/03/2010 19:24

Like Riven said, it was stealing (not blaming you though OP)

runnybottom · 01/03/2010 19:32

They can't legally dock the servers wages. There was a case on this a while back, totatlly illegal.

Original poster

Undercovamutha · 01/03/2010 19:36

Rebecca - the waiter was polite but a bit clueless and slow. The restaurant was late opening, and was still being cleaned when we arrived! They told us they were short-staffed, and didn't offer us any drinks - we had to wait at the bar for nearly 30 minutes to get served - even though there were hardly any other diners at that stage. They brought some peoples food out first, and then there was a long wait for the rest. We had to wait 50 minutes for the second round of drinks we'd ordered to turn up. They forgot a few orders, and ran out of some dishes but didn't tell us until well after we had ordered. etc etc.

TBH the only reason we didn't make a huge fuss during the meal was because it was a friends big birthday bash and we didn't want to ruin it cos she was the one who wanted to go to this particular restaurant (which was fairly newly opened and v.expensive).

BUT totally agree that this is no excuse, merely some background.

OP posts:

Whoamireally · 01/03/2010 19:38

I am one of those who would pay the bill as given and go, particularly if the service was poor. I never before thought of it from the serving staff point of view - so thank you for that.

However I would say that when we eat out, at least 50% of the time the bill is incorrect and something has been missed off, whether it's a drink, or food, or whatever - so surely it is only right that the serving staff are held responsible if there are discrepancies on the bill? Aren't they the ones that take the order and put it in the till? If I made a mistake in my job that cost my employer money, I'd cop it too?

BlauerEngel · 01/03/2010 19:39

I'd have owned up, but made a point of complaining about the food/service and making it clear that a reduction of some sort would be appropriate.

Stealth, could you give us a clue about the Lakes restaurant? Initial letters or town or summat - we're going there in summer and I don't want to waste my well-earned dosh on crap food and service.

SailAway · 01/03/2010 20:24

I once forgot to pay the bill at a pub. By that I really mean forgetting.
I was with a couple of friends, very busy place. We all went back to the pub the day after to pay the bill. The guy there was extatic. Apparently, no one had ever come back like this but most of all, he said the waiter that served us was going to be given a very hard time and being asked to pay for it on his wages (illegal or not, it doesn't mean it's not happening).
The bill was small but still.

In your case, the guy doing the sevice might not have beeing good. The food might not have been nice (but the waiter had nothing to do with it). But the one person that will have recieved the b* will have been him.

I feel very sorry for that man.

And ashame of your friends.

Flip