I was balancing my check book when I noticed that a charge from The Corner Pug was off. I had recorded the charge as $27.54 but was actually charged $29.55. Off by only $2.01, I was uncertain what, if anything I should do. I mean it isn't a huge amount of money, right? But there is the principle of the thing. How much effort did I want to expend for $2.01? I thought about for a few minutes and decided to call my bank. After a seemingly endless eternity, I finally got a live human being that told me that 1) restaurants and bars are notorious for having higher charges (either the staff intentionally gives themselves higher tips figuring no one really looks or they get a pre-approval for the highest amount they think you would add in for the tip and never go back and change the amount), and 2)I needed to call the restaurant and deal with them. I figured I was s.o.l. and would never see my $2.01; nonetheless, I decided to call the restaurant and see what if anything they would do.
To make a long story short, the receipt showed that I left a $4.60 tip, a 20% tip on my $22.94 bill. The waiter, however, gave himself a $6.61 tip, a (basically) 30% tip. WTF? The manager reviewed the receipts, found mine, verified this, and agreed to credit my card back the $2.01. We hung up with me being satisfied that I was getting my money back.
But (isn't there always a but?) it started to annoy me that the manager never apologized for the fact that his employee screwed up or STOLE $2.01 from me. He seem to think it was no big deal. Now maybe it was inadvertent, although the 4 and the 6 are not even close on the number pad of either a computer or a cash register, and maybe the waiter goofed, but you would think that the manager would at least give me an apology, a "sorry for the inconvenience." But nope, nothing. I realize that good customer service is now the punchline for a joke and not a reality, but it still burns my ass that the guy, the manager, the one who I think actually owns the place since he is always there, couldn't even offer me a luke warm, half-assed, apology.
1 comment:
Holy Crap!! I would SO march in there and speak to that manager again - and TELL Him that you consider yourself owed an apology. You're a good customer, I've heard you talk that place up a few times! You can sweetly drop hints that if you DON'T feel that you've been properly apologized to, you can remark to your LARGE NETWORK of friends that perhaps they shouldn't eat there...or some such?
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