My husband and I recently were eating out at a restaurant. We ate a lot of great food and at the end the waitress brought us our check. After looking over the check we noticed that she had left something off. Meaning, we ate/drank something and were not charged for it. Now, I'm just curious about all of you people out there, would you just pay it as-is, or would you bring it to the server's attention that you were undercharged?
2006-12-07 14:44:28 · 19 answers · asked by hwmabire3 3 in Dining Out ➔ Other - Dining Out
Just for the record...my husband and I did tell the waitress, and she said, "Oops, I forgot. Oh well, don't worry about it!" So, we just made sure we gave her a nice tip.
2006-12-07 14:51:26 · update #1
One more thing...she left off my husband's cappuccino...it was $3.50.
2006-12-07 15:07:53 · update #2
It's a matter of honesty and your conscience. I know that i would tell the server (and have done this more than once in the past). Those people work for very low salaries, and depending on the restaurant the person may have to make up the difference out of his/her salary.
2006-12-07 14:49:32 · answer #1 · answered by rivkadacat 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I recently ate at a cuban restaurant and was sitting at the bar enjoying a few martini's. I had a steak dinner, 2 apple sour martini's and flan de coco for dessert. I was talking to the bartender the whole time (by the way... she was cute!), and when I asked for the check, I noticed both of my martini's were not on there. I really don't know if she left them out of the tab to be nice because we had an enjoyable conversation, or maybe `cause she forgot. I had the same dilemma that you had, but I did not ask anything, instead I just left her a larger-than-usual tip. My dinner was only $16 and I left her $15 as a tip. I didn't feel guilty at the end because if she did it on purpose then she made out good with the tip, and if she forgot, then I guess she came out even anyway.
2006-12-08 00:09:09 · answer #2 · answered by Milton T 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Answering this as a server myself, I would tell the server. My reason for this is because sometimes we get busy and don't realize things that we have left off. That saves us in the long run from being talked to by the manager as to why you had something ordered and delivered but somebody wasn't charged for it. I work for Bob Evans right now and our tickets can get confusing. I have in several cases left things off of some body's check. I have had some honest people bring it to my attention and then I have had customers say nothing. Maybe because they didn't realize it but maybe because they did and just decided because i had made a mistake that they would go along with it and they would be a couple dollars "richer." I guess you could do whatever your inner sense tells you but just think about what you would want your customer to do if you were the server...
2006-12-08 01:44:23 · answer #3 · answered by angelkiss210 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eh...i am a server and i accidently leave things off all of the time.
Was it something big?
I work in a restaurant where the kitchen or bar cannot make things unless they ARE put into the computer and on the check. Things like soda, chips/salsa, soup, salad...things like that, i can do without puttin git into the computer, so i accidently leave them off sometimes. I consider this my fault and i dont expect the customer to say anything...it was my carelessness so i miss out on the tip!
Now, if it was a whole steak dinner, then i would say to mention something...or at least pay for it in the tip (that might be better for the server!!) So yes, that is my advice...if it is something big, say something, or better yet, leave it in the tip!!
2006-12-07 22:51:03 · answer #4 · answered by stephasoris 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If the server said, "Don't worry about it", I wouldn't. I worked at a restaurant when I was younger, where the management would routinely add on things they said we served to customers and did not charge for. It was on an island, they owned the place we stayed. Somehow we only made $20 for working 6.5 days a week, 12+ hour days
2006-12-07 22:56:22 · answer #5 · answered by Susan M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whether it's the supermarket receipt or the restaurant receipt, etc., I look at the bottom line. If it's close to the amount I expected to pay I pay it and go on with life. Sometimes they overcharge you a little, sometimes they undercharge you a little.
I've found that things tend to balance out.
2006-12-07 23:24:38 · answer #6 · answered by worldinspector 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've worked in the restuarant business and every time someone forgets something they just go "Oops." I personally have both told them and not. Every time they just said, "Oh that's okay. My fault for forgetting it." They always expect they did something nice and maybe get an extra tip which always happens. Because we then feel guilty that we got a free something... so we add more tip then we probably would have.
2006-12-08 00:24:34 · answer #7 · answered by Steffanie P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely.
2006-12-08 10:17:23 · answer #8 · answered by qtpie831 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would bring it to the waiter's attention. If I would bring the opposite mistake up (paying too much for my meal) then it's morally correct to bring the mistake that favors me to the waiter's attention.
2006-12-08 00:14:55 · answer #9 · answered by Katie W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is pretty much a moot question. I'm not cheap enough to try to itemize my food bill. I look at the total, add a tip, and pay it.
2006-12-07 22:47:07 · answer #10 · answered by Stuart 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋