Restaurant saying something wasn't paid for after bill signed? (beers, chinese, mild)

[summers73]

Horrible sushi place I went to with my girlfriend and a large group (not mentioning name right now). The restaurant apparently got hold of one of the patrons mentioning that some items weren't paid for. One cup of miso soup wasn't charged to my bill. What are the laws, generally speaking, for restaurants who give you a bill you sign off on then trying to suggest you ordered more than what was on the original bill?

Oh, the restaurant called one of the people from the group at least 24 hours AFTER we left.

[Bilirubin]

What's the problem? Are they trying to get your credit card company to cough up some more cash? Or are they appealing to your sense of judgment to pay for what you ordered? What do they want? Obviously you're not still at the restaurant. So they're arguing over what, a few bucks for soup? Best course of action, never go back and tell everyone who will listen what a horrible place it is. Frankly, if you owe them, you owe them, but to ask for it after the fact is a horrible business plan.

If they want money, I suggest you pay for it in pennies. Make sure they count it out in front of you because you want to make sure they have all of their precious money.

[MI-Roger]

Mistakes happen, and I can easily see their reason for requesting additional payment if the item in question was an expensive entree, but they lost more than the value of the soup by asking for compensation from one of the dining party.

Reminds me of an unpleasant dining experience in Alabama years ago. I was attending a week long computer graphics training seminar with two co-workers in Huntsville. While splitting up the tab for dinner one evening we discovered the waitress had made a math error and padded the bill by $10. This was in the early 1980's when pocket calculators were somewhat rare and many bills were manually computed. We pointed out the error, accepted their apoloiges, paid the correct amount for our meals, and thought nothing more about it.

Three or four nights later at the same restaurant, the same "mistake" happened again! Obviously this restaurant (or wait staff) had discovered a lucrative means of generating additional revenue by boosting the meal tabs for participants of Integraph's training seminars who were probably all on expense account.

Needless to say, we notified our company and Integraph to place this restaurant on the list of local businesses which were not recommended to visiting out-of-towners.

[summers73]

Originally Posted by Bilirubin

What's the problem? Are they trying to get your credit card company to cough up some more cash? Or are they appealing to your sense of judgment to pay for what you ordered? What do they want? Obviously you're not still at the restaurant. So they're arguing over what, a few bucks for soup? Best course of action, never go back and tell everyone who will listen what a horrible place it is. Frankly, if you owe them, you owe them, but to ask for it after the fact is a horrible business plan.

If they want money, I suggest you pay for it in pennies. Make sure they count it out in front of you because you want to make sure they have all of their precious money.

I've been talking with some folks. I forgot that I paid in cash (woohoo!), but we didn't hand the bill to the server (they were practically non-existent). So, it's possible some klepto took it either from the group (unlikely but possible) or someone miscategorized it. Shame because I thought the soup was credited and I overtipped as a result. The entire bill was only $20 without the soup (just 2 for 1 sushi and 2 beers + soup for g/f and I).

Since I paid in cash, I don't think I'll be giving this restaurant one thin dime.

[NcerfromNY]

the time value of money they have spent chasing the cost of the soup is already lost. At this point, they need to cut their losses and move on. So, where is the horrid place so I never accidentally stumble on it?

[PDXmom]

Find out how much you owe. Get that amount in pennies. And slowly count them out in front of the cashier during the lunch rush. Ask for a final receipt absolving you from further debt to said resturant. And then loudly explain that you will never be back to eat there.

I agree what they are asking is ridiculous. So I would be ridiculous in how I accommodated them.

Similar story w/ a different price tag. A Seattle woman purchased a brooch & earrings at Saks in Portland. This woman is a regular high end customer. The brooch & earrings are a matching set. When the sales person pulled the set out of the case there was only one price tag $28K. Customer paid w/ her Saks Card. Saks then realized that the earrings were $28K and the brooch was $48K so the total should have been $76K. They called and explained the mistake via answering machine and asked the customer to either return the brooch or purchase it at a discount. This one got ugly.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/complaint...nue_sue_o.html

[MainLineMommy]

I would just call back and tell them to take it out of the tip. Say that you caught the error and left the additional money in the tip, which is why the tip was so high. Especially since that's pretty much exactly what happened.

[bronwen.wallace]

Sushi 2 for 1, horrible service? I wonder if this is the same restaurant I tried to go to in the Wake Forest area a couple weekends ago. We waited at the front for about 3 minutes before anyone acknowledged us, and then we waited 3 or 4 minutes more while the hostess walked slowly around the restaurant (almost empty) trying to decide on a booth. She wiped it down with a cloth that smelled vaguely of mildew and bleach. We were feeling kind of turned off at that point, so when the server took our order and then returned 15 minutes later to tell us it would take 45 minutes (wow!) to prepare the sushi, we left.

I have a really hard time finding a sushi restaurant I can enjoy, from the service to the food; a poor dining experience leaves a lasting impression. I can hardly believe this one (whichever one it was) would hassle your party - 24 hours after the fact - over the cost of a measly miso soup.

[LondonBoy]

Another problem relating to a Chinese business! If its not the recession making people greedy then its certain people thinking they have the upper hand because something on their side of life is superior!

[Debsi]

This restaurant won't stay open long with these business tactics.

I hate it when servers comp you something and you feel like you have to tip extra for it.. it's essentially the server stealing from the restaurant and getting paid for the stolen goods by you, the tipper. And if you tip the value of the comped good, which many people do, there wasn't even any benefit to you!