Customer Charged An Extra Fee For Telling A Bartender She Gave Them The Wrong Beer
What happened to the customer is always right?
Sebastian Pociecha | Pexels In a world where service and customer satisfaction are the priorities, one customer’s experience at a bar has left many scratching their heads. Taking to Reddit to share the story, the patron claimed they were charged an unexpected "fee" after informing the bartender that she served them the wrong beer.
In the never-ending war on restaurant fees and tipping, the customer's tale of an additional charge for asking to be served the correct drink resonated with countless readers. Needless to say, their story spread like wildfire, and all the attention had them removing some key details from the original Reddit post that were reported on by the New York Post.
A customer claimed they were charged an extra fee after pointing out they received the wrong drink from the bartender.
It all started with an ordering snafu. According to the New York Post, the since-deleted recounting offered this take: “I ordered a Miller Lite and she [the server] gave me a Bud Light. But since she had already opened the Bud Light while walking towards my table she couldn’t just swap it out.” If you order an iced tea and get a Coke, you don't just drink the soda, right? So, the customer pointed out the mistake and asked for their Miller Lite.
When the customer got the bill, however, the bartender included a $5 fee labeled "[another word for a female dog] fee." The patron added, “She had to eat the Bud Light, giving it to me for free and then got me a Miller on top of it. Honestly, there wasn’t any [expletive] involved so I don’t know what that was about.”
The customer couldn't be bothered to point out the additional charge, but Reddit users were livid.
The customer decided to simply pay and leave instead of making a mountain out of a $5 molehill, writing, “I didn’t even bring it to her attention and just paid and left. I’m sure if I had, she would have been absolutely mortified.”
Reading between all the commenter jokes, and there were many, the general consensus to the customer's tale was that they should not have allowed the server or the restaurant to get away with the extra charge or that behavior. The whole point of eating out is to get what you want. You pay for that service. What would you do if you ordered a burger and said, "Please don't put onions on the burger," and suddenly your burger is served covered in onions? You wouldn't just eat it because if you point out the mistake, that would be considered another word for a female dog-ing.
One commenter simply stated, "I'd circle it and not pay. They can't add a fee for their [mess] ups." Another pointed out what everyone else was thinking, "This isn't even a joke in my book. If I'm supporting your business, you don't treat me like this. I don't care if it's a joke. It would be my last time supporting that restaurant/bar."
Reddit
Ultimately, this is a lesson in customer service.
If restaurants and bars want to retain customers, especially as we sit on the cusp of a recession, maintaining a high standard in terms of customer service is paramount. When you are in the service industry, the customer comes first. Calling them names and then charging them for a mistake made by staff isn't the way.
We only have one side of a very incomplete story here, however. It's entirely possible this customer was acting like a female dog. It's certainly difficult to garner a fair opinion without hearing the server's side. But when it comes to the restaurant industry, complaints and difficult customers are inevitable.
If you want to work as a server or bartender, you have to have a thicker skin than this server clearly had. She's lucky she still has a job.
Erika Ryan is a writer working on her bachelor's degree in Journalism. She is based in Florida and covers relationships, psychology, self-help, and human interest topics.
