What do YOU do if you are under-charged in a restaurant?

[Bozza]

We ate out at Masterchef winner Kenny Tutt's Pitch - pitchrestaurant - last night.

As ever, the meal was fantastic, but the real star of the show was Ben, the General Manager, who is just exceptional at his job. Attentive, without being overbearing, charming and funny.

At the end of the meal our bill came and it was slightly less than I was expecting. Taking a closer look, I noticed that the bill was short by one round of drinks (a margarita @ £10 and a glass of red @ £6). Ben had not added these to our bill.

When the waitress came to take payment, I mentioned that the bill was wrong. She was clearly expecting me to state that we'd been overcharged, and was slightly taken aback when I told her they'd undercharged us.

She took the bill away and came back, having added just one of the two drinks onto the bill "to thank you for your honesty".

Mentioning this to someone this morning, they said they would have kept quiet and just paid the bill as presented, essentially saying "if they can't get their bill right, it's not my problem".

So - if you are undercharged in a small independent non-chain restaurant, what would you do?

[PoohBears#1fan]

I'd have done what you did, I couldn't have it on my conscience that I'd knowingly underpaid, even if it wasn't my error / doing.

[°o°-Hannah-°o°]

I have done exactly as you did and pointed out the error and been thanked and received discounts for honesty.
After the last 18 months the hospitality industry deserve a bit more honesty.

On another note, we live in and run a pub and Dh manages another restaurant. While we were there last week, a table complained that 2 of their pizzas were burnt, after they had eaten them all, and I promptly took the cost off their bill. He then continued to complain about the chicken and a glass that had had lipstick on. I left the bill with the pizzas off for him to pay. I just can’t see why, I’d the meal was so bad that they didn’t complain until they’d finished their plates. He’s then gone on trip advisor to leave a bad review which I think I wholly unfair because the initial complaint was dealt with. It’s taken everything I’ve got not to reply stating that they are all their food and still have the pizzas taken off the bill.

[Silvie]

I wouldn't have known, I never check the bill.

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by Silvie

I wouldn't have known, I never check the bill.

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I don't really, but we played the "how much did that meal cost?" game where we each estimated the bill.

I could remember, roughly, the price of most of the things we had and I'm very good at mental arithmetic, so I was surprised to have over-estimated by nearly £20.

For that reason, I was curious to see what I'd got wrong. As it turns out, I hadn't!

[tmwalsh]

I'd like to think I'd fess up. Although I'm getting increasingly irked by the addition of the service charge that seems to have become a habit now. I know that's not the "bill" but it annoys me.

[snowbelle]

In all honesty maybe in the past I wouldn’t have said anything but in the current climate I would definitely say.
Recently my garage forgot to charge me for my MOT they are a family run business , with exceptional service , I rang and paid and he also said thanks you for your honesty . After all they have done for us I wouldn’t have dreamt of not paying .

[Pumpkin Pie]

This has happened to us albeit a long time ago.

On our first trip to the USA we got overcharged and pointed this out the waitress who took it away to be sorted. On our way out I looked at the receipt again and noticed they had refunded too much. We went back and they clearly thought we were going to be trouble when they saw us approach. I can still see the surprise on their faces when we tried to give money back lol.

I am very honest with these things and have to live with myself. I can’t complain if overcharged but keep money if undercharged.

[BevS97]

Originally Posted by Silvie

I wouldn't have known, I never check the bill.

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Likewise I tend not to check unless the amount seems wrong.

[meboo]

Happened to me recently - a meal for 2 and they'd left two cocktails off. Obviously if you don't check the bill you can't do anything about it, but if you are aware, I think it is bad not to point it out. At the end of the day, it is someone else's living