Sunday, June 5, 2011

Why You Should Always Look Over Your Bill

Sometimes we have to get creative at work. Whether it means pouring your mimosa into a rocks glass so it looks like orange juice or writing the specials on your hand, it ain't always easy. Working in a small neighborhood restaurant where the owner is your boss takes a lot of creativity too. If I fuck up an order and he has to void it, he sees dollars being pulled directly from his pocket. When I worked for a big corporation, managers wanted to keep cost down, but in the end it wasn't their money so there wasn't much real concern. With an owner it's different.

Whenever I need a void, my boss always makes me feel like I just robbed him of three dollars. Last night, a woman ordered a bottle of Pelligrino. I rang it in, the bartender pulled one from the fridge and opened it and I carried it to table 5. "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant the Pelligrino Limonata, not regular Pelligrino. I don't think I said that. I'm sorry." Okay, she didn't say Pelligrino Limonata, she just said Pelligrino. So now there was an open bottle of five dollar Pelligrino that was going to go to waste unless someone else ordered one in the next half hour and since I only get asked for one about every two weeks, it was highly unlikely. I had to ask my manager to void it off the check.

"What happened?" he wanted to know. I told him how it all went down and his response was this: "Oh, that's a big void. I'll void it off, but I'll mark it as a server error and it will go down on your permanent record." He laughed to show that he was just kidding, but I know he was only kind of kidding. I watched him void it and when the computer asked for the reason, sure enough, he punched in "server error." I guess there wasn't a button for "The lady asked for one thing when she wanted another and she realized her mistake too late so we'll just blame it on the waiter like he's an idiot." Whatever. I moved on. Not my fault.

Later that night, table 7 asked for an Irish Coffee and a Tawny Port. Rang it in, picked it up, served it. They paid their check soon after and left me a good tip. About ten minutes later, table 6 also ordered a Tawny Port. Rang it in, picked it up, served it. They then ordered dessert so I pulled up the screen and noticed there were two Tawny Ports on their bill now. I assumed another server had taken out a second one when I wasn't looking but then I noticed there was also an Irish Coffee. I had rang table 7's drinks onto table 6's bill and now table 7 had paid and gone. I was now stuck with a a Tawny Port and an Irish Coffee. Fuck. My boss would totally flip out on this. This was most definitely a server error, no question. I had to figure out how to fix this. I could separate the check but then who would pay for it? Table 6 called me over when their dessert arrived and the guy ordered a second Tawny Port. It was a miracle. All I had to do now was ask the bartender to just pour one without me ringing it in and that is what he did, no questions asked. But there was still an extra Irish Coffee to contend with. I considered just separating it from the check and paying for it myself, because it would be easier than asking my boss to void it off and getting his attitude about it. And then I decided to just leave it on the check. The guy who told me he was paying had already enjoyed a glass of wine, a gin martini and two glasses of port. It was a table of four with apps, entrees and desserts. Maybe he wouldn't even notice an extra Irish Coffee on his bill. And if he did, I'd just take it off and pay for it myself.

I gave him the check, making sure to move the candle away from him beforehand so it was too dark to see the bill clearly. I scooted off and watched from afar. He put on his glasses and started to look over the bill. Surely, he was going to notice it any second. Someone at his table started telling a story and he took his glasses off to listen and pulled out his credit card. I quickly went over to the table and asked him if he'd like me to "go ahead and take care of that." He said yes. He had just solved my problem for me. I swiped the card and then I took his itemized receipt and wrapped it around his credit card along with his copy of the credit slip. When I got to the table, I handed him a pen and told him which copy to sign. I then placed the itemized receipt with the errant Irish Coffee on his other side and told him "these are your copies." He signed the card, gave me a 20% tip and said goodnight.

Was it wrong of me to do that? Yes. Was it unethical? Yes. Did table 7 get two free drinks paid for by a man they didn't know who sat next to them? Yes. Was it worth it being able to avoid the scorn that would have come from the owner for yet another server error? Yes. Do I feel bad for doing it? Yes. Should you always look over your check before paying it? Oh, hell yes.

Please read the follow-up to this post here.



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