Free Piece of Pie

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I had an interesting experience in a restaurant today. I ordered lunch with a piece of pie for dessert. Two women were waiting on me, and it was noisy and hard to hear. My lunch was served with no pie, and they printed the bill and laid it on the table. I told them I thought I had ordered pie. They brought the pie, but no one made any effort to add the $3.95 pie to the bill. When they refilled my coffee, I pointed to the bill and said they needed to put the pie on it. I think I was told, “The network is down.” After I finished my pie, no one came back, so I laid a $20.00 bill on top of the bill to expedite things. One of the women grabbed the $20.00 and the incorrect bill and immediately came back with change for the lunch without the pie. I got up to leave, and I bought a loaf of bread on the way out. I mentioned that I hadn’t paid for my pie. The woman said, “Actually, I don’t work here. I’m just helping out, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed unable to add sales tax to the bread, so I just gave her a couple of $1.00 bills and walked out the door.

What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
 
I think you did it, already. You made every reasonable effort to pay for your full order. Since the pie was missing from the original fulfillment of your order, it is quite possible they intended to comp it, anyway. Probably the best way to return it is to go back for other meals (when, presumably, you would be paying full price).
 
Listener said:
I had an interesting experience in a restaurant today. I ordered lunch with a piece of pie for dessert. Two women were waiting on me, and it was noisy and hard to hear. My lunch was served with no pie, and they printed the bill and laid it on the table. I told them I thought I had ordered pie. They brought the pie, but no one made any effort to add the $3.95 pie to the bill. When they refilled my coffee, I pointed to the bill and said they needed to put the pie on it. I think I was told, “The network is down.” After I finished my pie, no one came back, so I laid a $20.00 bill on top of the bill to expedite things. One of the women grabbed the $20.00 and the incorrect bill and immediately came back with change for the lunch without the pie. I got up to leave, and I bought a loaf of bread on the way out. I mentioned that I hadn’t paid for my pie. The woman said, “Actually, I don’t work here. I’m just helping out, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed unable to add sales tax to the bread, so I just gave her a couple of $1.00 bills and walked out the door.

What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
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You did your best. What more can you do if, apparently, they don’t want your money for the pie? A restaurant that handles money like that may soon go out of business; OTOH, if word gets around, they may get more customers. I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
Listener said:
I had an interesting experience in a restaurant today. I ordered lunch with a piece of pie for dessert. Two women were waiting on me, and it was noisy and hard to hear. My lunch was served with no pie, and they printed the bill and laid it on the table. I told them I thought I had ordered pie. They brought the pie, but no one made any effort to add the $3.95 pie to the bill. When they refilled my coffee, I pointed to the bill and said they needed to put the pie on it. I think I was told, “The network is down.” After I finished my pie, no one came back, so I laid a $20.00 bill on top of the bill to expedite things. One of the women grabbed the $20.00 and the incorrect bill and immediately came back with change for the lunch without the pie. I got up to leave, and I bought a loaf of bread on the way out. I mentioned that I hadn’t paid for my pie. The woman said, “Actually, I don’t work here. I’m just helping out, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed unable to add sales tax to the bread, so I just gave her a couple of $1.00 bills and walked out the door.

What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
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You did everything you could, you are not obligated to do any more, but if you feel guilty, you could put the amount in the collection plate on Sunday. (That’s expensive pie!)
 
Listener said:
I had an interesting experience in a restaurant today. I ordered lunch with a piece of pie for dessert. Two women were waiting on me, and it was noisy and hard to hear. My lunch was served with no pie, and they printed the bill and laid it on the table. I told them I thought I had ordered pie. They brought the pie, but no one made any effort to add the $3.95 pie to the bill. When they refilled my coffee, I pointed to the bill and said they needed to put the pie on it. I think I was told, “The network is down.” After I finished my pie, no one came back, so I laid a $20.00 bill on top of the bill to expedite things. One of the women grabbed the $20.00 and the incorrect bill and immediately came back with change for the lunch without the pie. I got up to leave, and I bought a loaf of bread on the way out. I mentioned that I hadn’t paid for my pie. The woman said, “Actually, I don’t work here. I’m just helping out, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed unable to add sales tax to the bread, so I just gave her a couple of $1.00 bills and walked out the door.

What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
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As others have said, you did your best. A place where the management allows people to wander in off the street and start serving without any training won’t be in business for very long no matter what you do.
 
Listener said:
What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
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You made several attempts to pay for the pie and just couldn’t get charged for it. 🤷

Not your fault.

I guess you could have dropped a $5 on the counter and said that’s for the pie as you walked out, but hey, you asked several times and pointed out several times the bill was incorrect and nobody fixed it.

If it’s really bugging you, go back, order lunch and a pie, pay full price and pay for the pie you had today.

But I honestly can’t see that you’ve done anything wrong, considering how many times you tried to pay.

Or buy a homeless guy a nice piece of pie 😃

Sarah x 🙂
 
Listener said:
I had an interesting experience in a restaurant today. I ordered lunch with a piece of pie for dessert. Two women were waiting on me, and it was noisy and hard to hear. My lunch was served with no pie, and they printed the bill and laid it on the table. I told them I thought I had ordered pie. They brought the pie, but no one made any effort to add the $3.95 pie to the bill. When they refilled my coffee, I pointed to the bill and said they needed to put the pie on it. I think I was told, “The network is down.” After I finished my pie, no one came back, so I laid a $20.00 bill on top of the bill to expedite things. One of the women grabbed the $20.00 and the incorrect bill and immediately came back with change for the lunch without the pie. I got up to leave, and I bought a loaf of bread on the way out. I mentioned that I hadn’t paid for my pie. The woman said, “Actually, I don’t work here. I’m just helping out, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed unable to add sales tax to the bread, so I just gave her a couple of $1.00 bills and walked out the door.

What on earth is the honest thing to do in a situation like this?
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Did anyone consider this was just customer relations (albeit in an odd way) to make up for missing pie the first time around? How many of you have dined somewhere only to have your dinner be prepared wrong or something else and you find that you were given a free dessert or a discounted price to make up for the inconvenience? Some places even pass out a “manager’s business card” giving you a free item on your next visit when they mess up.
Next, I don’t see them just grabbing someone off the street, as someone else suggested, to work there. It was likely a relative of the owner who came in because they were short-handed. Sure, it was weird, but I wouldn’t give it a second thought regarding not paying for the pie.
 
Newbie2 said:
Patronize them often. Leave large tips.
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Not quite related, but when a newbie (:D) waitress spilled cream on me, she felt so badly she wanted to walk off the job. Management offered free dry cleaning - wasn’t necessary - and I begged to him that she not lose her job. She was just nervous. So I spoke to her, gave her some advice, including B R E A T H E!!! and a big fat tip. Next week, she was there, smiling and confidently working like she owned the joint.
 
cheezey said:
Not quite related, but when a newbie (:D) waitress spilled cream on me, she felt so badly she wanted to walk off the job. Management offered free dry cleaning - wasn’t necessary - and I begged to him that she not lose her job. She was just nervous. So I spoke to her, gave her some advice, including B R E A T H E!!! and a big fat tip. Next week, she was there, smiling and confidently working like she owned the joint.
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Nice! 🙂

On a similar topic, what’s up with waiters/waitresses not taking physical orders any more? Do they get some kind of Brownie Points if they don’t note each order? Last night we went to a national burger chain and the waitress repeated our order back to us, got it wrong, corrected herself, got it right, then when the order came, something was left off! Hubby and I were like :rolleyes:. But it’s serious for our family because we have 2 sons who order gluten-free buns and if there is a mistake, they could have some serious health consequences, so next time, I think I must insist that the order be written down.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Nice! 🙂

so next time, I think I must insist that the order be written down.
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or find a new burger place. I am all for giving restaurants one or more chances, I really am. But allergies are a serious matter. Of one of my fave national chains:

that special salad, please NO WALNUTS!!! it was written down. Got the salad, got walnuts. Apologies all around and a new order. Several little walnuts as if they were either picked out, or the salad was done again with an oopsy. One more time, it was clean. Maybe because I calmly asked between attempt 2 and 3 if they are trained in CPR and anaphylaxis shock. Somehow the order arrived accurately and on the house. Allergies of this gravity are not to be messed with. You might notice signs in restaurants that say something to the effect of “Please advise your server of any allergies prior to placing your order.” I think this is a recent trend for liability issues. Maybe…
And I don’t eat at this place anymore…
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Nice! 🙂

On a similar topic, what’s up with waiters/waitresses not taking physical orders any more? Do they get some kind of Brownie Points if they don’t note each order? Last night we went to a national burger chain and the waitress repeated our order back to us, got it wrong, corrected herself, got it right, then when the order came, something was left off! Hubby and I were like :rolleyes:. But it’s serious for our family because we have 2 sons who order gluten-free buns and if there is a mistake, they could have some serious health consequences, so next time, I think I must insist that the order be written down.
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They are attempting to go paperless. Some places are beginning to do this by loaning iPads with preloaded menus to the customers.
 
SonCatcher said:
They are attempting to go paperless. Some places are beginning to do this by loaning iPads with preloaded menus to the customers.
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There is a less expensive way - delis give out little plastic menus with grease pens and you just circle what you want. Then when the order is complete they wipe it off with a towel and the next customer can use it.
 
cheezey said:
Not quite related, but when a newbie (:D) waitress spilled cream on me, she felt so badly she wanted to walk off the job. Management offered free dry cleaning - wasn’t necessary - and I begged to him that she not lose her job. She was just nervous. So I spoke to her, gave her some advice, including B R E A T H E!!! and a big fat tip. Next week, she was there, smiling and confidently working like she owned the joint.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of a scene in The Terminator (1st one) 😃
 
cheezey said:
or find a new burger place. I am all for giving restaurants one or more chances, I really am. But allergies are a serious matter. Of one of my fave national chains:

that special salad, please NO WALNUTS!!! it was written down. Got the salad, got walnuts. Apologies all around and a new order. Several little walnuts as if they were either picked out, or the salad was done again with an oopsy. One more time, it was clean. Maybe because I calmly asked between attempt 2 and 3 if they are trained in CPR and anaphylaxis shock. Somehow the order arrived accurately and on the house. Allergies of this gravity are not to be messed with. You might notice signs in restaurants that say something to the effect of “Please advise your server of any allergies prior to placing your order.” I think this is a recent trend for liability issues. Maybe…
And I don’t eat at this place anymore…
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Well, this chain is the only one that provides gluten-free buns for their burgers (and they are national), so we’ve been giving them all of our business of late, and we’re very happy that they understand what people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance need in order to eat out safely (fries in separate fryers, meat with no fillers, and CARE used in preparation). I am going to nicely ask the server to write down the order, because it’s very important to get it right (smile). I know that if one treats the servers like servANTS, one is likely to have some unknown substance put into one’s food at some point, or some other backlash. We can’t mention CPR because the effects of a mistake take hours to show up, but could land the person in the ER if severe enough.

Anyway, I am going to send an email to the headquarters thanking them for their pioneering use of GF buns.

👍
 
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