Drinks Charge

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frankmac said:
Thanks for your view Joe. There is nothing mysterious about the caller at all however. He was just buying a drink for us as it was my wife's birthday.
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How did he know it was your wife's birthday and how did he know you were at this particular restaurant? I think he set you up, a silly prank albeit a childless one. I would be giving this guy a wide berth in future and also the restaurant.
 
Marietta said:
How did he know it was your wife's birthday and how did he know you were at this particular restaurant? I think he set you up, a silly prank albeit a childless one. I would be giving this guy a wide berth in future and also the restaurant.
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Lets say we know him well and he knows us well. But for circumstances he would have been with us at the meal. I have told him since what happened. Like I said the €19.00 is not the bugging point
 
As I see it the restaurant accepted a phone request to buy a few guests a round of drink. If they proceeded without getting card clearance first then tough luck..and even more so for such a measly amount.
 
I am with complainer on this one. Also agree with Twowheels logic on this.
The restaurant should have ensured that the credit card cleared and also taken a number from the caller. If they omitted to take the callers number they should not have been so underhanded about getting payment. Perhaps if they explained clearly you would not have had an issue with payment.
I would not frequent the restaurant again and I would most certainly tell the friend involved.
 
You ordered the drinks on the premise they were paid for.The issue for the staff would be to make sure the card payment was secure before informing you of your friends offer.With respect twowheels if my card was declined by a florist and on delivery my wife was asked to pay for a bunch of oriental lillies,god help the person delivering them.
 

+1
 
Thank you all so much for your input.

Must admit that at the outset of the thread I thought going to get slated, but its seems that the vast majority of opinion has come down on my side.

Thanks again

Frank
 
Your welcome Frank,you can hold your head high,more than I can say for that money grabbing food hall.You were right ,they were wrong .
 
In my limited legal knowledge you did not enter into any contract to buy the drinks as you did not ask for them and were not liable to pay.
 
It amazes me how people get into talking about liability and contracts and obligations... it was a round of drinks.

Frankmac - answer me this - if staff had served you the drinks and then come over to you to quietly say "we're very sorry, but we've had a problem processing the credit card given to us over the phone and we didn't take the contact details of your friend... would it be OK to put the drinks on your bill or shall we call the gentleman back?" what would your response have been?

The issue here is not the value of the drinks but the way in which the situation was handled. Perhaps the restaurant staff can be excused for being busy or maybe different staff dealt with each transaction and confusion reigned.

My point however is this...

How many conversations about obligations and contracts and liabilities etc etc etc would have been avoided by having that 'quiet word' at the very beginning of the situation...?
 
Yes, because you shouldn't have been charged. The flowers example is the best one. Anyone selling anything over the phone should ensure payment has been received before delivering anything.

Some people say it may have been a setup, by the customer... but how do we know that the credit card was declined? Perhaps it wasn't and the drinks were paid for twice.

Perhaps the card was declined before the drinks were poured, and the restaurant poured them anyway, intending to charge the customer (the OP)..

Perhaps it was a setup by the restaurant, and there was no caller or credit card... just someones name...
 
Is there any harm in now writing to the restaurant and exaplaining that in hindsight that you felt they were wrong in what they did, why you thought they were wrong, and that you felt highly embarressed by the situation and how they dealt with it?
I think you should make your feelings known and tell them that you will not be taking their business there again.
 

I agree the issue here is not the value of the drinks but the way in which the situation was handled, I don't agree with the rest.

The restaurant messed up, they did not ensure they got payment from the person they accepted the order from, it’s their problem.

There should be no need to have a “quiet word” with anyone. The restaurant should simply have taken the hit for the drinks and not put the customer in the situation of having to query and then dispute the bill as a result of their shortcomings.

As an aside, the cost price of the drinks was probably less than half the disputed €19 bill, I would think the restaurant have generated a lot more than this in bad will as a result of this dispute. Very short sighted in these recessionary times.

Bad news always travels fast and wide.
 
You are right twofor1... There should be no need to have a quiet word... in an ideal world.

Unfortunately, sometimes things go awry, mistakes get made and situations require resolution.

The point I am making is simply that people should rely on communication more often... and that goes for both businesses and consumers.

Discourse is a powerful tool!!!
 
This situation did not require resolution. It was the fault of the restaurant. Their problem.
 
Either one of his staff (or maybe himself/herself) made a mistake in taking down the CC info, or the generous (magnanimous??) person called the info out incorrectly. But I'd have paid and left when they refused to pay.

I would feel for a restauranteur in this situation - a lot of them are struggling to survive at the moment. It would be a very bitter pill to swallow for him/her to have to absorb the costs of a round of drinks in such circumstances.

I understand what has been posted re the actual rights & wrongs, and the technicalities of it all, but I think you have to be fair too. You had the drinks, the bar bill needed to be settled, and it's not fair that the restaurant loses out.

I had a sort of similar experience a few years ago, though it is of no help here. I was a near penniless student, but wanted to treat my girlfriend to a romantic meal. I pushed the boat out. I was pretty excited about it, and had mentioned it to my Dad. So I spent all my disposable income for the next couple of months on a lovely meal on Valentines day. All good. I was talking to my Dad the next day and he tells me that he had rung the restaurant to give hi CC to pay for the meal, but they hadn't been able to identify which couple we were. Not sure why. But my Dad didn't go on to ask what it had cost, and give me the money. I was gutted!!!
 
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