It always feels like a bit of middle-aged dad move to carefully examine the bill at the end of a meal, but many of us have learnt the hard way that, if you don’t do it, you could end up getting seriously stung.
Yep, it often pays off to double check how much you’ve been charged, as one diner recently found as they enjoyed a group dinner celebrating a friend’s birthday – an occasion that’s ripe for a bit of gentle humiliation if you’re out in public.
After all, everyone knows that it's only fair to make sure absolutely everyone in the restaurant knows it’s your pal’s special day. Sure, they might seem like they’re literally melting into their chair with embarrassment, but deep down they know it’s all out of love... right?
The Reddit user explained that they’d let their server know it was one of the group’s birthday, hoping that it would provide some good, old-fashioned birthday blushing.
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The unnamed restaurant responded by sending over a slice of cake, which they later charged the table for, much to the group’s surprise.
“I told the waitress it was my friend’s birthday to embarrass him,” the user wrote.
“Then they charged us for cake I didn’t ask for.”
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Their post was accompanied by a photo of the bill, which showed a $20 charge for the birthday cake.
In a later comment, following some confusion from others about whether it had just been a prank – or even white a lie to get free cake - they added: “Okay since I guess I didn’t make it clear enough. It was my friends birthday; I told the waitress asking them to sing for him.
“I’ve never had them bring cake without me asking for it while expecting me to pay for it. If I asked for the slice I would obviously have no problem paying for it.”
Many people were left raging on their behalf, with one writing: “Don’t pay them. You didn’t order it.”
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Someone else agreed: “That's bulls**t. The well established social contract is when you mention it's your birthday at a restaurant, they usually sing you a song and sometimes give you a free piece of cake or some dessert.
“You can't just flip it on people and start charging for something that's usually free. If you want to charge, fine then tell the customer it's $20 and let them decide. This is just another example of restaurants trying to squeeze more out of their customers or a waitress that is bad at her job.”
But a third said it was likely a simple mistake, saying: “You should’ve said something. I obviously can’t say for sure. But at my restaurant I have to order the item then have my manager comp it for birthday celebration. The waitress probably forgot to have it comped before bringing the check tbh.”
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Many others shared their own horror stories, with one recalling a ‘similar issue’ on their birthday a few years back, when staff came out with a cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday’... to the wrong table.
“About 40 minutes later, the waitress came up to our table and said, ‘So… that cake was supposed to be for you, but we accidentally brought it to that table over there, and they didn’t even correct us - they just started eating it,’” they wrote.
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“The manager then came to our table and apologized profusely, saying the next round of drinks was on them [...] Lo and behold, they charged us for the drinks, and when we asked about it, he said, ‘No, it was just a drink for you, the birthday boy.'”
Another added: “We took our daughter out on her 21st birthday for dinner and she ordered a chocolate martini. When waiter asked for her ID, he said ‘OMG today is your birthday. You need a shot. I will be right back.’ Fast forward to the bill... $15 shot was listed.”
Awkward.
Topics: Reddit, Food and Drink
Jess Hardiman