I happened to meet a friend of mine yesterday and decided to check into an hotel nearby for a bite.We sat down in the Air conditioned (AC) segment of the hotel as the non AC segment was completely occupied.
We ordered for a cheese san-veg,a grape juice and a milk shake.As we finished our food the electronically printed bill was passed on.To my surprise the bill reflected nothing of those things we ordered but for the number of items ordered.The bill showed one musambi juice,a fruit salad with ice cream and a pomegranate juice and it was for two hundred and five rupees(Rs.205).I for a second thought that the price might be the same and due to some technical difficulties they might have done so.So i decided to check the menu for the price and found there to be a difference.Then i pointed out the same to the person who presented the bill considering that the bill was presented at the wrong table.But to my astonishment he manually corrected the bill and now it came to one hundred and eighty five rupees (Rs.185)
I sensed that something fishy was happening and i demanded a printed bill for the things i ate or otherwise i denied to pay anything which was then duly presented.Then not figuring out what exactly was happening i complained the incident to the hotel manager and left the scene.
In hindsight i understood that
1)The bill for Rs.205 first given to me was left behind by an earlier customer who would have made the payment and failed to take the bill with him.
2)The waiters in the AC section were saving that left behind bills and presenting the same to the new customers.People who are ignorant of the particulars of the bill will be concerned only about the total and will pay it without any second-thoughts which went straight to the pocket of the waiters and not the hotel cashier.
So friends when you check into a hotel next time and pay for the bill take care to stick to these points
1)Check for the time and date in the bill if it is electronically generated.
2)Check for the list of items ordered and count and make sure you are paying for what you are eating.
3)Check the menu to find any discrepancies in the rate provided in the bill.
4)Take the bill with you when you leave the table so that you don't end up playing a part in making another person fool inadvertently.
This is the second instance that its happening with me and seems pretty prevalent in the city lately.
Don't be ignorant, for being educated is far more important than to be a literate.I like to thank Suresh my senior colleague here for i took the habit of checking the bill from him.
And for people like me who don't really care to pay the bill, being an educated or a literate doesn't really matter ;)
I thought restaurents were free from crooks except in diminishing sizes and increasing prices.You did the right thing in drawing the attention to the prevalence of this menace even there..Most consider infra dig to check the bill and give the credit card instantly.
ReplyDeleteThe punchline was however at the end.I liked it
Hi Aavin,
ReplyDeleteGood message da...I have been following this since I was working with other firm past 5years....Good initiative to pass message to other guys.Well done!!!
Very interesting blog which unravels the modus operandi of "crooks-in-waiting"..
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, I feel the hotel / resturant owners are too smart to let such things happen.. Usually, the internal controls of such places are such that it prevents insiders from manipulaions like this..
In any case, it is better to be fore-warned and careful and thanks to you for highlighting this..
cheers
That was a nice suggestion!
ReplyDeleteYou were successful in conveying your secret message that you are never interested in paying the bill...probably that's why these instructions are important for the one who accompanies you ;)
Good that you checked it ! I too have the habit of cross checking my orders with the bill , because sometimes the waiter forgets to add on an item , which i have eaten but elopes in bill ! So better to check in and be content of being honest :)
ReplyDelete