The Background

So you go to a particular bar once or twice a week since August of 2004. It is now April of 2005. The servers mostly recognize you by name. I have cell phone numbers of a few of them who I hang out with, not to mention the email addresses of a few more. The bartender (and apparently ranking manager on this particular night) knows me by name. He's a really cool guy named Corey. This bar is nice because they have $1 domestic bottles of beer during happy hour.

The Story

I head to the bar after work with coworkers. I have to make a stop, so I don't get there until 5:45 PM. Nici is our waitress. I proceed with the usual Wednesday night's activity of drinking like a fish. By 8:45 PM, I have consumed 8 Miller Lite's, 7 of which are on my tab and 1 that my boss purchased for me.

Knowing that happy hour ends at 9:00 PM, my friend and I both order another Miller Lite on our respective tabs at 8:45 PM. The waitress Nici wanders off to fulfill our request. Until this point, she has been doing an excellent job despite the fact that she is the sole waitress in the place on a Wednesday night (Wednesday's typically see pretty decent traffic at Marshall's).

Nici disappears. Five minutes pass. Ten minutes pass. Twenty minutes and she finally returns, but has no beer in hand. I point out that I think she forgot about us. She says, "Oh, did you want another beer." I say, "We both ordered one at 15 until 9. Did you get them in at happy hour prices?" She says, "No..." and then I respond, "Well, you'll have to fix that."

At this point, she walks off and returns with our beer. We ask to close out our tabs. She goes away again and returns later with our tabs and studies them for a minute and then lays them on the table. I pick mine up and it is obviously wrong. There are 7 beers listed on the tab for $1.00. Those are fine. But there are also 2 beers listed on the tab at $2.50.

When Nici returns to collect the checks, I point out that there is a problem with my bill. I show her the 2 beers that are not at happy hour prices, remind her that I ordered my last beer, not two beers, 15 minutes before happy hour was over, and ask her to fix it. She says, "Let me talk to Corey."

She returns and says that Corey took off 1 of the 2 beers that were listed at $2.50, but said I would have to pay for the other. I told her that I did not see how this was fair as my order was placed during happy hour. I asked her to see if Corey could fix this and to please point out that I am not trying to rip them off. I come there all the time, so why would I try to basically steal $1.50? Nici seems reluctant, so I offer to go up to the bar with her.

Corey won't come over to the side of the bar to talk to me, but she goes behind the bar and has an exchange of words with him that I am not close enough to hear. She walks over to me and says that he won't budge and that he said to do "whatever you want." I am incredulous at this point as I am a regular customer, always in good standing, and pretty much everyone there knows me. In my agitated and, yes, drunk state, I declare, " this. I'm not paying for any of it. Call the cops. What-ever..." I then place my half empty beer on the bar and walk back to my table and have a seat.

Nici returns and says that Corey is going to call the cops because he thinks I ran out the door. I ask her when the next time Matt, the owner, will be working. She gives me his basic schedule and I tell her that I am going to return to speak with Matt. I then offer to pay for everything except the 1 remaining beer that is priced at $2.50. Apparently, this is not good enough as 10 to 15 minutes later, a police officer (Grandview, I think) taps me on the shoulder and asks me if there is a problem.

I tell him that yes there is and explain that the bar is trying to charge me normal price for a beer that I ordered during happy hour. He looks at the receipt I am holding and the first thing he says is, "You drank all these beers?" I tell him, "Yes, I drank those 8 beers, plus 1 more that my boss ordered for me that was on her bill." He then says, "So you called us out here for $1.50?" I told him, "No, sir, I did not call you." At this point, he goes off to speak with the bartender.

He comes back a few minutes later and asks me to step aside to speak with him. He tells me that this is a dispute that "We can't settle tonight." He also points out that it is only $1.50 and that I probably don't want to let this snowball into something bigger if I really consumed everything that is on my receipt. He says, "The best advice I can give you is to just pay for it and come in here later and speak with the owner." I tell him that this is good advice and let him know I will be paying for it all. I apologize for wasting his time and he responds that it is okay.

It takes another 20 minutes for someone to return to collect my bill and credit card. After that, I sit and wait another 10 minutes for my ride to arrive. When Melissa gets there, I get the out of that bar.

I will be going back tomorrow at lunch to speak with the owner and let him know about the bad experience I had at his establishment. I hope he is reasonable about it and at least understanding and apologetic for my troubles.

The Conclusion

I don't think it matters how Matt reacts at this point. Either way, I am done with that place. It is just too bad for them that they decided to screw over a regular customer because of a slow waitress and a whopping $1.50. I guess they will lose the $30+ bucks that I spend in there every week. And that's not to mention the money spent by my friends and coworkers who will very likely now be avoiding the place and not just because of me... They have recently become suspicious that the wait staff was adding extra drinks onto their tabs and have been watching closely for signs of impropriety. Guess what? They found one

 

Go get em!

 

This is a prime example of someone who is tripping over dollars to make a penny. The bar is going to lose alot more then the $1.50 it would of taken to make a customer happy

 

 

Joe if money is tight,dude I'll lend you some

 

Sounds like a typical example of sucessful bar's ego gone straight stupid!

Happy Hour Beers - $1.00
Bar Tab - $7.50 (cheap)
Money ripped off - $1.50
Impressing a cop by the amount of beer consumed - $$$Priceless

 

No more IAA for you... you need AA.

 

Calling the cops on a good-standing, regular customer/friend is absurd!

I would not go back either. Talk to the owner, though. The owner may not be aware his employees are handling customers this way. Based on that behavior, those employees don't know the first thing about running a bar.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

I agree with SMC...I wouldn't go back...it's not the $, just the principle...why lose a steady customer over pennies

 

Do you need to borrow a $1.50?

Where is this bar (Marshall's?)?