WWYD: Errors on the Dining Bill
When you go out for dinner do you review the details when the server brings the check or do you assume it is right? Do you do a quick “ballpark glance” or do you look at each 
item one at a time and do the math?
A few weeks ago I went out for a casual dinner with my parents and partner. Nothing fancy, just a local BYOB italian restaurant that has good food. When the bill came it didn’t seem accurate. So, I took a closer look at it and realized that our server forgot to put one of the entrees on the bill. Not a huge discrepancy – only about $15 considering the type of restaurant, but a significant ommission nonetheless.
For much of the night I was complaining about the server because I thought he was pretty arrogant and didn’t treat us with a great deal of kindness. He seemed very self-absorbed, uninterested in our experience, and hard to understand with his thick accent. There was a part of me that wanted to just pay the bill as-is and not bring the error to his attention. After a bit of bantering at the table, though, kindness and right action prevailed and we let him know about the error. He seemed very appreciative of the fact or at least as much as his personality would allow.
Having suffered my way through balancing cash drawers as a bank teller and gas station clerk growing up, I am always a sucker for bringing errors to people’s attention. I just wouldn’t feel right knowing someone got docked pay because of an error they made that I could’ve helped resolve. That doesn’t mean I haven’t ever let errors go. Sometimes the clerk or server will be so adamant that it is “right” that I just give up, leave, and figure I tried.
This experience got me to thinking about the accuracy of dining checks in general. Obviously there is a big difference between a local pizza shop and a fine dining experience in terms of details and dollars, but the underlying questions remain.
Do you review your dining check in detail?
Would you bring it to the server’s attention if there were an error (especially if that error was in your favor)?
Would the type of dining establishment, amount of the error, or personality of the server influence your actions?
Would your actions change if the restaurant was gay owned and operated?
Share your experiences and opinions in the comments…
I always glance at the bill whether in small or large groups and especially anytime we’ve ordered or been offered a special or were told that something would be comped or surcharged. I’ve never had an experience with a dishonest server, but I’ve been at a table that’s been handed another party’s bill many times.
Since I eat out with groups a lot and we split the bill, I think everyone’s pretty aware of how much they racked up so most people aren’t looking at the total, but how much their items were. That said, it would still probably have to be a large discrepancy for me to notice it and I would call it to our server’s attention regardless of the other factors.
I’ve worked too many cash-register jobs in my time to take advantage of an error even in my favor. I don’t want anyone getting in trouble either.
I’ve had errors on my bills twice so far this year. None of them have been in my favor. Both times the server added extra charges to the bill. When I questioned why they were on there they said it was because of what I ordered. I asked them to show me where on the menu it said extra charges may apply. They couldn’t and they removed the charges.
After those two incidents I always check my bill. I also had a server add an extra $9 tip to my credit card. I guess they weren’t satisfied with a 20% tip.
I don’t tend to pay close attention, but if it seemed off, I would look more closely. And if I noticed an error, I would ask for it to be corrected, whether or not it was in my favor.
I point out errors, even if they’re in my favor. I feel too guilty otherwise.
Once, the server accidentally rang up the credit card slip as $14 instead of $41, and I called him over so he could fix it. Every time we go back to that restaurant, he makes sure we get some kind of little treat, an extra appetizer, something. It’s more than made up for the $28 it would’ve saved that one time.
It’s also a good idea to cross check your credit card statement with the bill with tip. The VAST majority of servers and bartenders are honest hard working men and women, but there are of course a few bad apples out there. It has only happened once to my family, but the server fudged the tip (I can’t remember exactly, but it was something like switching a 3 to an 8). However, this also could have been an honest error in server’s reading the tip amount or punching in the wrong digits. Regardless, it takes 1 minute to glance at the charges – a cursory one will do.
This practice has also helped me minimize my restauranting. Often going to a restaurant is an impulse decision and does not fit well with my frugal nature. Scanning my credit card bill reaffirms my desire to limit this spending.
I always give a quick glance and most of the time things are in line. Recently I was shocked at the total, but reviewing it made me see that something was actually left off!
I do bring it to the server’s attention when I notice and I don’t feel that it was intentional. Anyone notice that they are often intentionally given free things when dining out — recently the daughter ordered from the kids menu but got such a small amount of food that she was still hungry, we got a bowl of soup thrown in. Perhaps we just eat at places where extras are often included, or they’re just used to seeing our (hungry) smiling faces and like the repeat business.
I always check the bill to make sure we got charged for exactly what we ordered, although if it’s a large group I do only look at the parts I ordered. I don’t generally argue about the amount charged per item–if it’s different than my memory, I generally trust my server better than I trust my memory.
I always ask for errors to be fixed, no matter how large, no matter in who’s favor, no matter what kind of establishment, and no matter what kind of ownership.
I never noticed being given something free on purpose by looking at the bill. Sometimes a complaint is addressed by giving us something free, but I know about that ahead of time. And one time I dropped my piece of pizza on the floor at a fast food place and ordered another one–the guy would not let me pay even after I said that I appreciate when people pay for their own mistakes, but they shouldn’t have to pay for mine. So I put that money in the tip jar.
I don’t recall being undercharged by a server I didn’t like. Tempting! Still, I think the right strategy is to tip low but pay for the whole bill.
I always check the bill fairly closely if it’s just the two of us, or a very small group.
I was a waiter many years ago. Based on my experience, my perception (perhaps wrong) is that servers usually don’t get docked for items accidentally left off the bill. As a result, I typically don’t report errors in my favor, unless the error is really large (say 30-40% omission), too big for me to “not notice.” I guess it’s just the way I was raised (passing the blame?).
I check the bill carefully, but not obsessively.
I also check my change. I’ve even driven back thru the drive thru to return a extra $10.
I figure it’s just good karma.