Hiraeth

Feel free to read some of my responses and you will clearly see that I never expect special treatment. I just expect to be treated in a polite manner. Thank you.

I have never heard of one, until now, of course! One of the nicest restaurants in my area doesn't even charge a split fee, so I had no idea this existed. And yeah, at some places, I do take home the leftovers. It's a nice way to have dinner that night and maybe lunch the next day.

LOL! Well, she made an ass of herself, so in some way, she deserved that reaction. But, the poor girl at the front probably didn't. Good thing it wasn't directed at her, and I hope it didn't upset her. Hopefully she has a better job, as well.

If they would have been polite, I would have told them to keep the $3 fee and even apologized for the misunderstanding. We approached him politely, and he came out acting as if he was annoyed and frustrated. He even slumped and acted uninterested in us. A part of me wants to post the name of this business just so everyone can see the constant unprofessional behavior, but I don't want to put the owner at risk of extreme backlash. She's already getting it on Facebook and Google. I posted 2 pictures on Google, and made sure to edit her name out of the emails to protect her identity. Thank you for your response. I'm glad a lot of you see my point of view.

Wow, I truly appreciate the time you took to write all of this. I cannot believe you were treated so horribly. I was picturing the whole scenario in my head, and realized my reaction was like: The fact that you didn't even react badly makes this whole thing even more horrendous. You did absolutely nothing to deserve that awful behavior from the staff. It's also questionable as to why the manager assumed you had a complaint. The assistant manager in my situation also assumed I had a complaint; but truly, I just wanted to know why there was a fee. I'm willing to bet that your customer service experience notification played a big part in them going out of business. It may have not been the main reason, but it definitely took a seat in the audience. I was told that the place I'm talking about may have the same luck; because no business should ever have that much pride, and to not even apologize. I'm not asking for a refund. I'm not asking for a free meal. I just want an apology. A few years ago, I ordered a t-shirt from a website. At the time, the website wasn't very well-known. I calmly emailed them asking why I haven't gotten my item yet. They emailed me back the same day with an extremely apologetic response. They even sent me the item free of charge. I never asked for a free item. I was so happy by their friendly response, and I promised them I'd be sure to order from them again; and I have many times. Now, that website is known as CafePress. They have always been so friendly and professional, which is why they have succeeded. I have given the rude owner's restaurant a review on Facebook, Yelp, Zomato, TripAdvisor, and Google. It may not do much, but I know at least a few people will see it, and those people have family and friends. I am not a rude person by nature. Though, I can get to a certain level when provoked. If they could just swallow their pride and apologize to me, I would let it go. But they haven't, and they probably won't. I hope that my review helps someone avoid that kind of treatment in the future. Again, thanks so much for your response.

Thanks so much for your very thorough input! I see that you live in Cali, so I'm certain there are many fine-dining restaurants where you live. (Would love to visit there one day! ) But in Alabama, I don't think there are very many. I'm 25 and just recently got my first real job (I work for the city; before that I just worked retail and in restaurants), so I haven't had the luxury of eating at a bunch of fancy places. The restaurant I gave a bad review to isn't really even that fancy, to be honest. They share a building with other businesses, they only have one restaurant and no corporate office, their workers aren't dressed in a fancy manner (they wear black, but are allowed to wear their own clothes), etc. Plus, I'm certain that if they really were as fancy as they claim, they never would have acted so rudely over the confusion of a customer's $3 split charge. You're right about everything you said.

Hahaha! So glad I made you laugh. You're definitely famous on this site!

I know that now. But I still did not deserve to be treated so rudely.

That's exactly what I did. I kept my composure, while still voicing my concern and confusion. And you're right. I should have posted that I was angry about the treatment. Thanks so much for your very thorough input, LittleBill! You never disappoint! I was like, "Ok, when is LittleBill going to comment?" *taps foots* I love this! So glad it ended well for you! And both parties won!

Those are horrible experiences. But those things have absolutely nothing to do with my post. Once again, your argument is irrelevant. Move along.

Not at all. I've already had a run-in with you. You're a nasty person in general, and so many of your comments have been extremely rude to other people. Your input is invalid. I hope that you find out what makes you so hateful. Have a nice day. oh dear, feel free to block me maybe you can review me on Facebook then spend a whole day whining about me here on BP. Seems like YOU have way to much time on YOUR hands!I have the right to complain about a BUSINESS. You obviously have a lot of pent up anger. There's medicine for that.

The pain is usually only horrible if you lay flat. Make sure you walk as much as you can. When you get sleepy and want to lay down, request Dilaudid. It will take the edge off. Don't worry, hon. It will be ok!

Not at all. I've already had a run-in with you. You're a nasty person in general, and so many of your comments have been extremely rude to other people. Your input is invalid. I hope that you find out what makes you so hateful. Have a nice day.

I constantly have severely low Vitamin D; like in the red zone. I was still able to have my surgery. Did your doctor say anything about a possible reschedule because of your blood work?

Thank you everyone for your input, even the ones to disagreed with me. You all responded in a very decent manner and I truly appreciate that. I do not expect to be treated differently because I had WLS. That would be absurd. I just would like to be treated politely. Had they told me beforehand, or even afterwards, in a polite manner, I never would have gotten frustrated. If I am wrong about something, I am very quick to admit fault. So, I admit, I misunderstood the policy. I can somewhat understand why it's there. But it would have been nice to at least been told this, instead of being rude. Something along the lines of, "I'm sorry there was a misunderstanding, if you'll look here at our menu, it says that there is a split fee charge. I hope this is ok. I'm sorry you had a poor experience, we will keep your comments in mind to serve others better in the future." I mean, how can anyone be mad at a response like that? I would have been so grateful for that response, or even something close to it.

Yes, exactly. But honestly, there really is no need for free stuff. I just want to be treated with decency. The manager has not even apologized. A nice gesture can go a long way.

LMAO! Me too! I was thinking to myself, "Is Ronald Reagan back there splitting burgers?" You are 100% correct. I would have gladly paid the $3 charge, had it been explained to me politely. There was no need for rudeness. Had he said that, and asked me if I would like it removed from the bill, I would have said, "No thank you. I appreciate your polite explanation. I'm sorry for misunderstanding." Thanks for your reply. <3

You're right. But I can assure you, the one I went to last night, was much nicer than the one I went to for lunch.

I went to another nice restaurant last night and I split a steak with my mother. I asked the waitress if there's a split fee, and she said, "What are you talking about?" So apparently, I'm not wrong for not for not knowing what that is, haha.

@@Hiraeth You've contradicted yourself several times just from your original post. First you said it was the split fee, then you said it was them being rude. It is ridiculous and unreasonable to be upset over a policy that's already in place just because you don't like it. It's their policy, they have the right to enforce it. As someone who works with contracts, if it's anywhere on the menu, you have no claim to say it's not fair because you didn't see the disclaimer. The fact that the disclaimer is there is good enough for a court of law. Like I said, them being rude is the bigger issue, but let's just admit you basically started it by demanding they not charge you the fee they state they charge in the first place. I've worked in customer service for 20 years. I always treat my clients and customers with the utmost respect, but that doesn't mean they are always right, and I will politely tell them so. That "Customer is Always Right" rule is a crock and only allows them to take complete advantage of the business owner, and good business owners know how to handle the situation by sticking to their guns, but at the same time doing it in a respectful manner. I have also worked in customer service, and not once did I act rudely because of an unhappy customer. At first, I was upset and confused about the fee. But that's not the reason I left the review. I left the review because of how rudely I was treated. It would have been nice if the manager had politely explained that it's on the menu. But they didn't. They acted uninterested, rude, and annoyed. That is unacceptable in a business. So because I was wrong in my misunderstanding, does that mean I deserve to be treated rudely? No, it does not. It honestly seems that you are defending the manager in this situation. You are telling me how I am wrong, instead of seeing my point of view. You are entitled to your opinion. However, I appreciate your input.

I think this is more the issue. It was stated on the menu, so it belonged. Just sayin'. Don't leave a bad review just because you don't like a policy. But leaving a bad review because you felt they were rude to you is perfectly acceptable. I think it was handled incorrectly on both sides, IMO. I did not leave a bad review because of the charge. I simply discussed the charge because that is what lead up to the rude actions of the assistant manager and general manager. Regardless, customers are supposed to be treated with respect. I was not rude to him when I asked about the charge. He was rude to me. I never would have left a bad review if the manager had been polite. I would have even apologized for misunderstanding. But since I was not treated politely, I left a bad review. A lot of you think that I am upset purely because of the charge. That is not true. I was confused about it at first. Then when the assistant manager acted so rude about it, I became frustrated because I didn't understand why they wouldn't be polite. How hard is it to politely tell someone about a business policy? If you were confused about something, wouldn't you want it sorted out? That's what I tried doing. I wanted to understand why I was being charged when I never asked for the split or extra food. He could have politely explained that to me. But he didn't.

Now I'll say it because you're doing yourself a sad disservice. When an unexpected charge appears on a bill, the usual thing is to ask about it; it doesn't have to be a complaint from the outset. Such matters usually are solved quickly and easily. True, you were given some bad attitude and your being annoyed is reasonable. The other side, though, is how much time you've invested in what in the scheme of life and the universe, is minor. You didn't feel that you were being charged for sharing. You were in fact being charged according to the restaurant's policy. Lots of people miss the notice on the menu because the notice often is small and out of the way. Here's my point: Is this battle worth hours, days and ulcers? Not to me. I'm out. At first, it was not a complaint. It was a question. The assistant manager said, "Y'all have a complaint?" I said, "Well, it's not necessarily a complaint. I just don't understand why there's a split fee charge." He then said it's because they gave us more food. I did not notice more food, because they halved the bun and the burger, and gave us a handful of fries. See what I'm saying? It was like they assumed that I asked for more food and for them to split it for us, when I did not. I didn't even eat the fries. Not once did he explain that it's store policy and listed in the menu. It was not a big deal until he acted so rudely. I did not make this a big deal until after I was treated that way by him, and his manager.

I did leave a review. When I complained to the manager, it was not a rude complaint. It was just a misunderstanding that could have been resolved. I honestly would not have cared about the charge, had they politely explained that there was a notification on the menu. But instead, he was very rude, which prompted my review. Had he been polite, I would have apologized for the misunderstanding, as well. But he was not at all polite. Since I am not familiar with split fee charges, I assumed that they were charging us just for splitting it for us. Since I've been to much nicer restaurants, and have never been charged a split fee, I did not know that some restaurants do this. As you can see, many people on here did not know restaurants charged one either. So why is it so hard to politely tell a customer that there's a notification on the menu? He did not handle the situation like a professional. That is why I left a review. When I emailed the GM about it, she left a rude reply, as well, and even claimed that I was abusing her employees, which is completely untrue. That is why I'm mad now. I would have let it go if she would have replied politely. But she did not.

I would have been ok with that charge if he had politely explained it to me, and told me it was on the menu. He didn't. I found out that it's on the menu through Yelp. Also, I found out they were her friends because, as I was logically making my point, they responded nasty and insulted me. I then figured the manager recruited them to defend her. Sure enough, I was right, because they are on her friends list. The rudest lady even admitted that she's her mother-in-law. I didn't have to look for that info.

Ok then. Next time someone is rude to you when there's a misunderstanding, I'm sure you'll sit by and let them treat you that way.