Beware Of Crooks In Restaurants

A Sort Of Rant

Below is the complaint letter my wife made and sent to the management of the restaurant we dined-in last night.

We opted to maintain the anonymity of the establishment so as not to damage their reputation. But our hopes, is to encourage others to never pay without checking the bill.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to relay to your management our first visit to your branch in Bur Dubai, which is probably also the last.

Tonight, 1st June at around 8pm, I, together with my husband and two kids (pre-schooler & a baby) went out to dine at XxxxXxxx.  We made it a point to try out XxxxXxxx, after hearing some positive feedback about your food from colleagues and friends.  Indeed, your food was good! We were satisfied.  My husband was glad that we were not disappointed with the food after being stuck in traffic just to get there.  We appreciate the taste, the presentation and the promptness.  My husband started thinking of writing XxxxXxxx a good review to feature on his blog sites. However, all of the positive things we have for XxxxXxxx was short-lived when it was outweighed by how we were treated by the staff at the end of our meal.

When it was time to pay, my husband asked for the bill.  After a short while, the guy who took our order came and announced that our bill amounts to 193 dirhams.  We were taken aback by the informality, as to why he announced our amount due in front of other customers to hear without giving us any bill.  My husband said “okay” and smiled. We let it go thinking the guy just lack training and doesn’t know the proper way to respond to a customer who is asking for the “bill”.  We also did not mind his facial expression when we ordered for additional two dishes for take away – as if he was irritated.  Moments passed, still no bill came; so I asked for the bill again.  The guy who announced the amount earlier (the same guy who took the order), gestured to the cashier.  I walked over to the cashier, a bit anxious this time why these three guys cannot simply just give us the bill. When I asked for the bill for the third time from the cashier himself (chubby guy), he just told me “193 total maam”.  Still no bill was shown.  I replied, “I have not seen the bill yet, I have been asking for the bill”.  The three of them looked at each other and that’s when I sensed something smells fishy – it was apparent in their actions and looks that they intended to get extra bucks out of our total bill.  That’s why they never gave us our bill and announced it instead (twice), is because they wanted to cheat and not because they lack training! But since I refused to pay without seeing the bill, the cashier then pretended to do something as I waited patiently for my bill in front of him.  The other two guys next to him looked worried and fidgety, looking at the cashier and then to me. Left with no choice, he gave me our bill, which was of course already there in front of him. He said “sorry maam, it’s not 193 but only 157”.  I gave my 200 dirhams, waited for my change and left without a word TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED, IRRITATED AND DISGUSTED!  Why would these staff do such an awful thing!  We have had a good dinner already only to be disappointed by these crooks trying to cheat on us!  We may have escaped being the victim now, but what about those trusting customers who do not mind paying even without seeing the bill?  Those customers who are too busy to check and wait for the bill?  I am pretty sure this is not the first time they did this appalling thing.  They probably have tried it before and they got away with it and so they did it again. And they will do it again – not unless the management of XxxxXxxx will do something about it.

For now, I and my family have lost all interest to go back and dine there.  We are in utter disgust by the experience – not because of the food, but because of your staff and the existing connivance!  They may not be stealing from the company/XxxxXxxx but from its customers, but still it is your responsibility to put responsible and honest people in the workplace.  Who knows what else they can do.  It is our hope that this practice be stopped and those guys to learn the lesson.

For your reference, attached are the two bills we paid tonight – dine-in and take-away.

Sincerely,

Gayzee and husband FilmanSantiago

Mobile: 055 xxxxxxx & 050 xxxxxxx

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