Chinese Restaurants: Come For The Food, Stay For The Friendly Staff

(We decide to get takeout and I go to a Chinese restaurant near our home. It is a buffet-style restaurant; they do offer made-to-order takeout in a separate menu, but it seems to be used rather seldom. The staff is obviously kind of annoyed by having to deal with this unfamiliar territory. I order two sets of food with rice, mini spring rolls for the kids, and extra rice. Extra rice is marked as 1€ on the menu. They try to put it in the till, but they can’t find the extra rice in their system. They tell me they will ring it up as a drink, instead. I am fine with that, and the food arrives packed up to take with me, but it turns out that the drink costs 1,50€.)

Server: “That will be 16,50€.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but your menu says the extra rice is 1€; the drink you billed me for is 1,50€.”

Server: “Yes. That is true.”

(No apology, no remorse whatsoever is shown.)

Me: “Well… I don’t want to make a fuss for 0,50€, but you should really try to correct that.”

Server: “You want to pay cash or card?”

Me: “Cash.”

(I hand her 17€, and she puts it in her server-wallet as their till is only for entering the order and getting receipts. She makes no attempt to give me my change. The whole deal is just very rude and so, even though it is not a big sum, I am quite annoyed.)

Me: ”Sorry, but I gave you 17€.”

Server: “Yes, so?”

Me: “I should get my 0,50€ change.”

Server: “You want the change?”

Me: “Well, you are already overcharging me for the extra rice, so yeah, please give me my change.”

(She grumbled in Chinese and gave me my change. I know no Chinese, but the universal “this customer is a bother to me and can go die in a ditch” tone needs no translation. Food was good, but the attitude almost spoiled it for me. We had thought about trying the buffet there, but based on that experience we would rather not.)