They Took Their Shot And Missed

I had a group of five people who were drinking a lot and ordering their rounds on different tabs every time. Toward the end of the night at last call, they asked for another round of tequila shots (five) and some beers and tabbed out. They got their order, and I did miss one shot. I thought I put in five. I did not; I missed one. However, she also told me they were short a Corona.

Me: “I wasn’t told about a Corona. If you did tell me, I must not have heard you, but I can get those for y’all.”

Customer: “Okay, you’re good, no worries.”

Remember, they had already tabbed out. I then brought a receipt for a shot and a Corona.

Customer: “You’re charging me again?”

Her whole attitude changed.

Me: “No ma’am, I never charged you for the stuff you did not get.”

Customer: “See, but we told you about those drinks, so I’m not paying for this.”

Me: “Like I said, I did miss putting in one of those shots, and I apologized for that. But this happens at a bar, stuff gets missed, we apologize and move on, but I still need you to pay for them.”

Keep in mind that this is right after they got their drinks, the extra wait would have been one to two minutes.

Customer: “See, but we told you about those drinks, and we did not get them, and that is not our fault, so we are not paying for them.”

At this point I know what she is trying to do, and I want to tell her the kind of person she is and how often we see this, but instead I say:

Me: “You know what? Let me talk to my manager. I’m sure we can come to an agreement.” 

I know my manager. She does not mess with that. She was going to make them pay, because I thankfully work at a place where “the customer is always right” is not a thing. It is a late-night bar; the customer is almost always wrong.

She told them they either pay or get no drinks. They did not pay for them, because those people will never admit they are wrong. If you order something and you get something entirely different, then sure, you should not pay for that. But I literally just missed a shot, and she definitely then made up asking for a Corona. 

I made sure they were taken care of all night. I talked with them for a couple of minutes, just making small talk, and they seemed really nice up until this happened. They stiffed me on a $90 tab and sat there for over three hours.