Watering Hole Watergate

Beer, a man's second best friend, nothing beats a chilled beer at the end of the day with friends in your favorite watering hole.

Watering Hole #1: TGIF, C.P. - It was my b'day and we were all at TGIF, C.P. for a dinner outing. I had ordered one beer and rest of the people ordered mocktails. We sipped our drinks, munched our snacks, devoured our main course and skipped the desert. Upon asking for the cheque we were presented with a bill with quite an amount, I put my card down to pay without checking the bill too much. However one of my friends decided to investigate the bill and found out that we were being overcharge thousand bucks in the name of drink we never ordered. The matter was sorted out quickly and discreetly and we were on our way.

Watering Hole#2: BLUES,C.P. - It was a reunion of sorts and we were ready to party. The orders for tandoori chicken, beer and potato wedges kept repeating like an echo. Most of us were drunk except for me as I have to drive back home, therefore generally I stick to a beer and a half. When it was time for the bill, we were presented with a bloated bill which had couple of beers extra on them. The matter was sorted out quickly and discreetly and we were on our way.

Watering Hole#3: Drunken Duck,C.P. - The three of us were meeting after a long time and obviously it was an occasion for beer. After going through seven bottles amongs three of us we had enough and asked for the bill. This time again we were being charged couple of beers extra. We told the waiter to get it changed. Now here's the part I realized that the R & B's are actually trying to rip us off. The guy got the rectified bill from the counter, all the cashier had done was take off the beer cost and let the VAT and Tax calculated on it remain in the bill. We had to send the waiter back again to get it rectified.

Now these are three separate occasions in a space of about a year and a half and these R & B's do not belong to the same chain. I can safely eliminate "co-incidence" because in all three cases the overcharging was based on drinks and not the food. Carelessness can be ruled out because the waiters have a proper process(slotted tray with table numbers) to track consumption and cashiers are cashiers they are trained to calculate the right amount. Also, if it's carelessness then how come there hasn't ever been a case of undercharging ?

The only possible conclusion drawn from this is that these places rely on the fact that the customers will be too drunk to even notice the extra beer or remember how much liquor they've consumed. One will always remember the food they've eaten but who can keep a count on the number of beers, specially if six people order around nine beers and that too not in a single go. No matter how high brow the place is you can count upon the management to come down to these tricks to fatten the pockets.

At times I feel really disgusted with the fact that a person can't even enjoy a get together or a date at these so called "respectable" places without being at the risk of getting fleeced the "honest" staff. Please people, next time you get that bill go through it once in and if you see it there then make sure you call the manager and give your two cents worth, after all the service tax means you are ensured good quality of service !