Should we have paid?

[poppysdad]

We (Thai wife) go to a particular restaurant just about every week and have done so for a long time and 3 weeks ago being my wife's birthday took her family to this restaurant for a small party. We paid our bill of just under 2000 Baht and had a good time. We have been to the same restaurant including last night 3 times since the party and on asking for our bill last night my wife seemed very annoyed and I asked her why. She says that they say that they undercharged us for 2 dishes at my party and are asking for 220 baht. A discussion in Thai followed that I did not understand and the manager was called over. It appeared he had no idea about it all and was about to discuss it with me and I indicated he discussed it with my wife. I did say to him that its strange they've waited for 3 visits to confront us about it and indeed how can we now verify that it is not yet another mistake. He then told the waitress to forget it, we paid our bill for the night and left.

My feeling is that they are genuine and probably did undercharge us but were we not regulars they would have written it off anyway, but also being regulars its my opinion that it was not a good idea to charge us 3 visits later as it could antagonise us especially for such a small sum and indeed how are we to know it wasn't another mistake and no way for us to verify. Alls well in the end but should we have paid or was my wife correct in not wanting to do so.

[cornishcarlos]

If the manager told the staff to forget about it, then I would consider the matter closed.. 

There are always some dodgy calls in restaurants here. We got charged couple months back for a plate of uncooked chicken thighs, even though we pointed it out to the waitress after trying the 1st one.. Unfortunately, training of any description, let alone hospitality, is lacking severely...

Sometimes it's just not worth arguing about. You have to pick your battles here ????

[RichardColeman]

I see this occurring relentlessly if you pay it the first time !

[PatOngo]

12 minutes ago, poppysdad said:

should we have paid

Up to you.

[OneMoreFarang]

As far as I know waiters are responsible for collecting the correct amount of money from customers.

It might be that money was deducted from the waitress payment if and when she did not collect the correct amount. 

So this might be a personal problem from the waitress and not from the restaurant or manager.

 

I agree that the restaurant should just forget about it. It does not make sense to harass any customer for 220B from long ago.

But the waitress might see this in a different way. For her 220B is (almost) one day's salary.

[lopburi3]

Actually it is normally the staff that has to pay any shortage so manager has no incentive to request payment (indeed just the opposite to keep you as paying customer).  Unfortunately he is not likely to forget it as far as staff are concerned so it is money out of their pockets.   Do understand questioning but perhaps the person who paid was afraid to mention or not working on previous visits.  But likely nothing you can do unless wife agrees.

[Michaelaway]

"But likely nothing you can do unless wife agrees."

Truer words were never spoken... words to live by.

[NiwPix]

Post #5 by OneMoreFarang I think is as accurate as it can get without knowing the restaurants side of the story.

[cornishcarlos]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually it is normally the staff that has to pay any shortage

 

I'm not so sure about that.. Otherwise there would be no waiting staff willing to risk their wages on a (genuine or not) mistake !!

We run a restaurant and the staff are not responsible for the cash, that's my wife's responsibility ????

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, poppysdad said:

My feeling is that they are genuine and probably did undercharge us but were we not regulars they would have written it off anyway, but also being regulars its my opinion that it was not a good idea to charge us 3 visits later as it could antagonise us especially for such a small sum and indeed how are we to know it wasn't another mistake and no way for us to verify. Alls well in the end but should we have paid or was my wife correct in not wanting to do so.

Probably yes to all - - it was silly of the manager to mention it if he was just going to let it go anyway especially if you are regular customers... but people don't always do the smart thing and things happen...

 

Since you have a long history of enjoying the restaurant, if it was me, I would have paid the bill even w/o ability to verify... sometimes goodwill should come from the patrons as well... and you will likely be treated extra well in the future... it is not a lot of money... 

 

 

[lopburi3]

3 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

We run a restaurant and the staff are not responsible for the cash, that's my wife's responsibility ????

How does the wife feel about that?  ????  I believe your situation is the exception - normally staff are held accountable (which is understandable if being paid well and getting good tips - both not being the norm here so more than a few baht is a real hit).

[NiwPix]

I have restaurant too. I disagree for the owner(s) needing to be there from open to close everyday just to make sure cash transactions are handled properly.

Obviously me or wife not being around we had the same problem with food/drinks not being accounted for. However, we never took it from their salary and "ate" ( no pun intended ) the cost. This happened to a point where it was just careless and not following rules ( No ticket, no taco....meaning ring in first THEN make the food/drink ). So I said forgetting to ring in things and bill is paid, it goes out of their tip jar. These mistakes "surprisingly" went down to nearly 0. They wouldnt get tips, but still their receiver normal wage. Everybody seemed ok with that solution.

[MJKT2014]

1 hour ago, poppysdad said:

should we have paid or was my wife correct

The wife is always right.

[cornishcarlos]

8 minutes ago, NiwPix said:

I have restaurant too. I disagree for the owner(s) needing to be there from open to close everyday just to make sure cash transactions are handled properly.

Obviously me or wife not being around we had the same problem with food/drinks not being accounted for. However, we never took it from their salary and "ate" ( no pun intended ) the cost. This happened to a point where it was just careless and not following rules ( No ticket, no taco....meaning ring in first THEN make the food/drink ). So I said forgetting to ring in things and bill is paid, it goes out of their tip jar. These mistakes "surprisingly" went down to nearly 0. They wouldnt get tips, but still their receiver normal wage. Everybody seemed ok with that solution.

 

I didn't mean she is there from open till close but she is responsible for the cash, not the staff...

Early days, only been open 5 months but so far not too many discrepancies !! 

I like the idea of taking it from the tips, kinda puts the responsibility on everyone to police it...

[Northman]

9 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

How does the wife feel about that?  ????  I believe your situation is the exception - normally staff are held accountable (which is understandable if being paid well and getting good tips - both not being the norm here so more than a few baht is a real hit).

I was never aware of that being normal in Thailand but I'm not surprised, workers' rights seem unheard of. It would be illegal for a restaurant to operate like that back home.