Takeaway lunch disaster.... urgent advice please!

[Coley]

The most I would be likely to do is put the payment in an envelope with a brief note to the owner explaining what happened. I would either drop it off myself or send it with a coworker. However, I see a strong case for doing nothing. If I did nothing, I probably wouldn't feel bad about it. I'd consider it a wash: poor-quality food + poor service = no payment. I like the idea of giving the amount of the transaction to charity or to the other cafe's employees as a tip.

Also, I'm not sure that it's solely your responsibility to see that you paid. In my view, this is a shared responsibility. The cafe owner didn't follow the usual procedure for ordering and payment. That threw you off. (It may have confused his workers, too.) While customers have an obligation/responsibility to pay, the establishment also has an obligation/responsibility to ensure the transaction is complete.

It sounds like you're concerned about doing what's honest. If it feels dishonest to let it go, then paying them will probably clear your conscience. (But I'm not sure your conscience should feel bothered!)

[learningtofly]

I too would let it go.  You didn't forget to pay.  They forgot to follow procedure.  The owner shouldn't have been taking orders from regulars or you.  He should have been training his staff to make an iced chocolate or working the line with them to make sure food was delivered in a timely manner.  It you feel really guilty I like the suggestion of putting the money in a tip jar.  But if the owner can't be bothered to follow procedure or train his staff he is going to have losses.

Also, if you go back and try to explain this and you get a rude cashier that's just going to ruin today as well.

[LadyJaneinMD]

I'd go back and pay, or send it with a co-worker.  Otherwise, the guilt would kill me.   
But I agree that you should explain and give the money to the owner directly, not to anyone else.
You don't have to explain anything if you don't want to.

[Sharnita]

I'd go back and pay, or send it with a co-worker.  Otherwise, the guilt would kill me.   
But I agree that you should explain and give the money to the owner directly, not to anyone else.
You don't have to explain anything if you don't want to.

I would normally feel the same way but it almost sounds like explaining would lead to the endless circle of confusion in this place, even with the owner.

[Slartibartfast]

If you try to go back in and pay now, they've already done the books for yesterday and made whatever reconciling they could.  Chances are with a less-than-$5 difference, they just shrugged it off.  If you try to pay now, a) there's a fair chance whoever takes your money never puts it in the till because there's no procedure for this sort of thing, and b) it would probably cost them more than $5 in manpower to do the paperwork to get the $5 applied to the correct day's receipts.

If you're feeling guilty, I would tip another place or give $5 to charity or (the evil side of me suggests) mail the owner of this shop a $5 Starbucks gift card and tell him to try what an iced chocolate is supposed to taste like 

[Sharnita]

If you try to go back in and pay now, they've already done the books for yesterday and made whatever reconciling they could.  Chances are with a less-than-$5 difference, they just shrugged it off.  If you try to pay now, a) there's a fair chance whoever takes your money never puts it in the till because there's no procedure for this sort of thing, and b) it would probably cost them more than $5 in manpower to do the paperwork to get the $5 applied to the correct day's receipts.

If you're feeling guilty, I would tip another place or give $5 to charity or (the evil side of me suggests) mail the owner of this shop a $5 Starbucks gift card and tell him to try what an iced chocolate is supposed to taste like 

Based on the description I highly doubt they rang it up in the first place.

[LeeLieLow]

I say let it go.  Donate that $5.00 to a homeless person, a tip jar or something else.  They probably don't know how to take money due from a previous day. 

I recently ordered about $22.00 of food at a major fast food chain.  Then, they found out that the credit card program wasn't working.  The filled my order, family ate the order and I tried again to pay, credit still wasn't working.  I offered my cash ($10) but they said no, it is on the house.

I  would have considered paying another day but was offended at their drive through shortly after that when the cashier asked if I was a senior citizen.  I am a very, very (in my own mind) young looking 52.

[Shoo]

I'd go in, try to explain what happened, and then just leave the money on the counter and leave, whether they "got it" or not.  That way, I'd know I did the right thing, and whatever happens to the money after that is not my problem.

[Virg]

In your shoes I'd just forget the whole thing.  I wouldn't ignore the debt because explaining it might cause more confusion, I'd ignore it because both of your meal items were not up to standard and the service was awful to boot.  To me, "I'm never coming here again" is code for "my experience was bad enough to drive me away but there's a decent reason not to pursue a refund".  Since you didn't get what you "paid" for, I don't see any financial obligation on your part.

And of course, as a side note, you didn't steal anything, even if it was good enough to pay for it.  They forgot to ring you up.

Virg

[lowspark]

I'm in the "don't bother paying" camp. At this point, the $5 is such a small amount compared to the inconvenience and anguish you've suffered over this sandwich & drink. The very fact that the counter server yelled at you is enough to make me think you should just walk away.

If you had realized they didn't charge you while you were standing there, then yeah, you would need to point that out. But let's face it, the confusion going on behind the counter is what led, at least partially, to your not realizing you hadn't paid.

I'm picturing you (or your envoy) going to pay and it taking a good ten minutes trying to explain to the owner or whomever the reason you want to give them $5. And in the end, I can still see them scratching their heads over what to do with the money and how to account for it.

I'd call this a case of "trying to make things right will be more trouble than it's worth for multiple reasons and for everyone involved."

[Luci45]

I  would have considered paying another day but was offended at their drive through shortly after that when the cashier asked if I was a senior citizen.  I am a very, very (in my own mind) young looking 52.

Threadjack: Please don't be offended. How well can a worker see from the few feet away? And most people aren't really that good at guessing ages, especially if there are a few decades between the customer and the worker. (25 year olds often look 15 to me!)

I am still sometimes looked askance at when I ask for the senior discount when my husband isn't with me. I'm 67.

Most workers are trained not to ask but just to use their own judgment, but sometimes they forget.

[Deetee]

I  would have considered paying another day but was offended at their drive through shortly after that when the cashier asked if I was a senior citizen.  I am a very, very (in my own mind) young looking 52.

Threadjack: Please don't be offended. How well can a worker see from the few feet away? And most people aren't really that good at guessing ages, especially if there are a few decades between the customer and the worker. (25 year olds often look 15 to me!)

I am still sometimes looked askance at when I ask for the senior discount when my husband isn't with me. I'm 67.

Most workers are trained not to ask but just to use their own judgment, but sometimes they forget.

My sister works at Mcdonalds and she ways gives the senior discount to everyone who asks for it and offers it to all and sundry. She's pretty sure that there are some 35 year olds with their senior coffee, but it seems to make them happy so she just gives it to them.

[dharmaexpress]

So frustrating.  And I'm so sorry, but I cackled at this:

So not only did I get terrible service and bad food, I also stole it.

What an experience.

I have to say I'm surprised that people wouldn't go back and pay.  I'd either take care of it next time I was in there, or more likely, drop by and have a nice fireside chat with the manager and pay then.  He might potentially refuse to take the payment, but it's not about that.

It's not about how confused they are or if their books are closed for the day - I don't not pay for things I've received.

One time REI forgot to charge me for a backpack at their Seattle store.  It was $90, so I don't know how I failed to realize it wasn't rung up.  Anyhow, I stopped at the next REI going south on my way back to Oregon and had them charge me for it.  They were really grateful, but that's not why I did it.  I can't fathom not paying for something.

And now I'll step off my high horse, and leave it at that.   

[O'Dell]

What's the problem, Ceallach? You got what you paid for! 

I say don't pay and don't go back. You got substandard/rude service and substandard food/drink and some places can (and should!) comp your meal for that. So in my mind, you are even at this point.

And why write a letter to the owner who was there that day and witnessed some of this for himself? He knows and possibly doesn't care to fix things. Or what I've done when I'm not happy with a restaurant is to not go there for a few months or however long I think it might take for training or a fair amount of employee turnover to take place. Most times I go back and it's better.

[YummyMummy66]

So frustrating.  And I'm so sorry, but I cackled at this:

So not only did I get terrible service and bad food, I also stole it.

What an experience.

I have to say I'm surprised that people wouldn't go back and pay.  I'd either take care of it next time I was in there, or more likely, drop by and have a nice fireside chat with the manager and pay then.  He might potentially refuse to take the payment, but it's not about that.

It's not about how confused they are or if their books are closed for the day - I don't not pay for things I've received.

One time REI forgot to charge me for a backpack at their Seattle store.  It was $90, so I don't know how I failed to realize it wasn't rung up.  Anyhow, I stopped at the next REI going south on my way back to Oregon and had them charge me for it.  They were really grateful, but that's not why I did it.  I can't fathom not paying for something.

And now I'll step off my high horse, and leave it at that.   

I think that in your case, it is an entirely different scenario.  In something like you described, I would do the same as you, go back and pay.  Or send a check in the mail depending on far the drive was.  The OP's situation is entirely different.  I would do like others stated and donate the money to someone else if she feels that badly, but after the experience the OP had, there is no way I would be going back to that place of business for any reason.   Well, maybe I would try it one more time and see if they were having an off day, and depending on my revisit would depend on if they get paid or not for my first visit.