Drinks Charge

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frankmac

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I wonder could anyone tell me what my rights were in this instance?

I was in a restaurant recently with my wife, daughter and her boyfriend. We ordered our meal and a drink which we received. After a while our waitress came to our table to advise that they had received a phonecall from a person known to us, who wanted to buy us a round of drinks. We gave the order and received the drinks.

When we got our bill at the end of the meal we discovered that we had been charged for the second round of drinks, and brought it to the waitresses attention. She came back to say that the credit card of the person who made the phonecall had not cleared and that the owner of the restaurant directed that we should pay.

I argued the case with the owner, and without going into all that was said, decided in the end to just pay the bill and leave. The amount involved was just €19.00 so that is not what annoys me.

I am annoyed at first of all having to pay for something I didnt order, and even more annoyed at the sneaky way in which it was added to our bill without it being explained to us until we asked.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Frank
 
You say you didn't order the drinks but you agreed to accept them. You could have refused.

I think your annoyance is misplaced. You should be annoyed with the person who 'bought' you the round. That was the person who should have paid. Of course if the card didn't work the restaurant would charge you. Why should they be out of pocket? For all they know it could have been a set up.
 
Who would ring the restaurant to buy you drinks, surely you have some idea who it was?
 
Ah right, well then whats the problem. In fairness the restuarant should have told you the credit card was declined but often there can be more than one person dealing with your table\order so the person giving you the bill may not have known.
 
Yes I do do know the person. I also know that their credit card is good for a lot more than a round of drinks, and the fact that it didnt clear was the fault of the restaurant staff, but that really wasnt the point I was making.
 
What are you asking then? You were annoyed at what happened and you paid the bill.

What do you want to happen now or what input do you want? Are you looking to get money back from the restaurant?
 
No need to jump down my throat. As I said the money is not important. Im just asking if the restaurant was right or wrong to charge the drinks to me. So far both you and Scotsgirl have given the opinion that they were correct in what they did. Thats what I asked for. Opinion. Thanks for your input. I dont think you can really do any more
 
Well unless the restaurant took the number of the person who rang and could have called them back for a different card for payment, I don't think they could have done anything else. And you can't really go back to your friend and say 'by the way, your card didn't work, you owe me €19' - embarrassing for both. I'm sure they only meant well. At least it wasn't more.
 
Scotsgirl said:
Well unless the restaurant took the number of the person who rang and could have called them back for a different card for payment, I don't think they could have done anything else. And you can't really go back to your friend and say 'by the way, your card didn't work, you owe me €19' - embarrassing for both. I'm sure they only meant well. At least it wasn't more.
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I think it is definitely up to the restaurant to confirm that the card is valid before handing over the booze. This would well be a clerical error by the waiting staff (mixing up a digit or two) that has left the diners with a bill to pay.

I would be quick to let the caller know that the restaurant screwed up on the credit card number. Anyone who was magnaminous enough to order the drinks in the first place would definitely want to get this sorted out.
 
The restaurant was definitely at fault here. They took an order from someone over the phone for a round of drinks, they took payment for this, and then they try and charge someone else for the drinks? That is akin to theft in my book. They screwed up in not ensuring payment went thru for the credit card but they had absolutely no right to charge the OP for these drinks. If they did not take down contact details from the person who placed the order that is their mistake. I'm not sure why some posters think the OP had any obligation to pay here.
 
The OP had no obligation to pay. The restaurant did a transaction with somebody else. It is their problem. The OP should have refused to pay. If I were the OP I would have threatened to pay for nothing and told the restaurant to sue me for the difference.

I would have sympathy with the restaurant except they tried to sneak it on to the bill at the end. Apart for that they messed up by not processing payment while the person was on the phone which is really stupid.
 
I would concur with the last 2 posters. The OP had no liability for the drinks ordered by this mysterious person on the phone. Indeed I find it strange that someone would do such a thing.

OP should have stood his ground and refused to pay.
 
Joe Q Public said:
I would concur with the last 2 posters. The OP had no liability for the drinks ordered by this mysterious person on the phone. Indeed I find it strange that someone would do such a thing.

OP should have stood his ground and refused to pay.
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Thanks for your view Joe. There is nothing mysterious about the caller at all however. He was just buying a drink for us as it was my wife's birthday.

The situation was getting embarrassing and that was why I paid and left. In fact the owner actually said to me that he was giving great value in his meal prices and did I expect him to buy me drink as well. At that stage I felt it better to move on.
 
I wouldnt have paid - its the restaurants problem.

If Im in a bar/restaurant and someone sends me a drink and I drink it - I have no knowledge of how it is paid for or whether that persons credit card is good for it etc.. Its not my transaction.
 
frankmac said:
In fact the owner actually said to me that he was giving great value in his meal prices and did I expect him to buy me drink as well. .
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The restaurant accepted the order from a third party, they should have taken whatever steps necessary to ensure the third party paid, if they didint it's their problem not yours.
 
Not the OP's problem..
If I order a bunch of flowers to be delivered to my loved one and my credit card is declined, should she be expected to pay for them?
Of course not, This is the same thing.
 
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