I recently read an interesting thread at Chowhound. It's premise is this:
If you're undercharged on a restaurant bill, do you alert the staff regarding the mistake?
Most everyone who has posted there of late has agreed to alert the waiter/waitress about the mistake. Yet, I disagree.
I think when you walk into a merchant's business, it's you against them. They have set the prices and policies of how business will work. In a market-driven economy, my goal is to get the most service/product for the lowest buck. Trust me, they are playing this game long before the storefront goes up, or the food gets served.
One example was the Gap. Free socks? No, but I look at the sale rack first, before the new stuff offered at full price. Most Gap shoppers know... wait 2 months, and the high-priced stuff will be on the sale rack.
As agenets of the business, waiters and waitresses have several important duties. One, make the customer happy, but also to be accurate in their service. This includes putting the right plates in front of the right diner, and presenting an accurate bill. I know, I know, you'll say, the job is tough. The pay low. I'm not talking here about tips. I'm talking about the accuracy of the bill.
If you don't do the bill right, I don't think the onus is on the customer to correct the mistake.
I do not disagree, either, with leaving a larger tip if a mistake is made. But I'm sorry; they have one chance to get it right. And if it benefits me, great. If not, if there's a mistake that needs correction in my direction, I have one chance to make it right by complaining. I am the customer, remember. I'm a VIP in every business I visit.
And if I don't feel like a VIP, then, I'll go somewhere else where I am made to feel like one.
In the one example cited, they mention getting free dessert. This is what should happen, I feel, if you're honest. But too many of the examples cited do not mention getting some "reward" for honesty.
So to summarize. I do not feel it is necessary to point out mistakes in favor of the customer. That is the sole responsibility of the business to establish the rules of the way they charge/do business, and as agents of their business, that sole responsibility of presenting an accurate bill lies with the server.
If you're astute enough to recognize you got a deal, then great. If it bothers you, give a nice tip. And if you're too dumb to notice they short-changed you, then, too bad for you. But in a market economy, I think when an advantage presents itself, it's your right to take advantage of it. It's business.
If I instead had a personal relationship with the business owner, or server, I might play the cards differently. But let's face it, in most restaurants, I'm just a customer.
