Took my girlfriend for a quick drink and bite last night. Food was good, service was good. Went to pay with my debit card - declined. Tried again, declined. Huh. Well, my stupid ATM cards don't last more than 2 months anyways (I used to be able to get a few years of use out of them but I think they're making them out of cheaper plastic now. Yes, I put it in my wallet but I've done that for several years and they don't seem to quit working like they do lately).

All I had was a 100 dollar bill. So I gave it to my waitress. She leaves with it, comes back with a stack of smaller bills and hands it to me. I leave her a tip, put the rest in my wallet and leave.

As I'm pulling out of the parking lot, my girlfriend said the "Hey the waitress is gesturing towards us and shrugging". So I pull into the lot and roll down the window.

Comes to the car, "Hey I gave you 100$ in change there, so you didn't pay".

I'm all confused, so I apologize, pay what I owe and leave.

Maybe I'm a bit thick in the head but when I give the waitress cash for my bill I want the change back, less what I owe for my food.

I know it's not a huge deal and I don't really think it's my fault (perhaps I could've counted my change) but oh well.

Agreed. That is kind of strange on the waitresses part.

I hate thieves.

quote:

Originally posted by acidjazz:
"Hey I gave you 100$ in change there ...."

Bad policy, that.

Good on you for making her whole. I bet she doesn't do that twice.

She maybe couldn't count change.....or, wanted you to be responsible for giving her a tip.

That was her fault not yours. I would never expect to hand a waitress a big bill with the check and have her return exact change for the big bill, not having deducted the amount of the check. I would expect only the change less the check and sufficient denomination to leave her a correct tip.

I find it a little irritating when I have say a $30 bill and give the server two $20's and they return a $10. If you gave me a $5 and five $1 I can leave a proper tip with the change provided.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
That was her fault not yours. I would never expect to hand a waitress a big bill with the check and have her return exact change for the big bill, not having deducted the amount of the check. I would expect only the change less the check and sufficient denomination to leave her a correct tip.

I find it a little irritating when I have say a $30 bill and give the server two $20's and they return a $10. If you gave me a $5 and five $1 I can leave a proper tip with the change provided.

That would be a serious amateur server. Anyone who brings back change that doesn't make it easy for you to leave a tip isn't thinking.

Might be odd the OP not catching that she hadn't actually taken the money he had given her to pay the bill and (duh) paid the bill with it, then brought his change back to him (like every server I have ever given cash to has always done), but not everyone checks their change.

What do you want to bet she shared the story with some other servers and they started with a total face palm, then explained to her what every customer in the world expects when they give cash to settle the bill?

At least she didn't ask, "Do you need change for that?" which is a personal pet peeve.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
I find it a little irritating when I have say a $30 bill and give the server two $20's and they return a $10. If you gave me a $5 and five $1 I can leave a proper tip with the change provided.

I always assumed they did this automatically to create situations wherein some people might just go ahead and overtip them.
Because of this, I have had to ask for further change, from my change, sometimes.

Not your fault.

I would have counted the change to make sure, but not everybody does. For the server to give you $100 back in smaller bills wasn't a wise decision.

I have also received a 50 and 20 when paying a 30 bill with a hundred. New waitress, so I gave her a good tip. If someone pays you with a hundred, chances are they have nothing small to leave you a tip, so make sure they get some smaller bills. Now here's this 20 back... I need some change.

I would have expected just the change myself, and very rarely count it.

I went through a McDonald's drive through a few years back when I was on a road trip. Their credit card machine was down, so they were cash only. I only had a $100 bill on me. No problem they say.

They give me my meal and my change. I toss the change on the center council and eat the food as I continue down the highway. Once I'm done I go to organize the change. I now had $120 something dollars.

I have, on occasion:
Driven away from the gas pump and forgot to pay.
Had items on the lower rack of the shopping cart that did not get rung up.
I just go back and pay.

Good for you!!

You may not have been thinking about it at the time, but didn't you notice there weren't any coins in the change she gave back to you?

And what did she give you that you couldn't figure out she gave you $100 back? It wouldn't make sense that she gave you ten $1 bills, two $5s, two $10s, and three $20s. Don't you normally count the change to make sure it's reasonable?

I agree it was on her to get the charge and give you change back.

And I'm not saying I'm better than you. I do remember walking out of a restaurant with a date and the waitress coming out because I hadn't paid at all. We had a good dinner, it was a good night to go for a walk so we did. My mind was on other things.

quote:

You may not have been thinking about it at the time, but didn't you notice there weren't any coins in the change she gave back to you?

That's not uncommon at many of the places I eat. They'll just round the change up to the nearest dollar.

Funny story. I agree that simplistically it's not your fault. (I have never been food service FWIW...)

You rendered payment and she gave you your payment back in full. That's pretty weird on her part.

No harm - no foul... you got it straightened out.

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The other day I gave the waiter a 20 for a 7 bill. He asked if I needed any change back. You self important asshole- you took my order and laid it on my table and I never saw you again for half an hour when I had to come find you for my ticket so I could leave and you expect a 13 dollar tip for crappie service on a 7 bill?
BTW, it was in the high 90s and when he brought my food I saw him look at my half empty tea glass which he made no effort to refill.

Only great self restraint prevented me from giving that little snowflake a real good verbal thrashing.