Diner says they were 'embarrassed' into leaving a tip - but restaurant hits back
A customer has given a restaurant a one-star review claiming they were "embarrassed" into leaving a tip - but the restaurant hit back with a witty response.
The diner criticised Michael Wan's Mandarin in Blackpool on TripAdvisor, appearing to slam the top restaurant for automatically generating a tip on their bill. The unhappy customer, who gave the high-end Chinese a lowly one-star rating, claimed they were presented with a bill of £67 they "didn't expect".
They then say the bill included a serviced charge, taking the total up to £83, a sum which left them "shocked", Lancs Live reports. But a manager from the restaurant swiftly responded to the review, defending the staff's handling of the situation, saying they communicated the bill's breakdown clearly and even offered to refund the service charge to the disgruntled diner.
In the online review, titled "wrong adding tip on your bill", Kayhepp, who visited the town centre venue last month, started off saying the "meal was nice" but then it went quickly downhill. They wrote: "When I went to pay it was £67 which I didnt [sic] expect and then to top it off the guy taking my payment never showed me an itemised bill just the till receipt which he said the top number is the bill and the second one is table service £83 I was shocked and said oh ok, the next thing I'm paying the £83 through embarrassment and because other customers were waiting to pay."
The traditional Cantonese restaurant responded that they find it "difficult to understand" the customer's point of view. They also disputed the customer's claim they paid £83, adding that the optional standard 10% service charge would add up to £73. Management confirmed they provide itemised bills and not "till receipts".
Dr Michael Mosley shares exercise that can cut cholesterol and blood pressure
The response, which was posted a few days after the review was uploaded, said: "If the bill came to £67 and the optional service charge was 10% then the total inclusive of that would have been £73, not £83. It also sounds like the waiter explained the service charge to you and gave you the option to pay or not, it is completely your choice whether to include it or not. If you would like to discuss further or would like the service charge refunded please feel free to give us a call and we can arrange that for you."
The reply signed off with "Team Mandarin" signature and a smiley face emoji. Mandarin, which currently has a 4.5 overall rating on TripAdvisor with 2,485 reviews (2,0017 five stars, 20th of 456 in Blackpool) has been running since 1961 and was first established by the late Michael Wan.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
