Restaurant coupon issue - how SHOULD I have reacted?

   Yesterday my wife and I went out to eat and used a coupon, which wasn't
entirely accepted properly.  Here's what happened:

  My wife knew we'd be a bit pressed for time after she got home from work,
so I called up in the early afternoon and made reservations for the food to
be ready at 5:50.

  We have one of those GM Motor Club cards,  which also comes with the
Entertainment Coupons online.  I got on there and printed out a coupon for
Las Piramides Mexican restaurant.  It said buy one of the combo meals, get
one free.  Simple enough, right?  My wife was demanding enough to just tell
me she wanted something with meat.

  When I called to make the reservation, I explained up front that I needed
two of the combo meals, and then asked what the combinations were.  The guy
I talked to could speak English, but I wasn't sure from his responses if he
entirely understood me completely.  At the end of the conversation, he did
repeat my reservation for 2, the time, and the meals, though.

  Anyway, when we got to the restaurant, I made sure to show them the coupon
up front, just like it said to.

  The food was good.  I had a Chile Relleno, some sort of salad with
quacamole on a tostada, plus rice and refried beans.  My wife had chicken
quesadillas with a salad, rice and refried beans.  The combo meals were all
supposed to be $8.  I left a decent tip for what the full price would
normally be.

  When they brought the bill, I noticed that my wife's meal was $12.95,
while mine was $8.95.  Ok, I could see the $8.95 - prices had evidently gone
up a bit.  I went up to pay, expecting to get the lesser of the two for
free.  I explained that I had expected to only pay around $9, because I had
asked on the phone for two combo meals.  She told me sorry - but the second
meal was not a combo meal - it was essentially a combo meal with the
addition of the chicken quesadillas.

 Because the second meal was not a combo meal, she told me that the coupon
was not valid.  At first she said I'd have to pay the full price of about
$22.  I told them no way was I going to do that when I clearly asked for 2
combo meals over the phone, and expected to only pay about $8.

  She then countered by saying she could take $5 off for the coupon, but
that it would not be "buy one, get one free" like the coupon stated, and
that they were just "being nice" since the second meal didn't qualify under
the terms of the coupon.

  I grudgingly ended up paying $17 for the 2 meals - more than twice what I
had expected to.  I'm not saying that the food wasn't worth it - it was
good.  However, the whole issue was caused by a person on the phone who
evidently did not understand me completely.

  When my wife got out to the car and we talked about it, she said her
Father never would have paid that much.  Evidently her Father was well known
for paying cash, and paying only exactly what he expected to pay, then
walking out.  She said I should have at least argued and negotiated with
them until they either accepted the payment I expected, or I should have
just laid down cash and walked out, saying that if it wasn't ok, then I
would never be back, and clearly laying the blame for the whole issue with
the fact that they have people on the phone who don't completely understand
English.

  I'm not a confrontational person - but maybe my wife is right.  Perhaps I
let people walk all over me too much.

  Should I have done what my wife suggested - simply laid down a 10 spot and
walked out - explaining that they need to honor what I was told on the
phone, or I'd never set foot in their door again?

 

 
OhioGuy wrote:


You should check deep in the pocket of your wife's purse and retrieve
your testicles, but be sure to ask her permission first or she will
dope slap you.

 
  Says the man who never talks to his wife before doing anything.  Don't
bring me down, man, just for considering other people.

  Seriously, my wife said that her Dad always did this sort of thing, and
even paid proportionally less if the food wasn't prepared to his liking.
While he NEVER let anyone take advantage of him, she said it also made it
rather unpleasant to go out to eat with him.

  I'm just not that picky.  If the food and atmosphere are good, I'm quite
happy to pay a reasonable amount.  In this case, however, the amount I was
being asked to pay was twice what I was expecting.

 
If you were note sure if the person on the phone entirely understood
you then you should have made sure someones else did when you arrived
at the restaurant BEFORE you got your food, not after you ate it.

 On Thu, 11 Oct 2007, Siskuwihane wrote:


You have lost the battle but not the war my friend.  Find out their
busiest time.  Sit yourself down at their best table.  Order their
best steak.  Eat 90% of
the meal.  Find out your steak is not as you ordered it.  Make a
scene out of the worst of the prison movie meal riot scenes.
Speak in a loud out of control voice, wave your arms frantically,
leap out of your chair, lose your balance and fall into a table
of eight upsetting all of their dinners.  Restaurants love this type
of scene, it does wonder for the the enjoyment of their other
customers.  Normally I wouldn't suggest such behavior but the
way your were mistreated gives you carte blanc in my opinion.
They are the ones who printed up those coupons, they were the ones
who misordered.

Was somebody holding down your wife so she couldn't
speak up?  Point out to your wife that she lives in OHIO and not
AFGHANASTAN.