On Fri, me, my gf, and a few others were in charge of getting a group of like 45+ to a restaurant to eat a dinner. We did make reservations and we did tell them we want to split the bill in 5 because we had 5 separate tables of individuals. We had these discount cards that say "20% off Max $50." (we had like one for each table). They also told us that splitting the bill and using the discount card (didn't say any more details) was fine.
The reason for splitting the bill into 5 is because we are really 5 smaller groups, and so we wanted to divide into 5 to begin with. It's like having 5 families eat together. Each pays separately. What is each family supposed to call in separately to book their own table or is it more logical to have 1 person call in to say we're dividing up into 5 tables and would like to split the bill.
Yes there's a $50 cap on the coupon but that's NOT why we divided up. We divided up because we're 5 different groups. Within the groups, people are paying for each other. It's a celebration for our new members of our club, so because it's small groups paying for certain small groups the check HAS to be split (in some cases it's like 5 people paying for themselves + 4 others, whereas in others it's 4 paying for 3 others). That's exactly why we asked for the bill to be split. We would've divided in the EXACT same way if this were any other restaurant. I may be cheap as in frugal but I would never divide up for the sole purpose of cheating a discount. In fact I never knew of this cap until we talked about the bill with the restaurant.
So they explained the night of that they couldn't let us use the discount cards for each table because we made a reservation for 46 and even though we told them we wanted to split the bill, the discount can only be applied to the whole party which they claimed to be the terms. Of course their discount card said nothing about this. Now at this point I realize the argument can be flipped either way because it's a grey area so I'm not expecting them to yield to us or vice versa because it's rather controversial. They told us that if we called in for 5 separate tables instead of saying a large group of 46, then they would've let us apply the discount card. So it seems like there's a loophole they would honor but since I didn't try anything shady I don't get the discount. Then comes the fat line I hate:
"If we let you take 20% off everyone's order, we wouldn't make any money"
I nearly exploded before someone took over for me. I honestly don't care what kind of business you are, but you NEVER say that to a customer. I don't give a crap if you're losing money today or tomorrow because we're smart enough to bring in coupons. BTW, this is a shabu shabu (like hot pot... or for those who don't know it's all you can eat meat that you cook in a pot of boiling water... the asian version of fondue for those of you unfamiliar). The price is $25 a person. Now I could've easily brought 50 football players who ate 5 plates of ribeye, and I honestly don't care if you make money or not. As a buffet/all-you-can-eat place you setup your business model that way, and whether you make money or not to me as a consumer DOES NOT MATTER. I just feel that bringing up not making money is a total no-no for any consumer. No I wasn't yelling. Actually we were all just speaking very calmly.
Basically I'm not here to argue whether we should get the discount or not. Like I said, it's a grey area because neither party really clarified this in the reservation how we would be charged. I guess it's our fault for not saying that we want to pay separately, can we apply separate coupons because we're essentially 5 parties? However, to use the line that you're not going to make enough money is absurd. No customer wants to hear that.
Similar thing happened to me a year ago at some copy shop. The guy was Indian (and I don't want to be racist but as an Asian I acknowledge that we're cheap, and this includes Indians), so putting me the cheap consumer and the cheap businessman together is a disaster. I made some copies on one of their machines that does automatic folding and stapling for a pamphlet. Their usual charge was like 5 cents or something a copy, and instead the guy punched in some random number like 3x the usual cost. He claims he's charging me per pamphlet and then he went to add a setup fee, and finally after all that I'm like OK and he says "oh and it's 5.5 cents per page." Of course none of these figures except the cost/page is listed on their price sheet, so he gives me crap about how his machine cost him $7500 and he wouldn't make money if I only paid $5.5 cents / page because I also used the stapling and the folding option of the machine. What bullcrap. Of course he throws in a 10% discount in the end which of course is whipped out of his ass also. Then again I didn't really care because I was getting reimbursed.
Cliffs:
- Cheap businesses need to die.
- Consumers don't give a rat's ass if you're losing money on this transaction or not
Another Edit: I get it. This line is fine to use if say a car salesman jokes with and says "Come on, $15k for a Toyota Camry? We can't make money on that." It's also perfectly fine in any other price negotiations, especially in a joke. However, I believe what I'm trying to point out is if you're using this as a reason WHY you can't accept a coupon or a discount, then it's the wrong way to go. Reasons for not accepting a discount/coupon should be more legitimate. Even a simple lie like a pricing mistake is more justifiable.
It's just like how Dell issues apologies for PRICING MISTAKES when they sell crap like $200 below what they meant to sell it at. Their reason is that it was a mistake. If you were Dell, try sending out a mail saying that it's because Dell will lose money on that sale (they probably will) and see how many complaints you get.
The reason for splitting the bill into 5 is because we are really 5 smaller groups, and so we wanted to divide into 5 to begin with. It's like having 5 families eat together. Each pays separately. What is each family supposed to call in separately to book their own table or is it more logical to have 1 person call in to say we're dividing up into 5 tables and would like to split the bill.
Yes there's a $50 cap on the coupon but that's NOT why we divided up. We divided up because we're 5 different groups. Within the groups, people are paying for each other. It's a celebration for our new members of our club, so because it's small groups paying for certain small groups the check HAS to be split (in some cases it's like 5 people paying for themselves + 4 others, whereas in others it's 4 paying for 3 others). That's exactly why we asked for the bill to be split. We would've divided in the EXACT same way if this were any other restaurant. I may be cheap as in frugal but I would never divide up for the sole purpose of cheating a discount. In fact I never knew of this cap until we talked about the bill with the restaurant.
So they explained the night of that they couldn't let us use the discount cards for each table because we made a reservation for 46 and even though we told them we wanted to split the bill, the discount can only be applied to the whole party which they claimed to be the terms. Of course their discount card said nothing about this. Now at this point I realize the argument can be flipped either way because it's a grey area so I'm not expecting them to yield to us or vice versa because it's rather controversial. They told us that if we called in for 5 separate tables instead of saying a large group of 46, then they would've let us apply the discount card. So it seems like there's a loophole they would honor but since I didn't try anything shady I don't get the discount. Then comes the fat line I hate:
"If we let you take 20% off everyone's order, we wouldn't make any money"
I nearly exploded before someone took over for me. I honestly don't care what kind of business you are, but you NEVER say that to a customer. I don't give a crap if you're losing money today or tomorrow because we're smart enough to bring in coupons. BTW, this is a shabu shabu (like hot pot... or for those who don't know it's all you can eat meat that you cook in a pot of boiling water... the asian version of fondue for those of you unfamiliar). The price is $25 a person. Now I could've easily brought 50 football players who ate 5 plates of ribeye, and I honestly don't care if you make money or not. As a buffet/all-you-can-eat place you setup your business model that way, and whether you make money or not to me as a consumer DOES NOT MATTER. I just feel that bringing up not making money is a total no-no for any consumer. No I wasn't yelling. Actually we were all just speaking very calmly.
Basically I'm not here to argue whether we should get the discount or not. Like I said, it's a grey area because neither party really clarified this in the reservation how we would be charged. I guess it's our fault for not saying that we want to pay separately, can we apply separate coupons because we're essentially 5 parties? However, to use the line that you're not going to make enough money is absurd. No customer wants to hear that.
Similar thing happened to me a year ago at some copy shop. The guy was Indian (and I don't want to be racist but as an Asian I acknowledge that we're cheap, and this includes Indians), so putting me the cheap consumer and the cheap businessman together is a disaster. I made some copies on one of their machines that does automatic folding and stapling for a pamphlet. Their usual charge was like 5 cents or something a copy, and instead the guy punched in some random number like 3x the usual cost. He claims he's charging me per pamphlet and then he went to add a setup fee, and finally after all that I'm like OK and he says "oh and it's 5.5 cents per page." Of course none of these figures except the cost/page is listed on their price sheet, so he gives me crap about how his machine cost him $7500 and he wouldn't make money if I only paid $5.5 cents / page because I also used the stapling and the folding option of the machine. What bullcrap. Of course he throws in a 10% discount in the end which of course is whipped out of his ass also. Then again I didn't really care because I was getting reimbursed.
Cliffs:
- Cheap businesses need to die.
- Consumers don't give a rat's ass if you're losing money on this transaction or not
Another Edit: I get it. This line is fine to use if say a car salesman jokes with and says "Come on, $15k for a Toyota Camry? We can't make money on that." It's also perfectly fine in any other price negotiations, especially in a joke. However, I believe what I'm trying to point out is if you're using this as a reason WHY you can't accept a coupon or a discount, then it's the wrong way to go. Reasons for not accepting a discount/coupon should be more legitimate. Even a simple lie like a pricing mistake is more justifiable.
It's just like how Dell issues apologies for PRICING MISTAKES when they sell crap like $200 below what they meant to sell it at. Their reason is that it was a mistake. If you were Dell, try sending out a mail saying that it's because Dell will lose money on that sale (they probably will) and see how many complaints you get.
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