Man drinks 37.50$ wine, only after getting the bill he finds out the price is 3750$

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

I honestly don't understand people defending such vague and irresponsible behavior by the restaurant. The fact that they made no effort to ensure payment was possible before allowing their $3800 product to be consumed makes me think that they had an inkling that they didn't know what they were getting into. I mean, if they did make such an effort, it would have tipped off the guys to how much the stuff cost. No matter how you look at it, they weren't clear at communicating the price of their product and allowed it to be consumed. Therefore, they forfeit the difference.

- - - Updated - - -

It's the kind of situation where either 37.50 or 3750 are very real possibilities. With the waitress alone, sure, I could see it coming down to a simple misunderstanding. But when the sommelier also brings up the bottle and what all went into its price, and the man himself stated that he wasn't paying any attention at all, it looks a lot more like the man simply wasn't paying any attention at all and that if there was negligence on either side, it was on his. It isn't the job of a waitress to second guess a patron's choice to buy something expensive.

You're wrong, it is exactly the the job of the waitress to ensure that the price is understood when the price is asked, which it was. For god's sake he said he didn't know anything about wine, the fact that they would recommend one of the most expensive wines to somebody who obviously can't even appreciate it (assuming we believe that the difference can be tasted) is woefully negligent to the point of suspicious.

[Shinzai]

The bill was $4700, thus to expect something cheap at a world famous chefs restaurant, to actually have a wine steward bring the bottle, explain the history of it, where it came from, why it's so good, etc... that's just not going to happen with a wine the under $50 menu.

The bill was under $1000 without the wine. That's not unreasonable. I've been out with friends in a group of 3 or 4 that's spent more than that in a restaurant - for 30th birthdays and such. Also, selling the wine via a verbal descriptor is pretty standard, even if the bottle is considered to be quite cheap. That's just good showmanship and service.

And understand, even without the bottle, they were still dropping a grand. Still, it's not the waitress' job to second guess the guy. Her job is to make a make a recommendation. Or the old suggest, inform, endorse addage used in most restaurant. Paint a word picture of wines, appetizers, entrees, and desserts, etc...

Not only that, but as has been stated, that not only did she say the price, she did point to it, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that she pointed to one of the more expensive of the wines, it's clearly shown and the highest price at the bottom, and lowest at the top, that even without reading glasses, he should have been able to tell. Ignorance and negligence just isn't a valid excuse.

This is nonsense. People that use reading glasses literally cannot make out figures or letters at close range and it's a very common sight issue. Announcing a 37 - 50 wine to people who've been spending $8~16 on drinks at a time does not sound outlandish at all. If she'd specified "three thousand...", he probably would've cut her off there and laughed about it. It's the second most expensive single bottle of wine on the list also.

[Denkou]

Given that there were several wines on their menu under $50, "thirty seven fifty" would probably have been interpreted as $37.50 by most people. This is a restaurant, not The Price Is Right.

[Anium]

I would have ran and left the slowest with the bill, srsly.

[Teebone]

I think this story and thread would be a lot more entertaining if he did order the Chateau Petrus Pomerol '98. Like someone mentioned above me, and it escaped my train of thought at the time a bottle like he consumed wouldn't have gone to the table without a Sommelier to present it. It should have been a dead give away that he ordered something above his budget.

In case you're wondering, the Chateau Petrus Pomerol '98 is a bottle of wine they sell there for a whopping $30,000. That's Thirty Thousand, not three-hundred =)

[Reeve]

I think this story and thread would be a lot more entertaining if he did order the Chateau Petrus Pomerol '98. Like someone mentioned above me, and it escaped my train of thought at the time a bottle like he consumed wouldn't have gone to the table without a Sommelier to present it. It should have been a dead give away that he ordered something above his budget.

In case you're wondering, the Chateau Petrus Pomerol '98 is a bottle of wine they sell there for a whopping $30,000. That's Thirty Thousand, not three-hundred =)

Sommeliers pretty routinely present bottles at the table regardless of price.

[zEmini]

$3750 is cheap yo ucan buy aged whiskey for like $10000

Not really. You only get 4-5 servings in a single bottle of wine.

[Themius]

$3750 is cheap yo ucan buy aged whiskey for like $10000

This is a foolish post.

It's the most expensive wine produced in America.

[Kasierith]

You're wrong, it is exactly the the job of the waitress to ensure that the price is understood when the price is asked, which it was. For god's sake he said he didn't know anything about wine, the fact that they would recommend one of the most expensive wines to somebody who obviously can't even appreciate it (assuming we believe that the difference can be tasted) is woefully negligent to the point of suspicious.

If you're going to rabble that I'm wrong about something, at least ensure that your objection is relevant to my statement. I said it was not the job of a waitress to second guess a patron's choice to buy something expensive. And it isn't. The mistake was in using absolutely clear terms for someone who was clearly not paying any attention to where his money was going. The mistake was not in double checking said decision, since repeating a high price back to someone is more likely to lose a sale because of the nature of opportunity sales. It makes them think again: "do I REALLY want a super fancy bottle of wine just to feel good and impress others?" The nature of the sale is purely an opportunity sale, which is why, again, something both myself and people working in the restaurant business have indicated, it is a common policy of many high end restaurants to offer around the second most expensive bottle of wine in the house to a group of people to attempt to take advantage of the mood of the celebration/gathering. If he were with his family, the approach to offering a bottle of wine would have been completely different.

And before you say "no, not every restaurant does this!" no, not every one does. It's a sales tactic, not a dogma. Not every restaurant has to follow the same tactic to push opportunity sales.

I'm not saying that the waitress was as clear as she could be. But at the end of the day, the customer was negligent with his attention and his finances, and so it was completely right for him to have to bite the cost rather than pushing a significant financial loss on the party that was far less in the wrong.

There's nothing I saw in the article about the sommelier referring to the price, and typically they don't when they come out to the table to deliver the bottle. The guy couldn't read the menu, the waitress used ambiguous language in quoting the price.

Again, from the perspective of someone who's been a restaurant manager, if I thought it seemed like the guy was intentionally trying to scam the restaurant, I'd do everything I could to make sure he paid. But if I thought it was an honest mistake, which is what this sounds like to me, I'd let it go, chock it up to product waste, and mention to my servers that they shouldn't use ambiguous language in pricing in the future.

In restauranteuring, when both parties make a mistake, the tie goes to the customer.

The restaurant pretty clearly stated that they found no fault on the part of the waitress, and were not taking any action against her. It was an honest mistake, sure; but an honest mistake where an expensive product of the restaurant was consumed. And both the manager and the party involved agreed that a significant portion of that mistake was on the part of the customer.

[Deleted]

This is a foolish post.

It's the most expensive wine produced in America.

3 year old wine is the most expensive?

[CptEgo]

3 year old wine is the most expensive?

A $3750 wine would be among the 10 most expensive wines in the world. If the restaurant is scamming their customers with a 3-year old wine, thats a different story.

[Orlong]

Sommeliers pretty routinely present bottles at the table regardless of price.

Sommeliers are experts on wine taste and pairings, but why do they bring it out when you order it? Any fool can pour wine out of a bottle

[Kasierith]

A $3750 wine would be among the 10 most expensive wines in the world. If the restaurant is scamming their customers with a 3-year old wine, thats a different story.

In general, most wine sales in these environments are done to exploit people at high mark up values.

- - - Updated - - -

Sommeliers are experts on wine taste and pairings, but why do they bring it out when you order it? Any fool can pour wine out of a bottle

To create an experience. That's what the entire concept is about: creating an experience and selling it to people. The number of people who can tell the difference between a good 25 dollar wine and a 2,500 dollar wine are a minute minority in the entire world, so you expand the experience beyond the taste.

[anyaka21]

I hate these menus. Some don't even bother with a currency sign or going a full two decimal points for the change. I've seen menus that put $8.50 as 85, and $14.50 as 145. I had to call someone over to clarify their prices, because they sure as hell didn't represent them correctly.

show me a restaurant wine menu that has cents in in, esp $.50. You might find a few .99's but extremely few and far between, and add that name one world famous, chef centered restaurant, that has a maitre'd, sommalier, and wine steward on staff that has cents on their wine menu

- - - Updated - - -

There's nothing I saw in the article about the sommelier referring to the price, and typically they don't when they come out to the table to deliver the bottle. The guy couldn't read the menu, the waitress used ambiguous language in quoting the price.

Again, from the perspective of someone who's been a restaurant manager, if I thought it seemed like the guy was intentionally trying to scam the restaurant, I'd do everything I could to make sure he paid. But if I thought it was an honest mistake, which is what this sounds like to me, I'd let it go, chock it up to product waste, and mention to my servers that they shouldn't use ambiguous language in pricing in the future.

In restauranteuring, when both parties make a mistake, the tie goes to the customer.

not really, when looked back, it pretty much shows clearly that the customer was negligent. He even admitted so. Add that this isn't a mistake on a $50 steak, this is a a nearly $4k bottle of wine. You just can't give that away and write it off, esp when the customer admits culpability, or at least negligence.

Further, you you might still even be a little right. Sounds like they came to an agreeable negotiation, meaning one that no one was happy with. If said customer went ballistic, started shouting about fraud and freaking out the rest of the restaurant, they might well have done more just to get the customer out of the door. Add that exclusive fine dining establishments can also get away with this moreso than a Dennys or a Red Lobster where they probably would have just written off the ticket and give them a gift card.

- - - Updated - - -

To create an experience. That's what the entire concept is about: creating an experience and selling it to people. The number of people who can tell the difference between a good 25 dollar wine and a 2,500 dollar wine are a minute minority in the entire world, so you expand the experience beyond the taste.

I agree with the "create an experience" part. Definitely that is what they are doing and what the sommeliers are paid to do. But I would disagree on the point of telling the difference. Most things in the world when you deal with high end and low end merchandise, whether that be TV's or wine or cars, people can and are easily able to tell the difference, it's just whether or not it's worth difference in price, as well as taste and preference

[Themius]

3 year old wine is the most expensive?

Screaming eagle is the most expensive wine in production in America. It's a cult wine and small numbers are produced. Average price is in the mid 2ks.