Life is Funny

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. We use to visit this local bar / tavern / pub, whatever you call it where you live.  We’d casually meet there one night a week for some fun with a bunch of friends.

On average, the two of us spend about $40 to $60 a night for drinks, which is tolerable. However when we began running a tab at this pub, every night our bill would range between $80 to $120.

We would notice that drink specials were being charged at REGULAR prices. Also the odd phantom drink would appear. If you ordered 4 beers, inevitably 5 would show up on the tab by the end of the night.

We couldn’t prove it, so we simply stopped running bar tabs and paying cash for each drink.

Ever since we went back to the pay cash per drink method, our bar tabs are back down to the standard $40 to $60 a night. Now before you start thinking “hey buddy, maybe since it was on a tab, you were drinking more than you thought” etc..

Here’s the clincher: Everytime we order a drink, the waitress says “ok, so I’ll start a tab?” No, we make it clear we would like to pay for our drinks as they come. She brings us another round “ok, start that tab now?” — No, we’re happy with the pay-per-drink model.

If we order 4 or 5 rounds, she will constantly ask us if she can start a tab with enthusiasm, and when we say no, she frowns and walks away.

STOP ripping off the customers with bar tabs!

I have a feeling that this doesn’t just happen here, but it happens in a lot of places… As the night goes on, they figure your too drunk or buzzed to notice, so why not pad the bill? Not only does it bring in more cash for the bar, but it also raises the final total, which usually results in a larger tip.

I’m glad we caught on to this one before it went too far.  How about you?