• A cafe charged a customer an additional fee of 2 Euros to cut her sandwich in half.
The incident took place in a cafe in Italy, Bar Pace, located near Lake Como. The customer of the restaurant had the unpleasant surprise to find that her request to cut the sandwich in two was additionally charged with the amount of 2 Euro.
The customer's complaint was posted on TripAdvisor and the photo of the overcharged bill went viral on social media, with outraged users leaving negative reviews for the cafe, as reported Business Insider. This wave of complaints caused the restaurant's Facebook rating to drop from 5 stars to just 2,7 stars.
The owner of Bar Pace, Cristina Biacchi, apologizes in a statement released to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, arguing that time is money, an important aspect especially in the current economic conditions. He also adds the fact that, if the beneficiary of the service had contested the surcharge, she would not have been obliged to pay the amount of 2 Euros.
Time means money
“We had to use two plates instead of one and it doubled the washing time, we also used two plate holders. Cutting the sandwich in half took us a while, and the work has to be paid for", Biacchi said.
The client did not reveal her identity, but her profile on Trip Advisor shows that he is from Milan and that he is between 50 and 64 years old. He explains that he was dining with another person and they wanted to share the sandwich. "Unbelievable but true", posted this. The bill of 15,70 Euros included 2 Euros for the service "diviso a metὰ" (split in two).
The negative publicity unleashed against the Italian cafe on Facebook, Google and TripAdvisor has led to the suspension of reviews for the cafe, with TripAdvisor citing concerns that reviews could also come from people who have never been there and just want to take a stand against what happened.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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