Servers who assume you wanted topshelf??

[Heather25]

Recently I was out to dinner with a friend who ordered a bloody mary. My friend didn't specify a vodka, but when the bill arrived the server had taken the liberty of adding Grey Goose. I also ordered a $9 glass of wine and was charged for one that was $15. The server even repeated my wine order back to me. I told him my friend never asked for Grey Goose, and I clearly said tempernillo. His only response was that he misunderstood. He took back the bill and his manager fixed it. Shouldn't a manager catch this type of thing? It didn't seem like an accident to me.

[MobyRichard]

I've had the opposite experience. At dinner one night I ordered Glenfiddich, straight up. When it came, I tasted it, recalled the waiter and told him what he had brought me was Glenlivet, which I find very bland. The waiter insisted he had brought me Glenfiddich, but offered to take it back and bring me a fresh drink. I agreed, and what returned was indeed Glenfiddich, and my dining companions agreed that even visually the second drink was not the same as the first, as the Glenfiddich was a deeper color.

[RShea78]

In my neck of the woods any drink costing over $7 better come in a pitcher.

Wise bartenders won't make such a mistake around here, otherwise- "don't take any wooden nickels" will become the bartender's tip.

[NovoCuisine]

Surprisingly, for all the alcohol I order when out, this has never happened to me.

I'd probably say something if it did. Top shelf liquor in mixed drinks seems like a huge waste to me.

[bethd127]

I had a martini at a local bar, and when ordering the server asked me if I wanted blue cheese stuffed olives. Yummy! when the bill came they were $1.00 each, and there was three olives, so my already expensive grey goose martini was really costly that night!

[Ellen]

I was at the bar when a customer ordered gray goose white russians. It was not the bartender, but the customer. What a waste of good vodka. The bartender agreed but wasn't about to disagree with the customer. On the other hand, I would never pay for a gray goose anything unless I had specifically ordered it and would insist that the restaurant fix the problem if they served top shelf I did not order. I've a similar experience with with bottled water, especially in group situations. I've had waiters load the table with open bottles of water and keep filling everyone's water glasses with the meal practically finished and half full bottles on the table. At 5 or 6 bucks a pop that can really add up for a group of 12 or more. You need to keep an eye out for that sort of thing and make clear to the waiter(s) that at a certain point in the meal, they should only open new bottles if specifically requested. You may also have to do the same thing if ordering multiple bottles of wine for the table. They'll keep bringing and opening new bottles unless told otherwise.

[jfood]

Not an accident IMHO. One of the two might have been (probably not either) but on both, i do not think so.

Lots of threads on upselling and shady tactics like this over the past few months.

In Jfood-land major demerit to the waiter's tip. First law if tip-physics, you try to take unjustly from my pocket, I do not put into yours.

[Querencia]

I'm sure it wasn't an accident. We once took four friends to lunch at an Indian buffet that cost $5.95 pp so were shocked when the bill came to almost $80. Not wanting to make a fuss in front of guests we paid the bill then later I called the restaurant to ask about that bill. Turns out we had all been served some fancy tea that cost about $8 a cup. Who asked for it? Nobody. We were told that the waiter assumed we wanted the best (trust me, we didn't) and in any case he couldn't speak English. Hah.