Has anyone been shortchanged or overcharged at <SNIP> in Temple Bar

DublinWon2011

My mam, aunt and their cousin were there last night and my mam handed in 50 euro for 2 pints. The barman wouldn't give her any change and insisted she handed in 10 euro. She called the manager and he said he'd check the CCTV and that she should come in tomorrow.

She went in this morning and the cameras conveniently didn't cover the angle she was at at the time and the barman's till wasn't 40 euro over. The manager then told my mam she was no longer welcome.

Has anyone else had an experience like this at <SNIP>, if not, what can we do to complain?

dudara

OP - I've edited the post to remove the name as I don't feel comfortable naming the business just yet.

Without proof, it's very hard to proceed any further.

charlemont

This type of carry on is becoming much more regular, It happened me in Cork but I was lucky and got my money back.

ToadVine

Same thing happened me a few years ago in a well known Temple Bar spot. I handed in €50 for 2 drinks and got change of €10. When I challenged the barman he referred me to the manager who said I'd have to wait till the tills were balanced at the end of the night. I did and, surprise surprise, the tills were not €40 over.

This is a scam that's been operating in this particular place for years. Sorry to hear its still happening.

A Primal Nut

Happened to my friend in Temple Bar too, I wonder if it's the same bar.

Decoda

Hi,

Its a habit that I've developed over the last while that I fold any bank note that I am handing over to a shop or bar. I crease the note lengthways down the note making sure to do this in front of the bar person / person behind the counter.

I know that it isn't concrete proof that the note was yours when its in the till but I always feel better for doing this and that it might remove any accidental "short changing".

I haven't been short changed yet.

DC

finbarrk

Good idea Decoda.

jam_Jar

I am still livid from an experience I had in <SNIP> Nightclub, Temple bar on Saturday night. The place was packed, bar was busy but that’s to be expected. I bought a round of drinks and paid by laser (not something I would regularly do) asking for 50 euro cashback. The barman gave me the drinks, a receipt from the till that said 29 euro and left the laser machine infront of me to put in my details. I did.

In the mean time, one of the lads came to help with the drinks, he did two trips and I was still waiting. Left there with the laser machine and my card in it. I’m giving the barman the benefit of the doubt at this point, as I said it was a busy night. However, he is off on the other side of the bar, out of sight and no sign of a return. I pull my receipt out from the laser machine and of course, I’d been charged for my cash back....but not given it. It took at least 10 minutes (seemed like an hour) for me to catch my Barman’s attention. When I did, he just put his hand in the till, gave me my 50 and disappeared. No eye contact, no apology – nothing.

He’s either
- The most incompetent barman I have ever encountered
- Or he’s running a con.

What’s worse is, he looked very experienced and has probably been there for years. Whilst I was sober, patrons have a right to be drunk and a right to pay for a drink with a card without having to actively seek out their cashback/change. I sought out the manager, found him at one point and was pawned off with something along the lines of “I have to see a customer, I’ll be back...”. He wasn’t.

Having shared this story with a number of colleagues, fellow teachers with active social lives, I’m surprised by the litany of similar tales.

Is this really a regular occurrence?

triple-M

similar Happened to me in a pub on O connell street.ordered a drink for 4.90 paid with a 20 and got 5.10 change.by the time i noticed the error (5-10 seconds later)the barman was off on the floor doing other things so I said it to him,got a smug look and he just gives me 10 euro out of the till

dudara

Threads merged & names removed

dudara

jam_Jar

dudara wrote: »

Threads merged & names removed

dudara

Which is disappointing, in my opinion.

dudara

We can't and won't name businesses here when there are serious allegations.

If I were you, I would be getting in touch with the management, and failing that, then the Gardaí.

The merge of these two threads should illustrate to you that there is sufficient precedent for your complaint.

uberalles

I keep a bundle of 10s and 5s at home for nights out as I got short changed on 50s twice in a weekend. On both occasions I got the change corrected when I got management involved. Upsetting still. So now it's 10s and 5s when paying for booze and the end of that problem.

overshoot

in all fairness jam_jar, you said it was a busy night, i have run off while waiting for the card transaction to serve someone else (no more than 1, and usually run back before id get to cashing off the next order), but him not coming back is bit poor and a quick apology wouldnt hurt. those card machines are worth 2k or something rediculous like that i think, if you turned up to his boss with it in hand saying he dissapeared and didnt come back he would have been a lot more interested!
just out of curiosity what time of night was it? when you have been running non stop for hours with hundreds of drunks shouting at you ya do get well worn out and will make mistakes (again though the apology doesnt hurt, doesnt take much time when handing over change)
a simple apology from the manager would have done the job too, rather than fobbing you off, wouldnt exactly have taken longer!

courtious staff seems to be a hard thing to find in dublin, i was talking to an ex manager of a bar along the quays who was driven mad by who the security did and didnt let in. (she actually got denied entry (while dressed as you would for an office) and refused a reason herself when coming back from a coffee break! a night in the place was like redz but the aim was so much higher!

coylemj

I've seen on other fora where Temple Bar pubs aren't known as good employers, they take on staff based on them serving at the counter on unpaid probation so it's no surprise when they start to rip off the customers, they're probably being paid crap and there's no tips.

With sophisticated stock management systems and use of CCTV and private detectives to observe them at all hours of the day or night, bars and hotels have succeeded in all but eliminating employee fraud so crooked bar staff have turned to ripping off the customers instead.

It amounts to either the overt rip-off described above where staff give back change for 10 or 20 when the customer has tendered 50. What's much more prevalent if you watch out for it is where they simply give you less change that isn't as obvious and of course in a very busy bar it's very difficult to get the barman's attention, especially when he's served you a few minutes ago so he knows that you've a query which is the cue for him to conveniently concentrate on serving customers at the other end of the counter.

I was with a group of friends in D4 having a few drinks about a year ago, it was midweek and we decided to go to a different pub beause the place we were in was very quiet. Someone suggested popular pub 'x' which is well known all over Dublin but I warned my friends that the staff in that pub were well known for ripping people off. Sure enough, we got to the pub which wasn't very busy, it was my round and your man left me about a euro short in my change. If you can't see the cash register and the staff don't give receipts, you are a sitting duck for this type of petty (but it all adds up) rip-off.

So even on quiet nights they can rip you off and it doesn't have to be Temple Bar. Caveat Emptor.