This is the review I left on the restaurant's Facebook.

"My mom and I just ate here for lunch today, and we are not pleased. Since Bistro V's food is expensive, we decided to just split a cheeseburger. When they brought out our food, they split our burger for us. We thought that was so kind of them, and were happy with that. The burger (which was listed as $9) was pretty good, but it wasn't much different than a Five Guy's burger. We chose to eat there because we like the bread they bring out, and the atmosphere is pleasant. When we got our ticket, I noticed that the bill was over $17. So, I looked at everything and noticed that they charged us a $3 split fee! Seriously?! So we notified the waitress, who said that it was automatically put on the ticket. We said we could have just split it ourselves, and that we are not paying a split fee. She got the manager (if that's what you want to call him), and he immediately had a snobby demeanor (that could just be his personality; it probably wasn't directed towards us). He said, "Y'all have a complaint?" I told him that it wasn't necessarily a complaint, but that I just don't understand why I have to pay a split fee when we could have just split the burger ourselves. He said, "Well, when two people are seated at a table, and only order one meal, there's automatically a split charge." So, I said, "That's ridiculous. We could have just split it ourselves. Also, what if someone didn't want to eat?" So then he hesitates and says, "Well, we gave you more food." (Which is a complete lie. I've ordered the cheeseburger before, and it was exactly the same size and came with the exact same amount of fries as the last time I ordered it.) They never told us beforehand that there would be a split charge. We didn't even ask them to split it for us; we just said we were going to split it. He did not apologize and he did NOT remove the fee. He made absolutely no effort to show that he is a pleasant or professional person. He took our payment and walked off. When he came back, he said, "Have a good day..." in a snarky tone. (Again, that's probably just how he acts in general.) We will not be back. It's not the fact that it was $3; it's the fact that no one should be charged a split fee, regardless, especially when the restaurant doesn't have the decency to notify the customer before the order goes through. I left my Yelp review and noticed that someone else complained about the split fee. They said that there's a split fee notification on the menu. But even still, how would anyone know to look for something like that? I've never been to a restaurant that has a split fee. It's like they were being sneaky about it; like some kind of fine print scam. It's like you can't come in and sit down in peace without looking at the menu to make sure there's not a "breathing the air" fee. I shouldn't have given a single tip, but the waitress was friendly, and it wasn't her fault for what happened. So, I left a tip, anyway."

They proceeded to leave snarky replies in response. So I emailed the owner in a very professional manner. She emailed me back saying, "Yelp about it". I was shocked. I could not believe that they were refusing to handle this situation like professionals. Not only that, but the owner's friends got on my review and began insulting me personally. The owner's mother-in-law even got on there and said things along the lines of, "People of certain class know that high end restaurants charge split fees. Since when does someone go to a high end restaurant and buy only one meal?" So I said, "I recently had stomach surgery. Why would I buy a meal that I cannot finish, when I can just split it with someone?" Then, a few minutes later, the owner emailed me back and said, "We will not tolerate abuse from our customers." Since when is a complaint abuse? They claim that I insulted their employee by saying he's snarky. Well he was! Wouldn't it have been easier to just say, "I apologize for the misunderstanding."? How hard is that? When they responded to me the way they did by saying "they won't tolerate", that makes me wonder if they will try to sue me for defamation. I did my research and found that the only way they can is if I make false claims. Not a single statement was false. I'm so livid and shocked by the complete disregard for my situation.

Some of my friends got on the review and began cussing the owner's friends out, because they were insulting me. I publicly tried to contain the situation by telling them to not cuss or call names. Not once did the owner publicly try to contain her Facebook friends. Not once did I receive an apology. She even tried saying that I could have my $3 refunded to me. Why would I drive 15 minutes to get $3? Why couldn't they have just given me the refund while I was at the restaurant? I told them I didn't want the refund of $3. I said that they could just give it to my waitress, because she was actually friendly; and that if she declined, then they could donate the money to the charity of their choice.

Seems to me that your "review" was just as rude as any treatment you go. Get over it.

Not at all. I've already had a run-in with you. You're a nasty person in general, and so many of your comments have been extremely rude to other people. Your input is invalid. I hope that you find out what makes you so hateful. Have a nice day.

Never run into it before, but if I was the manager/server, I would have said "oh I'm sorry you didn't notice that was on the menu. We add it so we can enhance your experience and stay in business." Or something to that effect. End of the day, same effect, but at least you would feel better and they get to keep their doors open.

I know restaurants have low margins, I know customer service isn't easy, but a little imagination, fun and training just makes everyone's experience better.

I can appreciate your irritation, although...a $7 burger isn't really a fancy place to eat. If your total bill for a burger, presumably two non-alcoholic drinks, and a $3 split fee was $17, I feel like they're holding themselves a bit high as a "nice" establishment. Given the way you were treated, I tend to think their behavior supports the point that they aren't the fine dining they seem to consider themselves to be.

That being said, I haven't ever been charged a split fee because I don't really split things. I eat what I want to, then take it home or let someone else at my table eat it. Margins on actual fine dining are slim, and you aren't being charged a $3 fee to actually cut the burger, just like a corkage fee has nothing to do with the manual act of removing a cork, but rather the right to split a meal or to bring your own bottle of wine, when to do so without any minor fee is really not customary practice. It certainly would have been nice though if they had put somewhere on the menu that the fee existed. At a nice place, I can see economically the purpose of a split fee and most people paying to eat at a nice place, first don't care about the $3 and probably don't notice it on their bill, and second at an actual nice place, there would not have been any attitude from a manager, the fee would have been removed. The difference in my experience between a classy place to eat and a place that likes to think its classy is that there is an understanding that you sometimes lose a few dollars, but you make up for it in customer loyalty. A truly nice establishment handles the customer in a way that leaves them feeling happy...sure they complain about you when you leave and they roll their eyes when you aren't looking, but they are never, ever rude to your face or in front of any other customer. They certainly don't have their family members replying to your Yelp comments- that would make them look incredibly stupid and any person who was accustomed to eating in nice places would absolutely avoid going somewhere that responded that way on social media if only because it clearly demonstrates a total lack of class.

So...sure, a split fee is normal sometimes, and I understand that you were surprised by it, but I find the behavior of the business to be unacceptable if they are going to cast themselves as being a better than average place to dine. I wouldn't go there after seeing that exchange on social media because it reeks of a scene- something that you will rarely if ever see in a nice place, and certainly not in a way that is exacerbated by management. I'm sorry you were treated poorly, but if it makes you feel better, places like that rarely last very long for all of the reasons I've mentioned above. They will be sad soon enough, lol.

I did not read all the replies. I can see both sides of the split fee issue. It costs money to keep the doors open. I have no patience at all with rude people. It gets even worse with disingenuous people. If I had been in the situation you were in, I would have asked about the fee, which it seems you did. I would have very politely maintained my position with the manager, no matter how rude he became, finishing up with something to the effect that I understood they have every right to charge what they want for their food or services. I have every right to not eat there again. I have also been known to inform people that they will be surprised just how much bad advertising their (insert monetary value here) just bought them. However, I do not go online publicly. I merely discuss it with people I know.

As for split fees, I never heard of one before today, which tells you what kind of dives I hang out in.

ETA: I forgot to add, I would have emphasized that I was angry about the treatment and not the money, but the monetary thing I mentioned above still exists.

Edited January 4, 20179 yr by LittleBill

Seems to me that your "review" was just as rude as any treatment you go. Get over it.

Not at all. I've already had a run-in with you. You're a nasty person in general, and so many of your comments have been extremely rude to other people. Your input is invalid. I hope that you find out what makes you so hateful. Have a nice day.

oh dear, feel free to block me maybe you can review me on Facebook then spend a whole day whining about me here on BP. Seems like YOU have way to much time on YOUR hands!

Seems to me that your "review" was just as rude as any treatment you go. Get over it.

Not at all. I've already had a run-in with you. You're a nasty person in general, and so many of your comments have been extremely rude to other people. Your input is invalid. I hope that you find out what makes you so hateful. Have a nice day.

oh dear, feel free to block me maybe you can review me on Facebook then spend a whole day whining about me here on BP. Seems like YOU have way to much time on YOUR hands!

I have the right to complain about a BUSINESS. You obviously have a lot of pent up anger. There's medicine for that.

BTW a "horrible experience" in the REAL WORLD ?

1. Watching your children starve to death or die of a preventable disease.

2. Being denied refugee status because of your religion.

3. Losing your health care, like 20 million people are about too, because just 25 % of Americans elected a pompous lying windbag president.

4. Being a homeless disabled veteran denied benefits by congress.

5. Dying of breast cancer and leaving three children under 10 with a drug addicted father.

6. Waking up in the morning beside your wife who died in her sleep.

I get the feeling that my post will be lost on you.

BTW a "horrible experience" in the REAL WORLD ?

1. Watching your children starve to death or die of a preventable disease.

2. Being denied refugee status because of your religion.

3. Losing your health care, like 20 million people are about too, because just 25 % of Americans elected a pompous lying windbag president.

4. Being a homeless disabled veteran denied benefits by congress.

5. Dying of breast cancer and leaving three children under 10 with a drug addicted father.

6. Waking up in the morning beside your wife who died in her sleep.

I get the feeling that my post will be lost on you.

Those are horrible experiences. But those things have absolutely nothing to do with my post. Once again, your argument is irrelevant. Move along.

Dang yall.......PLAY NICE OR SHUT UP & GO TO YOUR SEPARATE CORNERS

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@@LittleBill I totally agree. I had a horrible experience at a restaurant in OKC which I found out was part of a local management group. I did a check of Quicken account and I documented that I spent over $5K at their establishments in the last year (hey, I was single and date a great deal). I let them know how mad I was, never heard a response, so I organized a boycott ("let's avoid this place during Lent" - it was an issue with me showing a date a vaping device, and the waiter went ballistic). The company is publically traded, so when I noticed his companies 20% drop in revenue during the boycott, I reminded him, "it is amazing what a pissed customer can do." He actually called me, asked what he could do, I told him to have a talk with a friend of mine who was one of the best customer service people I know. End result, he ended up hiring her to train his wait staff and I feel safe going back to his restaurants. I turned down all of their offers for gift cards etc. I just wanted to be treated fairly.

I did not read all the replies. I can see both sides of the split fee issue. It costs money to keep the doors open. I have no patience at all with rude people. It gets even worse with disingenuous people. If I had been in the situation you were in, I would have asked about the fee, which it seems you did. I would have very politely maintained my position with the manager, no matter how rude he became, finishing up with something to the effect that I understood they have every right to charge what they want for their food or services. I have every right to not eat there again. I have also been known to inform people that they will be surprised just how much bad advertising their (insert monetary value here) just bought them. However, I do not go online publicly. I merely discuss it with people I know.

As for split fees, I never heard of one before today, which tells you what kind of dives I hang out in.

ETA: I forgot to add, I would have emphasized that I was angry about the treatment and not the money, but the monetary thing I mentioned above still exists.

That's exactly what I did. I kept my composure, while still voicing my concern and confusion. And you're right. I should have posted that I was angry about the treatment. Thanks so much for your very thorough input, LittleBill! You never disappoint! I was like, "Ok, when is LittleBill going to comment?" *taps foots*

@@LittleBill I totally agree. I had a horrible experience at a restaurant in OKC which I found out was part of a local management group. I did a check of Quicken account and I documented that I spent over $5K at their establishments in the last year (hey, I was single and date a great deal). I let them know how mad I was, never heard a response, so I organized a boycott ("let's avoid this place during Lent" - it was an issue with me showing a date a vaping device, and the waiter went ballistic). The company is publically traded, so when I noticed his companies 20% drop in revenue during the boycott, I reminded him, "it is amazing what a pissed customer can do." He actually called me, asked what he could do, I told him to have a talk with a friend of mine who was one of the best customer service people I know. End result, he ended up hiring her to train his wait staff and I feel safe going back to his restaurants. I turned down all of their offers for gift cards etc. I just wanted to be treated fairly.

I love this! So glad it ended well for you! And both parties won!

The split fee is not literally for the labor involved with manually splitting the food up between two plates.

It's a fee for the fact that you have split an entree.

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@@Hiraeth I laughed out loud about the *taps foot* comment. For many years in my business, I have told people, "I may be slow, but I'm reliable." Thank you for your kind words.

The split fee is not literally for the labor involved with manually splitting the food up between two plates.

It's a fee for the fact that you have split an entree.

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I know that now. But I still did not deserve to be treated so rudely.

@@Hiraeth I laughed out loud about the *taps foot* comment. For many years in my business, I have told people, "I may be slow, but I'm reliable." Thank you for your kind words.

Hahaha! So glad I made you laugh. You're definitely famous on this site!