Lemon triggers sour exchange with cafe
Hannah from North Yorkshire left an angry TripAdvisor review for Bennett's Cafe & Bistro in High Petergate, complaining she was on a tight budget and was still charged 2 ($4.40) for a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon. "When I asked why I was being charged so much for some water, the waiter rudely said, 'Well, do you know how much a lemon costs?' Hannah wrote. "Instead of letting it slide the cafe responded: 'I'm sorry that you feel that you were ripped off and I'll try to explain why you weren't ... The waiter showed you to your seat, gave you a menu and took your order. He entered it into the till, collected a cup, saucer and spoon and took them into the kitchen. There, he selected a knife, chopping board, got a lemon from the fridge, cut off a slice and put it in the cup. Then, he returned to the dining room, drew off the necessary hot water and carried the cup to your table. When you were leaving, he printed off your bill, took it to you, processed your credit card payment and cashed off the till. After you left, he cleared away your cup, saucer and spoon, took them into the kitchen, washed and dried them, along with the chopping board and knife and put away the lemon.Then, he restacked the cup, saucer and spoon, wiped down your table and replaced the menu, awaiting the next customer. That's at least 2-3 minutes' work for the waiter. The cost of overheads for the business, ie, rent, business rates, electricity costs, bank charges, etc works out at 27.50 per hour of trading. I pay my colleagues a decent living wage and after taking into account holiday pay, national insurance and non-productive time prior to opening and after closing, the waiter who served you costs me 12.50 per hour. Therefore, together the cost is 40 per hour or 67p per minute, meaning that the cost of providing you with 2-3 minutes of service was 1.34-2. Then the Government adds on VAT at 20 per cent which takes the cost of that cup of fruit infusion to between 1.60 and 2.40. Perhaps the rudeness you perceived in me was triggered by the disrespect I perceived in your presumption that you could use our facilities and be waited on for free.'"
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