ComplaintsforLil’ Bits Cafe

• Initial Complaint

  11/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I believe my server's name was K*** (that's the name on my receipt). K*** was rude and had bad customer service. She told me she was the manager and owner, which was surprising, as she had a poor attitude. Here are the facts:

  My daughter ordered the kid's chicken strips, and when I got the receipt, K*** charged me for, "#1 Three Egg Combo". So, I showed K*** the receipt and told her she accidentally
  charged me for this instead of the kid's chicken strips. K***'s response was, "No, that's correct, and I actually saved you a dollar." I was surprised, and said, "My daughter ordered
  the kid's chicken strips." Her response was, "You have to be 9 and under; it clearly says 9 and under on the menu." I was taken aback, because she never asked me how old my
  daughter was (last month, my daughter turned 11, but she never asked). Additionally, when we ordered, my daughter looked at the menu and told me she wanted chicken strips. Then, I
  looked at K*** and told her, "She'll have the kid's chicken strips." I explained this to K***, and said she allowed my daughter to order off the kid's menu, and never told us that she couldn't.
  She responded, "You have to be 9 and under; it clearly says 9 and under on the menu." I responded "Ok, I missed that, but I ordered kid's chicken strips and you never told me I
  couldn't." She said, "I have four children and I always pay full price." I responded, "Ok, but why didn't you say anything before, when we ordered; then, you give us a surprise bill?" K***
  responded, "I don't know what to tell you."

  K*** kept saying, "It clearly says 9 and under on the menu," but their menu has errors. For example, my husband ordered the spicy chicken sandwich with no cheese. K*** responded,
  "That doesn't come with cheese." My husband showed her the menu that said the sandwich came with cheese, and her response was, "I don't know why it says that; it doesn't come with cheese; I order that sandwich like four times a week."

  We had a party of six (four adults and two children), and lil Bits Café charged me an automatic 20% gratuity. However, this automatic gratuity should be off the subtotal, and lil
  Bits Café charged me gratuity off of the total, which includes the tax. I showed K*** the receipt and she looked confused, so, I showed her the math with my calculator. Her
  response was, "I don't know why it did that, it has never done that before." I responded, "Well, you charged me off the tax; I showed you the math." K*** smugly responded, "I can do
  the math myself." I responded, "Ok, but you're charging us off of the total, and you can't do that." She rudely placed three dollars on the table, and said something along the lines of,
  "Here, happy?" Since she was being rude, I pointed out that she also charged us for a split plate. There was no good faith disclosure, and the menu said no charge for an extra plate.
  My in-laws did say they were going to share, but we never asked K*** for a split plate. K***, annoyingly responded, "Here," and threw two dollars on the table, but she said she would not do anything for the chicken strips.

  When I left, K*** followed me outside and told me, "Don't come back." Then, she waited for my husband, stood in front of him, and told him the same thing. I did not mention this to K***,
  but after we left, I noted that she also charged my daughters for adult drinks. I think a drink may have been included with the kid's meal, but if it was not, their cups were much smaller
  than the adult cups, and she charged me adult prices.

  Based on the above, I am disputing the “Three Egg Combo”, kid’s drinks, and the automatic gratuity. Instead of the “Three Egg Combo”, I would like to pay for what I ordered and presumably received, which would be a $7.99 kid’s meal. This would equal $82.32, but K*** gave me $5. So, I should be charged $87.32. Is it legal to charge a 20% gratuity on a party of six when the service is bad? We had six people, but we ordered 5 meals.

  If the customer service was better, I would have let it go, but there were a lot of deceitful charges, and after I provided my credit card, they kept the itemized receipt. My impression is that lil Bits Café is sly, and they knowingly charge their patrons more than they should. There are multiple negative reviews on Yelp due to lil Bits Café’s billing practices.

  Business response

  12/03/2023

  To whom it may concern,

  In response to the complaint I would like to point out the facts.

  1) Our kids menu clearly states Under 10 at the time we did not have the pricing for adult chicken strips on our POS system so the server used an item that was priced at a similar level.That has been updated.

  2) There are signs inside and outside the building stating an auto gratuity of 20% on parties of 6 or more. It all goes to the server and they pay taxes on it.

  3) The sodas are refillable, we give the kids smaller cups in case they spill.

  4) The cheese on the chicken sandwich is my fault I changed my mind about adding the cheese to the sandwich and didn't tell the printer, we are adding the cheese until we reprint menus.

  5) The comment that suggests we are intentionally sneaking charges on our values guests tabs would be laughable if it wasn't so offensive.
  

  We have a good reputation amongst our customers, once in a while we get a customer with a history of having problems with restaurants which is evident by checking their over abundance of negative yelp or google reviews. In closing I'd be happy to refund Ms. H****** twenty some odd dollars and welcome her to take her business elsewhere. Please let me know if there is anything i should change to comply with any laws or regulations.
  

   

   

  Customer response

  12/05/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 20933008. They have issued a refund in the amount of $25.82, instead of $27.78, but I accept this resolution as satisfactory. Thank you for your assistance. It is much appreciated. 
  
  Regards,
  
  T*** ******
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The establishment adds an automatic tip for larger parties but does not disclose this information on any menu, brochures, advertisement, or other printed materials. They do not disclose the automatic tip until you look at your check at the end of your visit. When we told the hostess/ server that the information was not disclosed all she said was “okay” acknowledging that they do not inform you of this yet made no effort to correct it.

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  To whom it may concern,

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. A sign was posted stating our policy on automatic gratuity. The customer must not have seen it nor did they reach out to ownership. If there are regulation regarding auto gratuities that we are unaware of please inform us. We wish to be in full compliance.

   

  Thank You

  J**** *****

  Owner

   

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