How Absurd!
Tonight, I decided it was time I treated my parents to a real nice dinner. So I suggested we eat at Senor Alba's, one of the more prominent Spanish restaurants in the city. The meal was superb - the softest bread with butter and a serving of calamares for starters, paella valenciana, lengua estofado and salpicado for the main course, and mango jubilee for dessert. It was definitely one of the best meals I have had in a while. Then came the time to get the bill.
I presented my parents' senior citizen cards, as is our usual practice when dining out, to the head waiter. (Senior citizens are given the courtesy of a 20% discount on each of their meals when dining out aside from other perks like free entrance to movies on weekdays and a certain percentage off on weekends, a substantial discount for medicine, etc, but I digress...) Anyways, the bill came, I checked it out, it tallied, so I gave my credit card. The waiter accepted it gracefully. A few minutes later, he comes back to say that since I will be paying for the meal, they cannot apply the senior citizens' privelege. He went on to say that only if we use either of my parents's credit cards will we be able to use it. Or we pay in cash.
Ummm, excuse me, but this is the first time I've EVER heard THAT. I have dined in other fine establishments (even its main branch in Makati) with my parents and other family members who are also senior citizens and I have never had that kind of rule thrown at me. To make a long story short, I started to argue with the head waiter, just for the principle of it. I could easily have asked my mom or my dad to just pay using their card or I could have payed in cash but hey, I think I was on the right side here.
In the beginning, I tried dealing with the matter logically. I told him, the reason why they have senior citizen cards is that they ARE senior citizens. Ergo, above 60 , and most likely, no longer have a regular source of income. Not everyone above 60 will be accepted, or even maintained, as a credit card holder given the circumstances. So why have that rule? The fact that they ate WITH ME does not take away the fact the they ARE senior citizens. Thus, regardless of who pays, they should still be entitled to their privelege. Next, I tried to appeal to his sympathy. I asked him that if he were in my place and he had taken his parents out to dinner, would he not see that as unfair? After a couple more minutes, I could see he had no intention of budging. So, I just told him to charge the ENTIRE amount to my card and left with my parents in tow. But not without getting his name, the cashier's name and the manager's name first, though.
Oh yeah. That was another thing that ticked me off. When I had asked to speak to the manager earlier, the head waiter came up with the excuse that the manager was in the men's room. Fine. After about ten minutes, I asked for the manager again. This time, he said the manager had already left. Left? What kind of manager leaves before the customers do? I intend to drop by their main branch after work tomorrow to complain about this. Sometimes, you gotta stick by your principles. They haven't heard the last of this yet...
I presented my parents' senior citizen cards, as is our usual practice when dining out, to the head waiter. (Senior citizens are given the courtesy of a 20% discount on each of their meals when dining out aside from other perks like free entrance to movies on weekdays and a certain percentage off on weekends, a substantial discount for medicine, etc, but I digress...) Anyways, the bill came, I checked it out, it tallied, so I gave my credit card. The waiter accepted it gracefully. A few minutes later, he comes back to say that since I will be paying for the meal, they cannot apply the senior citizens' privelege. He went on to say that only if we use either of my parents's credit cards will we be able to use it. Or we pay in cash.
Ummm, excuse me, but this is the first time I've EVER heard THAT. I have dined in other fine establishments (even its main branch in Makati) with my parents and other family members who are also senior citizens and I have never had that kind of rule thrown at me. To make a long story short, I started to argue with the head waiter, just for the principle of it. I could easily have asked my mom or my dad to just pay using their card or I could have payed in cash but hey, I think I was on the right side here.
In the beginning, I tried dealing with the matter logically. I told him, the reason why they have senior citizen cards is that they ARE senior citizens. Ergo, above 60 , and most likely, no longer have a regular source of income. Not everyone above 60 will be accepted, or even maintained, as a credit card holder given the circumstances. So why have that rule? The fact that they ate WITH ME does not take away the fact the they ARE senior citizens. Thus, regardless of who pays, they should still be entitled to their privelege. Next, I tried to appeal to his sympathy. I asked him that if he were in my place and he had taken his parents out to dinner, would he not see that as unfair? After a couple more minutes, I could see he had no intention of budging. So, I just told him to charge the ENTIRE amount to my card and left with my parents in tow. But not without getting his name, the cashier's name and the manager's name first, though.
Oh yeah. That was another thing that ticked me off. When I had asked to speak to the manager earlier, the head waiter came up with the excuse that the manager was in the men's room. Fine. After about ten minutes, I asked for the manager again. This time, he said the manager had already left. Left? What kind of manager leaves before the customers do? I intend to drop by their main branch after work tomorrow to complain about this. Sometimes, you gotta stick by your principles. They haven't heard the last of this yet...
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