“It takes months to find and keep new customers but it only takes seconds to lose them.” -Unknown

What went wrong? Was it me?

I know customers can be a “pain in the ass” sometimes and it’s important they speak up if they are not happy. Well, I will not be going back to this restaurant whether I spoke up or not.

My wife and I went to a “New” Mexican restaurant for the first time and we loved it. We then went again two weeks later as we were in the mood for some fresh fish tacos. We chose our new discovery over nationally famous Rubio’s, who is known for semi-decent fish tacos.

Our server was great and attentive with our drinks and did everything right…up until the check came. Here’s what happened:

When we ordered our meals, we asked if we could get the combo plates of two tacos and substitute grilled Mahi Mahi instead of typical fried-battered fish. It even said right on the menu that any substitutions were “just”.95 cents and the combos we wanted were $8.99.

We also had the choice of rice and beans or a salad. We clarified with our waitress that we could get the Mahi Mahi. “No problem!” she replied and we also chose the healthier option of salads over rice and beans. Our waitress even commended us for ordering healthy.

The tacos were served by themselves, wrapped in white paper long after our salads were served. My first thought was that Mahi Mahi was more of a quality fish than the so-called grilled “red snapper”and mangled looking fish that was on our tacos.

We ate them. They were just okay to poor tasting.

I admit…it was my fault for not saying anything at the time and yes, customers can also be forgetful to say anything about their unlikeness of something. And since we did not say anything, it was our loss.

Then the bill came. We were charged for our tacos at $5.95 times 4 and $11 worth the salads. After you add on our drinks and the side of guacamole, our bill was $49.12. Something was wrong. So, I brought it to our waitress’s attention.

“Right. You said you wanted 4 grilled fish tacos and two salads.” she said.

I then asked for a menu and pointed out what we had ordered and reminded her that she said “No problem”. 2 taco combos sub Mahi and two salads instead of the rice and beans.

“It all comes out to the same price. In fact, you pay more if you sub anything it in the combos. It’s cheaper the way I rang it in.” she said to us little people.

I then explained to her that we were all clear on our order in the beginning and we were clear on what combos we wanted with what.

And she said… “Oh ya. You can’t really substitute Mahi on our tacos. You should have ordered the Mahi Mahi Fajita platter then for $13. It would have been cheaper that way.” By doing some quick math in my head, $8.95 plus .95 cents is cheaper than $13 and still cheaper than what we were charged.

She made a fuss and acted as if we were bothering her now. She looked around the restaurant and suggested we talk to the manager…but she didn’t see him or her. Neither did we.

Okay. So…we paid the damn bill as we were being told we were wrong for trying to save a little cash and being stupid since we did not know how to order properly. “Combo #8 please sub Mahi.” Is that hard to punch in a computer?

So, if any of your customers become a pain in the butt, this is one great way to get them 86’d.

Should have gone to Rubios. We would have saved at least $25.