Ben is obviously a greedy loser. He asked for his drink with “no ice.” It seems that Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has (correctly) identified a “no ice” drink order as a scam to get more juice than one deserves for $3.95. Don’t worry, folks. They’ve solved the problem. They served Ben a half empty glass. Ben is smart, but Bubba Gump’s “no ice” policy is smarter…From Ben’s blog:
Five minutes later, our waitress returns. The drink doesn’t have ice. But it’s literally half full. That’s correct. They took out the ice but didn’t full up the glass. And there was so much ice that I now have about half a glass of juice. For $3.95.
I asked where the rest of the juice was and she said they only left in as much as there would be with ice. I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say and she left. This was now an intense topic of conversation at our table. Did the waitress hate me? Was this some insane directive from Bubba Gump headquarters? Whatever it was, it feels actively hostile for a waitress to bring you a drink you ordered half full and tell you that’s all you’re getting.
So when she came back, I told her, as politely as I could, that I wasn’t going to pay $3.95 for half a glass of juice. She then informed that she wished she could fill it up, but it’s against their policy to give more than there would be with ice. First she said it was because the liquor costs so much. We told her there is no liquor in a mango spritzer, but she refused to budge. Eventually, she agreed to take the drink away and take it off my bill, because on principle I’m just not paying $4 for half a fucking glass of juice.
But the insanity’s not over. Oh no. Then she brings our food, as I’m happily drinking water. And she says “What can I bring you to drink to set things right?”
Before I could think about how insane this was, I blurted out “Can I have the drink I ordered?” But I could see on her face that this was a no-go. She’d rather bring me another drink… FOR FREE… then give me the drink I ordered… FOR $4. Rather than discuss this insanity, I ordered lemonade and moved on with my life.
This makes us laugh. Luckily, the solution is simple: Don’t eat at movie theme restaurants. —MEGHANN MARCO
QUESTIONS FOR THE BUBBA GUMP CORPORATION [Ben's Blog]
(Photo: Emil Erlandsson)







People like Yossarian make me wonder, seriously, why the hell do people in America tip whenever you go out to a restaurant??? I mean, sure, I understand waitstaff makes minimum wage and relies on tips and blah blah, but I mean, come on. If you’re going to be a total fucking dick when I come to your establishment to be served by you, there’s no way in hell I’d tip.
A tip is just that–A TIP. You get tips for providing excellent service–service above and beyond what should be expected. If I’m getting a grumpy server and I get ice in the drink I asked for no ice in, there’s no tip given. Period. I didn’t get what I asked for and didn’t have a pleasant response from the person whose job it is to serve me and give me what I wanted.
Also, similarly, sure, waitstaff live off the tips and can’t pay rent without tips because they’re only paid minimum wage plus tips. Wah. Cry me a fucking river. I have lived off minimum wage quite successfully in college and even managed to save a rather substantial chunk of change while paying my rent, bills, food, entertainment, tuition, books, etc. Don’t pull that “I need and expect tips” bullshit. Nobody’s buying it.
Anyway, to end my rant, food service is seriously screwed up. You get people like Yossarian and the waitress in the original story, people expecting tips for providing mediocre service, mediocre service in a service industry as the industry standard, horrible food, it’s disgusting.
@defectiveburger:
As you can see from my post (right before yours), I had a problem with some restaurant servers’ sense of entitlement — that they deserve a tip even if the service was bad or nonexistent.
That said, you should know that the minimum wage for tipped servers is lower than the standard minimum wage (it’s meant to be lower because they know you get tips). It varies from state to state, I think — when I was a waitress in Baton Rouge, the server minimum wage was $2.13 per hour (and the owner wouldn’t have even paid us that if it hadn’t been the law). That was 5-6 years ago — I hope it’s gone up since then.
customers can definitely be assholes, but come on, this is just stupid. what this comes down to is lawyers and accountants running any corporate business these days. they don’t give a flying fuck about anything except making an extra .08 cents per customer to make the numbers look better in the annual report. that’s why we all bitch and moan about these absurdities here on the consumerist.
to the disgruntled service industry workers, if you don’t like the ass you have for a customer, do what everyone in the history of food service has done, make a “deposit” of some bodily sort in their food and laugh about it with your co-workers. also realize that the absurd policies like the “glass half empty” by the shit company you work for, makes you look bad to the customer and simply put, sets you up for bad experience with the customer.
@ Acambras—I totally agree with you, and thank you for your post. I’m in CA so the servers minimum wage is 7.50 or so I believe, but the server pays some tax on each item sold. I do know that working as a server can be lucrative w/ tips, but just don’t come off expecting it and if you can’t handle the lower minimum wage, being taxed on what you sell, etc., don’t be a server. That’s kinda how I feel about it
chimmike writes:
I’d say you have it backwards–really backwards.
The restaurant is trying to rip everybody off by watering down the drinks with ice. It just becomes more obvious when someone doesn’t want ice and they are stupid enough to get huffy about it.
If you really felt like this topic was a waste of space you wouldn’t have commented yourself. Clearly you feel very strongly about it but are quite happy to denigrate others for doing the same.
Is the matter trivial? Not on your life. If ripping people off by watering down the drinks with ice wasn’t profitable the restaurants wouldn’t do it, so clearly it is in consumer’s interest (you remember consumers don’t you?) to not get ripped off by this death of a thousand cuts.
@defectiveburger: I totally agree with you, but i think most servers actually make LESS than minimum wage.
Anyways, back on topic..
The mark-up on drinks, both alcohol and soft drinks, seem to be quite big at restaurants. Most people know this, and that’s probably why most people just order water these days.
@defectiveburger:
Yep — it’s definitely not for everybody. It got me through grad school, but I certainly don’t miss it now.
With any job you take, you must be prepared to handle a certain amount of shit with it. Every job I’ve had has had its pros and cons.
And for the record, if the Bubba Gump restaurant had either used a smaller glass or apologetically said that it’s a 4-oz serving before she brought the juice, she could have avoided an uncomfortable situation (her dropping off the juice and walking away) and possibly an unhappy customer. It would have taken a bit of good judgement and initiative on her part to smooth things over before they got rough. But that’s sometimes part of the job. This is why, in most places, the food is served by human beings and not robots.
The restaurant is trying to rip everybody off by watering down the drinks with ice. It just becomes more obvious when someone doesn’t want ice and they are stupid enough to get huffy about it.”
That is, when the restaurant is stupid enough to get huffy over people ordering juice without ice.
I’m a server, and if someone orders a juice from me, I bring them two full glasses:
one with juice only
one with ice only
I tell them you can do with them what you like.
It’s good customer service, that’s all.
(I’m a server, and I get on average 22% tips)
I worked as a waitress for 5 years. When I began our hourly rate was $2.90, when I got a real job and left it was $3.09. This was 5 years ago. Minimum wage for tipped employees is different. Also depending on the state, you will pay taxes on 8-10% of your sales in tips if you do not report enough tips. There is a section on your W-2 called “allocated tips.” this is what this section is for.
Tips are not for “exceptional service.” Tips above 15% are for exceptional service. Everyone should be in forced to work as waitstaff for 6 weeks.
@defectiveburger:
I understand your complaint. I just ask that you be fair. I tip 20% for good service. I’m not saying PERFECT service. I always tip at least 10%. Sometimes a server is so swamped or the kitchen is so backed up that things go wrong.
Servers in Virginia make $2.13.
I averaged $10/hour based on my tips when I was working.
I love all the fools on here who are blaming the customer. First of all, what ever happened to “The Customer is Always Right?” Secondly, if you’re a waiter/waitress, it’s your JOB to serve people, even if they want “one more thing” that makes you run back and forth. If you have a problem doing it, FIND A NEW JOB!
@acambras:
Sorry but that “waitstaff make less than minimum wage because of tips” argument doesn’t hold.
Restaurants are allowed to pay waitstaff an hourly wage starting lower than the state or federal minimum wage. But waitstaff are supposed to keep track of their tips, and if they *end up* making less than applicable minimum wage, the employer is supposed to cover the difference.
The problem is, most waitstaff don’t do this because then they have to accurately report to the IRS that they actually made a lot more than they claimed.
Hmph. Waitstaff make less than minimum wage. What a bunch of hogwash.
Eww… ice in juice? Juice doesn’t even taste right ice cold, even before the ice melts and starts watering it down. Yuck!
@humphrmi: absolutely. When I was in high school I was a busser at a fancy place and I made $2.75/hr plus 10% of the waitresses tips.
Being kids, we reported only $1 in tips nightly so we wouldn’t pay taxes. I generally averaged $13/hr in cash. Which resulted in an unpleasant meeting with the restaurant owner who knew damn well we were making more than minimmum wage but was required to pay us more.
@humphrmi:
I never said that waitstaff make less than minimum wage. What I pointed out to Defective Burger is that there are two minimum wage levels, and that minimum wage for tipped servers is lower than minimum wage for non-tipped workers like dishwashers. When I waited tables, the “paycheck” I got every two weeks was nominal. Most of my money was from tips. The restaurant never compensated me to a minimum that would match standard nontipped minimum wage. Occasionally, if business was so slow that my tips were close to nothing, they’d feed me a very nice dinner.
And if you read my posts (on this thread and others), you’ll find that I generally side with the consumer, not waitstaff (even though I’ve been both).
So please don’t misquote me and then call what you *think* I said “hogwash.”
I worked at a book store that had a coffee house in it. They had some non-coffee drinks that had ice put into them and customers would constantly order them asking for no ice. They then would be told that the machine supplies the same amount of drink for each order and its automatic. They’d usually change their mind on it or cancel the order and order something else after the drink was already made. The store policy was they could do that, so I guess either way the company was losing half a cup of juice so often.
Don’t hate on me for hating. I’m no longer in food service because I don’t need to be. My feelings about cheap douchebags were kept out of my fantastic, prompt, courteous service.
It’s always really easy to tell who has never worked in food or customer service by how they act in a restaurant. If you insist on making life hard for your already overworked and underappreciated (not to mention underpaid) server, you’re probably just a jackass to everyone else, too.
@Yossarian:
If by asking for a drink without ice (for whatever reason), I’m “making life hard” for someone, then they should let me know, so I can leave them in peace and go eat at another restaurant.
@Parsnip: “Everyone should be in forced to work as waitstaff for 6 weeks.”
Ditto times a million.
The cost of groceries is a small part of the costs of operating a restaurant. Having owned a mid-level restaurant in a previous life, the cost of drinks, including juices and alcohol is a nothing like grocery store prices. A drink that cost 3.95 has .65 of product in the glass, so the extra would have hit Bubba Gump for about .30. Hardly enough to to make the customer feel like they just got spit on. Fountain drinks are of course the highest profit item with draft bee a close second.
@Falconfire: no, a drink without alcohol isnt considered an alcoholic drink because they measure it with shot glasses. grow a brain.
I’ve worked as waitstaff, as well, so I’m not really sympathetic to the crybabies who think that it’s an imposition to make a drink without ice.
First, someone who pays $4.00 for any drink is not being cheap. Cheap people drink water.
Secondly, when someone pays for a glass of anything, that glass should be full, regardless.
Third, there’s no way that the cost of making the drink could be so costly that Bubba Gump isn’t still making profit. I can buy an entire gallon of orange juice in the grocery store for the price of that one drink.
Finally, if Bubba Gump wants to enforce this rule, they should be upfront about it. They should tell customers that drink consist of so many ounces of liquid and the rest will be either ice or air. But they don’t, because honesty doesn’t sell $4.00 drinks.
Half-full glass of juice, half-tip, I say. I despise servers who think their tip is automatic, and don’t need to be courteous and helpful to get it. Their job is to make the customer happy. If they don’t like it, get another job.
@TimmyGUNZ:
It’s a myth. The customer is just not always right. In fact, the customer is often dead wrong. The customer is only right when he is being reasonable.
Some of us just don’t think it’s very reasonable to expect to get a 2-for-1 deal on an item like a “fruit spritzer” just by asking to hold the ice.
Sounds like Bubba Gump. It’s really good food, I’ll give them that, but obscenely overpriced. And they push the theme way too far to the point of annoyance.
I live in Orlando and when guests come over and they see the restaurant at Universal Studios Citywalk, they often want to eat there. Ugh.
Whether that customer was right or not, filling that glass up with juice would have not cost them more than a dollar (I’m being generous here.) It’s just plain good customer service.
What has this dollar cost them? Potential loss of more food items in that party (desert anyone?), future visits by that customer, a post on Consumerist and who knows more else,
I gave up reading after the idiotic comments by Yossarian and Falconfire, it’s people like you who bring the service industry into disrepute.
A glass of juice is a glass of juice, if he ordered a glass of juice and ice then bring him a glass of juice and ice, for you to assume that everybody likes, wants or tolerates ice is plain ignorant.
2 for 1 as an argument is ludicrous, unless it says “half a glass of juice and half a glass of ice” for $3.95 then you should damn well expect a whole glass of juice, not 1/2 of what you’ve paid for.
If the restaurant is so concerned about the 50 cents profit they won’t make, they should put their prices up, see what that does for business.
I haven’t been here more than a year, but this is the most comments I have ever seen on a single topic.
I used to work in a movie theater, and as everyone knows, we charge A LOT for popcorn. I believe the unit cost for a large popcorn was like 9 cents and we charged $4. But, lo and behold, people paid it night after night.
I also think the “health department” rulings about not serving water are an urban myth. We had all kinds of excuses we were supposed to proffer as to why outside food was not allowed. The janitorial contract didn’t cover outside trash, health regulations, insurance, etc. We were there to make money. It’s a big yucky corporation and that’s ALL they care about.
Wow, he sounds like an ass. He got away with it for so long, why did he get angry? Because someone told him no? What a childish way to represent yourself.
On the waitress’s part, she should have just put it in a smaller glass. Or warned him at least.
Either way, he tried to cheat the system and he got caught. Where is the issue?
Maybe people are getting confused over this restaurant compared to a fast food joint. I can kinda see the waitress’ point, but if you request a Dairy Queen Blizzard without the ice cream, you’re not going to get a cup full of toppings. At least when I would go to Chik Fil A they wouldn’t hassle you about getting a large tea with no ice. They’re not going under anytime soon.
There are a lot of valid points. If you ask a worker what all goes into it and the person doesn’t mention “ice”, then Ben is entitled to a full glass of the juice, no matter how pricey it is. If they mention ice, and Ben doesn’t want it, it’s up to the business at that point to determine how much juice he gets. I think they could have done a better job and served it in a smaller cup so that it at least looks like a lot. If he orders a large and only gets a medium size due to no ice, that’s Ben’s fault. I’m no expert on drink prices, but maybe if Ben were aware of the price of the juices that make the drink ahead of time, perhaps he would be more accepting of the serving he received.
He could have also told the waitress that since he was getting half a serving for the full serving price, the overcharge is deducted from the waitress’ tip. The waitresses complain to the management, then the management can get a clue
From what I can see this is more of a cooperation desition then anything. So I don’t think it’s fair to say the waitress was in the wrong, IF it was a cooperate choice. She was unfortunately caught in the middle of the situation.
Yes she could have handled it better, but still to say it was all her fault is unfair to her, and the situation.
No I don’t think the ‘no ice’ comment is unreasonable. Heck, when I go out and order juice I NEVER get ice in it, and that’s without asking for ‘no ice’.
As to the difficult customer comment, sometimes it’s beyound a customer’s control. For example I went out for dinner one time, and looked for something I could eat. Being I’m vegetarian, who occationaly eats some fish, this is easier said then done.
Not all resteraunts bother to lable their vegetarian/vegan food. So I need to ask questions. Like dose the vegetable soup have beef broth in it? Is there meat in this dish? It’s not that I want to be a pain, I need to know this. Some foods make me ill. I haven’t eaten meat that often but because I haven’t eaten it in over 15 years when I do it can make me painfully sick. There are other things, like MSGs I need to know about that can make me sick as well.
I NEED to know about these things for my health. Unless the dish is explianed it’s not possible for me to judge if I can eat it or not. I have found dishes that looked edible for me, only to find out there’s meat in them.
Oh, and as to the water debate, you cannot drink the water out of the tap around her. It tastes green. So asking for water normally is a bad idea.
“Got away with it”????? WTF?? The only one getting away with something is the restaurant which is watering down the drinks and pretending they are full.
Unless the menu says “Large Orange Juice–half filled with ice–no substitutions” then the restaurant needs to give him a full glass of juice. Not to do so would, I think, constitute fraud.
It is entirely un-reasonable to serve juice half watered down with frozen water.
Oh, and spare me the “I used to work in food service” whining. He didn’t ask for extra, or a substitution, or make extra work for the wait staff. He just wanted what the menu promised–a glass of juice, not a glass of ice with some juice. Serving a full glass of juice might cut down your profit from 800% to 400%. Cry me a river…
I can’t believe how many people seem to have found this post via a link on “I hate customers.com”. Perhaps Consumerist needs a sister site, “Corporitist.com,” where all the customer haters can mingle and share “I hate greedy customers for asking for what’s printed on the menu.”
@Buran: She didnt press charges because she was young and her boss told her she couldnt. looking back on it she wish she had.
@Nero: Those mixed drinks that are non-alcoholic at theme restaurants ARE considered to be just like their alcoholic cousins. Most times they are even mixed by the bartender, and not the wait staff who would normally be the ones to pull the fountain drinks. They measure out the shots for each juice exactly like you would for alcohol, and just like you wouldnt get more booze if you said no ice for a mixed alcoholic drink, you dont get more juice for the non-alcoholic version.
Get a clue before you speak numbnuts.
This is from a Brit
Reading is makes me thankful I’m in the UK
If this happened here there would be several choices open to the consumer – the first being not to pay (UK laws on charges are interesting)! The second being to simply walk out – restaurant has to eat the cost of food & other drinks. Which you going to do loose the cost of the food for whole party or give the guy a full glass?
As to ice, why put ice in a chilled drink? Unless the drink isn’t cool?
On the subject of TIPs – I boycott restaurants that say 10% service charge added, just put your prices up! Does the chef get a tip? nope, if I go into a place I expect that the charges I pay cover everything, linen/cutlery/flatware etc/wages /ingredients – do I pay less if the 8oz uncooked turns into 5oz cooked?
That is exactly why I drink water exclusively at restaurants. They’ll even throw in a lemon or lime for free. I’m sure 1/4 of a lemon cost as much as the coke they’d charge for.
So drink to you health and wallet!
Wow, you can talk about Halliburton or the RIAA but a half full drink is really what sets society ablaze.
Gah, all this ‘server minimum wage’ bunk really boils me over. Servers make federal minimum wage everywhere. There is no such thing as ‘server minimum wage.’ If a server should not make enough tips to make up the difference between ‘server wage’ and $5.15, then the employer must make up the difference. Here’s a tip: if you don’t make more than minimum wage off tips, you’re probably a crappy waiter and should work elsewhere.
Tipping is basically legalized and mandatory extortion (failure to tip means you’d damn well better not go back to restaurant X, because servers definitely will bitch about ‘getting stiffed’ by you to everyone that works there) and the argument of “you can control how much you pay the server” is also a non-starter, as you can ‘control’ whether you pay an extra 15% or an extra 20%. Wow. Thanks so much for that opportunity.
And before some self-righteous foodservice industry employee storms in here to tell me “I don’t know what it’s like,” I worked as a waiter for several months at a chain restaurant. I know exactly what it’s like, and I also know how people like to be treated. I was tipped very well because I was genuinely nice (gasp!) and didn’t view every customer as a constant source of loathing and problems.
The obvious solution to the problem here was to bring the serving in a smaller glass. Or for the restaurant to come off the $.50 it would’ve cost to put in more juice.
A lot of restaruants have machines that automatically dispense the correct amount fo drink so that the waitress doesn’t have to stand there and watch out of overflow. There is nothing wrong with that. Their charge that customers accept by entering the store and ordering is for X amount of juice, and X amount of ice. Period. There is no fraud because the menu does not say 16 ounces of juice. It says LArge, or MEdium, or whatever. And the amount of juice given for each of those sizes is the same no matter if you want it with ice or not.
If you ordered a steak and it came with potatoes, you could not replace the potatos with more steak.
good god. i work at starbucks and if i tried to pull that shit on a customer, not only would i feel terrible but they’d probably throw it in my face. when people order their drink without ice i just give it to them. starbucks is nice like that (at my store anyway).
@Skeptic:
Many you people are a lot of haters. Yeah, “Trick,” asking for no ice and expecting a full glass makes a guy a real scumbag. Ooooh, it is soooooo hard not to add ice.
–
Uh, maybe you should go a re-read my post again?
I was quoting what one bitter, failed food service drone, babbling on about why he/she sucked so much at his job… and pointing out how it is no shock this one is no longer in the food service industry.
@ Trick, who wrote:
I was quoting what one bitter, failed food service drone, babbling on about why he/she sucked so much at his job… and pointing out how it is no shock this one is no longer in the food service industry.
My apologies for misunderstanding.
@alakawaka, who wrote:
Someone already wheeled out that lame comparison. By your analogy, the “16oz steak” on the menu could be 8oz of steak and 8oz of potatoes and woe to the customer who expects a 16oz steak to be 16oz of steak.
The menu, I suspect, doesn’t say “Large glass of ice with juice.” It probably says “Large Juice.” This isn’t fricking whiskey and their is no excuse for short pouring a plain old glass of juice.
Sigh…
Does it really matter if someone is trying to get that extra 2 inches worth of juice/soda by asking for no ice. Whether there was a legitimate reason for asking or just a way to get by “The Man” or “The Corporation” who really cares.
I used to be a waiter for a chain. I quit because I didn’t like the inconsistent pay from tips and dealing with customers period sucks (anyone that has a job dealing with paying customers can’t stand customers). Customers and wait staff will always have friction when it comes to things like this.
Two questions really quickly
#1 for wait staff.
Have any of you EVER written down ALL of your tips and earnings and given a completely accurate number to the IRS? I’ve never one that has. Which is your way to get by “The Man.”
#2 for the customers
If we want to complain about not getting our moneys’ worth. When was the last time you went to a fast food place and your frech fries container was filled more than half way? I can’t remember.
When are we going to start getting up in arms about that.
I have waitressed for 6 years in 3 different resturants, 1 of them corporate. I was always polite and was usually tipped accordingly.
1. The reasons servers hate the no ice thing is because it is a sign that you are likely cheap. You are trying to milk the system for everything you can get, and that probably includes me. It’s just a flag for a difficult table, but every server knows that some people just don’t like cold beverages so as long as you are nice otherwise, it is usually not a problem.
2. If you go to a chain resturant, the servers have to abide by arbitrary rules and have things that are like metrics (selling more wine per table, etc). I could detail how I was not permitted from putting lemons on diet drinks, but this post is already too long.
3. In US resturants, TIPPING IS NOT A REWARD FOR GOOD SERVICE, tips above 15% are. The most I got from paychecks from 80 hours of work was $6. If you don’t tip, you are actually causing me to pay for serving you because I have to pay the tax based on the amount of food I sold. What other industry would that be acceptable? You hire movers that were rude, but as long as you technically got what you paid for (i.e. your stuff arrived unharmed) in what world would it be okay to say that you aren’t paying them the going rate?
The reason most servers end up hating the customers is because some people feel as though they are paying for indentured servants. Please know that you are not the only table the waitress is responsbile for. That doesn’t mean you should feel bad about asking her for something, it means that if you want her to make chocolate milk, refill your water every 15 minutes, literally beg the cook to specially make a dish, brew you a fresh pot of coffee, get your appetizers out while they are still hot, all the while doing the same amount of work for 4 other tables, try to be a little understanding. I don’t go into your job and make large lists of demands, and then pay you half of what you earn from most clients, so please don’t do that to your server.
As someone pointed out earlier, cheap people drink water, not $4 glasses of juice.
Your metrics are not my problem. I am sorry they are your problem.
I think the IRS assumption rate is %8 based on food sales, not %15. Please feel free to chime in with the specifics. It does suck that the IRS clamps down on this under-reported income. It isn’t fair. Some service staff get ripped by this. Some of the better ones get away with a lot of under-reported income *cough*bartenders*cough*cocktailwatresses*cough.
Maybe if my drink was full and not half filled with ice I wouldn’t need so many refills. (Yeah, I know you were talking about water…)
Anyways, I get it. Being a server sucks but that still doesn’t make it right to serve half full glasses of juice. Wait-staff may be the bearers of this corporate stupidity but that doesn’t make it any less stupid.
Me at restaurant: Hmmm…$4 for a drink that’s probably full of ice…I guess I won’t get that drink.
Problem solved.