Todd writes that after he paid for his sub at a local pizza/sandwich shop, the helpful counter person asked him, “Would you like a drink while you wait?” Assuming that she was offering him a beverage while he waited for his sub to be made, Todd accepted. Except the drink wasn’t complimentary.

“I expect that to happen while we are conducting business, not after the money has changed hands,” he wrote to Consumerist. When he protested, he didn’t have to pay for the drink. What would you have assumed?

He writes:

I went to a pizza/sandwich shop today during my lunch hour. It’s a sit down place that also does carry-out. I ordered an Italian sub with anchovies — to go. “That’ll be $10.45,” the counter lady said. So I gave her my debit card and she swiped it and handed me the receipt. I added a $1.00 tip, signed it, and handed it back to her. Then she said “Would you like a drink while you wait?” I said sure. She made up a glass of tea and passed it over the counter to me. Then she wanted to charge me for the tea. I tried to push it back then, but she backed off and opted to not charge me.

When she offered me a drink “while I wait,” after I had already paid my bill, I kind of assumed it was a complimentary drink. If she was going to up-sell me on a $1.75 glass of tea, I expect that to happen while we are conducting business, not after the money has changed hands. Did she expect me to slide my card again and sign another receipt? Maybe after I bought the tea, I could slide my card a third time for a cannoli?

What do you think?

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