"Does that LOOK right?" It's a question I always ask myself before I present a critical piece of information - such as a bill - to someone. The sanity checking in this was is something which was taught to me (and taught well, because it has stuck and is useful) many years ago when learning to use a
slide rule, where you have to mentally calculate the order of magnitude of a result, although you read of the actual numbers to 2 or 3 decimal places.
But I think I'm unusual in asking "does that look right?". Out to lunch today - just myself and one delegate on the
learning to program in Java day that precedes the
Java Bootcamp course, I was taken aback to be charged over 18 pounds for a soft drink and a "lunch special" for two of us ... my estimate would have been (2 x lunch at five pounds, 2 drinks at two pounds) 14 pounds. However, in front of a delegate, I'm loathe to challenge a bill which could be right - and surely the barman would spot anything silly?
Anyway ... I looked at my receipt, a little shocked at the price, as we say down and noted three halves of lager shandy on my bill. Now that was the point at which I did take the bill back up, and ask if it was right; it wasn't, and the barman went away to correct it and brought back a new receipt and four pounds. He didn't seem surprised, and it was more of "yes, that's wrong, I'll correct it" rather than "I am SO sorry ..." ((At least it wasn't "You're too late - you paid it"))
Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Perhaps, and perhaps I'm being unfair to the Xxxx's Xxxx, where the food was nice, the service fast enough for lunchtime, and the prices - including those in the extra menu that the barman helpfully (!) pressed on my delegate ("selling up") weren't out of the question for a lunch with more delegates on another date. But there's certainly a note of 'check the bill, expect to be sold up towards more expensive food' which leaves it as a less appropriate lunch place for us. For others - for example the three old ladies, sat in the window with their three halves of lager shandy for which I had unwittingly paid, it's probably ideal.
(written 2009-09-21)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
M401 - Well House Manor - Seeing how others do it [17] Differing tastes - (2004-08-17)
[514] Crazy Day-sies - (2005-12-02)
[619] If its Sunday, it must be the Norland - (2006-02-23)
[693] The on line booking experience - (2006-04-21)
[699] Extremes costs of getting on line - (2006-04-25)
[714] Room for Octopuses - (2006-05-08)
[736] New Tape Librarian - (2006-05-28)
[966] CSL, KISS and RTFM - (2006-12-05)
[1011] Well House Manor and Beechfield House, Hotels, Melksham - (2006-12-29)
[1026] The Wheatsheaf 2, The Bell 0 - (2007-01-09)
[1091] The Psyche is all wrong. - (2007-02-24)
[1205] Arrival and Departure experiences - another hotel - (2007-05-26)
[1287] Work and play at Well House Manor - Football and Shell Shortcuts - (2007-08-02)
[1301] Plastic or China - (2007-08-12)
[1333] Kasteel Elsloo - Michelin rated hotel. - (2007-09-05)
[1347] Wireless Internet Access at hotels - an update and some pitfalls - (2007-09-12)
[1354] Match the Bedroom to the Hotel - (2007-09-17)
[1356] Crystal Ball - How long do I need to be online? - (2007-09-18)
[1374] Maidenhead Coffee Challenge - (2007-10-02)
[1406] Away or home - which do I prefer? - (2007-10-25)
[1413] The little gestures that can really count - (2007-10-27)
[1454] From Sunday to Monday, from Melksham to the Balkans - (2007-12-03)
[1458] The wrong way to put up prices - (2007-12-05)
[1525] Just one thing let the service down - but that is my memory - (2008-01-31)
[1547] New bathing idea for hotels from Hotelympia - (2008-02-20)
[1597] Comparing hotels - as a guest and from the proprietors view - (2008-04-01)
[1672] The Composting Cone Challenge - (2008-06-10)
[1758] Lindors Hotel, near St. Briavels, Wye Valley - (2008-08-18)
[1915] Quietly putting prices up - (2008-12-02)
[2007] Launch of Melksham Food and Drink Festival - (2009-01-24)
[2105] Hire Car, from Atlanta Airport - (2009-03-27)
[2127] Call in the professionals! - (2009-04-12)
[2308] A new place in pictures - (2009-07-28)
[2311] Floor to ceiling - (2009-07-30)
[2441] Not your cup of tea? - (2009-10-08)
[2502] Monday night, Tuesday night - (2009-11-13)
[2885] Twenty Questions - (2010-07-24)
[2911] Feeding the Grockles - (2010-08-09)
[3054] Longhope Hotel - (2010-11-16)
[3333] Honesty and a friendly welcome goes a long way - (2011-06-25)
[3368] Well House Manor hotel, Melksham - recommended to you by our customers - (2011-07-23)
[3754] Eyes Wide Open - (2012-06-06)
[3776] Some traps it's so easy to fall into in designing your web site - (2012-06-23)
[3794] Should hotel staff sit on the toilet in the customer bedrooms? - (2012-07-02)
[3900] The Xxxxx Guest House in Xxxxxxxxxxx - my stay reviewed - (2012-10-20)
[3963] National TV - Melksham - 9th January 2013, Pre-alert. - (2012-12-27)
[3970] Comparing four VERY different places to stay - (2013-01-11)
[3975] Being an amateur hotel inspector helps me run a professional hotel - (2013-01-14)
[4058] The highs and lows of customer service - Cheltenham - (2013-04-03)
[4081] Pushing down the advertised price, pushing up the total price charged. - (2013-05-08)
[4091] A reminder of why we opened Well House Manor for our customers - (2013-05-17)
[4093] More things to make sure that we do NOT do ... - (2013-05-18)
[4109] What might you find at a tiny bed and breakfast? - (2013-06-03)
[4177] Setting and publishing your hours to suit your customer base - (2013-09-18)
[4245] It always happens to me when I'm in Borehamwood! - (2014-03-06)
[4255] Making a personal gain from a more expensive business hotel stay - (2014-04-02)
[4321] Are administration / review charges on hotel guests acceptable? - (2014-11-20)
[4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
[4373] A long and disappointing evening - (2014-12-30)
[4443] Seventh stay away this year - and it's still only February! - (2015-02-25)
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