What NOT to do when you're on a budget...
Micah and I were recently given an Outback Steakhouse gift card that was also valid at four or five other restaurants. One of which: a place we'd never been to called The Bonefish Grill. "I think there's one of those in [a part of town where we often go to walk around and hang out at Barnes and Noble]," Micah told me. I agreed..."Oh, yeah...I think you're right!" Adventuresome people that we are, we decided to give The Bonefish Grill a try.
So, we arrived at the restaurant that evening for dinner. We each ordered a separate entree (which is rare, because we often share), and a drink. My shrimp dish was fine, but Micah was disappointed with his fish tacos (they did taste strange), so we pretty much ended up sharing my meal anyway. We both felt that the meals were overpriced for the dining experience, and that we probably wouldn't return to this restaurant. Oh well, better to be disappointed when you're "not paying," right?
I was about to hand the waiter my gift card, when I realized something. My gift card was valid at The BONEfish Grill. Then why did the logo on our bill say "The ROCKfish Grill...?" Wait a...!
In our defense, the restaurant logos looked almost identical, and both included the insignia of a fish. (although The Bonefish Grill's picture could be more accurately described as a fish skeleton. Eww.)
Budgeting Commandment #597: When thou plannest to usest a restaurant gift card, make certain that YOU GO TO THE RIGHT PLACE! Unlike a gift card for say, Target, you cannot return the food you've eaten to the shelf after you realize your mistake!
So in conclusion: we had to redirect the money from my shoe fund to pay for a big dinner at a subpar restaurant. Instead of black leather heels...I get a lingering feeling of sheepish stupidity:op
So, we arrived at the restaurant that evening for dinner. We each ordered a separate entree (which is rare, because we often share), and a drink. My shrimp dish was fine, but Micah was disappointed with his fish tacos (they did taste strange), so we pretty much ended up sharing my meal anyway. We both felt that the meals were overpriced for the dining experience, and that we probably wouldn't return to this restaurant. Oh well, better to be disappointed when you're "not paying," right?
I was about to hand the waiter my gift card, when I realized something. My gift card was valid at The BONEfish Grill. Then why did the logo on our bill say "The ROCKfish Grill...?" Wait a...!
In our defense, the restaurant logos looked almost identical, and both included the insignia of a fish. (although The Bonefish Grill's picture could be more accurately described as a fish skeleton. Eww.)
Budgeting Commandment #597: When thou plannest to usest a restaurant gift card, make certain that YOU GO TO THE RIGHT PLACE! Unlike a gift card for say, Target, you cannot return the food you've eaten to the shelf after you realize your mistake!
So in conclusion: we had to redirect the money from my shoe fund to pay for a big dinner at a subpar restaurant. Instead of black leather heels...I get a lingering feeling of sheepish stupidity:op
posted by Erin | 11:18 AM
11 Comments:
Oh no! That would be disappointing....especially since the food wasn't even that great!
Thank you so much! That there is a sage piece of advice that one would do well to heed. Hee hee hee
R
Oh no! :)
Once my husband and I were given $100 by our parents and they made us a reservation at the swanky restaurant in town for dinner on our 1st anniversary.
We went. Our bill was $80 before tip. 20% would have been $16, so we left the entire $100 bill, with a $4 bonus. boy did we think we were big spenders!
Anyhow, we leave the restaurant and realize we have NO money to get our car out of the city parking deck!!! none! Nada!!!
We should have left our pride and asked for that measly $4 back!!!!
Oh no!! Thats really too bad. An honest mistake, but I can't imagine your shock when you looked more closely at the gift card!
Thanks for making me chuckle!! Sorry about the loss of the black leather heels!
8^} I'm sorry for the loss of your leather heels to an overpriced, substandard meal. (especially when Micah's meal tasted bad and you basically only got one good meal for the price!) It does make for a fun story to add to your "mistakes not to make twice file". ;-) It reminded me of one of the stories from long ago in our own personal "mistakes file". (this file is quite full I might add :-() I had planned a special night out for our anniversary and made reservations at an upscale restaurant in town. We had wanted to try this place ever since we moved into town...but never could justify the cost. I had, however, been saving towards this anniversary and was glad for a special night out! Upon phoning the restaurant, I was impressed when the courteous young man on the phone asked if we were celebrating a special occasion. I proudly informed him it was our anniversary. We had a lovely meal (carefully chosen to stay within our limited budget) as we especially enjoyed listening to the live piano music in the background. After our meal we were so impressed when our waiter arrived at our table to deliver a small white cake with the words "Happy Anniversary" adorning the top. How very nice of this restaurant to end our special date with such a thoughtful way to commemorate our celebration. At least that was our thought until the waiter brought our bill and we noticed an extra $7 charge for the unsolicited cake. I know $7 doesn't seem like a big deal these days... but back then it sure felt like a lot!! Being single income parents of a young family it represented money that I would have gladly spent another way. Since I was fairly unfamiliar with the ways of the "rich and famous"...it never even dawned on me that we would incur "hidden charges" by simply stating it was our anniversary. We should have said something to the manager that we didn't think it fair we were charged for something we didn’t order... instead we paid the bill and left (I was feeling rather ignorant & frustrated.) I'm sure these "hidden fees" didn't bother 99.9% of their clientele. LOL (Translate: if you have to ask you probably can't afford it) The cake didn't even taste very good!!!
Hi Erin
An easy misktake to make Darls!
Have a good weekend.
Tania in Oz
Fancy making a mistake on the word mistake!
Tania again.
Oh no!!!
Whoops! That's a bummer :O I'm not married yet...but should be in the next year or so. I'll keep that in mind ;) I just found your blog from Biblical Womanhood...I've been reading through, and I linked to you. Great blog!
Oh man, wow what a bummer, it's good that you even had money! :0)
Very funny!
Sorry to hear about that! I'm pretty sure I know EXACTLY where you are talking about!! Is that little area very close to the mall and a Cheesecake Factory too? If so,we live not too far from there and frequent that area all the time. :)
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