A West Country man has revealed his anger after he paid a £40 bill for two flat whites at Bistrot Pierre. Ricky Perry, from Plymouth, purchased the coffees during the Farmer's Market at Royal William Yard in August, where an unexpected turn of events turned into weeks of constant back and forth.
As reported by Plymouth Live, the issue arose when an employee at the Plymouth establishment accidentally left another table's payment on the card machine. This resulted in him paying for their bill as well as his own when, according to the chain's prices, a flat white costs £2.85. Ricky stated that the Bistrot Pierre staff would not inform him of the problem initially, but he was later told what went wrong and he subsequently requested a refund.
However, he says that none of the staff working at the restaurant that day knew how to process a refund and that he was told to come back when the general manager was in. Furthermore, Ricky claims that, upon returning, he was treated as if he had made the mistake himself.
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Ricky said: "The manager actually said to me, 'It does pay to look at the screen before you pay for things'. When she came out with that I found it quite rude.
"The first thing to come out of her mouth should have been, 'I'm ever so sorry about this'. It definitely sounded like she was blaming me for the error.
"She told me she hadn't needed to do a refund in six months so it was probably a case of she didn't really know how to do it and she also didn't want to do it. So instead of just admitting that she came straight at me - an apology just would have been nice."
He recounted that he was then asked to leave again and that he would receive a call once the refund had gone through - which Ricky claims that in actuality two hours passed and he had heard nothing back.
He returned to Bistro Pierre, where he was then told it would take two to five working days for the refund to go through. Five days later, Ricky said that there was still no refund that had appeared in his bank account.
Upon contacting the chain once again, he said that he was told to show “some patience", which was when Ricky allowed for a week to go by until further notice. Seven days later, he stated that nothing ever came through. He referred his long-standing issue to another member of staff, who said they had seen his email but had made stock filling a 'priority' instead.
Ricky said: "I kept getting passed from one person to the next and no one seemed to be able to do a simple refund. They were quick enough to take the money from my account. I just don't think it's on to be honest."
Ricky says that on a whole, throughout the past three weeks, he has called Bistrot Pierre at least four times and emailed at least six times. Ricky said that before the troubles arose with his refund he had rather enjoyed visiting the eatery often. He now states that he would 'never go back'.
A spokesperson for Bistrot Pierre stated the refund only amounted to £32 but said Ricky had been credited with a £40 gift voucher as an apology. They stated this had all been processed by August 30.
However Ricky says he is yet to receive any money and had been informed just the other day, on September 1, that he would receive the payment in the next two to five days.
A spokesperson for the restaurant said: "The refund of just over £32 was made to the customer immediately following the overpayment, but the customer in question did let us know this week that it had not been credited to his bank account. By way of apology for the inconvenience a further credit of £40 was issued back to his card and in addition a £40 gift voucher was offered to him, to spend in the restaurant at a time of his choosing.
"This was all confirmed by email to him on August 30. Customer service is very important to all our Bistrot Pierre staff and ensuring our customers have a positive experience is paramount, which is why we have gone the extra mile to compensate the gentleman for any inconvenience.
"We look forward to welcoming him and his friends back to the Bistrot soon."
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