I once knew a restaurant in Sarasota where the server announced the "Specials of the Day". If you asked the price and said "I'll have that $39 Grouper Special", you got charged $39. If you didn't ask the price, the charge on the bill was $43. (Just an example of DUAL pricing). After customers complained, the state shut them down for that AND for adding an additional item to your bill AFTER the bill was presented to you. The original bill said $71.35 but the charge slip was now $79.90. When you asked the server for the original itemized bill back to check, they would say they throw it away. "Get me the manager!" The manager intervened and took the $8 off and blamed the server for "hitting the wrong key". !NOT! It was the manager that was doing all the billing and HE was the one changing the prices on patron's checks. And you thought the server was guilty. NO! The restaurant was forced to close by the state, I hope the manager got black-listed and fined. It went on for years before enough people complained.
Sad! Always ask the price (and write it down) - even on the cocktail menu. You don't want $11 Manhattans on the Rocks plus $1 for the Ice!!! One of our Country Clubs was doing that for a while, charging extra for ice!!!
Another trick is $10 off coupons, They total the meal with tax, then subtract the $10 from the grand total. That's wrong and the State Revenue Department should be notified. You only pay tax on the money that changes hands. The coupon comes off first. Tax is charged on the net amount.
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