How many people reading this have visited a Steak n' Shake at least once? I assume that most people have, some of you probably with me at least once. In case you haven't, or you're just not aware, when one goes to Steak n' Shake, their bills come pre-split (in a way). It lists what each "seat" ordered, the total for that seat, and then the total for the entire party. It's nice, because it makes it SO easy to split a bill. No trying to remember what each person's meal cost, no trying to factor out tax so that someone doesn't grossly over or under pay. It's simple. But apparently, it's only simple for the customers.
A friend was in town last week, and we went to Steak n' Shake. We both got the same meal, except I had a milkshake and she had something else that wasn't a milkshake (was it water? tea? She reads this, so she may remember). Moving on. When the bill came, it listed each seat total, with one saying "double with cheese" and "cookies and cream shake" and the other saying "double with cheese" and "something not a shake".
(A short aside: the waitress brought my milkshake out AFTER our meals had arrived. She actually came over after we'd been waiting over 15 minutes for our food--which I'm not opposed to in a restaurant where they're actually out killing your steakburger when your order comes in. Anyway, she comes out to ask if she can refill our drinks and apologize for the wait for our meals. When she asks, "Can I get you a refill?" I tried to politely respond, "No, but you can get me my shake." Yeah, the food came within 5 minutes, and my shake arrived a little after that. I get annoyed when I go places and my appetizer isn't served prior to my main course. Imagine my displeasure that my beverage arrived post-first-bite of the burger. Not. Okay.
And now back to our feature presentation . . .)
So my friend and I go to pay our bills. I hand the cashier the check, tell her we need to split the bill, and I'm paying for the double meal and the shake. She punches approximately 26 buttons and tells me my total is $3 something. I must have given her a stupid look, because she mumbled something about a milkshake. I corrected her, again politely, that I'm not just paying for a shake (Seriously? Why would my friend come in and eat TWO of the same meals, while I sipped on my late-shake?). She gets all freaked out because she already split the bill and doesn't know how to un-split it. After calling for someone to help her and while having to wait for that person, I tell her just to ring up the whole bill. The meal was $4, so friendly and I just decide to trade cash, and I'll just swipe my debit card for the whole thing. This is, apparently, just as complicated as splitting it. It takes another 3-4 minutes before the bill is put back together, my card swiped, and the transaction finished.
And for the grand finale, she doesn't tell me until AFTER the whole incident is finished and the transaction complete that the receipt printer ran out of tape, she didn't know how to refill it, and wants to know if it's okay if I don't get a receipt, because she can't reprint it if I do. A little late, don't you think?
I guess I can't blame some of the people who come into the 'mart and assume I'm not firing on all pistons. Look at their reference points.
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