Sat 25 Mar 2006
This is something that annoys the hell out of me! Restaurants that have and enforce a minimum charge policy at all times!
We were talking about that the other day while deciding to go to a place for coffee. Someone mentioned that we can’t go there since they have a minimum charge policy!
Ok, I can understand minimum charge back in the day when Fridays used to be full with 50 people waiting in line and most people there are big groups of kids! This way the restaurant is not losing any business since its packed anyway and they guarantee that people who want to eat will get seats instead of the 5 people tagging along in the 7 people group who are just there to look at others! Even in that case, I remember they used to be flexible about it!
On the other hand, you have places like Villa Fairouz, Hangout Lounge, and Astra Lounge that enforce a minimum charge policy at all times! Go to villa fairouz anytime during the day and its empty, only on weekend nights does it get packed, while the other two places mentioned are almost always empty anyway! Why the hell would a place like Astra Lounge have a minimum charge policy of 2.5 KD when the place is ALWAYS empty?! At most it has 3 or 4 people not more! I remember once going there with a group of 15 people, and not everyone wanted to order, but they still forced us to have a minimum charge for each person!!! Obviously, we were all angry about it and havent been there since!
Instead of being rational and serving 10 out of the 15, they lost 15 customers for good! The place was freakin empty!!! Noone else was there but us! Idiots I swear! Not only did they lose out on around 30 KD, but they lost customers! Bad business!
Same with Villa Fairouz! Apparently they started the same concept! My friend was telling me that he went there with another friend during the day, around 3 pm, and ordered sheesha and coffee. The waiter asked if they wanted anything else, they said no, so he said sorry there is a minimum charge of 7.5 KD!!! 3 pm on a weekday, the place is deserted!! Again these 2 people couldnt help but laugh about it and leave and decided not to come back again!
Why do we have so many idiots in charge of businesses?? The concept of customer service is nonexistant with some people! I understand if you want to have the minimum charge policy, but use your freaking brains in applying it!
12 Responses to “Sorry … minimum charge!”
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March 25th, 2006 at 11:41 am
i want to understand what the concept is behind this.. at first thought, i was thinking that empty places would have that policy since they arent making any money and are enforcing to actually make some.. but im guessing thats not the deal? so the crowded places are the ones that its logical to have this policy? help me out here Q
March 25th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
i sooooo understand your frustration…there is this one sheesha place that my friends and i frequent and they have the bloody minimal charge bs..it’s like calm down folks…you’re looosing money..some business is better than NO business! i suppose the irony is lost on them…oh well..
March 25th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
oh..i was soo caught up in the moment that i forgot to mention that this is the first time i visit this site…and i like it already!!
March 25th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Maybe they’ll smarten up once they realize how it’s affecting their business and reputation. Bad word-of-mouth is a killer for any business.
March 25th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
and there is minimum charge for delivery, like 2KD for fast food restaurant,
but 20 KD is too much…
well that’s Sakura Express’s minimum charge for delivery.
call and ask: 5744447
March 25th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I agree. The prices are going up because there are too many people who show up just to be part of the crowd and not for the food. Like you said, adding to the price doesn’t solve anything because customers will find someplace else to go. We wouldn’t have this problem if people acted more civilized.
March 25th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
snookie, I need help with this myself! Some businesses just dont make sense!
desperate housewif, welcome to my blog and glad u like it
U said “some business is better than NO business!” The problem is that u know that, I knwo that, my little 4 yr old cousin probably knows it too! Unfortunately, these people seem to have no sense at all!
Toomz, a place like Astra lounge is definitely not making money anyway! So I dont think it can get any worse ;P
iDip, minimum charge for delivery I can understand, bcz it means they will have to cover cost of driver, car, time of the driver, gas….etc. So they dont want to waste their time on small orders, but inside the restraurant when its empty!?!? Everyone is already there and getting paid, so just let them do their job and make SOME money out of it at least!
3baid, at places like that, the management isnt acting civilized!
March 25th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
they try to be classy
for some reason they think when they have something like minimum charge they would have a barrier only high class who attend to
remind of some coffe shop in salmiya , small one but it looked kinda fancy
so we enterd ( me and 2 friends ) the waiter tell us its 5 KD minimum bill , we say okay
we sit down and ask for the menu ( you would assume that with a minimum charge they have a big ass menu ) he hand us a plastic paper and before we read it he offer a vivan water glass bottle and says its 2.5 so it would help with the minimum …
to me that was hella rude so i told him that and left
March 25th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
I once asked a friend who runs a similar place about the same thing.. he had 2 relatively reasonable justifications: a) outlet owner wants to maintain a certain level of “clientele” and b) they make enough business on the weekend for them
to keep this policy running al week long..
not that I agree with them (because I think its a very short-sited vision) but I understand where they come from
March 25th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
!لحظة يبه
Let’s go back to discussing prostitutes!
March 26th, 2006 at 12:30 am
خووش موضوع كيو
أعتقد أكو بعض الاماكن يستغلون أنهم أماكن صخة و اماكن مواعد فيحطون المنمم جارج لانهم يدرون الي بيواعد ما يهمه اذا بيشرب عصير بدينارين
بس مثل ما قلت سالفة المنمم جارج حدها سخيفة و أحسها تطيح سوق المكان, المكان الزين و المحترم يعامل الناس كعملاء و زباين مو يعاملهم كفلوس!
عموما هالسالفة تبين لك عقلية راعي المطعم الخايس, معني شخصيا من عشاق فلا فيروز بس أول مرة أسمع هالسالفة
بعض الاماكن تكون أماكن قزز فيخافون ايونك 4 شباب و يقعدون بس يطلبون ماي , هني يحق للمطعم ان يحط حد أدنى
March 27th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Muslims=A “New” Market Segment.
Have you seen Sami Yousif?: The artists who sold over a million copies of his albums, singing about the prophet Mohamad, and issues related. This morning he was being interviewed by Marina FM. Dude, he has so many followers, and he is making so much money…Hmmmm Ok jeans is already taken, Im taking advantage of this market….!!! Shari’a compliant porn perhaps?