Cheap Meal, Priceless Revenge

The waitress' name was Colette Gill. The badge pinned to her chest read "Star Captain".

Right now, she was leaning against the serving hatch, her head down as she tapped away at her phone. From time to time, she would glance at me out of the corner of her eye.

I looked down at the clothes I wore. It was a basic Levi's T-shirt, jeans, and a ponytail I had casually thrown together. I certainly didn't look like the target demographic for this high-end restaurant, where the average bill ran two thousand dollars per person.

But I wasn't a wannabe socialite here to freeload on WiFi or split a bill. I was Nadine Roe, founder of Epicure Culinary Group.

Today, I showed up dressed down because the negative reviews for this flagship restaurant had been skyrocketing lately. I was especially alarmed by the flood of complaints about our service attitude and handling of promotional sets.

To understand what was going on, I had the operations team launch a "value solo experience set" online and booked it myself for an undercover visit.

I didn't expect to experience the "eye-roll service" mentioned in the reviews and end up as a joke on my employee's social media feed.

After posting her update, Colette seemed satisfied, as though she had vented enough. She sauntered over, holding a bottle of Evian, and slammed it onto my table with a heavy thud.

"Here's your water," she announced in a clipped tone and didn't even bother to look at me.

I frowned. "I remember the promotional set includes San Pellegrino sparkling water. It's supposed to be served in a glass with a slice of lemon."

Colette rolled her eyes like that was the funniest joke she had ever heard. "Take a closer look, miss. That service is meant for the original-priced 2,980-dollar set.

"We can barely cover the cost of a bottle of sparkling water for your 298-dollar experience set.

"Be glad you have something to drink, and stop all the fussy demands."

I pulled out my phone, tapped on the promotional set's detail page, and pointed at the listing.

"It clearly says that one serving of sparkling water is included. Are your menus just for show, or do you believe that customers using a promotion aren't entitled to what's promised?"

Colette impatiently waved her hand. "The operations team made a mistake when they wrote that. We go by what's actually served in-store. If you aren't happy, you can get a refund and leave right now. We're not that desperate for your business either."

With that, she turned to walk off, but I stopped her.

"Wait. If there's no water, what about the food? I've been sitting here for half an hour, so why hasn't the appetizer been served?"

Colette stopped and turned around to give me a once-over.

"The kitchen's busy, so we're obviously prioritizing our high-paying guests. The chef will get to your promotional set when he's free.

"You won't die from waiting a little longer. If you want something fast, take a left out the door—there's a KFC down the street."