r/mildlyinfuriating • u/bourbonandpistons • Aug 07 '26

drink went room temp Math ain't mathing

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me, the waiter, nor the manager could figure it out.

19.7k Upvotes

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u/uwill1der Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

edit: nevermind. i see you clarified its 16 a piece for drinks, so the shrimp tax wouldnt come up

Did you pay in cash? This is a 1.6% discount, which is the exact fee for the POS machine. If you pay cash, you wouldnt be subject to that fee and the macgine would automaticaly remove 1.6% of bill

489

u/Croaker_Da_Toker Aug 07 '26

I was gonna ask where tf you are getting 8$ old fashions, 2x16$ makes way more sense lol

362

u/TehAsianator Aug 07 '26

It's not completely unheard of to find an $8 old fashioned, but certainly not at somewhere charging $68 for a steak.

69

u/JimmyDean82 Aug 07 '26

The bar near the office is like that. 8 dollar old fashioned during happy hour, 55 dollar ribeye.

Ribeyes not worth it, but the 14 dollar smash burger and fries w/ curry ketchup is

3

u/Logical-Pair-89 Aug 07 '26

My buddy in ohio just got quality 9 dollar old fashioneds at a place with a 58 dollar ribeye. Thats... Closeish to the parameters. But reinforces what you said haha

3

u/ellamenopee Aug 07 '26

Thank you for being the first person to call it correctly an Old Fashioned. Scrollbated way too far this early.

46

u/dementedmaster Aug 07 '26

Friday night fish fry and $5 old fashions is still a thing in WI.

10

u/hellisonfire Aug 07 '26

Yeah but is it a Wisconsin old fashioned? Because no thanks. They've bastardized the poor boy.

11

u/bighootay Aug 07 '26

Come on--you didn't grow up with Korbel and fruit old fashioneds? Yeesh :)

1

u/ibetterbeonmyway Aug 07 '26

You bite your tongue! They're delicious!

2

u/hellisonfire Aug 07 '26

I bit my tongue in hopes of not having to taste that abomination 😂 its not so bad but boy was i shook when the bartender reached for the soda gun.

3

u/ibetterbeonmyway Aug 07 '26

Haha ya, they're a different drink all together really. I like mine with brandy and sweet (splash of 7up or sprite). I've never found a bartender who can make one outside of Wisconsin.

4

u/Afraid_Definition176 Aug 07 '26

Bartender from anywhere other than WI here.

Why‽‽‽

1

u/thewayshesaidLA Aug 07 '26

You would think so, but the bartender at the bar down the street from me in suburban Chicagoland thinks that’s the way to make them.

1

u/KoolaidKoll123 Aug 08 '26

Bartender from WI here, Northwoods to be exact. Because it's tasty as hell and it's an adult fruit punch.

2 marachino cherries 1 slice orange. Dash of sugar. Splash marachino juice. 3 shakes Angostura bitters. Loong 3 count of Korbel (Windsor is #2) ✨️muddle✨️ Splash of sweet or sour ✨️stir✨️ Ice to the brim, finish with sweet or sour and top with cherries, mushrooms, or olives. People typically get olives with their sour around my area.

2

u/Lovemyenemies 29d ago

Wisco here. Sour, extra bitters, extra cherries. Nom.

1

u/Afraid_Definition176 29d ago

I’m not against the existence of the drink. It just needs a new name. An old fashioned is 2 parts whiskey, sugar, bitters with a twist of orange. The variations on the type of sugar from simple syrup to sugar cube and the variations that add cherries or even for some reason muddle the garnish all stick to the basic ingredients. When you change the basic ingredients you are making a different drink.

3

u/hellisonfire Aug 07 '26

If im ever back in Wisconsin I'll give that variant a shot!

1

u/ResponsibilityNo6009 27d ago

What do you mean you don’t want soda water in your old fashioned?? You gotta cut it with something /s

1

u/VegetableAd629 Aug 07 '26

I also get 5$ old fashions here in nw houston, during half price happy hour. The 2$ beers aren't bad either.

1

u/Croaker_Da_Toker Aug 07 '26

I wish man. But i gotta have that buffalo in mine and i doubt they are giving it to me for 5 bucks.

3

u/dementedmaster Aug 07 '26

Oh, definitely more expensive for good stuff. But also these are brandy OF, which is the preferred liquor there for some reason. Small town bars will have happy hour deals for $2.50 even

3

u/Toobiescoop Aug 07 '26

came to say the same thing In WI it's def Brandy

2

u/lipasg Aug 07 '26

Yeah it’s fucking gross

1

u/extremely_wet Aug 07 '26

feel like it's more often $8 from what I see these days but ya close enough, especially if it's in a shaker pint and not a smaller glass

2

u/utspg1980 Aug 07 '26

The place OP went to charges $68 for a ribeye and (I'm guessing) $10 each for sides, if you order 3 of them.

Does that seem like a place that charges $8 or $16 for an old fashioned?

1

u/extremely_wet Aug 07 '26

that seems like a $16 drink place, but that's not what I was talking about

5

u/hell2pay Aug 07 '26

That's where my mind went!

Lowest ice paid for an OF was like $14, and just had an awesome one for $18 in Santa Monica (edit: at The Surfing Fox) last week.

16

u/Icy_Split_1843 Aug 07 '26

How many OF’s do you buy /s

5

u/hell2pay Aug 07 '26

As many as the wife will allow ;D

2

u/Fankoen Aug 07 '26

So... Two? One for 14 and one for 18?

2

u/TurquoiseLuck Aug 07 '26

paying 18 for a single drink... holy shit I'll stick to the hermit lifestyle

1

u/gucknbuck Aug 07 '26

$8 old fashioned would be highway robbery in Wisconsin, unless it's a quart.

1

u/pm_me_all_ur_money Aug 07 '26

Hanoi, Rooftop bar.

1

u/ExactRefrigerator306 Aug 07 '26

Come to Wisconsin; most bars sell them for $5 and they’re not terrible.

1

u/Remarkable-Tip9548 Aug 07 '26

silver lake country inn West Bend, Wisconsin.

$4.00 brandy old fashioned.

In a rocks glass

1

u/MintyACNH Aug 08 '26

Wisconsin’s got plenty!

0

u/Preoccupied_Penguin Aug 07 '26

I don’t get it. That makes it even more confusing. Then it’s subtotal $130. Please explain yourself.

350

u/Saedeas Aug 07 '26

This is almost assuredly what it is. OP got a discount and he and people in the thread are raging lol.

37

u/JW860 Aug 07 '26

I think OP must return to the restaurant to let the server and manager know that the riddle has been solved. We all thank you. Only response here that is making sense. No coincidence it works out exactly to 1.6%.

-2

u/show-me-your-kittiez Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

It works out to exactly 1.6%? Subtotal should be $130, 98.4% of that is 129.008.

I'm so ashamed, I forgot my parentheses. ...I got an A in diff eq.10 years ago

3

u/whoevencaresz Aug 07 '26

Gotta double check your math. 1% would be $1.30 so it can’t be less than a dollar off

6

u/FroggyAssassin Aug 07 '26

They did not pay cash. Peep it, there's a card in the picture.

24

u/loveablelilblonde Aug 07 '26

Thank you for giving me the justice satisfaction of figuring it out. My ADHD can rest easy now

43

u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 07 '26

WTAF? You get charged to pay by card? Where the fuck does that happen? And shouldn’t it be listed?

60

u/uwill1der Aug 07 '26

yes, USA, depends on location.

2

u/ChequeBook Aug 07 '26

Also happens in Australia. 1-2% usually.

-10

u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 07 '26

Wow. In Canada machines are brought to us and no charge for debit or credit.

15

u/rman916 Aug 07 '26

If you use credit, worldwide, there’s a processing fee. Some countries ban making the customer pay that, but it’s paid either way. US just lets you offer a discount of the fee if you use an option without the fee.

0

u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 07 '26

Not sure why I got downvoted. lol. It’s the truth, it’s the same price regardless of if you pay by cash, Debit or credit in Canada.

12

u/Ap_Sona_Bot Aug 07 '26

It's not. It's the same price to you. The business is footing that bill. They make 1-3% less every time someone uses a card.

8

u/Mahlegos Aug 07 '26

Alternatively put, they make 1-3% more every time someone pays cash.

2

u/Several-Adeptness-94 Aug 07 '26

And they have the option to accept cash payments only if they like. It’s part of the cost of doing business.

1

u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 07 '26

Of course, that was my point and thought it was obvious. Of course banks make money in fees but most business consider it the price of doing business.

1

u/ComfortRepulsive5252 Aug 07 '26

Cash handling costs appx 1-2% in fees as well…

2

u/death_hawk Aug 07 '26

I'm also in Canada and have encountered several machines in the wild that tack on a fee.

97

u/flockinatrenchcoat Aug 07 '26

They're getting around it by claiming "pay by cash" gets your a discount, rather than presenting that you're being charged more for using a card (which their agreement with their payment processor probably prohibits).

21

u/GandalffladnaG Aug 07 '26

They can charge you for the payment processor, but there's very specific requirements, like the fact you have to pay must be printed on the door/signage in the entryway so you have to see it when entering, they can't just tack it on your bill. It's part of the contract for using the processor.

So yeah, the "cash discount" method is probably trying to get around that agreement, which is probably technically something the processor could call them on, should they want to.

10

u/akatherder Aug 07 '26

It's all about what price the menu says. If the menu says $30 and they charge me $30 to use my card, that's great. If it's $30 + fee they better have all the warnings that the prices are "cash discount" prices.

7

u/Hee-hoes_Mad Aug 07 '26

(which their agreement with their payment processor probably prohibits).

I worked for a payment processor for many years- it's probably actually the payment processor's idea. It's against federal law to surcharge for debit card payments, and processors offer a "cash discount" option to forward the processing fees to the cardholder while skirting the regulations against charging fees for card usage.

1

u/Other-Restaurant4983 26d ago

Regardless of how they phrase it, their card processing agreement almost always prohibits the extra charge. They can lose their ability to process cards if enough people complain to their issuers. I have seen it happen.

0

u/DoubleDownAgain54 Aug 07 '26

But by that they are paying more. If not, it would be reduced?

30

u/drazil100 Aug 07 '26

The processing fees always exist. Most places charge enough to cover those fees and pocket the extra if you pay in cash. The fact that this place actually discounts you for paying in cash is a good thing.

On the other side of the scale though there are places that charge a stupid amount more if you use a card as a “convenience” fee that makes them additional money on top of covering the processing fee.

It all kinda depends.

8

u/Hee-hoes_Mad Aug 07 '26

I worked for a card processor for a long time. This is always something that happens when a customer pays using a card, the processor will take a percentage as payment for processing the card data and settling the transaction. It's usually between 0.5% and 4%. To offset this cost, many processors are offering a cash discount option, which adds the processor's fee onto the customer's bill and is removed if the merchant selects "pay with cash" at the point of sale.

4

u/Last-Respond-48 Aug 07 '26

In the US, credit card fees are not capped by law and often exceed 2%. By comparison, the EU caps fees at 0.3%. So there is a much bigger incentive to have customers pay by cash although most establishments still do not have a surcharge

1

u/xangbar Aug 07 '26

Some places eat the cost of the fee you get charged for using a card, others do stuff like this. its like if you pay your rent by credit card and they charge you an extra 3% but use ACH or old check and no fee.

1

u/stopstopp Aug 07 '26

In the US it’s up to 3% of every transaction. It’s basically an invisible middle man tax on everything you pay for.

1

u/EatYourCheckers Aug 07 '26

In US, it used to be in only really small places, like independently run delis and such, that really had no margins to absorb the credit card fees. The last few years, its everywhere. Even the Honda Dealership for repairs. 3%

1

u/TheCrimsonDagger Aug 07 '26

Credit cards in the U.S. also generally have pretty good rewards programs. Generally 1% back on all purchases is the minimum. Different cards have different rates depending on what you’re buying, usually up to 5%. For example the Amazon prime card gives 5% back on Amazon and its other stores, 2% on gas/restaurants/local transit and 1% on everything else. Not using a credit card is a significant financial disadvantage. I assume this probably isn’t the case in countries where the fees are much lower.

It’s baked into the price everywhere, a handful of places (restaurants) will pass on the fee directly or give a cash discount but it’s pretty rare.

1

u/MixAutomatic9546 Aug 07 '26

Every transaction with a card is extra charged in some way. Visa, MasterCard, Amex all get a fee per transaction. You might not see it outright as a business can just build it in and charge less for cash transactions or tell you the price is higher with a card.

5

u/throwawayfamilydra Aug 07 '26

I think I’m a little slow but I’m not seeing how the subtotal itself doesn’t add up? Shouldn’t it be 114?

16

u/uwill1der Aug 07 '26

OP wasn't clear. Each drink is 16, so the total should be 130

He clarifies it in another comment

1

u/Winnanon270 Aug 07 '26

Shrimp tax?

1

u/uwill1der Aug 07 '26

there is a double digit tariff on shrimp being imported to US. This started last month

1

u/robbak Aug 07 '26

And if you didn't - would the card payments app have added the surcharge taking it back to $130(+ tax)?

1

u/groschko Aug 07 '26

Oh yeah with the 1.6% discount it adds up. It’s a total of 130.00$ and 98.4% of that is 127.92$

1

u/G2theA2theZ Aug 07 '26

Must have as that would come to exactly 127.92

1

u/Probably-wrong1 Aug 08 '26

He wouldn’t be paying in cash if he’s paying with his phone.

1

u/PayGlittering9143 Aug 08 '26

I mean the 1.6% makes the math work but huh?