[Vnbiz] Restaurant charges

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear chi Dieu Anh, Anh Binh, Anh Toan, V. & CACC,



Thanks for the notes on this issue.  Together you have raised some very
interesting (and important) issues in competition.  One is the issue of
customer satisfaction; the other one is "standardization."  But before going
to these issues and other issues on competition (in restaurant industry),
let me give you the real-life answer in my case.



As I mentioned previously, as I ordered lunch the waitress brought out a
glass of ice water and a pot of hot tea.   American restaurants (except
"fast food restaurants") always bring you a glass of ice water as soon as
you sit down.  The waitress at this restaurant knew that I like hot tea (I'm
a regular), so she automatically brought out hot tea too.  As soon as I
asked the restaurant owner: "I'd like to have an empty glass so that I can
make some ice tea," she said, "You charge for ice tea."  I said, "Fine.  I
can pay for that.  I just need an empty glass now."



The final answer in my case is that I paid for it, just because she asked
for it.  I was surprised that she would make such a mistake—risking losing a
customer over such a small thing.  Obviously as brother Binh and our
anonymous friend said, it was not a wise move on her part.  But after
thinking hard about it, I thought maybe she was mot as dumb as I
thought.  Maybe
she had known in advance exactly how I would react to such request, i.e., I
would just say "yes" and not get upset over it.  So she could be very smart
after all J



In any event, tomorrow I will continue write a bit about my feeling on
restaurant competition and the issue of standardization in an industry.  Got
to go now.



Have a great day!



Hoanh



On 7/31/06, LeDieu Anh <a.ledieu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> [Vietnam Business Forum]
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear anh Hoanh, anh Toan, anh Binh and CACC,
>
> Just want to chip in by giving real-life examples, too.
>
> I was in Sweden. When we came to a restaurant, a meal was too big so we
> decided to share among ourselves. We asked for an empty dish. We were
> explained that we had to pay some extra because the restaurant has to wash
> it.
>
> In HCM City, in some small restaurants, when you order food for taking
> out, you are asked to pay for the food containers (just VND 1,000), whereas
> if you eat in the restaurant, you can ask how many dishes as you like free
> of charge. Re free-of-charge drinks, it varies from one to another
> restaurant. They simply gives what they can. Should we ask them to be unique
> in their service?
>
> Have a nice day,
> Anh
>
>
>
> On 7/30/06, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > [Vietnam Business Forum]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear CACC,
> >
> > Now that brother Toan and brother Binh have sent some interesting
> > articles on Hanoi restaurants.  Let me give you a real-life quiz for fun.
> >
> > At this Chinese restaurant close to my business in Northern Virginia
> > (outside Washington DC), the price of your main order (say, fried noodles or
> > Shanghai wonton soup) would automatically include ice water and hot tea,
> > free of charge. But if you want ice tea, then there would be a separate
> > charge for the ice tea.
> >
> > Now, I ordered lunch and the lady brought out ice water and hot tea
> > (which are free).  I happened to want ice tea that hot day.  So I asked for
> > an empty glass (which is free of charge) and dumped my ice water into it
> > but retained the ice.  Then I poured my hot tea into my glass of ice to make
> > ice tea.
> >
> > In sum, I was using the things I've got free from the restaurant to make
> > something that the restaurant normally charges a price.
> >
> > Question:  Do have have to pay for my ice tea in this case?  Please
> > submit your reasoning along with your answer.
> >
> > Have a great day!
> >
> > Hoanh
> >
> > --
> > Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> > Attorney of Law
> > Washington DC
> >
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-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
Attorney of Law
Washington DC
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