A woman was shocked when she went out for dinner with her friends and discovered that the bartender had charged her money to spike her drink.
the woman who goes @blondeswhoeat In one post she made on social media, she went out to dinner in Dallas, Texas, and noticed a “prep” charge on her bill.
“Usually I don't look at the bill, I just say 'Yeah, looks good, that's my card' – I know it's ignorant to say that, but whatever,” she said.
“We got the bill and in my mind it was like we only got $150 worth of food, which was awesome. So how did we get $530?”
She shared her bill because she needed some kind of justification or wanted to know if it was normal, as she had never heard of it before.
She and her friend bought four skinny, spicy margaritas that cost $14 plus $3 prep. When she asked what prep was, the server told her it was “shaking the margarita.”
In reality, the drink ended up being $17, and the woman said that was the price it should be on the menu.
Another drink, priced at $32, cost $13 to prepare.
“Thirteen dollars to shake a margarita,” she asked, before she pointed out that another woman had received three cocktails that had a $15 preparation fee.
The preparation fee also changed depending on how much alcohol was added to the drink – for example, ordering a double shot.
In total, all beverages incurred an additional preparation fee of $80.
“All this is saying is, what the hell? This place charges money to shake your margarita. And he was saying they charge money to prepare your choice of tequila,” the woman said.
Social media users were equally shocked by the woman's experience.
“Bartenders and bar owners here all their lives – this is crazy. Unacceptable that they haven't come forward. Hidden fees for drinks is crazy,” one said.
One said: “I would 100 per cent dispute these fees. If these fees aren't written on the menu they seem illegal.”
“Charging prep is crazy, but tell me why does it fluctuate based on the quality of the tequila? Do they shake it differently? What's the difference between a $3 shake and a $20 shake? At least keep it by the table,” said another.
