Support NeoGAF

[frontovik]

'Free meal' garage customer's £700 bill at top London restaurant

A woman who was offered a free meal by an Audi garage which damaged her car ran up a £700 bill at a celebrated Michelin-starred London restaurant.

Siobhan Yap, 27, from Hertfordshire, treated her mother to dinner after her Audi A3 convertible was hit while parked on Watford Audi's forecourt.

Watford Audi agreed to pay for a meal for two, so Ms Yap headed to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Covent Garden.

Watford Audi said the £714.61 bill was "excessive", and offered to pay half.

In response, Ms Yap said that Audi should have "specified a price limit".

The garage repaired Ms Yap's car - which she had bought second-hand for £20,000 - after it was damaged by a delivery vehicle before she could pick it up from the forecourt.
Audi gave her a courtesy car and offered to cover the cost of a meal for two "for the inconvenience caused".

Ms Yap and her mother dined at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Covent Garden
While at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Ms Yap and her mother enjoyed four glasses of champagne, two bottles of wine costing £69 each, six cocktails totalling £86 and a sloe gin.
The "small tasting dishes" they tried included one La Truffe Noire at £35, two St Jacques scallop dishes costing £29 each and two La Volatille risottos totalling £42.

Ms Yap told the JVS show on BBC Three Counties Radio that Audi should pay the whole bill because she had to send the car back for further repairs, and the cost was "relative to what they put me through and their customer service levels".

"They put me through a lot of stress and it was a really nice restaurant," Ms Yap said. "They should have specified a limit."

A Watford Audi spokesman said it was "excessive expenditure for two diners", but as it was "keen to make amends for the incident" it agreed to cover half the bill, equating to £357.

"We believe this is a fair and reasonable amount given the circumstances, and we stand by the decision taken," said the spokesman.

Etiquette expert William Hanson said the garage should have set an upper limit and should "learn a lesson" and "absorb the cost". But he said that "you don't need to perhaps drink that much if someone else is paying".

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-32605972

EDIT:

Not sure if it's the same where you live, but garages like this in the UK are independently owned businesses that hold licenses with car manufacturers. They are not owned by the manufacturers themselves.

edit: This is the owner in question. http://www.spireautomotive.com

Did she make a smart move by fully exploiting Audi's offer? Or was her decision unethical and she should have been more restrained.

I'd say that Audi expected her to be reasonable when choosing from the menu, and she should take responsibility to cover the remaining costs of the bill.

 

[Kaname]

Sounds like a dick and completely unnecessary move considering they even repaired her car.

 

[Photolysis]

Seems very unethical to me. It's taking a nice gesture of goodwill and making a mockery of it.

 

[DrBo42]

I think they can afford it. Personally I wouldn't have done it but eh.

 

[TheAbsolution]

A free meal is a free meal.
They set no price limit so she's free to go for it IMO.

 

[xxracerxx]

Should have set a limit. I am sorry but if they offer to treat at a fancy spot, I would go all out as well.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Taking advantage of goodwill in this case. Audi should only have to pay for half of that insane bill.

 

[antonz]

They goofed by not limiting so the woman isn't wrong really but still kind of shitty.

Something tells me they probably wasted most of what they ordered or were so piss drunk they couldn't even begin to enjoy anything. 2 bottles of wine, 4 glasses of champagne and 6 cocktails for 2 people.

 

[iMax]

But did she tip?

 

[FriedConsole]

This does sounds like an Audi owner.

 

[Fatalah]

Bad manners.

 

[PSYGN]

A free meal is a free meal.
They set no price limit so she's free to go for it IMO.

It's people like you...

 

[iMax]

This does sounds like an Audi owner.

This is a very, very good point.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

We are just the worst

 

[Richie]

They repaired her car, gave her a courtesy one, and also free dinner.

Google tells me that dinner was almost $1,100 dollars. For a dinner! Yeeeeeaaaah I mean they should have specified a limit, but really now. Does come across as unethical on her part.

 

[AnimeFantasy]

They downed 2 Bottles of Wine, Six Cocktails and Four glasses of champagne in one meal... what a party

 

[kingwingin]

Dinner for 2.

Drinks for 20.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

Technically okay, morally abhorrent.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

She's a piece of shit, as is anyone else who would take advantage of the situation. She should be grateful they would even accept paying half that ridiculous bill. If people weren't the worst we wouldn't have to assume the worst of people.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

This reminds me of the guy who wanted to test the limits of unlimited internet use and ended up using 700tb of bandwith in a week or something and they had to shut him down.

On one end im glad there are people who push the limits of free and unlmited

On the other end that's just rude to exploit when others are paying for your stuff.

 

[Fusebox]

This is why we can't have nice things.

I just can't imagine doing something like this. Maybe that's why I'm not rich.

 

[JDSN]

I would have done the same thing with no ill intent behind it.

 

[Dishwalla]

Not gonna lie, I'd do that too. What did they expect, a Burger King meal?

 

[jett]

Some people are just assholes.

 

[antonz]

Not gonna lie, I'd do that too. What did they expect, a Burger King meal?

I would expect they did not anticipate almost 550 dollars a person

 

[Richie]

Also, I love the inclusion of an etiquette expert's opinion.
"We'll take this to court...if it turns out my manners were correct!"

 

[Rest]

The etiquette expert pretty much covered it. The lady wasn't exactly doing the right thing, but as things were stated she wasn't wrong, and they'd agreed to pay for a meal for two. They didn't state that the bill couldn't be over $500, which is what they want to cover.

 

[The Albatross]

Disgusting

 

[Cheebo]

Offering a free meal seems like a strange compensation.

 

[Hazmat]

It's a shame that there's people like this that will take advantage of generous offers. That's why stuff like this doesn't happen often.

Legally I'd say she's in the clear because they didn't set a limit, but she's still a greedy ass.

 

[nhlducks35]

Not gonna lie, I'd do that too. What did they expect, a Burger King meal?

You mean there's no gray area between a $5 meal and a $700 one?

 

[Freshmaker]

Taking advantage of goodwill in this case. Audi should only have to pay for half of that insane bill.

That's why you give them a $25 Pizza Hut gift card. No misunderstandings that way.

 

[Jarrod38]

But did she tip?

What about clapping after the meal?

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

 

[shira]

A free meal is a free meal.
They set no price limit so she's free to go for it IMO.

4 champagnes and 2 bottles of wine.
That's not a meal, that's getting trashed

 

[Yado]

Don't blame her at all tbh

 

[Brinbe]

They didn't specify any limit. Don't see any problem here.

 

[RELAYER]

Classless.
Just because you can get away with something on a technicality doesn't mean you should.
Some people have no shame. Gross.

 

[Cagey]

They didn't specify any limit. Don't see any problem here.

If I offered to buy you a meal as a gift because I knocked over your mailbox, you're telling me you'd make reservations for the tasting menu at Per Se and then say "LOL you didn't say how much I can spend!!!!!"

 

[NomarTyme]

Is she opening up the ranch dressing for the pizza?

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

I'm surprised Audi aren't taking the easy way out by saying that the drinks don't constitute a meal. It's normal to expect one or two drinks to go along with a meal, but the sheer amount they had could be argued to be separate.

 

[Rest]

[grotesque women]

This just makes me sad.

 

[Archaix]

4 champagnes and 2 bottles of wine.
That's not a meal, that's getting trashed

Well, she didn't have to worry about driving home.

 

[Rabbi_Vole]

Is she opening up the ranch dressing for the pizza?

Everyone knows it's just common sense to lubricate your throat and coat your stomach with an entire bottle of hidden valley before downing 76 slices of pie-shaped euphoria.

 

[Winterfang]

Is she opening up the ranch dressing for the pizza?

That's disgusting.

 

[PSGames]

Honestly the fact she let them make the repairs there instead of taking it to a separate shop saved them a ton of labor and parts costs. They should just pay it and offer the next person gift cards instead.

 

[xxracerxx]

Oh shit, I thought the dealer chose the restaurant and that is why I wasn't too worried about the price. But since the woman herself chose the place, that is much shadier and taking advantage.

This just makes me sad.

Calling her 'grotesque' makes me sad.

 

[MicH]

Charming

 

[shira]

Well, she didn't have to worry about driving home.

I don't think I could stand up if I had a bottle of wine and 2 champagnes.

 

[statham]

If I was offered a free meal, I would eat a good meal at a fancy restaurant but she took it too extreme, still Audi got a rotten deal but eat the cost and move on.