While we are all entitled to our opinions, one restaurant owner in England was simply not having it with a negative review posted on Trip Advisor by a disgruntled customer.
The owner of Bennet's Cafe & Bistro in York, seriously took this reviewer down a peg or two.
Hannah C took to the popular travel review site to bemoan the prices at the popular restaurant.
"When I asked why I was being charged so much for some water the waiter rudely said 'well, do you know how much a lemon costs?' Yes, its definitely not £2," said the review.
"He then went on to wrongly inform me that a ‘pot of tea for one’ (which is what I was charged for) is the same price as a lemon. To show just how ridiculous this is, my friend ordered a slice of chocolate cake which was £1.90.
"Dreadful place, would definitely not recommend, and the rude waiter that served me should be sacked. I will not be returning and will be advising friends and family not to go there."
But the owner was quick to reply to Hannah with a detailed breakdown of the costs of running a restaurant explaining exactly why her tea cost that much.
"I’m sorry that you feel that you were 'ripped off' and I’ll try to explain why you weren’t," came the response.
"The cost of overheads for the business, i.e rent, business rates, electricity costs, bank charges, etc works out at £27.50 per hour of trading.
"I pay my colleagues a decent living wage and after taking into account holiday pay, national insurance and non-productive time prior to opening and after closing, the waiter who served you costs me £12.50 per hour.
"Therefore, together the cost is £40 per hour or 67p per minute, meaning that the cost of providing you with 2-3 minutes of service was £1.34 – £2.00.
"Then the government add on VAT at 20% which takes the cost of that cup of fruit infusion to between £1.60 and £2.40 irrespective of whether you had a teabag costing one and a half pence or a slice of lemon costing five pence.
"I accept that it makes the price of a cuppa in a city centre cafe look expensive compared to the one you make at home but unfortunately that’s the cruel reality of life."
Yeah Hannah, you have been served.
