Do people think bartenders are liars?

ChangeCashMoney

ChangeCashMoney

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The bar I work at in downtown salt lake just started doing an outdoor shot bar so we can make money without people needing to come inside. Super stoked about it, we’re doing $3 tequilas & whiskeys. I was bartending there last night and this dude and his girlfriend rolled up, I told them what I had, and they asked for Patron. The $3 tequila is Lunazul, but we have a bottle of Patron inside. I said no problem, ran inside and poured to shots of patron, gave them the shots, told them they were $9 a piece. (Don’t order Patron at bars, it’s pretty overpriced for not that much higher quality tequila, IMO).

Dude pays me, takes his shot, then gives me a funny look. “That’s not Patron bro” he says very confidently. But it 100% was Patron. I told him “yes it is, that’s what you asked for and that’s what I poured you.” He responds “no man, I drink a lot of Patron, that’s not Patron.” I didn’t know what to tell him, and I told him so. We talked in circles for a second, he asked for his money back, I told him no. He got kinda pissed then just walked away.

That’s the last time I’m going to go inside and pour from any of the other bottles for a customer outside. Disputes like that can’t happen if the person sees you grab the bottle and pour.

Do people just think bartenders are dishonest and willing to pull a fast one on you to make a quick buck? I would never pour something other than what a person asked me for and charge them more for it, that’s a really messed up thing to do. It’s not super often that I have someone try and challenge me on what they gave them, but once in a blue moon they do. It’s weird and uncomfortable, and kind of pisses me off when someone honestly thinks I’d do them dirty like that. The dude’s confidence in saying “that’s not Patron” when it definitely was was kinda funny to me. Like okay, you really know your shit man.. lol
 
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
 
That’s exactly why you shouldn’t order Patron at a bar, lol. We have to markup the price on everything we sell, Patron is just one bottle in particular that’s really overpriced for what it is. When someone insists on Patron even through I’m offering them a $3 shot of a tequila that in my “professional” opinion is just as good as Patron, I kind of just scratch my head and say okay.

Some people are just convinced that they need to buy the most luxury thing available. We have Patron available because some people know that brand and that’s really all they want, but we sell very little of it compared to our well tequila, and with good reason.

14225533:ColoradoDogfart said:
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
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**This post was edited on Jan 10th 2021 at 4:53:30pm
 
This guy sounds like a piece of shit looking for an argument. But you likely didn't store the bottle correctly and it alternated between hot and cold storage causing the taste to be a little off.
 
Haha nah, the bottle is stored very correctly and stays at the same temperature. If he drinks Patron all the time, he’s tasted it at all kinds of different temperatures so even if it were a little cooler / warmer that wouldn’t make enough of a difference for him to tell.

plus for the taste of a bottle of tequila to be significantly altered it would need to swing between pretty big extremes.

14225548:PeppermillReno said:
This guy sounds like a piece of shit looking for an argument. But you likely didn't store the bottle correctly and it alternated between hot and cold storage causing the taste to be a little off.
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**This post was edited on Jan 10th 2021 at 5:27:01pm
 
Yeah if someone says anything to you just refuse them service, they don't deserve to be served if they treat the bartender like shit.
 
14225533:ColoradoDogfart said:
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
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People pay way more for way less in any city, SLC is cheap. $3 shot of well tequila is cheap, some people are just rich and have nothing better to do than spend money.

**This post was edited on Jan 10th 2021 at 5:29:45pm
 
14225533:ColoradoDogfart said:
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
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Underage life lol. Thats how bars work. 5 bucks for a beer you could get a 30 of for 20. They're a bar not a wholesaler.

In Australia beers were 8-10 pretty common.
 
That’s what I thought at very first, but he was adamant about it and seemed absolutely convinced that I’d ripped him off. I think he really believed that what he drank was something other than Patron.

14225555:GreezyBastard said:
Sounds like he was trying to pull a fast one, and get two free shots of patron.
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I don’t think bartenders do this on purpose- I mean why would they risk pissing off a discerning customer to save a little bit of nice Tequila- especially when as you said the markup on that bottle is probably higher than the cheap stuff. 9 bucks for a shot of Patron is pretty damn cheap where I live I think probably 12-15- but honestly it’s been so damn long since I’ve drank at a bar I don’t even know.

Ive had this happen before though: My wife has some kind of condition where she turns bright ass red if she drinks certain types of cheap alcohol. We’re talking like Monarch, whatever garbage tequila is very bottom shelf - Idk we haven’t done a lot of exhaustive allergy testing but it’s a serious enough thing for her that she just makes a point to ask what their house vodka or tequila is when ordering mixed drinks and upgrades if necessary. Well, it doesn’t happen very often but it’s pretty obvious when they don’t. It’s one thing to just forget I wouldn’t fault someone necessarily for not remembering oh they said Absolute when it’s busy or something but it’s pretty lame to upcharge and then serve someone garbage because you think they won’t notice the difference.
 
the best con artists are normally the convincing ones. If you're actually that worried about it though test it yourself? Sounds like a failed con to me.

14225562:ChangeCashMoney said:
That’s what I thought at very first, but he was adamant about it and seemed absolutely convinced that I’d ripped him off. I think he really believed that what he drank was something other than Patron.
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14225562:ChangeCashMoney said:
That’s what I thought at very first, but he was adamant about it and seemed absolutely convinced that I’d ripped him off. I think he really believed that what he drank was something other than Patron.
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Maybe whoever owns the bar you work at is cheap and has been refilling patron bottles with something else, did you crack the bottle yourself or was it already open? far fetched, but could explain the situation.
 
I’m not worried about it at all, I opened the brand new bottle of patron myself a few days ago and I’m certain that’s what I poured him. It’s just funny to me that he seemed so convinced it tasted different.

14225593:daannnnieel said:
the best con artists are normally the convincing ones. If you're actually that worried about it though test it yourself? Sounds like a failed con to me.
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Definitely not, I cracked the bottle myself. I also put away our orders from the state liquor store every week, I know exactly what comes in and how quickly we go through it. I work for good people, they’d never in a million years try to pull something like that.

14225595:eheath said:
Maybe whoever owns the bar you work at is cheap and has been refilling patron bottles with something else, did you crack the bottle yourself or was it already open? far fetched, but could explain the situation.
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**This post was edited on Jan 10th 2021 at 6:14:47pm
 
14225598:ChangeCashMoney said:
Definitely not, I cracked the bottle myself. I also put away our orders from the state liquor store every week, I know exactly what comes in and how quickly we go through it. I work for good people, they’d never in a million years try to pull something like that.

**This post was edited on Jan 10th 2021 at 6:14:47pm
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it was more so a conspiracy theory, but it sounds like this guy was just being an ass.
 
The simple answer here, where you can basically both be right, is that the shot glass was dirty/tainted with something else.
 
I feel like I'm the kind of guy that could get played by a bartender pretty hard. I somewhat know beers from my local brewers but know virtually nothing on liquor and especially wine. Could order a glass from a $100 bottle and be served barefoot and not know the difference.
 
Why would a bartender that relies on tips purposely do something that would piss off a customer. It's not like they are profiting based upon what tequila is served unless they own the bar.
 
Exactly. I’d way rather pour you the $3 shot that’s right in front of me than go inside and pour you something else for $9, because you’re probably going to tip me $1 either way. Plus if I pour you a $3 shot, you still have money to buy a second shot, so I make another dollar.

14225613:TOAST. said:
Why would a bartender that relies on tips purposely do something that would piss off a customer. It's not like they are profiting based upon what tequila is served unless they own the bar.
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I though about that, but really not likely. The owner of the bar is very adamant about everything being exceptionally clean all the time, especially right now. We run a small staff, and we’re all super on top of our game with making sure all the glasses are perfectly clean and polished spotless before we put them away.

14225611:iFlip said:
The simple answer here, where you can basically both be right, is that the shot glass was dirty/tainted with something else.
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14225597:ChangeCashMoney said:
I’m not worried about it at all, I opened the brand new bottle of patron myself a few days ago and I’m certain that’s what I poured him. It’s just funny to me that he seemed so convinced it tasted different.
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to answer the question in the title from lots of personal experience, nope. Never had to second guess a bartender pouring me drinks.

That is definitely weird, but at the same time it could very well be as simple as homeboy chewing a stick of gum/ brushing his teeth or something simple like that right? hell, maybe he had a couple of rips and couldn't taste anything/ feel most of his face. the possibilities are plentiful.
 
14225624:daannnnieel said:
to answer the question in the title from lots of personal experience, nope. Never had to second guess a bartender pouring me drinks.

That is definitely weird, but at the same time it could very well be as simple as homeboy chewing a stick of gum/ brushing his teeth or something simple like that right? hell, maybe he had a couple of rips and couldn't taste anything/ feel most of his face. the possibilities are plentiful.
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There are a bunch of different types of Patron also, maybe he got some platinum bottle as a gift or something and was expecting it to taste differently.
 
First off patron isn't that great. It's decent for margaritas but other than that, meh. Don Julio is way better but even that I don't prefer straight, although it's palatable. There's wayyyyy better tequilas out there. Anyone talking shit about how they drink a bunch of patron is a noob. BTW $9 is cheap for most places.
 
Also for flavor I'd be more worried about light exposure than temperature fluctuations. Seen so many bars with all their liquors, including scotch in window racks. Makes me cringe.
 
Sounds like he drinks enough patron that he doesn’t know the true taste anymore lol. $9 shot guys a fucking simp anyway.
 
14225533:ColoradoDogfart said:
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
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That’s standard price in NZ
 
14225533:ColoradoDogfart said:
wait wait wait, lets rewind. your saying people are willing to pay NINE bucks for a SINGLE shot?? what the fuck. cant you get a whole bottle for like 40 bucks?
Click to expand...

Will pay $9 for an oz of liquor but will bitch about paying $3 for a gallon of gasoline.
 
14225964:BigPurpleSkiSuit said:
I trust you. But yeah, bars as a whole are kind of known for having some owners be dishonest not so good people. Bartenders less so
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I've definitely been ripped off by bars before. 95% are great, honest establishments. But a few are run by or employed by scumbags. On the flip side, in a job where your customers are drunk, bartenders are bound to encounter some assholes on a daily basis.

In this case, I'm on OP's side. The customer is probably a dipshit
 
i mean, it happens, and the guy might have honestly thought something was up and truly tasted something different but it's equally likely you just ran into Confident Douchebag at the Bar #2938575

do your due diligence (though it sounds like you have) to make sure nothing is sketchy and then forget the dude exists
 
14226035:SofaKingSick said:
i mean, it happens, and the guy might have honestly thought something was up and truly tasted something different but it's equally likely you just ran into Confident Douchebag at the Bar #2938575

do your due diligence (though it sounds like you have) to make sure nothing is sketchy and then forget the dude exists
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Agreed. Pretty safe to say that 99.9% of bars and restaurants are going above and beyond with everything right now because 1) they're trying to avoid being shut back down again, and 2) the reputation of the hospitality industry as being safe and highly-regulated has been very severely damaged this year with the pandemic.

Sorry you're experiencing this. I think everyone in the service industry has at some point, and it's frustrating... especially during these times when the punches just keep coming.
 
Out in Targhee, went to the patio window and asked for a G&T. Asked what Gin I wanted. Said Hendricks. Hendricks is great. I love Hendricks. He brings back my drink and the bill. 8$ for a drink. I drink it, it's good, but I'm not about paying 8$ for a G&T.

Go back, got Burnetts instead. Second G&T was $3.50. Much better bang for your buck on the slopes. Not sure where I'm going with this, but of course bars are gonna gouge you a bit on the pricey shit.
 
should have given him the test: "ill pour you three shots of tequila and you tell me which ones are and aren't patron, if you're correct, i give your money back" and then proceed to pour three shots of Lunazul
 
14226106:ChangeCashMoney said:
Bodega. Come say what up, it’s a great little bar.
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Oh nice, I probs won't be around slc much til spring/summer but I imagine you'll be around still.
 
when you said $3 lunazul I figured it had to be bodega, and that's good to know about the wings. I'm sure I'll be in there at some point
 
14227984:ChangeCashMoney said:
He’s back! Ordered Patron again, didn’t question me on it this time because he watched me pour the shots in front of him
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I’ll try and come in tomorrow
 
Wow, what a guy! I guarantee he was just tryna flex for the chick.

I always order better gin for G&Ts and I know I've been stiffed with lesser stuff on multiple occasions; only called someone on it once because I watched them do it. I felt like a dick, but it was $16 G&Ts (NYC), I ordered more than four, and the second I leaned in to tell him it wasn't what I ordered he said something weird on accident denying it with a bad poker face. If he had tried to hide it or it was an honest mistake then I probably wouldn't have even said anything, but I think he thought I was trashed and wouldn't notice. Despite all that and the absurd (par for the course) price in NYC, I think it makes you look like a huge asshole to get shitty with a seemingly honest bartender.
 
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