Le Petit Dejeuner Reverse-Charge?

Joe, a recently retired Dublin grocer, decided to treat his wife Bridget to a long weekend in a Parisian hotel in Place Pigalle, in celebration of their ruby wedding anniversary.

The next morning, pausing only to indulge his lifelong habit of recording the serial numbers of each large denomination euro note in his wallet, they went to a nearby café where Joe ordered a couple of double expressos and some croissants for their sidewalk breakfast.

Asking for the bill, and fully prepared to offer a 10% tip, Joe was surprised at the waiter’s demand for €40, and requested an itemised bill. Pausing only to double-check the price-list on the wall, Joe followed the waiter into the café, in time to see him retrieving a crumpled bill for €15 from the waste bin, and asked him to explain the request for €40…

It was the ‘win some, loose some’ response that caused Joe to try to get even…

He handed over a €50 note, and the waiter offered change for €20… Joe held his ground, demanded the full €35 change and took the receipt, left the café and hailed a gendarme.

Inside the café Joe explained to the gendarme and waiter how he had been charged €40. The waiter insisted he had charged €15, and refunded €5 in exchange for a €20 note, so he could not have charged €40. He even opened his purse to reveal a mix of 50s, 20s and some small change…

Joe insisted he had handed over a €50 note and received €10 change, and even had a record of the serial number…

With a ‘win some, lose some’ shrug at the waiter, Joe pocketed the €50 and left to join Bridget on the corner…..

Moral: Running the numbers and keeping a record can pay off in mini-negotiations...and even the odds in day-job sessions…