Would it been seen as unethical (or even 'bullying') to order take away food then haggle over the price when picking up?

Let's say someone orders some take away food by phone and are told that the bill will come to say $70.00.

They've already made the food (and again, told the price beforehand) thus would it be seen as unethical (even bullying) to haggle when picking up? Maybe you could say… 'how about' or 'would you' take $50.00 or some such discount as just one example. In many cases you'd have the upper hand as they've taken the time and made your selected order.

How might you expect a small restaurant or food service/take away to respond to this and would you see someone asking as rude, cheap or even bullying? Using more the example of the smaller establishment and not a huge chain such as Maccas' or KFC as of course systems will automatically disallow such.

closed Comments

      • i see it more as pain minimisation for yourself, instead of absorbing a total loss you sell them their money's worth in food, i guess i'm alone in this

        • it's not that we don't understand your point, its because taking the small loss initially instead of the slightly bigger loss will lead to constant losses.

          It's why are people/governments discouraged from paying the ransom for hostages.

    • +3

      Name checks out

  • +4

    It's a non binding verbal contract. Not technically bullying but very much a dick move. Haggle as much as you like BEFORE ordering. But after they bring the food dont be a bloody cnt.

    • Why do you think it's non-binding?

      I'm pretty confident if the restaurant owner really wanted to they could take it on legally and win.

      https://lawpath.com.au/blog/is-a-verbal-agreement-binding

      • Because receipt is the contract. And if you pay on the door, then receipt/contract is made on the door. Until then its just a restaurant who happens to bring a food to your door

        • +1

          No it’s not. Offer and acceptance. Store offers to provide food items at the listed price, by ordering you accept those terms. Contract is entered in to, a condition of which is payment at the agreed price.

          • @SolitaryMan: No, consideration is important(paying money is consideration) and in this case it doesn't exist.

  • +2

    How would you like it if you walk in and the $70 agreed on was suddenly $100?

  • +2

    Yes. This is akin to 'shaking' on a price then asking for more off. This tells me you werent serious initially and only made the deal to secure the item. It tells me that you don't have any integrity and someone I should not do business with in the future.

    It's also rude and downright insulting.

  • +6

    Theyll add some special ingredients for you next time you order

  • +4

    Just when you thought an OzBargainer couldn’t drop to a new low

  • Is this something that happened to you? Because I find it gutsy just to come up here and ask.

  • +4

    Yeah that would be considered a huge douche move, you deserve to go hungry if you play games like that…

  • +2

    Grow some empathy for ur fellow humans who cooked that meal for U, coz ur too lazy to cook yourself. After the pandemic all restaurant businesses are still trying to recoup the losses of the past 2 years. Doing something like haggling is below being a d*** move

  • +2

    Dog act, regardless of what the law says. I have to question the morals and ethics of someone even asking this unless it was a joke or troll. Considering that small biz owners have had a tough 2 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d copped a punch to the face for such a dog act, especially if you caught a restauranteur on a bad day.

  • I'd say stupid. They're going to say no. If you pay the price, what was the point? If you don't pay the price you agreed to you're wasting your time and the restaurant's time and money and you're likely to leave with nothing. If it was me, I'd start eating the food in front of you and tell you not to bother coming back.

    If you don't think the food will be good, why are you ordering from there? If you think it will be good, why would you do something that's likely to get you banned?

  • Wow do you really just ask that? Hate on small business owners who no doubt have been struggling for the last few years. Personally I would tell you to get the f…. out of my shop and to never come back. Maybe your employer can offer you a lower hourly rate and lets see how you perceive that value of your time.

  • +2

    A better question: what proportion of OZB forum posts that make it to the front page are just taking the piss?

  • +3

    If you do that

    You're a scumbag. Simple.

  • +7

    Wow. This is the first post where it has been 100% in agreeance and unanimously, NO!

    Congratulations on finally uniting all of the ozbargain users with your heinous idea!!!!!

    How about this other great idea for you…Become an ambulance driver and whenever you take someone to the hospital, stop halfway and demand they pay you $20 000 to finish the trip or just let them out there….

    • *in agreement

      • +1

        ty.

        I'll leave my original post as it is so that anyone who reads it can learn too.

        Admitably, I tend not to pay much attention to my grammar outside of professional contexts….I know that I should clean myself up in this regard. Also, I did the second one just for you ;)……However, if there are any more, I am unaware of them :|

        • Thanks.

    • +1

      I'm wondering if this guy is actually the small restaurant owner.

      No human being would (/should) be the haggler

      • He's so flippant about it that you'd hope so….but I think not.

  • +1

    Absolute dog act. I would never do this. Would people accept this behaviour towards an electrician or other tradie who has completed work at your house?

    People need to link this behaviour to asking to be bulk billed at the doctor. By asking them to bulk bill, you’re asking them to dock their pay by 50%. Absolutely not acceptable. If you want to be bulk billed then go to a bulk billing clinic where they have a business model that accounts for it (ie you only get to spend less than 10 minutes with the doctor).

  • +2

    Considering you've commented this before:

    Wondering, as some types of jobs are 'quotable' by certain/skilled tradesmen beforehand.
    Assuming a quote has been made and accepted isn't it bad form/manners/ethics to haggle AFTER the given job has been done?

    This is the land of the lowest IMO. Truly 'slimy'. Indeed a great way to lose a good tradesman forevermore.
    Wow, the outright hatred for tradesmen here is appalling.
    As if there are no good tradesmen out there who are worth every dollar (and more) that they charge.

    I'd like to know your incentive to post this question?

  • Wow. To even ask this.

    Op should be deported/exiled

    • where to exactly Manus island? or somewhere remote like Trinidad & Tobago?

      Not sure where this is considered acceptable?

      • +2

        Off the planet earth preferably

  • +1

    Are you sure you are not confusing it with Facebook marketplace or gumtree? Sounds like the usual crap that goes on on those two websites
    List something for 100 bucks and some idiot messages "would you take 30 bucks cash?"

    • Not really the same as that's a negotiation BEFORE a sale.

      • It's the same mentality of not having any common sense or courtesy.

  • +3

    Would it been seen as unethical (or even 'bullying') to go to work all week then for your boss to haggle over how much you get paid on pay day?

    Let's say someone is told they'll get paid $20/hour for doing a role and work 40 hours so expect to get paid say $800.

    They've already done the work (and again, told their hourly rate beforehand) thus would it be seen as unethical (even bullying) to change their hourly rate on pay day? Maybe you could say… 'how about' or 'would you' take $500.00 or some such discount as just one example. In many cases your boss would have the upper hand as you've taken the time and done the hours/work for them.

    How might you expect a individual to respond to this and would you see someone asking as rude, cheap or even bullying? Using more the example of the smaller business and not a huge chain such as CBA or Coles as of course systems will automatically disallow such.

    How about now if the shoe is on the other foot?

  • +3

    OP, how about if the other business charges you upfront $70 for your take away order and when you turn up to pick it up they tell you what about we only throw food for say $50 in the box. By your logic, you’ve already paid and you have already made the effort to go there, plus they know you are hungry, so now they have the upper hand. Would you like it that way?!?!

  • +9

    You’d have to be a massive piece of 💩 to even think of doing that.
    Have a really good look at yourself champ.

    What if you got there and instead of $70 they said it’s now $90. Would that make your day?

  • This goes to the heart of integrity and honesty
    This sort of tactics need to be stamped out and don't let it flourish
    without this guiding principles it leads to all sort of bad things in society like cheat, lies and corruptions

    I would never serve this customer again if they pulled this sort of stunt

  • I think to use the term 'bullying' is a little precious and overused, that aside, the price is the price… if they cannot afford it and aren't a regular (trustworthy) customer, I'd show them the door, soup nazi style

  • +6

    If I was the restaurant, I'd tell you to f*** off, take a photo of you and then print out brochures will your face on it and details of your haggling attempts and plaster it over my shop, and other shops so everyone can avoid you.

    I'd then be glad to donate the food to a homeless person.

    • This guy wins! Perfect response.

  • +2

    It is absolutely unethical, when you have placed to order you have entered into a verbal contract. If they deliver the food you pay the price. At any point up until they have made the food you can haggle but if it's there for you to pickup then you have to fulfil your side of the deal.

    At $70 your order really isn't big enough for them to put in too much effort to keep you happy anyway. If it was me I'd take your fifty dollars and then put half your order in the bin, who has the upper hand now bitch!

  • +6

    A+ troll post, well done

  • +2

    If you do this individually, you're not a bargainer, you're an <unkind metaphor>.

    If you do this collectively and with a contract, you're Uber Eats et al

  • +5

    I'm guessing the OP is an owner of a business that has had this happen as it's pretty ballsy to post something like this here unless it's a troll post. It makes me angry just knowing that there would be idiots out there that would even think of doing this after the past few years. The small business owner has bills to pay, staff to employ, mouths to feed at home if they have a family and some d!ckhead has the nerve to lowball on an order that they knew how much it was when they ordered. It gets to the door and they then decide they don't want to pay the known price. By then the wages of the delivery person, the produce used to make the food and the petrol used by the delivery person have already been "consumed". Turn around, take the order back to the shop and blacklist that (profanity)'s address forever.

    I used to work in a small business that my parent's owned and I know how much love, sweat and tears went into running it. I was haggled with but that was before the product was ordered.

  • +3

    I would give you a Will Smith slap if you did this to me.

  • You have some audacity to post this here. You are basically asking people here if it's ok to scam restaurants. Use your head, I'm sure you're not that dumb.
    When you agree to services you agree to the terms and conditions of the service. You did that when you made the order. If you wish to not accept the terms of the sale then you can be on your way. You aren't haggling you aren't winning in any way. If I was the restaurant manager, I would rather give away the food to the homeless or starving people instead of "haggling" and sell it to you. Obviously, I'd ban you too, so you don't pull that sort of stunt again in the future.

    • It's obvious the OP is the business owner (not the customer) by the wording. How can you not see that?

      • It's obvious? How is it obvious? If they're a business owner they know what to do. Shouldn't be letting stupid customers dictate how to run their business. Not sure if you're just trying to be a troll here.

  • In many cases you'd have the upper hand as they've taken the time and made your selected order.

    Fraud, financial advantage by deception. The same as ringing then not picking up, expect police in your future 😂

    • I doubt there will be any upper hand gained when its 100% guaranteed, the food will not be given.

      In the long run, the restaurant will have the upper hand as they will destroy OP's reputation with future networked resturants.

  • +4

    OP = Gumtree buyer

    • +3

      lol, I had this once. Girl haggled bigtime via the site, wanted a quick sale so I gave in. She rocked up and offered less again before I even had a chance to grab the item so she could view it. Closed the door in her face.

      • I thought every person on gumtree was like that? That’s why I don’t use it and why I don’t allow pickup on eBay.

      • +1

        I had someone agree to a price then actually transferred 10 less than the agreed on price that they haggled to. I didn't let the item go until they paid the 10.

  • +2

    Would it been seen as unethical to order take away food then haggle over the price when picking up?

    Completely 100% ethical.

    …as long as we're talking about you offering to pay over $70 along with a healthy tip.

  • +2

    Looking at the wording of your question a few things caught my eye:

    • specific numbers $70 of order, offering $50

    • speaking about how you would "have the upper hand" as they've already spent time/money/ingredients and made the food

    • realise that systems in major chains would not allow this but that smaller places don't have these in place

    • ask about how it could be seen - i.e. how could someone else interpret this behaviour

    So, all in all, comes across as having looked at this "idea" with zero empathy or consideration for others, and purely self-centred - "what could be the implications for me?"

    No thought about what could this mean for the restaurant.

    Possibly unable/unwilling to make your own judgement call on this - hence need to ask how others would perceive it.

    https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/sociopath

    I really hope you're doing a course and wanted to ask this as some sort of hypothetical

  • Geek economy, all takeaway and delivery apps deduct 15% for self takeaway and 35% on delivery orders from these cafes and restaurants.

    Since the pandemic people have become more reliant on this medium and this institution has snatched more than 1/3 of revenue to feed their HO needs.

    i have come across so many restaurants that have marked up their price high to recover this 1/3 bullying commission and finally individual dinner who are keen to go out and eat has to suffer for high price food items.

    • +1

      The cost of ingredients (especially meat) has gone up significantly since the pandemic started, as has availability of staff. The delivery apps are making a killing, but many restaurants are struggling

  • +2

    I'm surprised that OP has not responded to any of these well-thought out comments.

  • Have had this sort of behaviour on Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace, if I was operating a small business I would tell them to go away and not come back if not willing to pay for and collect the order at the advertised price.

  • +2

    Are you one of those people who agree to purchase something via an online marketplace and then attempt to haggle the price upon collection?

    • +1

      I love those people. It's the best when you give them an address really far away and they actually drive there.

      • Only thing I'd be worried about is if they make a new account and do a similar thing to waste your time as revenge :/

    • Hhaha yea. I sell a lot online. Haggle over chat, not in person.

      You have no power if you are the one who has made the effort to drive all the way.

      I walk back inside,….you made a drive for no reason.

      • That's true, I still think it's annoying and rude though.

  • Irrelevant really as the restaurant would blacklist your number and address. Probably take you to a CAT if done repeatedly.

    Food would end up in another order or in the bin.

  • +3

    I'm all for a good haggle at places like JB Hi-Fi or The Good Guys… but haggling when buying food from a takeaway? It's a hard no from me.

    • Also haggle before you place the order, not after

  • +1

    How has nobody suggested calling the police? That is attempted theft.

    • How is that theft?

      What has he stolen?

      • +3

        I see you cannot comprehend the word "attempted".

  • Scummy move.

  • Its a complete dick move.

    You agreed to the price when you set placed the order.

  • +2

    I'm staggered that this question is being asked.

  • Three words come to mind, idiot, imbecile, moron.

    I’ll settle for OP being an idiot. It was quite easy to come to this conclusion -

    Those who have an IQ between 0 and 25 are idiots; IQs between 26 and 50 are considered imbeciles; and those who have an IQ between 51 and 70 are considered morons.

  • Basically a reverse bait-and-switch

  • +4

    You're the type of grub who hits a car in a parking lot and drives off without leaving a note. To even contemplate something such as this makes you sub-human.

  • +1

    I would say it is a violation of a verbal contract, and you can be sued for damages. Therefore, it is not only unethical, but it is illegal. Most probably most restaurants will not bother over a small amount.

    • People like the OP 100% are deserving of this.

  • well for starters you have entered into a verbal contract.

    secondly, i reckon this behavior would warrant some secret sauce being added at the last minute to your order.

    enjoy!

  • +1

    You got to be trolling with this post - obviously it is unethical

    i mean considering how 'hard' small businesses have had it the past 2 years this is pretty low

  • It's poor form except if the food doesn't match the pictures.

  • +1

    In many cases you'd have the upper hand as they've taken the time and made your selected order.

    I find this sentence in itself absolutely disgusting, and utterly abhorrent just to make it loud and clear.

    How about this? You and employer have agreed to a wage of $X per month. At the end of the month (before payroll is run), your boss walks over to you and haggles with you to just pay you $(X - 1000) for that month. This is the kind of treatment (or worse) you should deserve if you think it is okay to abuse a hospitality business (whether small or large) in such manner.

  • I expect that you'd not be given the food (instead it'd be taken back to the restaurant and given to employees) as well as blacklisted from ever ordering from there again.

  • -5

    was the customer indian?

Login or Join to leave a comment