Taste of Thai

Poor service by manager/proprietor.

I am writing a complaint about my treatment at Peoria's Taste of Thai restaurant. I entered the restaurant a bit before 2:00 pm Saturday afternoon and ordered Crab Rangoon ($7.95) and Tom Yum soup ($7.95). My total bill was $17.44, which I paid for in cash.

Initially, I had to wait several minutes before a woman and then an older gentleman acknowledged me. The woman began to take my order, and then the older gentleman went behind the dirty counter to the register and took over. He totaled me and stated that I needed to pay first. I responded that I would be right back as I had left my purse in the car. I returned in less than a minute and paid $18 in cash and was given change. When I asked the salesman for a receipt, he hesitated and then said I would not need one. I insisted and asked if I could have what looked like a receipt that was laying on the counter. He said he needed that to place the order to the cook, but that I could have it when I returned to pick up my order (which would take 5 to 10 minutes). He ended with, "Don't worry, I'll remember you."

I left and walked over to the Goodwill Store across the street for 5 minutes and then returned to Taste of Thai and waited an additional 8 minutes. As I waited, I placed a phone call and I overheard a couple try to correct their lunch bill. (This couple was present during my entire ordeal with Taste of Thai. They were being over-charged. Their corrected bill came to $34.) The young woman I encountered earlier brought out my food with a smile and handed me the bag. I opened the bag to see if my receipt was inside. I saw there was no receipt and asked for one. That is when the gentleman shouted that I had not paid!

He said, "You not pay! You run out to say you get money and you don't come back. You not pay!" The couple at the register and the young woman looked surprised because they all had seen that I had returned and saw the exchange of money. The young woman said something to him in a different language. (I think she was trying to tell him that I had paid.) At any rate, he shouted, "You go! You not pay, but you can have the food." I responded with, "You are not doing me any favors. I did pay. I will never step foot in this restaurant again and I'm going to report you to the BBB."

I am incredibly angry at how I was mistreated. I did pay my bill and I deserved a receipt immediately upon payment. If he had given me my receipt immediately, I could easily have presented it to him. I also have a distinct and memorable look. There were few patrons in the restaurant, so he should have easily remembered that I had returned, paid, left, returned again and then sat quietly for at least 8 minutes. It was obvious that his female colleague remembered me, as well as the other patrons at the register.

I am filing a complaint because I was unfairly maligned and publicly embarrassed. I think this restaurant needs to be investigated for proper receipt handling and cleanliness.

The restaurant is OK. There are only one or two waiters and they are good. But the owner keeps asking explicitly for tips and does not take cash for amounts below $10. Most of the times the owner says "you forgot to give tip" even without waiting for you to leave the tip, and it could be very embarassing at times.