Sunday, September 21, 2014

Blue Chip Casino: Pennies Wise, Hundreds of Dollars Foolish

Last night we had a hankering for hanging out at one of our favorite places, the bar at William B's Steakhouse at Blue Chip Casino (Michigan City, Indiana). The food is great, the staff stellar, and Patrick Cullars, the general manager, is a testament to his profession. We always have a good time, and have met a lot of wonderful people there.

Mary decided to see whether she was eligible for any "food comps". She was, although not much. But that's fine. Something is better than nothing, and we appreciated the gift.

We went on to order food and drinks, and had the usual blast. I decided to cover the alcohol portion of the bill, which was $33, to which I added a $7 tip. Mary would be covering the food with her food comps.

But it was taking longer than usual for the bartender to return so we could settle. Why? Because he'd called to see if the casino could make up the difference of the $2 in food that we ordered beyond the comps. And though he clearly went to bat for us, it was denied.

Are you serious, Blue Chip?

Try to understand. We ordered just two soups and a salad, because that's how modest the comps where, and that's roughly how hungry we were anyway. So it's not like we were trying to eek out more than what we could eat. We were very comfortable.

But, again, are you serious, Blue Chip? We regularly dine and drink there, and the alcohol bill is generally $30+. And everyone knows that the profit margins on alcohol are where restaurants really bring home the ka-ching. Yet there we were, somewhat embarrassed for having to reach into our pockets for another lousy two bucks to cover the food.

Well, Blue Chip, you were indeed 200 pennies wise. Congratulations! However, our warm, fuzzy feelings about enjoying ourselves at William B's evaporated in that instant, and we're probably not going to be back for a while. So while you've saved yourselves a whopping 200 pennies, you cost yourselves hundreds of dollars in the process.

Duh!

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