Overcharging in restaurants

[sandman]

I was looking at the Carvoeiro forum page on Tripadvisor and saw the following post about restaurant overcharging :

"We've just returned from 2 weeks in Carvoeiro on the Algarve. We ate out most nights. After a few nights we spotted an extra meal (for €17) had been included in our bill. There wasn't any apology - just a bit of a huff because it had been found!
After that we checked the Bills more closely and on the remaining 6 Bills, the same thing happened 4 times - sometimes with wine, sometimes food and once with Irish Coffees!
We were very surprised as this sort of thing hadn't happened on previous hols in Portugal.
Could it be the result of their present economic climate? Please be diligent!"

He goes on to say that these were all in different restaurants.
I have not expeienced this, maybe I'm not checking the bill properly.
Has this happened to anyone else?

[jessi]

Oh Yes!

[Canada]

Thanks for the heads up! We will be alert from now on.

[Ma-Ja's]

We own and run a restaurant in Carvoeiro and was shocked to read this. Yes, be vigilant with your bills but please do not assume all restaurants in Carvoeiro or the Algarve add items to the bill - we certainly don't!

[Lesley Jean]

I must say that in all the 9 years we have been going to the area we have NEVER been overcharged in a restaurant like this. We always check our bills just to be sure they have included everything as sometimes, when the place is busy, we have found they had forgotten to add things we had ordered, like coffee or desserts......

[sandman]

I have never experienced overcharging either. The post on Tripadvisor does seem out of character with most people's experience.

[kaycee]

During a 2 week stay, we were overcharged 3 or 4 times, but not by as much as €17. Mistake or deliberate - who knows. We always asked for it to be corrected, and this was never a problem. My hubby always checks thoroughly

[bruce]

I have never experienced this in the 15 years we have been visiting Carvoeiro.
Last week one restaurant forgot to add the bottle of wine - we did tell them.

[sam]

I have been coming to CVO for 19 years, and only experienced this once, many years ago. We always check the bills, and sometimes find an error - usually they have missed something off. Once we had a huge bill for the Couvert - they had added an extra 0 by mistake. He said " That was very expensive bread!", apologised and knocked the whole Couvert amount off the bill.
Many of the restaurants in the area have been in business for many years, and I don't think most would try adding extras for fear of losing their reputation.

[sunman]

this guy's saying he was overcharged 5 times out of 7?

can't call him a liar but that's not the Carvoeiro I know.

simple thing is to always look at the bill I suppose.

[Canada]

this guy's saying he was overcharged 5 times out of 7?

can't call him a liar but that's not the Carvoeiro I know.

I agree we have always marvelled at how honest the Portuguese people are-- even the gypsies at the markets.

[logicbob]

this guy's saying he was overcharged 5 times out of 7?

can't call him a liar but that's not the Carvoeiro I know.

simple thing is to always look at the bill I suppose.

Perhaps he ate in the same restaurant every night.

[sunman]

this guy's saying he was overcharged 5 times out of 7?

can't call him a liar but that's not the Carvoeiro I know.

simple thing is to always look at the bill I suppose.

Perhaps he ate in the same restaurant every night.

original post says they were all different restaurants

[Bruce Wallis]

In 9 years we have never been deliberately overcharged in a Portuguese restaurant.

Yes there have been mistakes such as couvert being charged when it wasn't taken...and maybe that could have been a small try-on, but I think it was the fact that they charge couvert as a matter of habit, because most people have it.

I genuinely believe that the Portuguese are an intrinsically honest people.

[e-richard]

TripAdvisor is notorious for rogue reviews - be it Hotels, Restaurants, Villas or what have you.

Whenever reading a nasty negative, just read all the others (e.g. all the great posts from real visitors above) and ask yourself:
"Who is this person posting such negative comments ? What are their motives ?"
Probably a competitor or just a sad old sod.

When it stands out as one bad among many good, I'd just ignore it.