Caffe Latte extra shot…$2.99 from Employee A, Caffe Latte extra shot…$3.54 from Employee B, Caffe Latte extra shot…$3.25 from Employee Z. Your guest in all three cases was not overcharged because the correct price is in fact $3.54. Your guest however, feels like she is being cheated and that is a huge issue you as the proprietor are oblivious to. The guest can read the menu board, they no doubt purchase the same item on a regular basis, the correct price is hard wired into their brain. Even when they are not being overcharged, your guest feels real uncomfortable with the differential pricing because they do not know walking in which price will be charged today. There are many moments when guests welcome surprises, alternate pricing schemes is not one of them.
Restaurateurs invest in elaborate sign boards, POS systems with all the bells and whistles, train employee’s to upsell and bang one employee thinks it’s unfair to charge for the extra shot, another give discounts based on the tips the customer leaves and another completely forgets to ring in the extra shot. Further, unless a guest specifically mentions to you the disparity, you are unaware of it. The restaurant is losing sales ($$$$) and antagonizing the guest. : (
Ongoing training and testing of simple things like menu prices are a critical component to insure a fantastic guest experience. The details that you think you have covered are actually an irritant that works virulently against customer advocacy.
