No, It Was Not MY Choice

We deliberately stopped by our kind-of-local casino for lunch last Thursday, on the way back from cashing in my winning $1000 scratcher. We had to go to the city, because the establishments who sell scratchers can only pay out a winner up to $600. Not a dollar more. They don't HAVE to pay over a $25 winner, but they have the option to, from $25.01 to $600. Most of them will go up to $500 with no problem.

It is no secret that Hick and Val like a fat juicy burger from Burger Brothers. It's also no secret that the order-takers have found a variety of ways to antagonize Val when she orders.

I get promotional offers from this casino. They come in the mail every month, sometimes various offers throughout the month. The main mailer shows my food credit available. I always have it twice a month, for any of their restaurants. At the end of last year, it was a $25 offer from the 1st to the 15th, and another $25 offer from the 16th to the 31st. Or however Sunday through Saturday fell. The casino counts a WEEK as SUNDAY through SATURDAY. Just sayin'...

Anyhoo, after the first of the year, those rewards reset back to the basic level. So now I've been getting $10 food credit offers, until my level of play shows them that I deserve more. Not a big deal. That's how they do business. They used to require that I present the actual food coupon, cut out of glossy paper from the mailer. I was fine with that. THEN they switched over to swiping it from my player's card. I'm pretty sure I elaborated a couple of times how they took my accumulated MyCash and used it for the amount over the food coupon.

Yeah. All those times, I thought they were being NICE to me, doing me a favor, not charging me the couple of dollars over the food coupon! THEN one time I caught on that my amount had gone down. It's not like they refunded the amount left over on the food coupon into my MyCash, either. No siree, Bob! Those transactions only seem to work one way. THEIR way!

The last time we went, I knew I had used up my two food coupons, and I told Hick that we would pay with the debit card, since I didn't have cash on hand for our weekly allowances yet. Seeing as how this was a SUNDAY, the BEGINNING of the week, you know.

Well! Apparently, if you pay with a debit card (or possibly a credit card), you are automatically paying a GRATUITY of several dollars. For people who stand at a counter, punch in your order, and holler your name to come get it when it's ready. I'm pretty sure they are paid a regular salary to do that. I don't make it a point to tip people who take my order at the counter. Since they wouldn't have my business if nobody did that.

It's just like Hick refusing to pay the paperwork fees when he buys a new car. He tells them right up front, just as soon as he's looking over the contract prior to his signature for the purchase. "I ain't payin' no paperwork fees. You have people in the office you pay to do that. You can't sell me a car without the paperwork. So I guess you'll either sell it to me without those fees, or I won't buy it." They don't like that much.

Anyhoo...Hick didn't tell the guy to void the transaction. He went ahead with the gratuity. It's not like he was paying with his weekly allowance money. But he said, "That's crazy. I'm not tipping them for taking an order at the counter. Next time, we'll pay cash."

So...this time, we had cash. I handed them my players card first, though, because online, my MyChoice perks still show that food credit. Even though I'm sure I used all that was available. I handed over my card, and said, "I don't know if I have a food credit."

The girl handed my card back. She shook her head. "No food credit." Okay. I believed that. Then she said the amount for our purchase. Which is usually around $21 or $22 and change. But she said our bill was "$7.52." NO WAY! We always get the exact same thing. Hick has a cheeseburger and onion rings. I have a hamburger and fries. We carry in our drinks from the free soda fountain inside the casino. NO WAY was our bill that low. I questioned her.

"I need your card."

"No. I don't want to use the cash on my card."

"I already did. I need your card."

Meaning, that without asking, she had used the credits I'd built up for MyCash. I knew I had around $7 on there, because I was planning to use it on the slots after lunch. You can only use it in $5 increments. However...you can use your MyCash in the restaurants for DOUBLE the amount you can use in the slots. So she'd take over $14 off my card! Without consulting me. Meaning I wouldn't have my MyCash available for slots until I built it back up past $5 again.

Sorry. I'm not willingly using my hard-earned MyCash on Hick's appetite. All he ever gets are the buffet offers, BOGO or half-price for one. It would cost us about the same as buying two burgers and fries out of pocket. And we really just like the burgers and fries.

I'm pretty sure these workers don't come up with these ideas on their own. I'm pretty sure they are following the Burger Brothers' policy.

I'd boycott them, but I REALLY like their burgers.