“You Paid With Credit Card”: Restaurant Owner Claps Back At 1-Star Review That Blasted Their Taco Price
“The customer is always right” is a well-respected mantra of every consumer-centric business – and knowing how to handle complaints well is key to success. However, we’re all human, and sometimes, you’ve got to blow off a little steam.
This netizen – that has since deleted their account – shared a screenshot of a 1-star Google review that bashed this restaurant’s taco prices on one of Reddit’s communities, and what made it all intriguing was the owner’s response.
More info: Reddit
Restaurant owner levels with dissatisfied customer who complained about their $1.68 taco
Image credits: Seth Mazow (not the actual photo)
In response to the 1-star review, the owner broke down the cost of the taco and said that the business didn’t make any money because the patron paid with a credit card
Image credits: [deleted] (not the actual photo)
Image credits: [deleted] (not the actual photo)
“This review with a golden response from the owner” – this netizen took to r/ChoosingBeggars to share a screenshot of a 1-star Google review that blasted a restaurant for its taco prices. The post managed to garner 9.5K upvotes as well as 300 comments discussing the audacity of some individuals.
It’s no big secret that you anticipate dealing with a disgruntled customer at some point if you operate a business or work in a consumer-facing position. It doesn’t matter how good you think your product or service is – you’re bound to receive some criticism, and the key is knowing how to respond effectively.
The original poster took to one of Reddit’s communities dedicated to “posting screenshots, pictures, or stories of people who are being way too picky when begging for things” to share a screenshot of a customer going off over poor service.
The customer in question began his 1-star review by being weirdly specific. They said that they ordered a street taco for $1.68 and that it had five pieces of beef in it. The person then proceeded by stating how horrible the service was and how the taco wasn’t taco-ing for that amount of money. They said the that restaurant gives you two corn tortillas with almost no meat and a pile of onions and cilantro on them.
Before going on Google and letting their anger out, the patron even decided to confront a worker and ask them why there was so little meat – however, they claimed that he didn’t even acknowledge what they were saying.
The customer then went on to berate the owner for choosing to run a business and shortchange their customers, and said that if they can’t serve the community properly for what they charge – they shouldn’t run the restaurant at all.
Now, this is where the owner hit the unsatisfied consumer with a golden response by breaking down the price of the taco and all the resources that went into making it. They pointed out all the charges, from tortillas to the rent of the building – however, the final comeback was when the owner said that since the customer paid with their credit card, the business didn’t make any money.
A few commenters were on the restaurant’s side, saying that it’s odd to find $1.68 expensive and that it’s rather upsetting that consumers don’t realize how much credit cards cost businesses. Others, on the other hand, doubted the owner’s calculations and refused to accept his “my product is bad because I don’t get any money” response.
What do you think about this?
Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions on the situation
Image credits: Miguel Á. Padriñán
Image credits: Infrogmation of New Orleans (not the actual photo)
Image credits: energepic.com
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Authentic taco with 5 pieces of beautifully slow-cooked meat = $1.68 versus Taco Bell taco with 2 tablespoons of dogfood = $1.69? You're bîtching up the wrong tree, dude.
Good tacos around me start about $2.40... and who buy ONE taco?
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I can't imagine feeling the need to write a review for something that cost 1.68. And 5 pieces could be alot, depending on the size of the pieces.
I like how 5 pieces of meat is suppose to clue us in on portion size. Yeah my 24oz ribeye was $50 for one piece of meat!!! 5 chucks of fajita is plenty for a $5 taco. It obviously wasn't ground beef.
Exactly, I paid $20 for one piece of meat. It was 30 pounds but still only one piece of meat.
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$1.68?!? Where!?! I mean, the taco lady on 3rd and Normandie used to charge $5 for two tacos, and she always had a line. Those things were amazing. In what universe is $1.68 expensive??
Maybe this guy is salty because he remembers the 29 cent tacos back in the 80s...
Both of them are crazy. Complaining about a $1.68 taco being small is ridiculous and accepting a credit card and then complaining about that is also ridiculous.
Dood paid less than 2 dollars for a street taco and has the audacity to complain?? I wanna know where this place is so I can buy 40 tacos and pass out eating them. 😂
I do remember being quite shocked myself the first time I had a street taco at age 40. Such small portions and why two small soft tortillas? After eating several street tacos now I absolutely see the magic and why more than "5 pieces" of meat would be too much - wouldn't be able to pick it up without being a complete mess. $1.68 sounds like a bargain to me!
Owner complaining about not making any money, but his profit margin is over 15%, and that’s pretty sweet in today’s restaurant business
I'm thinking the $0.05 cost for the meat is probably wrong if this was anytime after Covid hit. Also he didn't include water, sewer, trash, business licenses, gas for his vehicle if he shops himself, business insurance, I can go on. Then there's the possibility that these tacos or other low priced items make up the majority of his sales. At a profit of $0.25 per taco won't leave much for unexpected costs, wage increases, utility increases etc.
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Amount of scum started to count the meat is astonishing. Just don't expect anything decent for $1.68, you cheapskate. No doubt the review was written on a $800+ phone.
I used to own a taco restaurant in Sweden. Never again. People are crapping on the owners itemization. That isnt even a full list of overhead because it doesnt included insurance for one, yearly fees to the inspectors, accountant service costs etc. The average scale in Sweden is 5 times the ingredient costs. Now that fluctuates because something you cant charge 5 times the price because it would be too expensive, while other things are well above 5 times becauae it would be weird to charge 5 cents. And then let me tell you customers complain they dont get enough but also refuse to pay more for a taco because everyone has got it into their heads tacos are cheap and should always be cheap. So my guess is this reviewer would b***h about it being too expensive even if he did charge what it is actually worth.
Uses a credit card for a >$2 transaction, tallies up how many pieces of meat are on their taco, and leaves 1 star reviews at the slightest grievance. I wonder what sort of customer this is?!
I spent 10 at Chipotle for a bowl & the meat was too salty & in chunks of inedible fat. To get 5 pieces of well cooked meat on street taco, you can literally shred up the meat to make more if you were actually smart. 1 taco could've been him just trying them out too, so I get the 1 taco but I'd much rather get at least 3
Customers don’t realize how hard it is to run a business. I’m a business owner and I truly feel bad for the guy selling cheap tacos. I would charge more and create a minimum for CC use. Also, $1.68 for a taco is a bargain. It’s stupid of any customer to complain.
What a petty review! I'll take a $1.68 local made taco any day. Based on the costs (without a CC fee), he's barely breaking even. He's not even including the cost of permits, insurance, sales and employment taxes when he breaks down the taco cost. He should be charging more like $2 already. I'm surprised the meat is so cheap!
My time isn't even worth the effort it would take to write a review about a sub $2 anything.
As soon as I got to "why so little meat", I knew who I was gonna side with. Whiny little sh!t. This is the product, this is the price. Feel free to go elsewhere. Also, some comments indicate that people paying cash get a better product but I don't see this anywhere. I assume they're misinterpreting the owner's last line. I bet he has a similar price structure to my CC processor in that it's a percentage and a flat fee. So the CC cost per on a single taco is greater than it is for 100 tacos.
I think this dude is a d**k for bitching about $1.68 taco. However, I must say, if the owner has such details and can drill down to the cents, hell, barge more based on your analysis. And, that $.13 sales tax is not paid by the owner/business, it’s a tax on the consumer, so wtf … unless the owner includes the sales tax in his $1.68 sales price — which is kinda dumb. At any rate, this is really a dumb discussion!
Some small mom and pop restaurants do include sales tax in thier prices as it is easier for everyone to know exactly how much they are spending. Also the US is basically the only country where that isnt standard practice so clearly including the tax in the displayed price is actually the smarter (and easier for your customers) option. There are no surprises or tricky math needed when shopping abroad like there is shopping here.
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Rent was 30 cents (I don't know where my cent button is). And think about a jar of store brand salsa and how many tacos you would get out of that. If you buy a 70 Oz salsa container for $6.29 and get only 100 tacos from that one container that's around 6 cents per taco for just salsa. He is probably getting more salsa for cheaper if he is only paying 1 cent for condiments but that's just what I've found from my brief Google search on salsa.
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I am confused at stevenwe's comment about how reviewer was not asking for anything at all. To me, this just lends credence that they were writing the review to inform others, not to be a Karen. Whether or not reviewer is a jerk for the review is another matter. Was stevenwe really complaining that the reviewer was not a choosing beggar?
I would say if the customer can find a cattleman willing to sell him a head of cattle, butcher and process the meat for $1.68, he deserves his taco. Aside from that, stop crying and enjoy your $1.68 taco.
"Esoteric shït like electricity and rent" 🤣 Does this guy thinks you can make tacos without these expenses? And I did calculate the price too - if we include the credit card fee, the owner is left with 0,16 cents, not 0,26. But why is the credit card company charging the owner? I really need an explanation on this, must be an American thing.
It isnt American, they do it everywhere as a guarantee that they will make something on every transaction. If you pay off your balance in full every month (which some people do) then there is no interest added so the company is actually losing money on you if only the customers paid for thier cards. So they add a fee to the stores that is either a flat fee per transaction (better for the card company on small transactions) or a percentage (better for the card company on large transactions) or a combo with a percentage but also minimum amount per transaction. That is why many busineses have a minimum to pay with a card (I have seen that more in Europe and Oceania than the US) to make it worth the fees they are paying to be allowed to take card payments by the credit card companies.
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good grief, if you are so cheap you buy 1 taco for 1.68 and still b***h, stay home!!! or alternatively, learn the cost of doing business.
It’s weird cause there are other places to choose to eat if the customer wanted? Like go away lol. Also this person has never seen prices at chipotle lol shoot or even Taco Bell..
This guy pays $1.68 and gets 5¢ worth of meat? That's 3% meat. I'd write a 1* review too. For $1.78 he could get 3x the meat!
You get what you pay for in life if the customer wanted better taco then go some where else for higher quality food da I eat at taco bell because it's some what cheep I don't expect fancy food or stay home and make your own food the way you like it
Most small places don't allow credit cards for purchased less than $10.
F**k her, and for that matter f**k most Karen's out there who don't have the first clue what things cost or how hard things are. Nowj you come along and take a psychic s**t on the struggling people. Bully for you bitches
Actually, it's not the credit card companies that charge the fees, it's the card processing companies that charge the fees. For small merchants, they charge per transaction. For big businesses, they charge an over all fee if a certain sale amount is met. But the owner could simply deal with this in one of two ways...make a minimum charge requirement so you aren't losing profit or make sure everyone knows it's cash only. We have plenty of sit down restaurants around here that take only cash. And they charge a heck of a lot more than $1.69 for their food.
Who da hell buys 1 taco at $1.68!?!? And even worse....complains about it??? Did he expect a whole filet of beef on there? Twat!
Who is buying just ONE taco?! That's the craziest thing to me about this transaction
We seriously need to get over this garbage about the customer always being right. Most of the time they’re actually WRONG. In todays world of Karens and Kevins, the customer uses it to abuse harrass and demand whatever their hard little hearts think they’re entitled to. I tell my employees I have their back. Id rather my establishment be domfortable for everyone than placating some entitled bobcut who wont come back after the first visit anyway.
People convienently forget the second half of that when they want to be jerks to workers, it is supposed to be the customer is always right in matters of taste. So even if they want something hideous, or a disgusting combination, you smile and sell it to them because if they like it and are happy that is all that matters. Thier friends can be the ones to mock thier terrible fashion sense or crazy food combos, you just take thier money for it.
Load More Replies... Just only accept cash. Ignoring the entitled brat, the owner has some wacky math in his response. If you accept cards, don't blame the customer for using one. It's not their job to know how it impacts the business.
I just want to know why we're talking about a post from 3 years ago
Ppl are angry that you are shattering the illusion of their fantasy to be right that this literal snapshot in time allows them to live out
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If the price you're charging only allows you to put 5 pieces of taco meat in your taco, charge more. If taking credit cards will ruin you, don't take credit cards. Figuring out production costs and overhead vs. selling price is the responsibility of the business. You don't get put out a s**t quality product and then get angry at your customers because they used the credit card machine you provided. I ran a business for a while. I failed at it. I understand it's hard. But your logistics and overhead are **your** problems to sort out. Not your customers.
Any more than 5 pieces of meat would overwhelm a properly made taco and ot would judt fall apart when you try to eat it. Tacos are finger foods, I dont want mine slopping all over. A 5 piece of meat taco sounds a little over stuffed but acceptable (at home I put 2 max per shell) so long as they balance it out by putting less toppings so it all stays neatly in the tortilla the whole time Im eating it. Also a taco for under $2 sounds heavenly.
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Authentic taco with 5 pieces of beautifully slow-cooked meat = $1.68 versus Taco Bell taco with 2 tablespoons of dogfood = $1.69? You're bîtching up the wrong tree, dude.
Good tacos around me start about $2.40... and who buy ONE taco?
Load More Replies... I can't imagine feeling the need to write a review for something that cost 1.68. And 5 pieces could be alot, depending on the size of the pieces.
I like how 5 pieces of meat is suppose to clue us in on portion size. Yeah my 24oz ribeye was $50 for one piece of meat!!! 5 chucks of fajita is plenty for a $5 taco. It obviously wasn't ground beef.
Exactly, I paid $20 for one piece of meat. It was 30 pounds but still only one piece of meat.
Load More Replies... $1.68?!? Where!?! I mean, the taco lady on 3rd and Normandie used to charge $5 for two tacos, and she always had a line. Those things were amazing. In what universe is $1.68 expensive??
Maybe this guy is salty because he remembers the 29 cent tacos back in the 80s...
Both of them are crazy. Complaining about a $1.68 taco being small is ridiculous and accepting a credit card and then complaining about that is also ridiculous.
Dood paid less than 2 dollars for a street taco and has the audacity to complain?? I wanna know where this place is so I can buy 40 tacos and pass out eating them. 😂
I do remember being quite shocked myself the first time I had a street taco at age 40. Such small portions and why two small soft tortillas? After eating several street tacos now I absolutely see the magic and why more than "5 pieces" of meat would be too much - wouldn't be able to pick it up without being a complete mess. $1.68 sounds like a bargain to me!
Owner complaining about not making any money, but his profit margin is over 15%, and that’s pretty sweet in today’s restaurant business
I'm thinking the $0.05 cost for the meat is probably wrong if this was anytime after Covid hit. Also he didn't include water, sewer, trash, business licenses, gas for his vehicle if he shops himself, business insurance, I can go on. Then there's the possibility that these tacos or other low priced items make up the majority of his sales. At a profit of $0.25 per taco won't leave much for unexpected costs, wage increases, utility increases etc.
Load More Replies... Amount of scum started to count the meat is astonishing. Just don't expect anything decent for $1.68, you cheapskate. No doubt the review was written on a $800+ phone.
I used to own a taco restaurant in Sweden. Never again. People are crapping on the owners itemization. That isnt even a full list of overhead because it doesnt included insurance for one, yearly fees to the inspectors, accountant service costs etc. The average scale in Sweden is 5 times the ingredient costs. Now that fluctuates because something you cant charge 5 times the price because it would be too expensive, while other things are well above 5 times becauae it would be weird to charge 5 cents. And then let me tell you customers complain they dont get enough but also refuse to pay more for a taco because everyone has got it into their heads tacos are cheap and should always be cheap. So my guess is this reviewer would b***h about it being too expensive even if he did charge what it is actually worth.
Uses a credit card for a >$2 transaction, tallies up how many pieces of meat are on their taco, and leaves 1 star reviews at the slightest grievance. I wonder what sort of customer this is?!
I spent 10 at Chipotle for a bowl & the meat was too salty & in chunks of inedible fat. To get 5 pieces of well cooked meat on street taco, you can literally shred up the meat to make more if you were actually smart. 1 taco could've been him just trying them out too, so I get the 1 taco but I'd much rather get at least 3
Customers don’t realize how hard it is to run a business. I’m a business owner and I truly feel bad for the guy selling cheap tacos. I would charge more and create a minimum for CC use. Also, $1.68 for a taco is a bargain. It’s stupid of any customer to complain.
What a petty review! I'll take a $1.68 local made taco any day. Based on the costs (without a CC fee), he's barely breaking even. He's not even including the cost of permits, insurance, sales and employment taxes when he breaks down the taco cost. He should be charging more like $2 already. I'm surprised the meat is so cheap!
My time isn't even worth the effort it would take to write a review about a sub $2 anything.
As soon as I got to "why so little meat", I knew who I was gonna side with. Whiny little sh!t. This is the product, this is the price. Feel free to go elsewhere. Also, some comments indicate that people paying cash get a better product but I don't see this anywhere. I assume they're misinterpreting the owner's last line. I bet he has a similar price structure to my CC processor in that it's a percentage and a flat fee. So the CC cost per on a single taco is greater than it is for 100 tacos.
I think this dude is a d**k for bitching about $1.68 taco. However, I must say, if the owner has such details and can drill down to the cents, hell, barge more based on your analysis. And, that $.13 sales tax is not paid by the owner/business, it’s a tax on the consumer, so wtf … unless the owner includes the sales tax in his $1.68 sales price — which is kinda dumb. At any rate, this is really a dumb discussion!
Some small mom and pop restaurants do include sales tax in thier prices as it is easier for everyone to know exactly how much they are spending. Also the US is basically the only country where that isnt standard practice so clearly including the tax in the displayed price is actually the smarter (and easier for your customers) option. There are no surprises or tricky math needed when shopping abroad like there is shopping here.
Load More Replies... Rent was 30 cents (I don't know where my cent button is). And think about a jar of store brand salsa and how many tacos you would get out of that. If you buy a 70 Oz salsa container for $6.29 and get only 100 tacos from that one container that's around 6 cents per taco for just salsa. He is probably getting more salsa for cheaper if he is only paying 1 cent for condiments but that's just what I've found from my brief Google search on salsa.
Load More Replies... I am confused at stevenwe's comment about how reviewer was not asking for anything at all. To me, this just lends credence that they were writing the review to inform others, not to be a Karen. Whether or not reviewer is a jerk for the review is another matter. Was stevenwe really complaining that the reviewer was not a choosing beggar?
I would say if the customer can find a cattleman willing to sell him a head of cattle, butcher and process the meat for $1.68, he deserves his taco. Aside from that, stop crying and enjoy your $1.68 taco.
"Esoteric shït like electricity and rent" 🤣 Does this guy thinks you can make tacos without these expenses? And I did calculate the price too - if we include the credit card fee, the owner is left with 0,16 cents, not 0,26. But why is the credit card company charging the owner? I really need an explanation on this, must be an American thing.
It isnt American, they do it everywhere as a guarantee that they will make something on every transaction. If you pay off your balance in full every month (which some people do) then there is no interest added so the company is actually losing money on you if only the customers paid for thier cards. So they add a fee to the stores that is either a flat fee per transaction (better for the card company on small transactions) or a percentage (better for the card company on large transactions) or a combo with a percentage but also minimum amount per transaction. That is why many busineses have a minimum to pay with a card (I have seen that more in Europe and Oceania than the US) to make it worth the fees they are paying to be allowed to take card payments by the credit card companies.
Load More Replies... good grief, if you are so cheap you buy 1 taco for 1.68 and still b***h, stay home!!! or alternatively, learn the cost of doing business.
It’s weird cause there are other places to choose to eat if the customer wanted? Like go away lol. Also this person has never seen prices at chipotle lol shoot or even Taco Bell..
This guy pays $1.68 and gets 5¢ worth of meat? That's 3% meat. I'd write a 1* review too. For $1.78 he could get 3x the meat!
You get what you pay for in life if the customer wanted better taco then go some where else for higher quality food da I eat at taco bell because it's some what cheep I don't expect fancy food or stay home and make your own food the way you like it
Most small places don't allow credit cards for purchased less than $10.
F**k her, and for that matter f**k most Karen's out there who don't have the first clue what things cost or how hard things are. Nowj you come along and take a psychic s**t on the struggling people. Bully for you bitches
Actually, it's not the credit card companies that charge the fees, it's the card processing companies that charge the fees. For small merchants, they charge per transaction. For big businesses, they charge an over all fee if a certain sale amount is met. But the owner could simply deal with this in one of two ways...make a minimum charge requirement so you aren't losing profit or make sure everyone knows it's cash only. We have plenty of sit down restaurants around here that take only cash. And they charge a heck of a lot more than $1.69 for their food.
Who da hell buys 1 taco at $1.68!?!? And even worse....complains about it??? Did he expect a whole filet of beef on there? Twat!
Who is buying just ONE taco?! That's the craziest thing to me about this transaction
We seriously need to get over this garbage about the customer always being right. Most of the time they’re actually WRONG. In todays world of Karens and Kevins, the customer uses it to abuse harrass and demand whatever their hard little hearts think they’re entitled to. I tell my employees I have their back. Id rather my establishment be domfortable for everyone than placating some entitled bobcut who wont come back after the first visit anyway.
People convienently forget the second half of that when they want to be jerks to workers, it is supposed to be the customer is always right in matters of taste. So even if they want something hideous, or a disgusting combination, you smile and sell it to them because if they like it and are happy that is all that matters. Thier friends can be the ones to mock thier terrible fashion sense or crazy food combos, you just take thier money for it.
Load More Replies... Just only accept cash. Ignoring the entitled brat, the owner has some wacky math in his response. If you accept cards, don't blame the customer for using one. It's not their job to know how it impacts the business.
I just want to know why we're talking about a post from 3 years ago
Ppl are angry that you are shattering the illusion of their fantasy to be right that this literal snapshot in time allows them to live out
Load More Replies... If the price you're charging only allows you to put 5 pieces of taco meat in your taco, charge more. If taking credit cards will ruin you, don't take credit cards. Figuring out production costs and overhead vs. selling price is the responsibility of the business. You don't get put out a s**t quality product and then get angry at your customers because they used the credit card machine you provided. I ran a business for a while. I failed at it. I understand it's hard. But your logistics and overhead are **your** problems to sort out. Not your customers.
Any more than 5 pieces of meat would overwhelm a properly made taco and ot would judt fall apart when you try to eat it. Tacos are finger foods, I dont want mine slopping all over. A 5 piece of meat taco sounds a little over stuffed but acceptable (at home I put 2 max per shell) so long as they balance it out by putting less toppings so it all stays neatly in the tortilla the whole time Im eating it. Also a taco for under $2 sounds heavenly.
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