I am now closing this thread as it has exhausted discussion of the original point, and then some. Thanks.

It's an insult to the restaurant, and to the people who frequent it, to assume that people go there out of pity. During the coverage of Sean's death it was noted often that this restaurant was his dream. Perhaps his death created interest in those who would like to see what that dream looked like - but that isn't pity.

JanS, I reported that post. I wish this whole thread could be deleted, but understand why it stands. However, Hed's reply is over the line and offensive, in my opinion.

Hed...you joined today just to say that? Could you clarify, and tell us how you have such inside knowledge? Do you work there? Do you know Sofia? Perhaps you could enlighten us with your knowledge of the real truth, since you brought it up? Anonymous accusations without background are suspect, in my book.

Jo, Mike, and Matthew: Marilyn Murphy did move her shop to Pioneer Square and did away with the on-site upholstery, but the new location closed about a year ago.

i'll trek downtown one of these days and see...

i get off the peninsula a fair amount.. but usually bypass downtown.

JoB, didn't the store (don't recall the name, or I'd look it up) move down to SODO, like on 1st South?

Mike

pioneer square is the new location...first and jackson-ish

JSR..
i too miss the store...
do you know where she went?

Bank of America recently took $116,000 out of my checking account (that I didn't have) and didn't discover the error until I brought it to their attention. (they coded a $116 check as $116,000) In my mind, these two incidents are similar. I would expect a written letter of apology ASAP for any errors, regardless of the amount. Did I get an apology? NO. And I don't think you will, either. I hate to say it, but it seems to be the way of the world these days. On the other hand, if you tried to pay your restaurant bill and subtract $2, or if I tried to charge $110,000 on my credit card, you can be sure we wouldn't be successful.

Regarding the restaurant, I can't comment, as I have never been there. I loved the store that was there before and never had an interest in going to the restaurant. Generally speaking, though, I don't think any business can survive long-term on "pity." The bottom line is always product quality IMO.

cjboffoli said: I think I'd rather light my fireplace with that $2 bill than give it over to someone that would hold $2 in such high importance.

There are shelters downtown who can feed two people for a day on $2 and I'm willing to bet they hold that $2 in high importance.

Petty theft is ok apparently. Skylar what's-his-name ought to be released immediately.

Told ya. Till the cows come home.

A young man in my family admitted in front of his parents a few years ago that during high school he exchanged his worn wallet for a new one at a local department store.

his parents shook their head and talked to him about what would have happened had he been caught but said nothing about his theft.

recently this same young man... who is now an adult applying for a job of public trust... made a comment about how he saw that theft.. he thought the store was wrong for charging $30 for the wallet he still carried.

this is someone i love dearly but no longer really respect:(

worse than that... if this is his attitude towards the theft of a wallet.. i wonder what else he thinks is ok.

i worry about a society where the attitude that you deserve what you can take...
that speaking up when you are wronged is whining...
that a few dollars doesn't really matter...
i worry about where that attitude is taking us...

so yes.. i make a big deal out of things like this when i see others treating the person who reports it badly...
rationalizing treating the Op badly
and defending not contacting a customer when they report a discrepancy on their bill on the basis that the owner is too busy or it's too little money to worry about.

i wish i had made a bigger deal out of it the first time i saw evidence of this double standard emerging in this young man's home.

and now he is a young man
who is likely to be faced with ethical choices
he clearly isn't prepared to make...

i kept my mouth shut..
it wasn't my business..
no big deal:(

it's a bigger deal than we know
and one that each of us often faces in some way as we interact with our community..

middle of the night.. sleepless.. said more than i would in the daylight.. but still i think... worth thinking about.

If a cashier got caught skimming two dollars from the till I would find it completely reasonable that they be put to the curb. Why should somebody caught skimming two dollars from your bank account be treated with any less seriousness?

I'm a sucker for a good conspiracy and this unbelievable forum drama makes me want to go eat at Cafe Revo more than ever. It's like the Area 51 of West Seattle - "there's a lot of strange stuff going on over there"

Listen folks...coming from someone in the industry... it's not the amount, it's the principal. i have no issues with Revo and am not commenting on them, just the way restaurants work. when i trust someone with my credit card to charge and they over charge me, i expect it to be dealt with. and as a manager i treat that relationship of trust with the customer with the respect it deserves. i am sure the management at Revo would like the chance to rectify this situation.
i understand the original issue and don't think it should be marginalized just because of a low dollar amount.

Job - not saying it's ok - god knows I hate getting overcharged at grocery store which happens at least once a month. I've learned to double check my receipts before leaving the store or restaraunt. Also they probably only spent $2 -$10 for the $25 certificate and too be mad about a small $ seems crazy to me. If you want to stress about a few bucks go ahead, it will shorten your life considerably. In my opinion that someone probably needed that $ more than me and I would hope they would pay it forward in some small way in the future. Mistakes happen, life goes on.

Oh JoB, don't take yourself so seriously. I keed, I keed.

It hardly sounds like there is some kind of conspiracy at work here. Someone just made a mistake. The world is an imperfect place and mistakes DO happen. No one seems to be advocating that it is OK to overcharge people. That's just silly.

If you have a computer and internet service and have the money to go out to eat and time to kill pontificating on the WSB Forums, I have a hard time believing that a $2 overcharge is going to cause you financial ruin.

rockergirl...

is it really ok if businesses randomly charge customers more as long as it isn't much?

is it ok if their employees steal from the restaurant or their customers as long as it isn't much?

if that's ok.. where do we draw the line?

it's ok if you only overcharge me by $5? $10? $20?

if you take the gift certificate out of the equation..
and the beloved Cafe Revo out of the equation...

that is the question you are left with.

Is it ok to overcharge as long as you don't overcharge by too much?

Considering you used a Restaraunt.com gift certificate to begin with means you got a good deal. While they may have overcharged you $2 is hardly worth the hassle in this case in my opinion.

has it occurred to anyone yet that this could be a problem the owner of Cafe Revo needs to be made aware of?

employee theft goes up when tips go down... overcharging and altering receipts is one way of stealing from a restaurant...

I had a room mate that loved Cusack. I have seen this movie so many times. That and Say Anything. Also, I think this is Booger's first movie.

angelcrest..
so what do you call it when someone overcharges on a charge slip and doesn't correct the error?
geez.. it's only money? the law calls it theft.

cjboffoli..
it's too bad you didn't have a better argument.. you wouldn't have had to resort to personal insults.. which btw.. aren't really kosher here. stick to ideas not personalities

This is the most interesting stream I've read in awhile. Anyway, now that I've read through most of it, it seems to moi that the easiest thing for Cafe Revo to have done was to just offer the customer a free drink or dessert -- send them a "coupon." The bottom line is KISS - "keep it simple stupid."

I know a restaurant owner can really feel over-whelmed. Being a manager ain't easy, I've been there.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

I love you Justin! And the ice cream you create.

FullTIlt: LOL. I totally forgot about that demented paperboy.

I'm sure glad it wasn't JoB that was overcharged $2 because something tells me there would be an eight page letter to Obama posted to this thread.

Nice, FullTilt!!! Love it.
"No, I can't swim!!!"

Awesome!

FullTilt FTW!

You're not the only one, FullTilt!

Not to take away from the OP troubles at all, but every time I hear the words "Two Dollars", I think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_540iIAa4I&NR=1

Oh my! So now we're going to accuse them of theft. It's two dollars, and for whatever reason (and there are many possibilities, as suggested by DBurns above)the restaurant hasn't responded. Two dollars, and we're in court, we're skewering 'em on the blog, and now...theft?

This is a community, and all that negative stuff can have some devastating results. I think of those restaurants (and local businesses) as brave souls in a tough economy: they're employing people! Hello! All those wanting to predict their demise might probably have their own issues (envy, anger, etc.) to work through. But, since this is public, you are not helping your community by bashing the pillars (yeah, dramatic) that uphold it.

cjboffoli..

so it's ok if everyone you do business with just adds another $2 onto your charges and doesn't bother returning your calls when you try to bring their attention to it?

do you really have that much money?
most of us don't.

beyond that.. when i sign a charge i expect to pay exactly what i signed for..
and if they don't respond immediately when i call their attention to it i make a fuss ...
and if it isn't fixed immediately..
i report them.

Overcharging on a credit or debit slip is theft...
and theft is never acceptable

maude: I think I'd rather light my fireplace with that $2 bill than give it over to someone that would hold $2 in such high importance. You don't have to have Bill Gates' cash to recognize that there are a gazillion things more important than a couple of bucks. You win some and you lose some. If you want to bitch until the cows come home over $2 then knock yourself out. I can sympathize about the frustration of a business not answering a complaint in a timely manner. But personally, I can't see the sense in getting myself worked up over $2.

I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!! Heehee

Johnnyblegs, 25 days 'til first pitch!!
GO MARINERS!!!

Jiggers, you have NO idea how wacky Ovio got in the months after Eddie Montoya died (BTW baba, that was YEARS ago, and I still consider it a pity that the World lost a person who WOULD have become one of America's great chefs). Stories I heard from insiders were rather scandalous. It was a rather bumpy ride those last few months as everything spun out of control.

cjbaffoli: since $2 appears to be an insignificant sum to you, why don't you just hand over a $2 bill to WS? I guess it's all a matter of perspective. $2 to you; $2 million to Bill Gates. I'd bitch about it too. Until the cows came home.

johnnyblegs...

there are things i can get excited about..
good food.. consumer rights... human rights... music... a good read... ok.. any read:)

but the Mariners?

LOL.. you will have to hook another fish:)))

The chef of the formerly placed called Ovio(currently Table 35), died as they closed down not long after being around for quite awhile in the Junction. I know there are some other non-business issues why they closed, but I won't go into them in detail here since it doesn't concern me.

Wow! Quite a response over a $2 lack of customer service. So......how 'bout those Mariners? I think they're going to do well this season.

Baba..

the question has been answered..
even though you don't seem to like the answer....

LOL.. move on.

Baba,

Your question has been answered many times. No one else believes that Cafe Revo is surviving on pity. Therefore, others have found your premise to be invalid and have stated so. And THAT is the answer to your question.

Personally, I've never eaten at Cafe Revo. The reviews have been too mixed for me to gamble one of my rare nights out on them. If I'm jonesing for Italian, I'll go to La Rustica.

Hopey: FTW.

Cjboffoli isn't getting defensive about the place because of pity. You clearly don't like the place, or you wouldn't be counting down the minutes to their demise. Just say so and end it there.

For how long (months, years...) can a brand-new user demand to have their question answered, and be driven by entitlement, before being shunned as a troll? I wonder.

angelescrest
Thank you for welcoming me to the board!

I wouldn.t need to explain myself so many times if I just got my guestion answered. What is your take? besides welcoming me to the board?

Baba,
I wish you would shut up and go away. Trying to push some thesis? You'll need some other examples, 'cuz you've said the same friggin' thing about a bazillion times. Mean-spirited and WEIRD.

cjboffoli
I've just noticed that you, out of all people ,get extremely defensive when it comes to this particular business, Pity - is the first reason that comes to my mind, everything else is pure speculation... But again, I'm using Cafe Revo just as an example.The question remains...

Yeah Baba, if you are not trolling I apologize. I stick with the rest of my statement though.

No place survives on pity. People like Revo for what it is.

As for the lack of response from the owner, I feel your frustration.

Baba..

i did....

not long.

if other tragedies affecting businesses in West Seattle since i have lived here are any indication... a matter of weeks..months if they are really liked.. but not years.

something about this place speaks to West Seattle... i don't get it... but perhaps it was the labor of love put into it...

You and I don't have to get it...

i am fairly certain their continued success has less to do with pity and more to do with some unnamed attraction...

if love weren't quixotic.. most of us would be single ;-)

get some ice cream tomorrow.
everything goes better with ice cream.

Baba: One doesn't have to be a "family representative" to assert that the ownership of this business is broader than one person. It's just a fact. And I can't speak to your obsession with pity but it is presumptuous to insist that that is the basis of Café Revò's appeal.

It is very simple for me. I eat there because I like some of the dishes. If you don't like the food don't go. But I think it is reprehensible for people to spend time and space in this forum speculating about the timeline for the failure of this business, and arrogantly asserting that this business only survives because Sean Goff died.