A tourist who visited Italy became furious when he found he was charged by a restaurant in the luxury area of Lake Como 2 euros just to cut his sandwich in half.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, had ordered a vegetarian sandwich with fries at Bar Pace in Gera Lario, at the lake's northern end.
After eating the meatless snack he shared with a friend, he was shocked to find the unwanted charge on his account. He did not complain to the restaurant manager but quickly posted a negative review on TripAdvisor.
The disgruntled tourist explained that he ordered the sandwich to share with his friend - but never asked for it to be cut in half.
Describing it as “incredible but true”, the tourist uploaded the receipt to Tripadvisor following a holiday in June.
The annoyed customer gave the restaurant one star on TripAdvisor - well below the restaurant's average of four and a half stars out of 100 reviews it had received in total.
The annoyed customer gave the restaurant one star on TripAdvisor - well below the restaurant's average of four and a half stars out of 100 reviews it had received in total.
The restaurant owner defended the charge.
“There were two of us and we asked for a toasted sandwich to share at the table,” he wrote on the reviews site. “We have to pay because the toast was cut in half?”
The controversial sandwich-cutting fee cost more than a cup of espresso, according to the receipt, and raised the total cost of the sandwich from €7.50 to €9.50.
The cafe’s owner, however, defended the charge.
“Additional requests have a cost,” owner Cristina Biacchi told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
“We had to use two plates instead of one and the time to wash them is doubled, and then two placemats.
“It wasn’t a simple toasted sandwich, there were also French fries inside. It took us time to cut it in two.”
She added that the customer in question made no complaint at the time and, if queried, the charge would have been struck from the bill.
This practice is not unknown in expensive cities and popular tourist destinations.
Since the story about the charge went viral, TripAdvisor has suspended reviews for the restaurant in question.
“Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing,” the website stated.
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