| Miller's Ale House-North Miami Beach |
| Alleging Coercion and Extortion |
| 13th of Nov, 2011 by Bobby611 |
I went to their bar and sat down and asked the large bartender girl what were the specials on beer. I settled on a special of a bucket of five miller light beers for ten dollars. It was more than I wanted but it was likely less expensive than buying four.
Regardless I sat there and eventually struck up a conversation with a stranger in the bar. A little later a woman approached behind me was asking the waitress about a fight being on. It was the first I had heard about it. I had a bucket of beers that I had purchased sitting in front of me. About 20 minutes later the waitress comes around to me at the bar and says I have to pay ten dollars for the fight. I told her no one said anything to me at the door about it and she said nothing about it when I bought the beers. I still had four full beers in front of me. I told her I intended to finish my beers and leave when I was finished. I refused to pay ten dollars for something I did not order or agree to as would anyone in their right mind. The manager never came over at that point. It seemed like the issue was settled.
About an hour and a half passed and the waitress came back around again and demanded me to pay once more. I again told her, I was not paying as I said before because I had not agreed to it and I would just be finishing my beers. She left and seemed angry and less accepting this time around. The German guy next to me said, "she must have something against you, because they have not asked anyone else to pay. " he continued "They haven't asked me." I realized that this was true by my accounts too. I had not seen her approach anyone else. I was still thinking they might get around to asking the others to pay too. I did not think it was anything personal against me. At least I hope not. Another ten minutes passed. I was now starting on the last and final beer. The German stranger who sat next to me had not been asked to pay still and now he ordered another picture of beer after the last refusal to pay. I though for sure they would make him pay 10 dollars for the fight before they would give him any more service. They did not.
About ten minutes passed and suddenly a male manager with black curly hair was standing behind my bar stool with what appeared to be a handful of money he collected and said I have to pay for the fight. (I think it had already been playing on the TVs but which I had not watched because I was in a conversation with the stranger next to me.) I told the manager I was not watching the fight as he was likely aware (if his waitress reported me) and that no one said anything about the fight or a charge when I bought the beers. I told him I would not pay.
I considered it would be their mistake not to inform customers they would be charging at a certain hour. They certainly should do it BEFORE a customer orders food or drinks and if they didn't that the manager would cope with their inconveniencing regular customers in normal restaurant operations whenever they failed to get consent from the customer. I did not think the would push the issue with paying customers. To me it is not normal to approach customers mid meal with additional surprise charges and then summon police when they don't pay. Worse with someone you sold alcohol to, to try and make them consume it at an unreasonable rapid pace.
The manager said "you will have to pay or leave now". I said I have a beer I paid for, I was not causing anyone harm, and I intended to finish the product I paid for and then leave. He then said he was going to summon the police from the door if I did not pay or leave right now. It was the first I saw the police. They must have just arrived. Because they stood at the door I would assume they are paid bouncers but it is possible the manager wanted to cause a scene first or this practice of surprising customers generates the need for the police to be there because of the objection to the injustice.
I told him and the police I was calling 911 as I wanted it on record because I had a beer I paid for and he was now trying to take it from me and kick me out as a form of coercion to pay money to him. Before I got through on 911 the two police offices were standing right behind me to remove me from my seat if I did not pay $10 for the boxing fight on TV. The police officers were taking a serious approach. My thinking was that I would likely get charged if I resisted the injustice of them trying to force me to pay or leave my unfinished beer. They seemed to me to be removed from the illogical approach of the whole situation and paid to be unconcerned about the true letter of the law.
I went on to explain to the officers that I have a right to finish my beers (which by law I could not take off the premises) and that I was not told of any charge for a boxing fight (10 dollars) when I entered nor when I placed the order for the beers which I was to consume at the bar, and I said I intended to finish it where I sat. At that point the manager reached over me, grabbed the tab that was in a cup in front of me and said, I will pay for his tab. This in an essence took away my argument that it was a beer I paid for (obligated to pay for) and thus he would not be stealing it from me. My ability to claim injustice appeared to be gone but the truth was the manager had no intention of paying for it when he was kicking me out. It appeared to me that he was just out of options should I persist to protect myself.
I agreed to go because I could not claim I lost money and it looked like it would get ugly.
Regardless of the windfall of four free beers (The bar losing ten dollars (+ tip) rather than making 10), the entire restaurant saw the police coming to take me away. It was defamation and looked really bad as I was a legitimate customer who had done nothing more that to refuse to pay an additional surprise fee for boxing which I was not really interested in at the time and was NEVER informed of before I bought five beers which takes time to drink. My rational is that if they brought in dancing clowns to my surprise, should I have to pay for it?
The use of legitimate police officers to generate terror and fear so that a restaurant can spring surprise charges on unwilling customers and punish those who don't pay by kicking them out mid meal is astonishing.
It was embarrassing that the fellow I was speaking with about a possible business investment had to see me escorted out the door by two police officers. I was humiliated and hurt. If they had said anything about a a ten dollar door charge when I ordered the beer, I would not have ordered it.
The, apparent to me, use of official police in the managers approach of coercion to force me to pay for something I did not agree with was illegal in my opinion. Additionally it was a violation of the understood contract I entered into with the restaurant when I purchased the beer bucket. (I order it, I get served, I consume it in a normal fashion, I pay what we agreed, and I leave.)
They danced around it shifting the approach from the original coercion by paying my tab but that doesn't change things: I believe I was originally given three options by the manager which all add up to extortion in my mind It goes like this in my mind -Pay ten dollars more than what I agreed to and pay it now or we punish you by A) Making me leave my beer and close out my tab OR B) Get physically molested and kicked out by the police and lose my beer which I would have to pay for.
That beer was mine and I was obligated under law to fulfill the contract and pay for it.
Only later did he pay the tab after he summoned the police and humiliated me. Up until he paid for it, it belonged to me and the attempt was to make me leave it under threat of harm by two armed police officers.
The police officers were willing to see me to the door and said nothing about the additional 10 dollar extortion attempt. They knew the only reason I was being kicked out was because the manager wanted ten dollars from me that I did not agree to.
The scene it made having me escorted to the door only helped breed fear in all the other customer's mind that by refusing one is somehow breaking the law and will be made an example of as I was. It will make them likely pay the additional ten dollars. I believe they are using our own police against us when the police should be investigating this practice.
I am not sure if Miller's Ale House corporate is aware of this practice of surprising paying customers or whether it is the managers and waitresses mistake, but I will not be recommending anyone should take chances. If I stood up for my rights not to be extorted from or humiliated, I could have been harmed? I hate thinking about the whole incident and that place. Never in my life have I felt so violated all over ten dollars and a companies inability to be fair with people they attract through their doors. For the ten dollars they lost ten dollars (+tip) and a customer for life. Instead of me recommending them, I have to post a warning?
The restaurant is:
Miller's Ale House-North Miami Beach
3227 Northeast 163rd Street, North Miami Beach, FL 33160
(305) 945-6878
The company is:
Ale House Management Inc.
612 N. Orange Ave., Ste. C-6
Jupiter, FL 33458
FL Tel. 561-743-2299
Toll Free 866-743-2299
Fax 561-744-3111
Chairman and CEO: John W. (Jack) Miller |
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