A ‘very rich Italian’ man has been left outraged after he was reportedly chased down and reprimanded by an angry waiter in Saint-Tropez for only leaving a 500 euro (£429) tip.
The diner, who has not yet been identified, was pursued by the staff member to the carpark of the restaurant in the glamourous French Riviera resort and told it ‘wasn’t enough’.
The waiter chastised the ‘very rich’ customer and told him to go back inside and pay another 500 euros to reach the ‘minimum’ tip amount of 1,000 euros (£859), reported local newspaper Nice Matin.
A French friend of the dismayed Italian said: ‘He thought he had been generous by leaving 500 euros, instead he was reprimanded.
‘The waiter told him that it wasn’t enough and that he could still make a small effort to reach 1,000 euros because it was more consistent in approaching 20 per cent of the total amount of his bill.’
A ‘very rich Italian’ man has been left outraged after he was chased down and reprimanded by an angry waiter in Saint-Tropez for reportedly only leaving a 500 euro tip after his meal (file)
The Italian was so affronted by the exchange that he reportedly told his friend that he never wanted to step foot in Saint Tropez again.
The incident marks a growing frustration for holidaymakers travelling to Saint –Tropez, a popular holiday destination for royalty and the wealthy.
Tourists have told how some restaurants in the coastal town require a minimum spend of 1,500 euros (£1,288) each, while in other areas of the French Riviera, customers are expected to spend at least 10,000 euros (£8,587).
‘During a recent evening, this restaurant that we know well required a minimum spend of 1,500 euros each,’ a regular, who said he is unlikely to return to Saint-Tropez, told Nice Matin.
It was also reported that a family at a restaurant in Ramatuelle, just south of Saint-Tropez, were told by staff that the minimum spend at a table there was 100,000 euros (£85,900).
The Italian, who has not yet been identified, was chased by the waiter to the carpark of the eatery in the glamourous French Riviera resort and told his 500 euro tip ‘wasn’t enough’ (file)
Restaurant staff are also said to be screening customers – and if they found that they didn’t tip well during a previous visit, they wouldn’t let them book a table again, reports Repubblica.
The mayor of Saint-Tropez, Sylvie Siri, said he has summoned local restaurant owners for a meeting at the end of the summer season to ‘clean up’ their practices and ‘welcome customers in a more dignified way’.
Speaking of how restaurants are only reserving tables to clients who agree to a minimum spend, Ms Siri said: ‘It is a practice similar to extortion, a form of racketeering.’
It is the latest example of the sky-high cost of enjoying bars and restaurants at some of Europe’s most exclusive holiday hotspots.
Yesterday, it emerged that shocked customers had been ordered to pay a restaurant €20 (£17) to cut up a birthday cake.
The family had brought in the cake with them for a celebration in Palermo, Sicily.
But the party-goers were astonished when they found they had been charged €20 for cutting it into pieces.
Last week, diners at another restaurant in Italy were shocked after waiters charged them €2 for an empty plate so their daughter could try the pasta.
Italians mocked the restaurant for the unusual charge and even the regional governor condemned it.
Ida Germano, the owner of the Osteria del Cavolo in Finale Ligure, told The Times the charge was valid because more plates to clean meant more work to do.
She clarified that the cost of supplying and washing extra plates so the mother could let her daughter taste the pasta would be ‘more work’.
Since international travel returned to normality at the end of the global pandemic, several disgruntled holidaymakers have taken to the internet to express their shock at being presented with exorbitant bills in bars and restaurants in a number of European holiday destinations.
In another prices scandal, a couple who asked for an extra teaspoon so they could share a dessert were charged €1.50 (£1.30).
They were billed for the pleasure of using two teaspoons to eat the crema catalana they had at the pizzeria near Alba, in northern Piemonte.
It came as a bar at Italy’s exclusive Lake Como has sparked outrage after it was revealed it charges customers an extra €2 (£1.70) just to cut their sandwiches in half.
One disgruntled customer shared a photograph of a receipt online as proof of the baffling charge.
The printout from June 18 clearly shows that Bar Pace had charged them €2 for the privilege of cutting their sandwich in two.
Listed as ‘diviso da meta’ it translates into English as ‘divided in half’.
In 2019, a Venice restaurant sparked outrage by charging tourists £1,000 for four steaks and a plate of fish.
The outraged Japanese diners – students from the University of Bologna – said they ordered three steaks and fried fish at the Osteria da Luca near St Mark’s Square.
With only glasses of water to accompany their modest meal, the group was left shocked by their €1,145 bill on Friday.
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