| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 11:00:14
Has anyone heard this story going around about the Oilers and their big NY's eve dinner in Calgary? As with any story, there's two sides to it. The restaurant claims the Oilers refused to pay an 18k tab for their night and only paid 12k of it and left? The Oilers are saying they thought the bill was a little excessive, asked for it to be checked/re-calculated and turns out it was only 12k?
Sounds a little fishy? I'm guessing, strictly speculating of course, that the restaurant was trying to rip them off and didn't think they'd check over the bill? I just can't see a bunch of millionares worried about a few K unless they felt they were being taken advantage of?
Beans, or anyone else, have you heard anything about this??? |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Guest6388 |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 08:53:20
I'm from Edmonton and have read both the Sun and Journal articles in person, and I too thought something was a little off. To me the most obvious signs of this were the pictures of the GM of the restaurant that accompanied each article. In each one he is standing holding the bill trying to look as tough as he possibly can for his 15 minutes of fame. Not only that but in one of the pictures, I believe it was in the Sun, he holds the bill close enough so that you can actually read what some of the charges were.
They were only charged 100 dollars per plate for their food, suggesting that the Oilers wives and girlfriends who supposedly made the reservation must have negotiated that down, if this is indeed one of the nicest restaurants in Calgary. So food came to roughly $4500 according to the bill. Another $500 bucks for the 45 mineral waters, and its about $5000 for the food portion of the meal. The booze total was about $8000 roughly so the bill only came to ~$14-15000 after tax but before tip.
Anyway some of the individual charges for drinks were ridiculous. For example: $250 each for a "blow job" (drink featuring whip cream), they were charged individually for their shooters of Grey Goose, and tequilla, but the total charge for something like 65 shooters was still only $650, in other words not something that millionaire athletes are going to make a big deal about. The most expensive items were the bottles of Dom Perignon they ordered which came to around $2500. Again, I'm not a connoisseur of champagne, but I doubt 3 bottles of Dom Perignon at that price is really outrageous enough to be yelling and threatening staff over.
To me this whole thing seems like an over-exaggeration by the owner, and possibly a bit of an over-reaction by captain Ethan Moreau (or in other words, the worst captain in the league), who was mentioned as being one of the rowdy and angry Oilers that were there. No matter how much money I made, I would probably be a little miffed about being charged individually when the shooters ordered totaled more than a single bottle, but I might not even say anything and just never return to that place. However, being charged $250 dollars for a shot that costs maybe $10 anywhere else, at any other time, is something that screams SCAM to me, and would certainly be worth calling the restaurant on their pathetic attempt to over-charge the hated rival team.
So what was probably a reasonable complaint about the bill turned into a heated exchange when drunk egos and rivalries were brought into the mix. Then the whole thing was blown out of proportion by the GM of this place that wanted some payback after being called on his bulls*** and forced to take a hit of 1/3 of the bill because he was very clearly in the wrong for trying to manipulate the situation. It's fine if you want to charge me $250 for a drink that costs $10 anywhere else, but you damn well better tell me that's what it costs so I can end up not ordering it in the first place.
Being from Edmonton, I'm probably slightly biased, but I've worked for one of the rinks the Oilers practice in when Rexall is booked, so I know how cocky and immature some of these guys are. That being said I know how stupid some other people are about the "rivalry," and just based on the pictures of the GM of this restaurant, one can tell he's a big enough douche to actually try the scam in the first place.
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| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 08:00:42
Absolutely Beans! No way this owner wasn't part to blame in the least. It really sounds to me like someone mentioned earlier that a reservation was made, likely by an agent, a g/f, wife, etc and either the deal wasn't made clear or the deal changed when the restaurant realized the money that came in that night (money meaning, wealthy customers).
I have no problem with the owner charging the team for the entire bottle of brandy that whoever it was decided to drink from as he obviously can't sell that after that occurs. But, you have to wonder if whoever set up the night had a deal of some sort in place (say, bottle service) and then the owner went back on that and charged per shot? Prob not that straight forward or we'd have had that explained by now but something along those lines is more than likely..... |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 07:06:19
Well I guess what a guy can charge in Edmonton and what they can charge in Vegas is 2 very different prices!!
I still can't get past the point that the bill was dropped by 33%??? I mean, I could see a slight cut, but 1/3rd??? If the bill actually was $18k, I can't see how the owner did not call the cops and let them help to sort out the mess.
No one leave's $6k on the table. Regardless of who past patrons of the establishment have been! |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 23:12:51
That's a pretty good rate for a bottle of Goose. Went to a vip section in Vegas last summer and they were charging $400 (top end club of course). |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 20:31:52
Bottle service is quite common, just not often advertised.
Consider a reasonably high end restaurant I went to recently, the bottle service was $169/bottle (26 oz) for your Grey Goose, Belvedere type vodka. Compare that to the $8/highball/martini for a 1oz pour, it works out to be $208/bottle.
I still think that the bill at $12,000 for the 50 people meaning $250/person seems a bit more reasonable than $18,000 meaning $340/person.
Apparently they were only there for 90 minutes or so. That's a pretty big bill for that short period of time. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 18:35:49
Lyall....i had no idea you could get bottle service at restaurants? Is this all over? I'm in BC and have never heard of it? Not saying you're wrong (cuz you're prob right, i've never looked into it) but just wondering if we actually have it here? Only bottle i've ever got at a table, a bottle of wine (and usually not an expensive one  ). We have a steak house here in town called Gotham and it's your typical 5 star place where you pay $50 or so for a steak and have to pay extra for your sides. Eaten at a couple places like this in Vegas (Boa Steakhouse at Ceasars Palace and Smith and Wollensky's on the Strip) as well. Over $200 / person seemed high but now that you mention it, if it was a set menu, possibly 5 course meal and it was NY's eve, i guess i could see that? Still think a group like that, dinner should be less than the bar bill!!! |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 18:00:40
quote:
Originally posted by willus3
Just playing devil's advocate for Beans and Slozo for a bit.
This restaurant had former President George W recently for dinner. Doesn't sound to me like the kind of place that needs publicity or would even want it. Also you don't know who contacted the media about it.
With that said, I thought the very same thing about the donation to charity bit that Slozo did. Clearly the restaurant doesn't need the money, however why would they say they would donate money that was owed to them for services rendered to charity?
An odd little story for sure.
Hey Willus, I thought this exact thing as well. However, take a look a google search for this restauraunt and specifically the reviews. I looked at this yesterday and noticed that there were significantly more bad reviews than good, by a ratio of about 5 bad to every good.
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| lyall |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 16:07:26
Also Alex $200+ for food is nothing crazy. The place I work at charged $169 + grat for a 5 course on NYE, and we're not even that fancy. I have spent well over $500 with drinks for a dinner for 2.
Also you can get bottle service pretty much anywhere if they have it in stock. |
| lyall |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 16:03:39
I'm a cook, and have worked in many high end establishments in my career. I know that for a party of that size you have a pre arranged menu and pre set price. This many times will included a certain amount of drinks and a 18% grat. If you want more to drink you have to pay the standard menu charge. They may not have know this. The Oilers them selves most likely didn't make the reservation themselves (an agent or someone else did the grunt work). Also when people with any sort of celebrity make a reservation they often don't say who tho they really are (Horcoff simply uses Shawn, Raffi Torres used his girlfriends name, Sum 41 just said a rock band). As not to draw attention to themselves. So when the Gm realized who they were he probably thought he could squeeze some extra cash out of them. Overcharged or not, the bill was higher the the agreed price. The GM says they ripped him off and he's gunna give the money to charity. He looks good the Oilers look bad. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 14:34:48
One more thing..... they make a big deal about the Oilers spending 8k on the liquor? Okay, big deal, but if the bill was 18k, what was the rest, food? Musta been one helluva feast! 45 people, that's over $200 / person, for food? C'mon, i've been to some high end places but this place must be pretty nice if people are eating food that costs THAT much! I'd have expected the bill to be 12k for drinks and 6k for the food! Especially if shots start getting downed! |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 12:57:28
Read an article in the Vancouver Province this morning. That's the first i'd heard about it. These two articles give a little more insight, however, who knows what the truth is?
First off, i don't know about anywhere else, but i don't believe here in BC that there are restaurants which can sell booze by the bottle? I know some clubs have bottle service, but not sure about a restaurant? Never heard of that before. Unless that's a policy at the restaurant in question, the players should pay for the shots individually, no? The clown who drank directly from the bottle shoud def pay for that one? Was it on their table? If so, it should be on the bill either way? Did the guy go behind the bar and start swilling it? Just seems to be a lot of details missing here. Tough to judge really.....
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| willus3 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 12:33:05
Just playing devil's advocate for Beans and Slozo for a bit.
This restaurant had former President George W recently for dinner. Doesn't sound to me like the kind of place that needs publicity or would even want it. Also you don't know who contacted the media about it.
With that said, I thought the very same thing about the donation to charity bit that Slozo did. Clearly the restaurant doesn't need the money, however why would they say they would donate money that was owed to them for services rendered to charity?
An odd little story for sure.
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| Beans15 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 11:46:49
It interesting how the story is skued just a little bit depending on what paper you read. Here is a story from an Edmonton Paper.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/myoilers/2010/01/02/12328161.html
I would assume the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Ultimately, one will never know for sure, however I would suggest that the Oilers were more than likely having a few too many and acting like kids with too much money and too much liquor often do.
However, a restaurant owner does not drop a bill by 1/3 for the sake of 'getting the people out of the bar.' If the bill actually was $18,000, the cops would have been called in and the Oilers would have been advised to pay the bill and take it up in court afterwards. How much free publicity did this cat get from reporting this story. If it was such a non-issue, the media would not have been contacted. And rest assured, if it was the Flames out for a night on the town in Calgary and this happened, no one would ever know about it.
I don't think either side is completely truthful nor do I believe that one side or the other is blameless in this. The bill was too much and the Oilers (specifically the jerko who took the swill directly from the bottle and then didn't want to pay for it) were less than classy.
It's unfortunate that those Oilers not there as well as other that were will get painted with the same brush. In my experience with things like this, it's one or two people that ruin it for everyone.
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| n/a |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 11:42:02
Smells very, very fishy to me. Please note that it's a Calgary owner of a very chic restaurant hosting the hated rival Oilers. Other things that caught my attention:
1) "tried to negotiate a discount" then "refused to pay the bill" could easily be interpretted as "pointed out they were overcharged" and "demanded that they receive the correct bill otherwise the owner could call the police and it would get straightened out that way"
2) it is normal procedure for large parties spending a lot of money to pay for large amounts of liquor by the bottle
3) it is also normal to make arrangements for this beforehand so that no misunderstandings arise between restaurant and patrons
4) An automatic gratuity is ALWAYS - and I do mean always - given on large bills and large parties. In this case, the size of the party already meant that the auto gratuity would have been on . . . on most serving computer systems this kicks in automaticallly as well on bills over 100 or 200 dollars. Even if the limit were higher because it's a high-priced place, over 1000 dollars, you'd have to think it would have automatically added the gratuity.
And yet, the owner supposedly didn't add the gratuity . . . to a large rowdy group of heavy drinkers, on New Years Eve, who happen to be the hated Oilers in enemy territory.
This smells like three day old fish - fishy.
5) The restaurant plans to donate the amount the players paid . . . to charity?!? Cripes, why the hell would he do that?
Publicity, that's why. I really hope someone follows up and gets proof when there is no donation . . . key words are PLANS ON.
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I plan on winning a million bucks if the facts of this story are all true as told by the restaurant owner.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| willus3 |
Posted - 01/04/2010 : 11:05:05
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100101/CGY_oilers_restaurant_100101/20100101/?hub=CalgaryHome
There's a link to the story.
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