I visited on Cape Town First Thursdays, so admittedly they were busy. I ordered a Caesar salad, but just with lettuce. No mention this could be a problem. Thirty minutes later, a different waiter comes back, and yep, spinach instead of lettuce (it seems the salad had been lying there prepared yet forgotten for a while too, be that as it may). The new waiter argues the the menu says spinach (perhaps in tiny print) and that is that. But I'm like I asked and got confirmation it could be lettuce. They're like we won't take it back (it's literally just spinach with one large cruton and dressing). I don't like spinach so the salad is worthless. I go to pay... Yep they charged me for the uneaten salad, in addition to my drink.
I'm from the US, so our credit cards normally require signatures in a bill instead of inputting a PIN. On the receipt I only accepted partial liability for my drink... I will be able to dispute the rest of the transaction as consumer fraud.
As the other restaurants were very busy with First Thursday, I basically lost a window to have dinner.
I realize the place was busy. But this is just unacceptable. Luckily I can dispute the transaction as consumer fraud, but people with chip and PIN cards wouldn't be as lucky. And this shouldn't even be necessary. I suppose I should have demanded to speak to a manager, but the damage was already done and I was in a hurry to leave. Much easier to dispute after the fact.
Strangely enough the receipt even had the section requesting a tip highlighted. Here's a tip... Even customers visiting from other countries have access to TripAdvisor. And running a credit card doesn't mean you've made money from your mistakes.