This place is scary. The sandwiches are good, but that's it. I went here for years on my way to work, and I always had the feeling they were overcharging me right and left, but like most customers getting take out, I didn't have time to hang out and go over the charges. Finally, one day I had the time, so I politely asked for the bill to be explained to me, and that's when the real nightmare started. First they pretended to add it all up again and insisted that the total was right, but I pointed out that they were charging me for way more expensive sandwiches than I ordered. There was all this rigmarole about this supposedly costing the same as that, and this being as much less as that was more, so that discrepancies supposedly evened out, but really they didn't even out. They did the "add it up again" several times, getting very angry and rude with me, each time claiming, without addressing the real issue, that their total was right. I had to stand my ground because they were just ignoring the fact that they were adding up charges for different things than I actually got. Then a manager stepped in and pretended to add it up again. His trick was to try to shame me by saying I was right, they had overcharged me... by 25 cents and here was my silly quarter and would I go away now. At this point I realized it was all an act. No one was adding anything up. This is what they do when they get caught. The overcharge was over $5, not a quarter, and that's about what I suspected it usually was on an order over $30. That's almost 20%! They can tell if you're in a big hurry, so they know when they can get by with it. This day they misjudged - I had no train to catch, so I saw it through. I pointed out again that the overcharge was $5, not 25 cents. Then the Latin boys who work there started getting shady and threatening, staring daggers, scowling, turning red and twitching with rage. I really felt unsafe at this point, and since I was actually assaulted by one of their delivery boys many years ago, I know that violence is within the realm of the possible for these Bottino boys. Worst of all, it was clear this whole scene was not something they were unprepared for or unaccustomed to. The fact is that they routinely overcharge people, knowing that their customers have money and are usually in a hurry and will not stay to question the bill or object to inflated charges. When they do get caught and called out for overcharging, they have these aggressive ways of confusing the issue, pretending they have verified the accuracy of their charges, playing a shell game about what's what. (At one point they even tried to convince me that tax was included in the price of the sandwiches as indicated on the receipt, and that's why the charges on the receipt didn't match what was on the menu board!!!! Of course then they could not explain why there was a separate line-charge for "tax" at the bottom of the receipt.) When creating confusion doesn't work to make you accept the situation, they try to shame, embarrass and humiliate you, and if that doesn't work, they frighten you with psycho, threatening behavior from their "no me jodas" boys. I thought one of them was about to jump the counter -- face totally red with rage, veins popping out of his neck and temples, staring me down and bruising for a fight. Finally, after 15 to 20 minutes of this craziness, a supervisor came in and checked the bill. I was right. They had overcharged me about 6 dollars. Did I get an apology? An explanation? Did anyone accept responsibility for their mistake or misbehavior? Of course not. In fact, I'm sure if I had not left right away, I was about the be physically assaulted by the boys. I've never gone back.
I don't usually post complaints. This happened some months ago. I figured they must have learned their lesson. But a friend recently told me he had a very unpleasant experience at a local sandwich shop. He told me how a bewildering, Kafkaesque "who's on first" argument ensued, and then bizarre, threatening treatment, when he questioned the charges that seemed impossibly high for what he actually ordered. Can you guess where it was and how it all played out?
I'd recommend everyone in Chelsea boycotting Bottino. The place is a cancer on our neighborhood. read more