Well, I just got back from my first and seemingly last visit to Bud & Rita's and I gotta say, I'm honestly quite perplexed. So, let me explain, but before anything else, let me say that everyone on staff was courteous and professional. My complaint isn't with anyone on staff (everyone was really nice!), my complaint is apparently with B&R's policy decisions.
I walked in and after being greeted, went to one of the ordering kiosks. I picked two items and selected the "MED" option for both to signify that I will be using my medicinal cannabis card, as opposed to the "REC" option for recreational. My sub-total came to $85 and with the medical cannabis tax, the grand total was $93. That looked good, so we confirmed the order and a few minutes later we went to the counter. The person at the counter was super nice and I gave them my state ID and medical card. The total came to $119. The total was with the recreational tax, not the medical tax.
I replied, "Is that with the medical card?". They then called over a manager and I was told that since Bud & Rita's is not a medical dispensary, I would be expected to pay the recreational tax. I was being told that my medical card was worthless here and that I would have to pay an additional $26 for the privilege of buying weed here. I was surprised and confused. I then asked if there were any plans to honor medical cards in the future and I was told no. I then pointed out that this was false advertising and that their own ordering kiosk specifically gave me the option to select the medical option and it displayed the medical price. There were no signs whatsoever to explain this situation and to clarify that THEIR OWN ORDERING KIOSKS CANNOT BE TRUSTED. (Seriously, WTF?!) The manager didn't have much to reply with other than to say that the systems are separate and that on Mondays only they offer a pathetic 25% discount for medical card holders. I then explained that this is a cool place and the folks here are nice, but they have literally lost my business forever if they insist on over-charging medical cannabis patients. This not only sucks for those of us with medical cards, but also to the employees who have to deal with folks complaining. The blame lies entirely at the feet of the decision-makers, not the store-level staff.
I'm really surprised that the ownership of Bud & Rita's would make such an utterly bone-headed decision as to not honor medical cannabis cards and therefore not charge people the correct tax rate. With the large number of cannabis dispensaries around the city, I can easily go to any of those and not be overcharged. And I will. I will continue to go to MOCA, Sunnyside, and D33 for all my cannabis needs instead of Bud and Rita's. It's a real shame because B&R is much closer to me. But if they don't care about medical cannabis patients, then I won't care about them. read more