‘Bad vibes’: pub in China slaps customers with US$42 ‘punishment fine’ for ‘not creating vibrant’ atmosphere
2023.06.18 18:00A woman in China who was charged an extra 300 yuan (US$42) because she and her friends were “not creating a vibrant enough vibe” in a pub has shared her experience on mainland social media.The unidentified woman was with friends at the Boom Shake bar in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, eastern China, earlier this month and had booked a VIP booth with a minimum spend of 3,800 yuan (US$535), local media reported.When the group arrived, they discovered that the booth they were given was too small but they decided to stay, according to the woman.However, when the bill for 4,988 yuan arrived, they were surprised to find an extra bottle of wine and a mystery charge of 300 yuan added.Staff told them the extra charge was a “punishment” because the atmosphere around their booth was not good enough.“He said we were fined as the vibe around us during the last hour there was not vibrant enough,” the woman told news site Pear Video.“I was speechless. We went there as consumers, not to w
A woman in China who was charged an extra 300 yuan (US$42) because she and her friends were “not creating a vibrant enough vibe” in a pub has shared her experience on mainland social media.
The unidentified woman was with friends at the Boom Shake bar in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, eastern China, earlier this month and had booked a VIP booth with a minimum spend of 3,800 yuan (US$535), local media reported.
When the group arrived, they discovered that the booth they were given was too small but they decided to stay, according to the woman.
However, when the bill for 4,988 yuan arrived, they were surprised to find an extra bottle of wine and a mystery charge of 300 yuan added.
Staff told them the extra charge was a “punishment” because the atmosphere around their booth was not good enough.
“He said we were fined as the vibe around us during the last hour there was not vibrant enough,” the woman told news site Pear Video.
“I was speechless. We went there as consumers, not to work to create a vibe. Why should we be penalised?”
She added that they only ordered four bottles of wine but were “mysteriously” charged for an extra bottle which cost more than 1,000 yuan (US$140).
The woman complained and was told by themanagement that the “vibe fine” was meant to be imposed on staff, not customers.
“I guess the waitperson was unhappy with this, so he charged the fine back to the customer,” the management representative told the woman.
However, she then claimed the charge was nothing to do with the bar as the waiter, surnamed Li, was working on commission through a third-party sales company.
“This is the problem of the waitperson, not our company,” she said.
An argument ensued over who was ultimately responsible, the bar management stood firm and eventually the group settled the bill.
After repeated complaints to the company that owns the bar and to the local market supervision authority, Li, the waiter who added the charge, repaid 1,480 yuan to the woman for the “vibe fine” and the extra bottle of wine they had not ordered.
“The incident happened because I am naive and not mature enough,” Li told the woman in an apology.
The incident triggered an online discussion about consumer rights in China.
“I am lucky to see this kind of extremely incredible news,” one person said on Weibo.
“At first, I thought it was the worker being fined. Then I confirmed the consumer was fined, and I didn’t believe it was true. What a rare case!” said another person.
“It’s obviously a robbery,” commented a third.
Consumer rights violations are common in China and have become a source of news and discussion online.
In April this year, a man in eastern China who bought his friends dinner at a restaurant said he was overcharged by 1,000 yuan. The restaurant denied this until surveillance footage revealed the number of dishes they had consumed and the bill was rectified.
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