When a woman planned to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday in style, she never thought that the celebration would be spoiled by a hefty fee to cut the cake.
In a shocking twist, an Italian restaurant was said to have charged €58 (£48) just to cut a birthday cake. The incident happened during a special trip organized by businesswoman Gessica Geca, who chose a restaurant in southern Arezzo for her grandmother’s big day.
Before the occasion, Gessica had cleared it with the restaurant to bring a celebration cake. Yet after the meal he found himself admiring the €659 (£554) bill, which includes that infamous cake-cutting fee.
Local news paper Corriere Fiorentino voiced Gessicas’ displeasure, noting that he was blindsided by what he felt was an exorbitant fee for such a simple service. The story, which gained momentum on Facebook, attracted a lot of comments.
Commenting on the public reaction, Gessica said: “I didn’t expect so much fuss. I find the amount charged disproportionate to the service provided, which is why I decided to share the bill on a Facebook group.”
He added: “I was with my grandmother at the checkout when she insisted on paying.”
Gessica was shocked when the employee handed her a hefty bill, which was justified by the establishment’s norm for serving sweets.
Speaking about the expensive incident to La Nazione, he expressed his disbelief: “I think this is too much.”
At the same time, the owner of the restaurant, who requested anonymity, explained to an Italian media website that he does not charge a service fee for serving his own food.
He said, “My restaurant needs to pay a waiter, a dishwasher and other related services. We have to cover these expenses somehow.”
However, he admitted that if he had been there during the event, he would have acted differently and offered a discount to the birthday girl. He concluded: “It’s better to cut €50 and make people happy than deal with a misunderstanding where everyone loses.”
