Parking Fee & Iced Tea

You already know that I don’t care for the Pagoda Floating Restaurant. Well, I had lunch there again yesterday. Couldn’t help it, it was a family birthday party, so I had to go. And that’s okay.

Two shocks. Since the last time I ate there, Pagoda has:

STARTED CHARGING A PARKING FEE. If you park in their two-level parking structure, you need to put $2.00 in the fee box and remember your space number. When you leave the restaurant, tell them your space number and they return your two bucks.

I guess they want to prevent neighbors from parking there without permission. And I guess that part of the deal works because the lot was pretty empty when we got there.

The problem, as I see it, is two-fold. What if you don’t have $2 in bills or change on you when you park? Especially those who don’t know about the new fee. And what if some smart-ass walks into the restaurant, checks out the buffet, then walks back out with a crowd and tells the desk person that your space number is his?

The thought of it is pretty annoying.

STARTED CHARGING FOR ICED TEA. This one galled me. A cup of coffee or hot tea is still complimentary with your meal, and so it doesn’t make sense to pay for iced tea. What is it? Did they buy a state-of-the-art iced tea machine, whose cost they need to amortize over a short period of time?

Isn’t coffee more expensive than iced tea? I didn’t ask, but what if you wanted a refill on your hot tea and asked for another tea bag. Would they charge you extra for the tea bag? What if you want more hot water for the tea? Would they charge you extra for having to boil more water?

I mean … iced tea is nothing but flavored water over ice. Wait! Maybe the price of lemon wedges has gone up? No, that shouldn’t matter if they give you a lemon wedge with hot tea anyway.

This one makes no sense to me.

Don’t ask me how the food was yesterday. It was the same selection and it tasted the same as before. I suppose so anyway, I was too annoyed with the parking fee and iced tea things to notice.