Sorry Charlie's Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Savannah

A Very Unfortunate Situation.

A group of five of us went to Sorry Charlie’s for lunch. We were all on vacation and we were having a great time and the food was very good. We ordered appetizers, cocktails and main course dinners plus sides. All good, so far…

I wanted to make sure that I paid so I spotted the server and approached her to pay the bill. She pulled out her little electronic gizmo to show me the amount and insert my card. The total with tax was $289.57. When we got to the tip screen I asked if she would prefer cash. She said yes and I counted out $65 in cash. She said that was very generous and appreciated getting cash. I signed the device for the total of $289.57 or at least that’s what I thought. I was not given a receipt and in hindsight, I certainly should’ve asked for one. I would like to make it clear that there is zero possibility of confusion or a misunderstanding about what had just taken place. We talked about how she would like to receive her tip and I never touched any buttons at all to indicate any kind of electronic tip. I went out of my way as I usually do try to make sure the server gets cash so that they don’t have to pay any fees, etc..

Fortunately, I paid with a bank card because if I had used a credit card, I may not have noticed that $66 was added to the total. So, a 23% tip was added on to my bill without my knowledge or approval. That 23% had to be manually put into the device in order for it to charge me.

I called and left a message for a manager named Nancy. She did refund my $66 and left me a message that there was no ill intent and it was a “miscommunication.” I wish I could believe that but it’s not possible. If it had been a mistake, the server would have told management and my money would’ve been refunded. The restaurant was very slow and the server certainly would’ve noticed an extra $66 tip especially on a slow lunch shift. Sorry, Charlie’s does add an 18% gratuity onto parties of six or more. We had five people, and this was NOT that type of situation and NO tip was added on when I was finished. Besides that, 23% was added on and not 18%. I am being told now that there was probably “No Tip” or Skip” button I should’ve hit to avoid this type of fraud.

I did finally speak with a manager. As I explained the situation I could tell that she was getting very annoyed. I was not yelling Or using foul language of any kind, I was just telling her what happened. I explained that I did get the $66 back but I also wanted the other $65 back. I don't feel like the server that tried to rob me deserved any money from me. The manager literally laughed at me. She was rude and Flippant. I asked if she was mad at me and she started to say yes, but then switch to "I'm tired of hearing your opinions" then she hung up. I hope that a person who doesn't know the difference between a fact, and an opinion is not their best and brightest.

You would think that they would take theft and CC fraud seriously. I asked if she would like me to file a police report she just laughed and said "Go Ahead!!" If you decide to go there, you might get some good food, you might get ripped-off and if you do get ripped-off you will be laughed at and treated like a fool. Do you really want to go to a restaurant that treats you like a chump tourist instead of a valued and...

Edits & Updates: from 5 star to 1 star.. I gladly gave 5 star when we first visited the place and thought found a go to gem whenever we are in town based on the seafood quality. Ironically on our way back from Florida trip, we decided to drive additional 1 hour and a couple more hours in town just to enjoy a sit-in dinner here at this specific restaurant. Food was still good however this time experience was rather speechless and uncomfortable.. We diet on kosher due to my partner’s religion n always ask n alert waitress about this diet restrictions forehand, this time same. However upon him finishing over half on his favorite blue crab fettuccine, a piece of pork mix sausage appeared among the fettuccine n I took a bite on it just to confirm that was what we unfortunately encountered. We understand incidents happen however the waitress especially the manager’s attitude n reaction has def turned this another direction. Plate was taken away in a second without apologies or any indication of validation or other communications. Nothing. And never checked on our table ever since until the time of paying. My partner was left unattended without food, well he did lose his appetite anyways but his side of table was left empty. The end, they claimed that the sausage was a mistake n refused to take it off our bill n forced us to pay for the mistake they made? The loss to us was not only limited to the price of food. Not to mention the manger was trying to clear away my seafood risotto which has no-issue and we paid and which I have already had the box on the table for……I don’t need to speak more while the facts stand by itself. We are big foodies n every other day we like to visit a variety of restaurants for enjoyment of food and build up high bills for just causal dinner n always pay decent tips. However this time I was just laughing how we were treated. I know the waitress n manager were so confident to act on us like this without hesitation, showing this business careless about customer service and even basic respect. But if anyone cares, I hope they are acknowledged that this is not okay to treat customers or even human like this without basic respect ——————————— Dropped by for snacking. Staff made us feel welcomed. Not to mention the perfect supreme oyster in taste n freshness for a great price even outside happy hr. Great choices for beer on tap. Blue crab pasta was perfect. Can’t wait to come back sitting down...

Sorry Charlie suits them pretty well... We had a party of 7. The oysters are very sorry looking.. Extremely small and tiny, almost the size of a bottle cap. Everybody was able to order their food, and got their food, 20 minutes before me and my mom did. We ordered 'The low country steamer'. At one point the waiter came around the corner and saw that we didn't even have our food yet and everybody else has already finish eating. She quickly turn back around and within a few minutes she came out with our food... I'm not sure what happened in the back but somebody didn't properly look at our food before bringing it out. The minute we open our bag up, you can smell the raw seafood smell, shrimp were still gray you weren't even able to tear them in half because how rubbery it was. The Clams and Mussels were just as bad, not even cooked. As for my husband, he ordered the catch of the day and he requested the mahi-mahi he told me his fish was cooked but didnt have much of a flavor, so I took a bite and I immediately agree with him. My husband did finish the entire entree because it wasn't even noon yet and we didn't get much of a bite the day before since we had so many activities throughout the day. I immediately notified the waiter about my low country steamer and she just stuck her hand across the table asking for the plate back. She continued gesturing to me to give her the plate and hand it over my niece with a hot plate, I wish she would come around and take the plate. She took both plates back, I wasn't even able to take a picture. She returned a few minutes later with a menu and apologize. The owner of the restaurant relay the message to the waiter and told her to tell us that the next meal is on then and took all the alcoholic drinks off the bill and gave us 50% off. That was very generous of them. But at that point I have already lost my appetite and...