Restaurants across the globe are feeling the pinch as the cost of living crisis continues to take its toll. With everyday food items skyrocketing in price, it’s no surprise that customers are bracing themselves for higher bills when dining out.

However, one family’s recent experience left them utterly gobsmacked when they were presented with a jaw-dropping £324 bill for just four drinks and snacks.

Taking to Reddit to vent their frustrations, the parent shared a photo of the receipt they received after dining in Mykonos. The eye-watering total came to a staggering €360 (£309) for a single beer, one mojito, two milkshakes, a Greek salad, bread, and a portion of calamari, the latter of which alone cost around £64.

In their Reddit post, the family expressed their desire to warn others about the incident, stating: “This is to help everyone and not get the feeling of being cheated.”

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They went on to explain the circumstances surrounding their expensive meal. They wrote: “As we were walking waiter told us we could use their cabanas or loungers provided we bought two drinks. We thought it wasn’t a bad deal and went with it.”

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. The waiter persistently pushed them to order more, but avoided any discussion of prices. Eventually, the family ordered milkshakes for their children. After an hour of sitting there, they decided to order some food, following the waiter’s recommendation of calamari, which was listed on the menu for €19. When they asked if the side salad and bread came at an additional cost, the waiter assured them it was included.

To their shock, the final bill revealed a calamari charge of €148, €38 for each milkshake, and €28 for the salad, with an additional €14.50 for the bread.

Feeling deceived, they confronted the waiter and cashier about the discrepancies.

They said: “When the bill came back I was appalled as the Calamari was €148, the milkshakes which we never wanted but were forced to order for our kids were €38 each and the salad and bread which we were told were free were €28 and 14.50 respectively.

“I got upset and told the waiter and cashier that this was incorrect and they started grouping up and getting mad. The cashier took the receipt and chopped off the top part which had their name, address and date of transaction details. They didn’t bother for a signature after the transaction and simply charged my card a whopping €360.80.

“I felt so cheated and wouldn’t ever want anyone to feel this way.”

Feeling cheated and determined to prevent others from falling victim to such scams, the parent shared their story online. The Reddit post garnered numerous responses from shocked individuals who expressed their outrage.

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Some even highlighted the potential legal implications, with one person stating: “In case you didn’t know, this is NOT a legal receipt. You actually don’t have the obligation to pay if they give you a fake receipt. You should have called the police imo, this is a heavy crime, as it is tax evasion (apart from the obvious scamming). They would probably get investigated and closed down in the future.”

Others empathised with the family’s predicament, acknowledging the reluctance to engage in a confrontation while abroad. One commenter advised: “You don’t fight or something. You just thank him for his service and walk away without paying and you tell him that if he wants you to pay he needs to call the police himself.”

Another said: “People always pay in situations like this because they don’t want to fight and argue in another country.”

This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up Express.co.uk’s editorial research. A content editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]

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