After further review I want to change my answer. I’d rip the server’s heart out and eat it like an apple. 
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I agree with this sentiment and would probably color what I would have done, which would have been to say nothing and be mildly annoyed. I don’t have a problem with confrontation, it’s what I do for a living, but when I’m not working I try to avoid it.
Exactly posting online could cost a waiter their job ! For $3??? Ridiculous & petty.
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I had the opposite thing happen just yesterday. I looked at the bill and realized the staff had left off an item - a prosecco, not a fancy brand, just like a mini bottle from the costco (this wasn’t a fancy place, and although we were having brunch, it was a bar with a small side brunch business). When I called it to the bar manager, he said “hey, let’s call it even after we lost your doughnut hole order”, and I laughed, because they had done that, and I was too polite to mention it other than “hey I think we ordered some doughnut holes” and he said “I’ll check on that” then “it’s coming right up - it’s better as a desert anyway” . Both of us were allowed to be classy 
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So I posted an OpenTable review and did not mention the error, but did mention that they should post the price of specials. Then I added a private note to the restaurant where they allow you to do it and mentioned the error. Never got a response.
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Very well handled on both ends! Classy is a good word. If I think a mistake is an honest error, or insignificant, I will mostly let it go, especially after a good or great meal. But it is irritating to ask about a price, and be told an incorrect, lower price, kind of like signage at a grocery store, yet the receipt says otherwise. Since it works both ways, I’d like to think that I’d always be forthcoming if the error was in my favor. Definitely would point it out at a restaurant, not sure about the grocery store, since they often don’t change the prices in the computer - the prices should match the ads - no excuses really. H was recently overcharged $28 for rib eyes - he did go back for an adjustment. Overcharges at the grocery seem to happen frequently, don’t see many unders.
Agreed. A slice of tiramisu or baklava could remedy my pain. Just looks unprofessional, otherwise.
“Yeah, they changed the price, could I get you some cheesecake to right the wrong?”
Little mistake fixed with a little love. Goes a long way.
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Our “undercharge” story is at a hotel: We once stayed in a hotel in New Orleans. We two stayed for five nights in a room with two double beds, then two friends joined us for four more nights, making it a quad. And this was how we reserved it.
Come time to check out and the bill slipped under the door was for nine nights as a single, not five nights as a higher-priced double and four as an even-higher-priced quad. We called the front desk to tell them, but when they finally realize we were telling them that we were under-charged, they told us just to ignore it.
When we went down to the lobby, we discovered why–there were dozens of people lined up who had been over-charged, and the hotel definitely had to deal with them. I don’t know what the hotel’s problem was, but it was a mess.
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Let it go, live and learn.
Caveat emptor for the future.
We all want to have the best in everything, but the paradigm has shifted in service, everywhere.
Same with the post office.
If I had noted it before paying, I might[1] have called her over and gotten it fixed. Not sure I’d bother for $3. Maybe stiff her $3 on the tip, if indeed it was her fault and she was as nonchalant about her mistake as your server was.
[1] Actually happened Tuesday night. My MIL got one of the specials, a steak and shrimp, that came in a dollar over the stated price. I just shrugged and paid. The steak was very large for a surf/turf type plate, and very nice (my new son-in-law and I had to help her finish it) and was truly a “special”, as that dish is on the menu regularly for $8 more than we paid.
But I didn’t take the dollar out of the tip. In fact, I had to act fast to grab the bill before my FIL snagged it because I wanted to be sure the server got 25%. We both normally tip 20% but he never deviates, whereas in this case, with a party of 8 and really great service entirely by the one young lady (this wasn’t one of those places where one person takes the orders and kitchen runners bring the food out), I felt like her service was quite a bit above par.
ETA - and despite a party of 8, no service fees or pre-applied gratuity. And unlike many US restaurants, their software displays suggested tips at 15, 20, and 25% that are based on the pre-tax total. I’m definitely returning the next time I’m down there.
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I don’t like it when they don’t honor the price they give me.
What interests me about some of the responses here is the idea that $3 is no big deal… of course it’s only $3. But that should apply to the restaurant as well. Just charge $3 less this one time. See, no big deal.
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You seriously expect them to contact and discuss with you a $3 “issue” ?
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I expect them to respond to a customer concern, no matter the amount. And I love how you minimize their mistake by putting it in quotes.
For me the amount of money we are talking about in any dispute makes a significant difference if and how to push forward or even discuss it. In addition, you mentioned that the incident happened 5/21 and you wrote the review and note some time later (it is not clear when you did it but you mentioned it in the thread about a month later) but obviously didn’t really insist that they change the mistake when you were in the restaurant. I can understand the restaurant not to follow up as you didn’t do anything when in the restaurant. (And also what do you expect the restaurant to do after your late note - send you a check of $3 ? I don’t expect them to discuss with any customer how they use their blackboard)
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If $3 is no big deal, they should still hear about it that day. On the way out, let your server, or front of house, know that the board and waitress don’t jibe by $3. Bad business. I’d let them know right away and forget the $3. But, if these places are gonna shine, we’ll have to respectfully let them know their shortcomings. Feeds the good karma, ya know?
Ok, give me some leeway because I’m a lawyer. Have you ever gotten a notice of a class action suit of which you might be a part? Those suits, when they are litigated and won, result in about $5 worth of “compensation” to the people in the class, give or take. Total waste right? The idea is that if a business practice is to slight all or many of their customers, but only a little bit, there is no incentive for any single one customer to call them on it. But over the course of many customers, the business is actually receiving a windfall it doesn’t deserve. That’s the point of a class, and perhaps the point of a negative review of that restaurant. Which seems to make an error, realize the error, and then not bother to fix it.
Oh, and that’s not to say that I would have done or not done what the OP did. I’m not sure what I would have done. I’m just responding to the idea that if something is a small wrong, rather than a big wrong, it is “petty” to bring it up. A small wrong across a lot of people can add up.
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