AN ITALIAN bar has added a bizarre extra charge to customers who want their sandwiches cut in half – and the owner has given his baffling reason behind it.
The posh eatery at Italy’s exclusive Lake Como sparked outrage after it revealed its new £1.70 slicing fee.
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One disgruntled customer shared a photograph of the Bar Pace receipt online as proof of the baffling charge.
The printout clearly shows that the establishment had charged them £1.70 for the privilege of cutting their fancy sarnie in two.
Listed as “diviso da meta” it translates into English as “divided in half”.
The total pushed the already pricy £6.46 “toast vegetariano e patatine” – or veggie toast and crisps – up to a whopping £8.20.
Lake Como is known as one of the most exclusive destinations in the world and Hollywood star George Clooney has a mansion overlooking the shore.
The owner of the bar, who has not been named, hit back in Italian media, saying that “additional requests have a cost”.
They explained: “If a customer asks me to make two portions of toast, I have to use two saucers, two napkins and go to the table using two hands.
“It is true that the customer is always right, but it is equally true that additional requests have a cost.”
The customer, also unnamed, was reportedly at the bar in Gera Lario, a small town located on the northern shore of Lake Como, with his partner.
They ordered a fizzy drink, the sandwich to share, a water, and a coffee, for a total cost of £13.50.
The TripAdvisor user said: “This has never happened to me in any of the places I have visited in the world.”
This comes after a restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, came under fire for charging 25 per cent more on a public holiday as well as a 7 per cent surcharge for splitting the bill.
Another couple was left stunned when they were slapped with a hefty fee at an eatery in Sydney “because there was live music”.
Holidaymakers booking last-minute getaways were also warned to watch out for “outrageous” extra fees in online traps that can push up costs.
Experts urged people to be alert to travel websites charging over the odds for add-ons when passengers are already covered by consumer rules.
