To expect a restaurant to be able to do a pint of milk?

This would have been totally fine in any place I’ve worked in. Obviously they couldn’t bring in a drink that we sold, but we’d have happily given them a glass to pour their own milk into if we couldn’t sell them any.

What no tea/coffee at the end of the meal? I'd be so sad!

Yes, exactly. It's often a Head Office "issue" rather than something an individual shop has any control over.

For one extra Coke or coffee?

An automated stock system is designed to pick up significant issues with theft or similar. It’s not going to go into meltdown over one extra soft drink. Otherwise there would be complete panic every time there was a spillage or breakage!

Again, if a restaurant only has Coke, not Pepsi, of course it can’t sell you Pepsi - it doesn’t have any to sell. This is very different to having milk but refusing to sell it, because you only usually use it as an ingredient. For your Coke/Pepsi scenario to make sense, it would have to be a case of saying “We have Pepsi for the Pepsi Floats on the children’s menu, but we can’t sell you an actual Pepsi.”

Well, my point is that they can't sell something that isn't available to sell. They may have milk as an ingredient, but that doesn't mean they can just sell a glass of milk. Just like they'll have cheese and bread in the fridge, but can't necessarily make cheese on toast and sell it off-menu.

The point you’re missing is that the staff find this as annoying as you do. It isn’t their fault. Chains can be exceptionally rigid about this kind of thing. Blame their head office, but don’t blame the staff who have no choice.

FWIW, when I was younger I worked in a place where shortfalls of cash against stock had a financial penalty for managers. Crappy stocktake meant our manager lost his bonus, and he was paid a shitty enough wage even with the bonus, so we weren’t going to shaft him for the sake of customers demanding off-menu stuff.

Pretty much. It's a shame but it's how many businesses work these days.

I work for a very large restaurant chain. We wouldn’t have milk available (no hot drinks sold), so wouldn’t physically be able to accommodate a request for milk.

Well that’s different, isn’t it? You physically don’t have it - therefore can’t refuse to sell it because of “the system” or rigid enforcement of a children’s menu age limit. It’s no different to saying “Sorry, we’ve run out of the lamb cutlets”.

They're quite happy to refuse to sell something that's not on the menu, just as they'd happily turn someone away for insisting on Pepsi when the restaurant only has Coke. It's not on the menu so they don't care if they can't offer it.

Again, if a restaurant only has Coke, not Pepsi, of course it can’t sell you Pepsi - it doesn’t have any to sell. This is very different to having milk but refusing to sell it, because you only usually use it as an ingredient. For your Coke/Pepsi scenario to make sense, it would have to be a case of saying “We have Pepsi for the Pepsi Floats on the children’s menu, but we can’t sell you an actual Pepsi.”

We quite often order DS a milk if there isn't proper fruit juice on the menu (apart from orange, which he doesn't like). The only times we've been told no is when they don't have any; even then we've had times when they say they don't have enough so will run out to buy some. I wonder also if it's because you ask for a pint, next time just ask for milk and order again when he's finished the first glass?

So for all who have a problem with supplying milk in this situation would you also have a problem with a family coming in and all
ordering food / drink but a child having a pint of milk from home ?

Computer says no

I mean, you can take the piss, but that's how business works. You can't just sell X as Y and forget about it. It all has to tally up properly on the till and the stock system, otherwise it triggers a whole bunch of investigations and hassle.

If the till system doesn't match the stock in store, then it triggers stock take and if stock take is out by a certain amount, it triggers even more investigations. It's a right pain in the arse.

And if it’s not possible then there should be no issue whatsoever for a parent to bring their own milk

Surely it’s not that common for a child with autism to need a pint of milk . So rare in fact that why would it be a problem if you can’t put it through the till ? Just give it to them for free ?

You're not being unreasonable at all. It's a normal enough request for an autistic person to make and to be honest you'd have to be a bit of a rubbish person (manager level etc) to refuse the request. Restaurants and bars lose milk all the time to things like improper storage, spillages-- pouring a pint of milk once a year isn't going to bring their business to its knees, ffs

We may or may not be able to serve you a glass of milk,may or may not be able to do a pint.

Tue we probably could-when we have 4 pint carton because we have about 30 people in for coffee/tea.

Wednesday-there maybe some left, .......or not.

The rest of the week we use dinky foil topped individual milk servings,which are far longer life.

So it maybe that the establishment you go to is the same/similar

I know it's not directly answering your Q but I think I'd deal with it by just taking a thermos cup or similar of milk with a couple of ice cubes in it with me and giving her that if it's all she wants to drink.

They probably use an online supplier with an automated ordering system so having an extra glass of milk is awkward to provide unless they sell milk anyway. Why don’t you take your own and explain why you have it? You can get insulated holders for it.

For most businesses, it's just not something they'd be that arsed about.

They're quite happy to refuse to sell something that's not on the menu, just as they'd happily turn someone away for insisting on Pepsi when the restaurant only has Coke. It's not on the menu so they don't care if they can't offer it.

Wtf, is everyone here from 1955?!

Most places have a coffee machine and sell milk-heavy coffees like lattes. Of course they're not going to miss a pint of milk.

Madness.

Sadly I think that’s the case as most are saying that OP is being unreasonable . Really says a lot about people’s attitudes to accommodating the needs of others .

Oh nooooooo!!! 😱😱😱

I've always managed to get milk for my kids in restaurants

I work for a very large restaurant chain. We wouldn’t have milk available (no hot drinks sold), so wouldn’t physically be able to accommodate a request for milk. They may be able to do it from their staff drinks fridge, but this would leave them short for their own teas / coffees.
Also, most restaurants have a till system which only allows them to select a certain menu item. Even if they have milk available for hot drinks, they wouldn’t be able to select this as a standalone drink. Giving it to the customer would leave them with a variance in their till and inventory at the end of the day which would mean they were short against their expected budget amount. Although this will seem small, restaurants nowadays are so tight on margin that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate this request.

@OhYesImgoingtosay
You also are severely underestimating how many people would require a bespoke service. It would never just be a one off.