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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to be shocked that i was charged for 9mo DD?

137 replies

PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 27/02/2011 10:00

Was just going through some old receipts from a couple of weeks ago and came across one from a buffet at an asian restaurant. There was the cost of my food and drinks, but then a charge at the bottom for 'small buffet' - £2.50 - which can only be for 9mo DD!

I know £2.50 isn't exactly breaking the bank, but she ate about two fistfuls of plain naan bread as I'd bought food along for her. I know it's my own fault really, I never even thought to check... Blush

OP posts:
Original poster
PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 27/02/2011 10:56
OP posts:
Original poster
PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 27/02/2011 10:56

BUMP. not bumo Blush

OP posts:
TheMonster · 27/02/2011 10:59

Maybe they were annoyed that you'd brought your own food with you.

StuckinTheMiddlewithYou · 27/02/2011 11:00

Well, she did eat some food.

CBear6 · 27/02/2011 11:05

Loads of places are doing this now. We went to Big Lukes in October and they asked if we wanted a high chair for DS, I said yes and sat him in there with food I'd brought from home. When the bill came we'd been charged £2 for "baby in a highchair". When I queried it they said if I had left him in his buggy he would have been free but a highchair takes up a seat a paying customer could have had. Not sure who else wanted to sit at our table with us though and the buggy took up the same floor space as two chairs so don't get how the buggy is free but the high chair isn't.

We also went to a buffet Chinese restaurant before Christmas for lunch. DS was asleep in his buggy and we were charged £2.50 for "infant buffet". DH had some choic words for the manager.

I could understand if they were shovelling the food away and out-eating everyone else but to charge for an infant who eats either nothing or barely anything is ridiculous.

Someone should start a name and shame thread of where is good and where is bad.

MorticiaAddams · 27/02/2011 11:13

It was a buffet and she ate.

It does seem over the top for a 9 month old but I guess it's easier to have a blanket price than keep an eye on what everyone is eating.

I eat less than most children I see at buffets but still pay the adult price.

Original poster
PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 27/02/2011 11:41

yeah, i suppose she did eat a little, even if it was a ridiculously small amount. won't be making that mistake again!

there was a chinese buffet in the paper last week that were getting complaints from people for charging 10p per ice cube in drinks. now that is crazy!

OP posts:
ENormaSnob · 27/02/2011 11:46

Tbh paying for a baby would put me off going.

tinkertitonk · 27/02/2011 11:52

It might have been constructive to have said at the time, look, I absolutely accept that you have the right to do this, but it discourages me from returning.

smokinaces · 27/02/2011 11:56

tbh I find it quite rude to take your own food for the child to places like this. £2.50 was a fair price IMO, and I have used the buffet style places for years with my DSs

YABU

worraliberty · 27/02/2011 11:57

I think that's a fair price. The fact your baby only had a couple of 'fistfulls' was your choice. Other babies may have eaten more and they can't be expected to stand and police how much they eat.

ladysybil · 27/02/2011 12:04

LOL, i always have the other problem. I feel bad for the restaurant people when they charge singley for ds1 or child price for ds2. at our most recent venture to a buffet place, ds1 ate the following, (and i dont mean tiny little tastes either, but full blown platefuls)
chinese starters including duck and thai chicken satay.
indian starters seekh kebabs chicken tikka etc
noodles with chicken and prawn, the sort they make up for you from raw ingredients
roast lamb with roast potatos and yorkshire puddings
two steaks but with not veg
big masive bowlful of icecream
brownies and othe little cakes
eton mess (although this he only had about seven spoonfuls of.)

ds2 was charged child price, but ate more than some of the adults did. he scoffed down the sushi. and the eton mess. and the steak, and the noodles.

I do feed them at home, honest, but aged 13 and 9 if they are presented with what they like, they scoff, and both are skinny as a rake. not an ounce of fat on them anywhere.

worraliberty · 27/02/2011 12:06

My god lol

treas · 27/02/2011 12:27

Our local Chinese Buffet Restaurant charges children on their height not their age. Potentially a 6 y.o. old can be charged more than a 10 y.o.

Firawla · 27/02/2011 12:29

i think that price is fair, some 9 months could have eaten a fair amount (not a huge amount obv but then 2.50 is not a huge price)

aPixieMomma · 27/02/2011 13:00

We got charged £2.50 for "infant buffet" once when ds1 was about 8 weeks old and asleep in his car seat under the table the whole time. That I don't understand. How do you even make that mistake?

Your situation? I can kinda understand. She still ate even if it wasn't much.

Blondeshavemorefun · 27/02/2011 13:29

does seem a bit cheeky - your dd nibbled on something off your plate

saying that,i see they have to charge for children if they eat

tbh i would have checked bill that day and queried it

BringOnTheGoat · 27/02/2011 13:30

Utterly pathetic to charge you IMO - would put me off returning when DC was eating properly.

MmeLindt · 27/02/2011 13:33

I think that under 1yo should be free - they are hardly going to be eating much at that age.

frgr · 27/02/2011 13:36

If that's the restaurant policy, fair enough. They perhaps should have warned you in advance, but I really think they have better things to be doing than let you sit in a restaurant where your child eats "barely anything" (but still eats) - how the hell are they supposed to police anything other than a easy to understand blanket rule? CAn I argue that since I often don't eat as much as my own kids when we go out, that I should pay less? How are the staff meant to check on who's been eating what?

It's just more practical and straightforward for the restaurant to have a blanket policy. If you don't like it, don't go again - it's your choice.

I don't think £2.50 is excessive either, considering that the mess a child makes (unless mine are just messier than most? Grin) if left to their own devices. I remember going to a Chinese buffet style restaurant when mine were 4 (5?) - they'd recently decided that it was a fun game to squash food on each other's noses, and the mess they made was such an embarassment we didn't go out for months afterwards until they could be trusted again. most other times they have been commented on their good behaviour, but it shows - all kids have off days! I'd totally underestimated their energeny and level of mischief that day.

anyway - my point is - it's easier for them to have a single charge, and you aren't just being charged for food consumption in these places.

littlebylittle · 27/02/2011 13:36

I don't know how I feel about charging for a child who ate a small amount and I suppose buffets may be different, but I have always felt okay about taking food to restaurant until dc can eat what's on menu, and I have no worries about dc sharing my food when it's a fixed portion. I would be surprised to be charged under those circumstances. As soon as they could make a good stab at a children's portion then i'd expect them to have that and pay.

frgr · 27/02/2011 13:37

the mess a child makes = the mess a child could make. of course not all of them make a mess, and it's not always to the same level! :)

worraliberty · 27/02/2011 13:44

But some 9 month old babies would have eaten far far more than a bit of bread. It's all down to the parents. Some take their kids there to actually eat the food, and some take them there while the adults eat and just give them a bit of bread to gnaw on.

Either way it can't be policed so a blanket charge of £2.50 sounds fine to me.

CrazyHorse · 27/02/2011 13:44

I think it's good that they do a "small buffet" In the past I've had to pay for an adult meal or nothing for my DC.

MmeLindt · 27/02/2011 13:47

Maybe it was just mine who didn't eat much at that age then.

As to you bringing your own food for a baby - they can hardly object to that. Not all babies eat well from the table.

Would they charge "norkage corkage" if a woman breast fed her baby?