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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:
gillybean2 · 27/02/2011 13:48

I'm vegi. So I don't even eat most of what is on offer at these places. Should I get a discounted rate just because I didn't eat everything that was available to me?
Your infant ate something and could have eaten more if you had chosen to let them (rather than bring your own food). £2.50 is a bit Hmm for a couple of pieces of naan I agree, but it was your choice only to give her that when she could have had as much as she wanted from everything on offer.

nannynick · 27/02/2011 13:55

Were the charges made known prior to you sitting and ordering food? If it's made clear to customers what is and isn't charged, then it's fine. However I wouldn't be so happy if the charge was added without there being any prior warning.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 27/02/2011 14:01

I think its a bit rubbish. I wouldnt go somewhere that charged for a baby, particularly if they were not open about it.

Children of course, mine are right troughers. But a baby? Mine will usually just have something off my plate or I will bring something.

gallicgirl · 27/02/2011 14:02

If a child has eaten then I think a small charge is ok. However, if my DD had been asleep under the table, I'd have just refused to pay the charge. I have no qualms about not paying for something or at least complaining. They certainly wouldn't have received a tip.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 27/02/2011 14:03

I dont think the vegi thing is much of a comparison tbh.

There are tons of things to eat at a chinese buffet, why would you want a discount?

I can stuff my face at a chinese or an indian. A 9mth old is eating crumbs really.

Raahh · 27/02/2011 14:03

"norkage corkage"

pmslGrin

Tryharder · 27/02/2011 14:04

Can't believe that some posters think this was OK. This is a 9 month old baby not a 9 year old. I was once charged about a fiver in Pizza Hut for 6 month old DS2 who had chewed a crust of a slice of cheese and tomato pizza on the buffet. It wasn't as if the rest of the pizza was even wasted because I ate it! I made a face like this Hmm to the server and she soon removed the charge.

llareggub · 27/02/2011 14:05

Snigger at "norkage corkage."

Mme Lindt you are funny.

gillybean2 · 27/02/2011 14:06

I didn't say I was expecting a discount. Just that I get a bit fed up at all the things I can supposidly eat yet my choices are very limited in reality.
The 9mnth old is being charged a much lower amount than the child rate. If they had eaten nothing but the jar of baby food brought for them I would of complained. But she did eat something.

theyCallMeHer · 27/02/2011 14:07

frgr, I think allowing 4 year olds to behave like that in a restaurant is pretty disgraceful actually....

theyCallMeHer · 27/02/2011 14:08

norkage corkage made me snigger too....genius

MadamDeathstare · 27/02/2011 14:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

seaweedhead · 27/02/2011 14:11

We went to La Tasca (tapas restaurant) yesterday and they were having a "kids eat free" day. Normally we'd just give DS a little bit of whatever we were having .He's only 18 months so its hardly worth ordering a kids meal usually. They were very family friendly- there were loads of babies there.

I don't think YABU to be shocked- its fair enough that they do charge for young children but they should have told you at the start- IME its cetainly not the norm.

Personally I don't think things like chinese/indian buffets are really suitable for babies and young children anyway -I'd be worried about salt content, food additives etc. Surely they expect people with babies to bring their own food for them.

MadameDefarge · 27/02/2011 14:16

I still reel at the utter ignorance of most diners. What do you think the price of food is actually to cover? Just the food?

Of course bloody not.

It covers produce costs, overheadssuch wages, tax, VAT, gas electricity, crockery, utensils, compliance with legislation, chairs, tables, serviice....and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Its costs a lot of money to run a food business. The cost of the food is often the least of your worries, believe me.

I assure you I have had nights of utter misery as I watch a table of eight, two adults, six kids, eat a portion of pasta at £2.50 ad then spend two hours more simply socialising.. So I earn about £25 for two hours where I should have earned at least £80.

I always welcome children, I don't always welcome their piss taking parents.

Its not about just what you eat.

theyCallMeHer · 27/02/2011 14:19

La Tasca is pretty bad with poorly sourced meat, additives and salt to,....

PaisleyLeaf · 27/02/2011 14:20

Maybe it didn't occur to them that the food they saw her eating was her own.

frgr · 27/02/2011 14:21

theyCallMeHer, i agree with you. it was a misjudgement on my part, not helped by the fact that it wasn't just ours there (cousins invited too - i should have known it was too many for me to keep tabs on at that age, i'd been lulled into a false sense of security since they're generally very well behaved when in public 99% of the time).

i tried to clean up the mess when i saw what had happened as my attention was elsewhere, and apologised unreservedly to the waitress who came over to help. but i wouldn't have objected to an extra charge had they decided to add it onto the bill - i was utterly mortified, and an extra charge was the least of my worries really.

so, having experienced what extra work children can make for a restaurant, beyond the cost of the meal, i do think some parents are a bit Hmm when they object to a charge even if their kids have only eaten a tiny amount from a buffet, for example.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 27/02/2011 14:21

And that £2.50 makes a big difference does it? That £2.50 that will see a lot of the posters above, including me, find somewhere else to eat.

I don't understand what is piss taking about people ordering something from your menu and then eating it. If you want to earn £80 in two hours then charge £20 a meal instead of £2.50. If that makes you "utterly miserable" then you're aiming at the wrong market or in the wrong job.

Original poster
PorcelinaOfTheVastOceans · 27/02/2011 14:25

Grin at norkage corkage!

they didn't tell me beforehand, which annoyed me, but i am annoyed at myself too for not checking the bill, if i'd have known i'd have sat back down and stuffed a bit more into her! Grin i took some food for DD as a lot of the food they do there is either pretty spicy or just isn't particularly healthy. though to be honest i don't see how me taking food along is a problem Hmm

i worked as a waitress while i was at uni (at pizza hut now you mention it tryharder) and there would be NO WAY i would dream of putting a baby on the bill! children up to about three would be left off a buffet bill; just assumed this was the done thing, will have to make a point of asking next time!

OP posts:
littlebylittle · 27/02/2011 14:25

Having reread, I think the problem is that op had no choice in the matter. They didn't know about the charge, it wasn't written up, they weren't even told about it when paying. And it is standard enough practice in enough restaurants not to pay for babies and to bring own food for them that they weren't being naive in thinking they wouldn't be charged. If toddler or child then maybe different. I think the buffet had duty to point out baby charge before they committed to staying to eat and certainly before the baby was given any food.

kaid100 · 27/02/2011 14:28

If it's an all-you-can-eat and she did eat their food, its fair enough for them to charge. It's not reasonable to expect the restaurant to negotiate on the basis of the amount of food eaten because they don't have the resources to police exactly how much each person eats - which is why they charge a set amount.

mummynoseynora · 27/02/2011 14:29

I am shocked it wasn't obvious - but maybe you didn't think to check? I probably wouldn't have, although kids menus give a guide age..
I would be perfectly fine being charged that for DS (13months) he eats more than DD (4!) regularly...

in fact we just got back from disneyland paris - where in general the food was extortionate, but as far as I could see anywhere food for under 3's was completely free! I regularly got a kids meal and split it between the two - with DS eating the majority
we also went to the all you can eat buffets and DS was in heaven! Also for free Grin Made up for it costing us a fortune to eat as adults!

geordieminx · 27/02/2011 14:30

We went to one recently, ds (3) was charged £7. He ate some chips and ice cream...

Although buffet places seem like good value I think sometimes you are better going to a proper restuarant and ordering/paying for what you actual,y want

MrsShrekTheThird · 27/02/2011 14:32

In the OP's shoes, wouldn't be going back, and more the point I will make sure I don't take small children to these places after reading this thread!!

nannynick · 27/02/2011 14:39

I went to a small deli/café recently which had 3 tables for customers to eat-in. Was me and 3yr old, so one adult portion and one child portion. Child didn't finish all his, so the owner gave us a takeaway carton so we could take it home. That's what I like to see and why I will go back. Their main business is supplying quick lunches to local office workers - as seen by the steady stream of customers coming in for a take-away lunch box of hot pasta or rice dish.

Would they have charged for a baby... I don't know. May find out soon, as will probably have baby with me on our next visit.

Needless to say, it was a small independent Italian deli/café. So not in the same league as a restaurant. Maybe the type of premises is a factor.

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