Waitrose

[donburi]

I am not sure whether I have reasonable grounds to complain about something that happened last week. Basically, it was half term and I had taken DS to the Edgware Road branch in London. It was quite blustery that day so we decided to go in for a hot chocolate (their cafe is at the front of the store as you walk in). DS looked at the limited range of cakes and biscuits and said that he wanted a gingerbread witch so we went to the instore bakery instead and paid over a pound for one measly biscuit (I could produce a box of them for the same price at home but I never made a fuss re extortionate price).

We returned to their cafe bit and began to order our drinks. At this point, the person serving saw DS swinging his biscuit about in his bag and talking about it excitedly. She clearly knew that there was only one biscuit in the bag and that it was just bought at their store etc. as she would have heard our conversation prior to going off and buying it. Bear in mind that there was hardly anyone else in the cafe and pouring down with rain outside.
"You'll have to have the drinks as take away as he is not allowed to eat that here' she said.
I explained the obvious and that I was not asking for a plate and that he would take the plastic bag away at the end.
However, she refused to allow it saying that it was their rule so I basically passed on the drinks and went back out in the rain with child and biscuit in tow!
AIBU to complain about this to customer services?

Jobs worth...you were still buying refreshments. She WAS mean!

YABU.

If you can't say 'no' to your child without causing a tantrum, that's your problem, not theirs.

Oh she seemed nice enough as a person - it is just that if the same thing had happened in my local branch, the reaction would not have been as extreme. I have been thinking about it rather than leaping in with a complaint which is why I posted the following week. I do appreciate that it is not a clear cut situation but a biscuit eaten discreetly is not the same as a whole picnic spread and I would have spent a fiver on drinks too; she was quite dismayed to lose the sale of the drinks. Maybe voting with my feet was the best course of action. I would have complained out of curiosity - not in the Hope of being sent a Heston pudding

Also, if she had not been eavesdropping on our conversation she would not have known what we were planning .. tho' easily done in an empty cafe I suppose. Had it gone unnoticed before we sat down, she would not even have seen it happen later on. Even if she had done, DS would have scoffed it down before she could protest. Anyway, we ended up at Choccywoccydoodah in the end which was better (and they let DS eat the soggy remains of his biscuit even though we were on a raised platform inside the cafe and it was so much more obvious than doing it at Waitrose).

Bit unfair Ephiny. Nowhere did she say her child would have a tantrum, she just decided to buy him the biscuit he wanted. I would have done the same if I was taking a child for a little treat.

plus equals it would seem!

Moral of the story: use independent coffee shops we are far more accommodating because we need the money

if she seemed nice enough as a person then I would assume they are strict with them about they can and can't allow and whilst i understand how you feel I tend to agree with soupdragon that's very difficult for us to know what disciplinary procedures are in place.

#There are lots these days :( part of the reason I gave up my job recently was because of how strict the disciplinary are now. I had 4 days off in a 12 month period, but because I had two days off together and then another two days off together several months later I was disciplined (low paid flexible work, retail) and I just thought fuck this tbh, but I am lucky that in tightening our belts a bit I could do that

The member of staff was strictly speaking, right BUT, and here's the point, it's hardly good customer service and is a pretty shitty attitude.

When I was pregnant I was suddenly bursting for a wee and asked could I use the loos in my Waitrose and they said they were staff only, but yes of course.

OP YANBU.

Yanbu. I would be miffed too,its just a biscuit, which you bought from the same shop and you were buying drinks from the shops cafe which had a crap selection of biscuits hence why you got it in the shop. Whatever happened to just being nice instead of an arse?

You should send them an email and highlight the problem. Even if it just gets a better biccy-wic selection in the cafe!
I've made a mental note that if I fancy breastfeeding in their cafe, I better instead buy the baby a coffee so we do t get turfed out.

honestly you wouldn't believe the amount of incidents that happen because people ask to use the toilets, you have to say no. You should not let someone use the toilet without them having id to work there. I must say i have let people use the toilet on occasion but I have also been on duty when someone has used the toilet and then become violent. My friend runs another establishment and someone who asked to use the staff toilets ended up stabbing a member of her team

I do appreciate that it is not a clear cut situation

Except it is. You can only eat food purchased in the cafe whilst in the cafe.

Of course it is OK to try (and we all have) but if you are told not to, that is the end of it.

You have no grounds to complain. Are you going to complain that she didn't break the company's rules and perhaps risk her job? Maybe the woman could have turned a blind eye because it's only one little boy with a biscuit, but maybe she would have got in a lot of trouble.

I expect that supermarkets with on-site cafes are particularly hot on this because the potential for customers taking the piss trying to eat food purchased in the supermarket in the cafe is huge.

yanbu, one child with small measly biscuit. Sheesh.

In my local M&S cafe there are clear signs saying you can only eat food purchased there not food hall food. Was there such a sign at Waitrose, OP?

There were other cakes and biscuits, just not your DS's preferred choice. Why not pick one of those? How old is DS, out of interest?

The cafe may well have a separate P&L account to the store even if it isn't a franchise.

YABU, but an email suggesting they have a clear sign would be a reasonable thing to do.

The VAT is the issue here which is why you can't eat things purchsed in store in the cafe. I'm not sure what happens but my last company were so strict on it and disciplinaries abound if you allowed it.

They are running a cafe and the fact that you bought the biscuit from a bakery run by the same company is somewhat irrelevent really. They still base their business plan on the fact you buy your drink and food at their cafe prices, not their supermarket prices. And that's how they cover the costs for the additional floor space, the staffing, the seating etc. and how they expect to make their profit. I think it's pretty cheeky to go to their instore bakery to buy a biscuit. Not as cheeky as bringing in a packet of Tesco's own brand biscuits, but stil not in keeping with the cafe's clear purpose.

If they're empty they could possibly have bent the rules a bit to keep your custom (though I suspect others are correct about the VAT issue, so maybe not). But you really don't have grounds for a complaint.

I would probably be a bit annoyed if a supermarket I generally spent a lot of money at couldn't be a little accomodating when I was trying to keep a toddler happy over half term. But I don't think they were BU.

I wonder whether mothers feeding their babies bottles with milk bought from somewhere else are asked to refrain ?

I would pop in your handbag next time and not draw attention to it. As long as your not having a full blown picnic I don`t see the problem.

Children are fussy full stop.

Well, I have thought through it and I think that my main objection was probably the fact that she eavesdropped on our conversation in order to lay down the law before we had necessarily even decided that he was going to eat the biscuit there. It was Halloween, it was the school holidays, they never had any cakes that would appeal to children, the biscuit appeared to be priced similarly to their boring selection. The VAT and P&L issues are not all that significant as it would have required a simple bookkeeping adjustment - one of many they would need to make during the course of business on that day.

No of course not slaymill. The cafe doesn't sell baby milk. It does sell cakes and biscuits, just not the preferred ones of the DS.

The OP could have asked if it was Ok before buying, or asked if there were any other choices of biscuits and cake other than the display.

So, you think she should have broken the rules and risked disciplinary action just to satisfy your fussy son?

Infact, I don't even think an adjustment would have been necessary, just some good-old fashioned common sense. I would not go to that branch again and generally, I would not look upon Waitrose in the same way again. Out of all the supermarkets, they always seemed to be the most polite and child friendly with their friendly chit-chat and miniature trolleys but it just goes to show, I guess. I am mainly shocked at why she would make such a big issue of it when there was nobody around and the other two customers there obv could not have cared less

Good point doctrine - at one point, I did offer to buy another cake to share between us but she seemed fixated on the biscuit issue and determined to continue making an issue out of it.