To have said no this customer?

[LittleMissGerardButlersMinion]

I work in the wonderful world of retail

Today a customer in the queue asked me to heat some baby food for her. I apologized and said I'm sorry we can't heat it for you, but can give you a flask of hot water for you to heat it. We are not allowed under health and safety.

She pulled a right face at me and huffed 'well that will take far too long' and stalked off!

Yes I know its annoying, and we have a microwave, but its right behind the counter, so can't let customers round to use it.

I wasn't doing it to be annoying!

Another customer asked for a knife so I smiled and said they are in the dishwasher they won't be a minute, she stalked off to her table. As soon as they came out I took one over, she just looked at me and didnt even say thanks.

I always try to be nice and treat customers how I like to be treated, but its so hard when they are rude

What others have said, YANBU about the heating baby food, but no knives?
That's just a basic in a cafe and bad management.

Agree with others. I understand about the microwave but the knife thing is not on. The customer wasn't BU at all in that instance. In her position I'd definitely have said "thanks" but I would have thought it was a bit rubbish.

It's a bit lame running out of knives in a cafe.

YANBU for sticking to company policy re heating food

YANBU for feeling that customers aren't always as polite and reasonable as they could be

Sorry Tyne, but that's not correct. They will be doing risk assessments as part of their H & S. One of the risks they may have identified is exactly that.

There may not be a specific 'law' but health and safety is mainly about avoiding being sued. And there are plenty of idiots who wouldn't check the temperature then put in a claim.

No win no fee is only normally for the person putting the claim in so it would cost the company a bomb if they did. At the moment with profit margins paper thin in that kind of business they are quite right not to take the risk.

That website would make not a jot of difference to whether someone could put in a claim and cost the company.

That health and safety myths website completely ignores the side of H & S which involves avoiding compensation claims rather than complying with legislation.

I can accept cafes saying that their manager has made the decision not to heat baby food. It's maybe frustrating, but it's their right. But what pisses me right off is the 'it's illegal' line. I might have inadvertently have a huffy face if someone used that line, seeing as I hate being lied to. Having said all that, I wouldn't actually be rude to the staff member. I would probably complain to the managet, not about the refusal, but about the lies.

Definitely not with the microwave the temperature catering microwavs heat to in a very short time would not be suited to baby foor in my experience. The knives need to not run out but you know that.

You should have enough knives (is it a really tiny cafe??)

YANBU about the rest.

also, the irony of this policy is that a pot of hot water seems far more dangerous than heating the food. This happened us in cafe Nero when ds was little. I wasn't rude to the staff member, he was only doing his job, but the danger to a baby of pulling a pot of boiling water around him far exceeds the danger of burning his mouth

x posted about the danger of hot water vs hot food!

Unless the OP is the owner / manager, it's not really her fault they ran out of knives either. In the cafe I worked in, you could be telling the boss about a thing like that for three months, and he STILL wouldn't buy more.

I work in a hospital and we aren't allowed to heat baby milk or food up in the microwave either. Parents can do it if they want, but they take responsibility for it.

Having no knives is a bit annoying

It's not me who is or isn't correct! - The website I linked to is the Health and Safety Executive (assuming OP is in UK)

Whilst a risk assessment may have identified a potential issue, it is up to them to determine their appetite for the risk, whether they tolerate, treat or terminate. They have chosen to terminate, which is their right, but should not try to pass off the decision as out of their hands.

Eh? I thought you weren't supposed to put baby food in a microwave. Doesn't it leave 'hot spots' in the food that can burn a small child's mouth?
I would have thought a make-shift Bain Marie with some hot water was preferable.
Or have I been labouring under a misapprehension for 6 years??

And surely a bowl of hot water is only as 'dangerous' as a cup of tea.

It is not against health and safety to microwave food for a baby. Health and safety legislation isn't that detailed. Places come up with rules to protect themselves from litigation. Microwaved food can contain hot spots that will burn so they want to not be sued. It makes for a shit situation for customers and those that work in cafes....

Thanks for posting the HSE link Tyne. Of course it's nothing to do with Health and safety.

And H & S is actually about keeping employees safe, nothing to do with avoiding compensation claims, to the pp who said that

Def NBU to refuse to use the microwave to heat up her baby food. I get royally pissed off when customers assume we are being difficult when we say no! We dont let our customers wander around with boiling water either! We put the bottles in a container of boiling water and keep it behind the counter.

I don't think it's too much to expect a cafe to have enough knives and other cutlery. But YANBU about the baby food.

Unreasonable about the knife...

But the heating baby food is tricky. My brother worked in a restaurant where they were only allowed to give out flasks of hot water... And one day another customer knocked the table and the hot water spilled over the baby who was badly hurt. Restaurant got in a lot of trouble (health and safety) and now they refuse to heat food or dispense large quantities of hot water....

In our shopping centre they have a number of standard microwaves for parents to use to heat baby food and bottles, if I ran a food establishment I would do the same. £50 would get you one and then it is the parents responsibility. Wipe it a couple of times again and no more ahssle from parents.

Long past the bottle stage now, but, genuine question, doesn't shaking the bottle after microwaving eliminate hot spots?

I know its unreasonable about not having enough knives, and I do try my best to get then through, but I can't walk around asking customers if they have finished with theirs so I can wash them :o

The knives were literally seconds away from being ready, the customer asked, I went out to the dishwasher, got the knives and took one straight over, so yes it's annoying, but basic manners cost nothing do they?

Er, no, the OP is not being unreasonable about the knife. The issue isn't the knife. The issue is that the OP went out of his/her way to give the knife to the customer once there was a clean one available and didn't get so much as a thanks in return.

YANBU on either count, OP. People can be unbelievably rude.

Cross post...