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AIBU?

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Original poster

To have thought we should have been allowed another cup

393 replies

lakia · 01/06/2015 19:39

Was in a restaurant today with my parents they wanted a cream tea we saw on the notice board that it came with a big pot of tea and two generous sized scones with cream and jam.
My parents seeing the size of it decided to order the one between them it wasn't stated as either been for one or two people.
Anyway so we ordered paid and one cup was put on the tray and of course we asked if we could have another cup and the guy who happened to be the manager refused we was bit taken back by this and thought maybe he had misunderstood so again we said we want another cup to which he refused again.
We asked why and he said this is a cream tea for one person and I said its too much for my parents and they want to share he replied that he is a business and that if we want another cup then we have to buy a separate cup of tea I said that's ridiculous and he said no it isn't and he would not budge. He then said that its like him giving one cream tea to a load of people to share and its not good for his business.
Just interested in your thoughts.

OP posts:
diddl · 02/06/2015 09:48

Why didn't you have the "extra" cup of tea for you, OP?

Parents wanting to share, fair enough.

But for you to order nothing seems odd.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 02/06/2015 09:48

Because if two people wanted a cup of tea they should have ordered for two. If you go to somewhere they give free refills, you don't share. If you go to a carvery you wouldn't pile a plate high and then ask for another plate because you are sharing. A 'pot of tea for one' is not selling a certain quantity of tea, like a bottle of wine. The actual cost of the tea and water is minimal, you are paying for the service, being able to sit down etc. It is incredibly tight to try and share a pot of tea like that.

Only1scoop · 02/06/2015 09:49

A petty posting about trying to wring out a tea bag by a pair of cup sharers wouldn't put me off in the slightest.

Only1scoop · 02/06/2015 09:50

Has Op said she ordered nothing?

I don't think I've seen that.

PomeralLights · 02/06/2015 09:50

He won't be missing out on £££ though will he. He'll miss out on £4.99 every so often. The profit on that is what.... 50p? £1?

He must be devastated Hmm

00100001 · 02/06/2015 09:51

I would have just sat there and ostentatiously shared the one cup with DH :P

diddl · 02/06/2015 09:53

"Has Op said she ordered nothing?"

Apologies, no I don't think she has.

I think what I saw was another poster writing it, but I don't think that the OP has.

Apologies.

diddl · 02/06/2015 09:54

Funny, I was sure that one of those apologies was a sorry!

Only1scoop · 02/06/2015 09:54

Op did you order something lovely for yourself?

Springtimemama · 02/06/2015 10:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BookSnark · 02/06/2015 10:10

But who is really hurting small businesses here?

I had a flat tyre on the school run once. Limped home - and phoned round to see where I could get it replaced - emphasising that I essentially needed to be back on the road for the afternoon school run.

Kwik Fit could do a whileUwait service - but a different brand of tyre. I preferred to stay matching. An independent mobile guy said he had the right tyre, and would be out by 11am. 11am came and went, he wasn't answering his phone.... It got to 2pm, I left a message that I couldn't wait any longer, and went to KwikFit. Cue a furious phone call thirty minutes later about how he'd apparently ordered the tyre just for me, and he was en route to my house, and how people like me kill small businesses. Will I go to an independent over-emotional tyre fitter again? Will I fuck.

If I have work to do, I'll go to a chain cafe, because I know they won't huff and puff about overstaying. If I have kids with me I'll go to a chain cafe - because I know I won't be made to feel uncomfortable about my pram taking up room. If I'm with a friend with food allergies, I'll go to a chain cafe/restaurant - because IME they are trained in dealing with allergies - and don't eyeroll when they are asked for full ingredients.

So IMO if anything is killing small cafes/businesses - it is a reputation for getting wound up to the point of being inhospitable about very minor customer inconveniences.

Frankly - once the OP cafe owner had sold a single cream tea between three - the 'spend per table' boat had already sailed - whether or not OPs parents were allowed to share the tea.

actually - I do go to one independent cafe to work - spent eight hours in there once - first four on one cup of coffee - then I got hungry and ordered a full lunch/cake/juice etc. They clocked me as an overstayer - and let me pick the music to my taste - plus brought me samples as they mixed new drinks. That is how you make money as an independent. Not* by haranguing the customer about the cost of washing an extra cup.

BookSnark · 02/06/2015 10:15

My local Costa let me split a large hot chocolate between my three kids. Nay - they split it for me into little cup - each one prettily dressed with cream and marshmallows.

Gileswithachainsaw · 02/06/2015 10:18

thing is so many places are like that these days.

You pop to a pub and coke or lemonade only comes in massive 16oz glasses. can you just get a regular glass? no.

order a cappuccino and you get a bowl of foam and it's cold before you can finish it. croissants in coffee shops are three times the size of the ones you buy, the cake slices are huge. You can't get smaller ones cos guess what the cakes are bought in pre sliced and frozen so there's no choice to by massive wedges of cake.

so of course people share. why wouldn't that.

Springtimemama · 02/06/2015 10:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Springtimemama · 02/06/2015 10:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

6Musiclover · 02/06/2015 10:50

If I was the owner I'd be hoping they wouldn't come back. No wonder Independant cafes are closing down.
I bet the op's parents weren't short of a bob if two either. It's always the well off who are the most tight fisted!
What did you order OP?

TSSDNCOP · 02/06/2015 10:56

Bad form, particularly to then drink from one cup of tea. Being elderly is no excuse for poor manners. Fine to share the scones but should have ordered another tea.

Gileswithachainsaw · 02/06/2015 11:03

Two cups of tea were drunk, two scones were eaten. Once purchased places have no right to tell you who or how They have to be eaten.

It's also bad form for people to bring in kids and leave a right sodding mess, or drink so much they vomit on the carpet or people who steal the milk or jam portions.

It's bad form to not make small adjustments for people so they can enjoy a meal and give bollocks excuses about not having a button on a til. It's bad form to make it difficult for people to actually have a meal how they like it without having to nab staff for sauces or to wipe a table or re fill the serviette dispenser.

but all these things are accepted so why not this

BookSnark · 02/06/2015 11:03

The whole point of being in the hospitality industry is that you accept the weirdness of the public at large, but you have the skills and personality to be able to make people feel comfortable and smooth over 'bad manners'.

If I felt at risk of getting a lecture on manners - I'd sit on a bench with a thermos.

If the cafe owner hates low-spending slow-eating old folk - then he should set a minimum spend in busy periods.

A standoff in a queue achieves nothing - it is petty and unprofessional - even if people feel that the OPs parents were against the spirit of 'tea for one'.

diddl · 02/06/2015 11:14

"I bet the op's parents weren't short of a bob if two either. It's always the well off who are the most tight fisted!"

Why is it tight fisted to not buy more than you want?

grannytomine · 02/06/2015 11:21

But they wanted a pot of tea for two not a pot for one.

BookSnark · 02/06/2015 11:21

Who remembers Bill Bryson 'Notes on a Small Island'? The terrifying B&B owner who gave him a long list of rules, particularly emphasising that he must take care of the counterpane...? About how he spent a miserable week fiddling with the windows wondering WTF a countermand was?

The B&B owner probably had reasonable frustrations about people leaving stains on the hard-to-wash heirloom bedspread - but it's just not hospitable to behave that way.

And back to my point

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 02/06/2015 11:29

I'm sure the café owner wouldn't have minded if one of the scones had gone in a doggy bag. I'm sure that bag could have accommodated several.

Some posters here just like to argue the toss with constant, "Yes, but what if... endless blethering excuses". If you don't want to follow respectful convention, stay at home, really, just do that. You won't be missed.

OP... did you leave a tip?

BookSnark · 02/06/2015 11:34

shrug

Me and my buggy pushing, overstaying, non-standard ordering pesty chums will keep going out - but to the big chains. Perfect people who can afford to order lavishly and eat quickly can keep the indies in business.

Why would she tip rude service?

RiverTam · 02/06/2015 11:36

oh dear. Yes, they wanted tea for two, and that's what they thought they were ordering, presumably because of the 2 scones (1 each) and the size of pot. The pot turns up but with one cup. The couple know that there is enough tea in the pot for both of them, but far too much for one person to finish. So they ask for a second cup. Honestly, it really isn't that hard to understand!

Cafes and pubs need to understand that if they only supply size giant then people will share - not because they are tight but because there's no need to buy another! If you want people to buy two of something then size your food and drinks properly!