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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
cuntycowfacemonkey · 01/06/2015 22:20

schones? scones

emotionsecho · 01/06/2015 22:23

My parents often share cream teas or lunches when out, neither of them are big eaters, and no café or restaurant has ever made a fuss or behaved like the manager in the OP's description. In fact more than one place has suggested they order one between them.

My sister and I did the same in a café in London recently we shared one lunch between us, they had no problem giving us an extra plate. There is no way we could have eaten one lunch each the portions were huge and an overwhelming amount of food kills my appetite.

OrangeVase · 01/06/2015 22:25

YABU - just buy another cup of tea.

Soon there will be nothing left but Macdonalds and Tescos. Small businesses cannot survive on the margins they make.

As for leaving a bad review - why? He was fair. You paid for one cream tea but wanted to take up two spaces in his cafe and he'd have to do double the washing up and probably two people not one using the loo. It all adds up.

I tutor people and you would be amazed at how many people think that if they just ask a friend along to share the lesson it will cost them half the price. (And complain when I say no). (Twice the paper, twice the copies of material, almost twice the prep, more stressful)

zozzij · 01/06/2015 22:30

People try to do this where I work and it makes me despair, to be honest - were all 3 of you sitting down? If so you were taking up space where 3 paying customers could have been sitting, but only spending the amount that a single cover would spend. It fucks up the spend per head and it means the business is probably turning away people who actually would like to spend some money. I don't blame the manager for digging his heels in, he probably has to deal with this situation 20 times a day - people who want the "experience" of an afternoon tea but don't want to pay for it. Next time just buy another cup of tea.

Thisishowyoudisappear · 01/06/2015 22:34

YABU, you should have made it clear when ordering that the cream tea was to share. The manager could have been more polite but I can certainly see his point of view.

cuntycowfacemonkey · 01/06/2015 22:37

I think sharing food is fine but profit from drinks is really how these places stay a float. You wouldn't go into a pub and share a glass of wine between two of you.

Out of curiosity what did you order OP?

mumeeee · 01/06/2015 22:38

Cream teas for one always come with 2 scones. You should have just paid for another cup of tea. £4.99 is very reasonable I would expect to pay more for a cream tea for two.

austenozzy · 01/06/2015 22:39

I hope you put the jam on first, not like them nutters up north in Devon.

msgrinch · 01/06/2015 22:51

Wow you're parents are so freaking tight.

WanderWomble · 01/06/2015 22:56

Good grief, there's nothing wrong with sharing a pot of tea, assuming you share the sugar and milk that comes with it.

I ordered a pot of tea for one recently and when it arrived, there was enough water in said pot to make four cups of tea. Far too much for one person in one sitting.

Spanielsarecool1 · 01/06/2015 23:02

No way, the manager should have just brought out an extra cup. Yes perhaps generally is meant for one person, but for certain people - for instance my older in laws - would have been too much. The manager should grin and bear it for general customer service-some strange opinions here! He wouldn't like it when I feel like a piece of cake and drag my husband into a cafe while I sit and devour a slice of heavenly Victoria sponge while he ( shock horror) sits drinking tap water, or we pop into somewhere to get our daughter an early tea and - gasp - don't buy anything for ourselves. Part and parcel of hospitality!

SilverBirch2015 · 01/06/2015 23:06

It used to be fairly common practise when I was younger for some places to charge a cover charge to prevent people taking up a space that a normal paying customer could be using.

marshmallowpies · 01/06/2015 23:14

If I was sharing a cream tea, one large scone would be fine for me - but I'd want to get 2 cups worth of decent non-stewed still fresh tea out of a pot, not 'to get my money's worth' but because I like tea and two cups is probably equivalent to tea out of a large mug that I'd drink at home.

So I wouldn't want to share a pot for one with the other person even if we were sharing the scones - I'd happily pay for two pots of tea and wouldn't be offended at being charged for two pots. I would ideally expect free hot water to be available to refresh the pot if I wanted it, though.

If your parents only wanted a small cup each they could have shared a pot for one and shared the cup (my parents would always have a spare thermos cup stashed away somewhere).

If they wanted enough tea for two people they should have been prepared to pay for two persons worth of tea. The manager was VU to be so rude about it though.

ilovesooty · 01/06/2015 23:18

spare thermos cup

I'm surprised the OP and her parents had the cheek to ask for another cup but I'd also be astonished at someone whipping out their own spare cup to avoid shelling out for another cup of tea.

marshmallowpies · 01/06/2015 23:21

ilovesooty I don't mean that my parents would get out a thermos cup deliberately to avoid paying for 2 drinks, just that they are the sort of people who always have a thermos on them so it might occur to them to use it. Or rather my dad might be tempted as he is notoriously stingy, but my mum would rein him in.

ilovesooty · 01/06/2015 23:23

Sorry marshmallow I didn't intend to cast aspersions on your parentsGrin
The comment just opened up a whole new possible scenario for me!

Usernamegone · 01/06/2015 23:25

My local tea room in Devon does 2 scones per cream tea. It also does a half cream tea with one scone for those with smaller appetite. However, when ordering a pot of tea I would always order a pot of tea for 2 if two people wanted to drink tea is as then you get more water, another tea bag, more milk, more sugar, 2 cups, etc. The price difference would have probably been £1 maybe £1.50 difference maximum

SaucyJack · 01/06/2015 23:25

I don't think the size of the actual tea-pot in question matters. I'm sure many people could comfortably serve two from a pot for one.

It's the principle. It's unfair for two people to be sat there taking up space and using the facilities having only paid for one.

It's not a public park bench. You need to pay for your seat.

UnsolvedMystery · 01/06/2015 23:26

I'm intrigued by the notion that by taking up a seat in a café, you should have to pay for something.
What about a baby or a toddler with their own food?
What about someone with food allergies for whom there is nothing suitable on the menu?
What if the couple had ordered 2 meals but wanted to share dessert?
What if one person just wasn't hungry?

I don't see anything wrong with sharing food and I would ask for a second cup.

ilovesooty · 01/06/2015 23:29

Suppose there is one person with allergies, one that isn't hungry, and a baby. Should they be able to come in, sit down together and buy nothing?

cuntycowfacemonkey · 01/06/2015 23:36

Why would someone with food allergies sit in a cafe with no food at watch other people eat? They need more considerate friends!

i think sharing food is a bit different but I do think at a minimum everyone should at least by a drink.

OrangeVase · 01/06/2015 23:44

Whilst it is nice to be pleasant and polite to people - in the end we all need to pay our bills.

Those of you talking about customer service would probably be horrified if your salary was 20% less than it was last month because you spent time being nice to people and not focussing on the return on costs. There would be uproar and much talk about "rights"

When you are running your own business - as I learnt the hard way - you can spend many hours being nice to people, (and you never know they may come back and spend more next time...except they usually don't), and when you come to pay the gas bill the numbers don't stack up.

In a cafe the premises is the expensive part and you have to get a return on that. So one cup of tea for three seats is losing money.

thatstoast · 01/06/2015 23:46

This thread has confused me. Op said that her parents decided to share due to the size of the cream tea. So presumably a big pot of tea was too much for one person. Are people really saying they should've bought a pot of tea and a cup of tea even if the result is some of the pot going to waste?

BigChocFrenzy · 01/06/2015 23:47

I always like a whole pot of tea just for me, so I'd have ordered a 2nd pot and black no sugar, so they'd save on those.

However, I'd assume 2 cream scones was for 2 people, because I'd have to share even one - blimey, 2 would make me feel queasy.
I've a huge appetite when it comes to savoury courses though.

BigChocFrenzy · 01/06/2015 23:49

Maybe the manager needs to state a minimum cover charge per table

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