Or was Pizza Hut?

[Scarlett555]

Took my DD (4) to the park after school. She suddenly announces she's desperate for a wee - no toilets in the park and it's a 15 minute walk home.

Park is packed with kids from her school and near a busy road with lots of cars going past - no opportunity for a quick wee behind a bush.

There is a Pizza Hut near the park and so I take her in there and ask nicely if we could use the toilet.

The waitress states toilets are for customers only.

I explain it's for my DD, she's only 4 and isn't going to make it home.

Waitress repeats toilets are for customers only and we would have to stay and buy a meal if we use the toilets.

Restaurant was practically empty, only one table occupied.

We left and of course DD wet herself on the way home, poor thing was really embarrassed.

WIBU to think a big chain like Pizza Hut could let a 4 year old use the toilet?

Sod policy, the waitress was a bitch.

Everyone’s a potential customer.

They’ve lost OP now and several others on this thread.

Seriously 'a bitch'? That's lovely.

PuppyMonkey

Not really. Politeness? Sure. Fairness? Yes. Kindness is doing people favours, and when those people aren’t your customers you are even less obligated to do things for them.

And when the waitress gets a bollocking from the boss, will that be totally fair?

Rules are rules, OP. It's not a waitresses responsibility to find your DD a toilet and break her workplace policy.

You could have suggested to buy a drink or something?

the waitress was a bitch

Ridiculous overreaction.

and several others on this thread

To be honest I would question the judgement of someone who would boycott a company over an anecdote on the internet

Honestly just buy a drink

That's just shit of them.
Our Costa let anyone use the toilets, and they fill water bottles free of charge, no purchase necessary, and often post reminders on our local group.

They’ve lost OP now and several others on this thread.

Yeah, ok. If OP has ever been to pizza hut before, she will go again at some point.

And no one is ever going to not go into pizza hut, because someone on mumsnet said they didnt let her child use the loo.

They’ve lost OP now and several others on this thread.

Personally I'd be less likely to go to a restaurant that allowed its loos to be used as public toilets.

😂 at the poster thinking people will boycott a restaurant because a CF on the internet.

The op has never eaten there before, if she was keen to give them her custom she would have done so before wanting to use its customer facilities.

Fair enough, no mass MN Pizza Hut boycott then?

(I would question the judgement of someone who would refuse a small child a quick trip to the bog, tbf, but there you go )

Pizza Hut is worth billions, and I really don’t think they are going to get their knickers in a twist if two people on this thread decide not to dine there.

I can get policy.

But discretion and human kindness shouldn't be something people feel unobligated to provide.

How much mess did they think a 4yo would make? Yes they pay for space and cleaning but they also have a target audience of families. Any good business knows a target audience is a potential customer even if not a current one.

I was out for a walk with a friend and nipped into a local pub and said could I please use loo and so sorry for being cheeky.
It was a lovely place.
Friend and I returned next week with kids for a meal and they used outside play stuff. Landlady recognised me. She even commented when I thanked her again that she would never turn anyone away and obviously it helps her business to be kind to the locals!

It is not a private business' problem that your child needs the loo. Why are businesses always blamed for not letting their facilities be treated as public property when they are not? Would you let someone into your home to use the loo because they happen to be passing and need to go? If not, why should a private company be any different?

I notice the OP didnt answer the question of whether they usually patronize the restaurant and so I will assume that they dont actually use the restaurant and their threat of "never going there again" is a hollow one as you cant stop being a customer of somewhere you don't actually use.

The staff member was following the rules set out by management/Head Office. Why should she risk getting into trouble by breaking the rules? Perhaps they have gotten into trouble for "using their discretion" in the past and so no longer bend the rules or they're a new hire who is still on probation and following the rules because they can't afford to lose their job, either way why should they get into trouble for the OP wanting to treat the place as a public convenience?

OP you need to get a grip, the waitress did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with the company policy. If they’d have let you leave daughter use the toilet that would’ve been very nice of them but you obviously don’t understand the implications of letting just anyone use the toilets

The reality is that there are hardly any public toilets in a lot of places and where there are, they're often not very nice, filthy, dark, no toilet paper.

It's a well known issue. What might help solve the problem is that councils could offer businesses a reduction in their business rates, to open their toilets up to the public.

Then the public has access to much needed facilities, councils don't have to manage the toilets themselves and the businesses get help with the cost of providing the service to non customers.

But discretion and human kindness shouldn't be something people feel unobligated to provide

Kindness doesn't mean.letting everyone do everything all.the time.

The people who are going to block the toilet with paper towels or steal the toilet seat or skin up in the toilets dont all wear signs on their head telling you they are going to do it. Often these are the very people who seemingly present as regular people on a lunch break at work or out with their children or a friend.

Buy a drink? Or some form of cheap food.. even if it’s a snack for the walk home?

Waitress doesn’t know if dc has shit themselves and you’re looking for somewhere to dump the evidence, if you’re going to let dc go themselves and be a big kid.. who’ll then make a huge mess for her to clean, might’ve been a party coming in 15minutes so she didn’t want to be scrubbing loos for them.. and there’s probably been a wave of cf’s from the park for years now. She also doesn’t know if you have a car so would be 2 minutes till somewhere else where she won’t get bollocked for it.

A bush, if it’s not possible “table for two” quickly nip to the loo before a look at the menu and sigh that dc doesn’t want/won’t/can’t eat that. That’ll only work once obviously but it solves the now.

I’d also have run up an alley or somewhere into the side before letting a child wet themselves especially in the winter it’d bad enough wearing a wet coat.

It makes me laugh when people shake their heads ruefully and say, “That’s how businesses go under!” It might be how one man band coffee shops go under, for want of cheeky customers who want to treat their establishment like the public lavs, but Pizza Hut didn’t build an international brand by not understanding the operations cost of flogging pizzas. If they think it costs them more than it makes in future profit to let Tom, Dick and Harry use the toilet for free, it very likely does.

Meh, I have popped into a pizza hut on the way home from work before when I really needed a wee, they didn't mind. If councils hadn't shut a lot of public facilities then people wouldn't have to ask businesses. Not sure if they get funding from anywhere, but where I used to live businesses that were happy for anyone to use the loos had stickers in the window. The landlord of one of the pubs said that the increase in business (ie people going in for the loo and seeing what the place had to offer so going back) was quite impressive. I know there's the argument that they pay for the upkeep, but say you have 100 customers in a day- all of them might use the loo once, similarly none of them might; unless they are getting dozens of walk ins a day, it's mean.

How nasty! I wouldn’t have asked, I’d just have walked in. And if you’d said yes you were having a meal but then walked out, there’s nothing she could have done.

Hang on, the four year old’s skinning up in there now is she?

the waitress was a bitch

Oh pipe down. Working in hospitality is bloody difficult, you get shit from everyone on all sides. Hate the policy if you want, she's just trying to do her job.