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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should I have paid for the coffee?

71 replies

TheOrigFV45 · 05/12/2019 11:05

Pub meal. Pre-ordered.

DS (aged 10) ordered Xmas meal, which is 4 courses. He only wanted the main course and the desert, but I ordered a starter as well.

I order a steak from the regular menu.

I ate his starter, had my steak and salad and no desert.

I also had a coffee.

Do you think I should have paid for the coffee as part of my order or is it OK to have regarded it as the one DS didn't have as part of his set meal?

OP posts:
Original poster
TheOrigFV45 · 05/12/2019 11:07

Misleading title maybe. The coffee was paid for as part of the set menu - I didn't steal it!

OP posts:
Gruzinkerbell1 · 05/12/2019 11:07

Part of the set meal.

Especially as I’m assuming that the 4 course set meal including coffee for your DS was ordered from the adult menu.

DartmoorChef · 05/12/2019 11:09

It was part of the meal that you had paid for. Can't see a problem with that.

Original poster
TheOrigFV45 · 05/12/2019 11:09

Yes, there was no child menu.

OP posts:
UpsyDaisysarmpit · 05/12/2019 11:10

Definitely fine to use the coffee that was part of your 10-year old's meal for yourself. You paid for that meal, why the heck not?

MRex · 05/12/2019 11:11

Of course it's fine if it's in the deal, it's payment per item not payment per taste. You don't pay double for a starter if your companion has a bite out of it.

Disfordarkchocolate · 05/12/2019 11:13

Part of the meal.

notthemum · 05/12/2019 11:13

Can't for the life of me imagine why you should not have had the coffee.☕

Disfordarkchocolate · 05/12/2019 11:17

I'm still annoyed my husband turned down his 'free with our meal' prosecco last month, I could have had 2!

CalmFizz · 05/12/2019 11:17

Was there some sort of problem when the bill came? Or is this just general musings.

WarmSausageTea · 05/12/2019 11:18

I think it’s absolutely fine; you both had and paid for your meals, you just had parts of your son’s that would otherwise have gone to waste.

If you’d ordered nothing, and had his starter and coffee, that might be different, but you didn’t, so I wouldn’t worry about it at all.

Morporkia · 05/12/2019 11:19

@Disfordarkchocolate shocking behaviour from your DH. LTB! 😜

adaline · 05/12/2019 11:19

It's fine. You ordered and paid for a four course meal for your son - he had two courses, you had the other two as well as a separate main.

Did they try and charge you for an extra coffee or something?

MiniEggAddiction · 05/12/2019 11:20

If DS was entitled to it as part of the set meal then I don't see why you would pay for it. Surely they just bring the coffee to the table and then it's up to you who actually drinks it!

MutedUser · 05/12/2019 11:21

You were fine to drink the coffee. Unless your son had a drink that counted instead of the coffee like a soft drink. But if he had water and you had coffee no problem at all.

sarahjconnor · 05/12/2019 11:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Disfordarkchocolate · 05/12/2019 11:25

I repeated 'I can't believe you didn't give me the prosecco' every 5 minutes @Morporkia with a shocked look on my face. It's on my list of things to remind him if he ever gets stroppy.

friedbeansandcheese · 05/12/2019 11:28

Well, did your ds order the full meal and then did you order 'a steak and a coffee', or when the waiter came with ds's coffee you just drank it?

If you ordered a separate coffee, then YABU. If you just took ds's one, then YANBU.

Gatehouse77 · 05/12/2019 11:29

I'd have done the same as you - it was accounted for as part of the set meal.

AtSea1979 · 05/12/2019 11:31

So coffee wasn’t on the set menu? But you want to swap it instead of a dessert? Unless you made this clear when ordering I can see why the restaurant want to bill you.

lottiegarbanzo · 05/12/2019 11:32

Depends if it was the same kind of coffee. If the set menu included filter and you ordered barista-made coffee, you have to pay for that.

MutedUser · 05/12/2019 11:32

@sarahjconnor that’s madness how can he be in a mood over his grandchild having a Yorkshire pudding he didn’t want .

bobsyourauntie · 05/12/2019 11:38

If DS's meal included a coffee and you drank that coffee then no it shouldn't be charged extra. If it was just a filter coffee though and you ordered a latte or something, then you should pay extra.

If 4 courses were paid for , it shouldn't matter who eats them.

coconuttelegraph · 05/12/2019 11:40

Why are you asking? Surely the restaurant didn't make a fuss over who actually drank the coffee did they?

AryaStarkWolf · 05/12/2019 11:48

I mean you ate the starter so why would that not be a problem but the coffee is? The Pub don't care Grin