To have assumed this about breakfast?

[YouWhatLove]

Staying in a country pub with rooms for a couple of nights away with my dc. We went down for breakfast this morning and the waitress asked if we wanted the continental breakfast for £7.95 or the cooked breakfast for £10.95 (slightly cheaper for dc but can’t remember the price). We all had the cooked breakfast, she took our orders and went off.

I then went to the continental buffet bit and got juice for dc, a cup of tea for myself and 2 slices of toast to go with our cooked breakfast. She delivered the cooked breakfast, it was all very nice and then she presented us with the bill that charged us for 3 x continental breakfast and 3 x cooked breakfast. I said she’d charged us twice and she said that she’d seen me go to the buffet so had to charge me. After a bit of a fuss she agreed to only charge for the cooked breakfast but said to not do it tomorrow and that if I wanted tea/ juice/ toast I had to order it with my breakfast.

I haven’t stayed in that many places that offered a continental and cooked breakfast at a separate price but was I being cheeky to assume the cost of a cooked breakfast included juice and toast from the buffet bit? I’m sure when I’ve stayed in Premier Inn or similar that’s been the case or maybe I’ve just been nicking stuff without realising it 😬

@YouWhatLove Was it a nice breakfast? So odd not to ask what you wanted to drink with breakfast, v poor waitressing. Glad you got your free juice and toast though.

I would expect a cooked breakfast to include tea/coffee and toast.

Says cooked breakfast includes continental? Top right?

@stuntbubbles it was a lovely breakfast, thanks. Just all a bit confusing!

See my post below! It should include continental?

I've stayed in many hotels bed and breakfasts etc
When there has been a cold buffet it's always been included with cooked...the cooked option was an extra charge so if continental was £10 I'd pay that plus an extra of £5 for my egg on toast for example

@SmartieRants that looks like a menu from a different pub by the same company. The menu here was similar to that but didn’t have as much stuff and definitely didn’t mention cooked breakfast including the continental one.

I've never stayed anywhere that the buffet is not included with cooked.

Would totally assume it was included.

But the waitress didn't ask them in their order. Was she really expecting you to not want drinks with your breakfast order?!?! What a strange place.

That's a shame, but I bet Marstons themselves would agree that it includes continental!

From marstons own website, the key word is full not cooked. I’ve never know somewhere to not include the continental when buying a cooked breakfast, it then becomes full.
Also if your kids are under 12 it should only have been £2. Personally I’d email head office for clarity.

Every where I have stayed,you pay for the hot breakfast but they say help yourself to cereal,toast,fruit and drinks,

They also do that on 4 in a bed

Yep agreed it's FULL that's the key word!

As someone who has travelled widely, I’d have thought and done the same OP.

They would need to spell it out very clearly that the buffet is off limits since they are departing from established norms.

I think you should clarify the situation with head office. It’s something that would put me off completely and ruin my stay a bit tbh. I don’t think it’s fair to leave bad reviews as a knee jerk reaction (although I’d appreciate the heads up too as a traveller) if you haven’t given them a chance to sort themselves out first.

She should have asked you about tea/coffee toast etc when she took your order or advised you to help yourself to it from the buffet. As she didn't I can understand you helping yourself.

A lot of problems in life are improved by communicating. She should have taken drinks orders, when she didn't you should have asked. I have no idea if what you did was normal or not, but both of you should have spoken with one another.

Any place I’ve stayed if you come down for breakfast they ask what you want from cooked and help yourself to anything else, may it be cereal, toast or juices/tea.
seems a bit silly.

In the uk I would assume it's continental breakfast or pay more for continental and cooked items (full). I would be really shocked that juice, coffee and toast weren't included especially if no mention was made when making the order. I've stayed in a variety of places from budget hotels to higher end and never come across another structure

I have also had more hotel breakfasts than I can count and the continental is always included in the full or cooked breakfast. It is one price for continental and then the higher price is an upgrade to include cooked.

Anybody that has said it was cheeky for OP to get juice, tea and toast without paying for a continental breakfast as well as the cooked breakfast is being absurd.

Usually when you pay for the cooked breakfast, it also includes the continental breakfast.
I'd be annoyed if I was charged twice for both the cooked and the continental.
That's just ridiculous.
In all the hotels I've stayed in, which is a lot, that's never happened.

No tip for that waitress

I'd probably raise the issue with reception.

This is true in my experience. If you weren’t offered tea, juice and toast by the waitress I would assume I could get it from the buffet. Cooked breakfast usually includes the cold buffet.

So you got the same as yesterday but yesterday you went and got the toast / juice yourself and they tried to charge to extra , and today you asked the waitress who got them for you but only charged you for cooked breakfast. How odd !!

The bottom line is that the waitress handled it very badly. She should have taken a drinks and toast order. If she had done that she wouldn't have needed to try to charge you twice and then tick you off like a child and say 'don't do it again!'.
The whole process is unclear. Very bad customer service.