"You can't have it for free",aibu?

[imacccu]

So I'm at Manchester for the Christmas markets.
Spent £20 on a Greek sharing box to eat for lunch.
I ask for two forks and she tells me they've ran out and to get them from the Brazilian stand opposite.
So off I go and say "can I have two of the plastic forks please as the Greek stand have ran out"

She says "no I'm not allowed as you didn't buy food here,you can't expect them for free"
I said okay il buy a drink
She said no only food
The cheapest thing was £10
So I sad no
Aibu to think she could of gave me a plastic fork
Is this what the worlds came too?
She had a huge and I mean huge tub of cutlery

So we had to eat with our hands which was near impossible as it was coated in sauces etc

No I think there's enough room on a market stall for an abundance of cutlery actually but the market traders disagree with me.

I also think it's possible to run out of cutlery when you've got a rush on because you forgot that day to bring enough and didn't realise it. It's not exactly a major business mistake and easily correctable. Unless you think a food stall should be planned like a Moon landing and they're not in a position to quickly pop over to the nearest shop that sells plastic forks when this happens?

I also think it's a good idea to sell a bit of cutlery to someone when they need one at a markup, because you can always go to the car and restock.

Market traders say no, there is limited space. Read back the thread.

Surely it depends and differs enormously: if you're the PP who sometimes sells crafts, has a table at the event and stores the goods and supplies at home; or if you're a regular food seller, with your own large trailer that you can keep stocked up with non-perishables and hitch to your vehicle, before unhitching and cooking in and serving from at the location?

Gosh, this thread! I have recently retired from hospitality.I highly doubt that there was any arrangement. If there was then the forks would have already be with the greek stall, they themselves would have collected them.
It's more likely that they have been sending people over for a while. We used to call them the borrowers. Traders who turn up unprepared, for example having no takeaway boxes, then send staff over to try to get some. No one has unlimited stock. We even had someone come in to try to steal mayonnaise sachets as they'd forgotten them. Traders who would come in on the first day asking for change as they hadn't picked any up.
Sometimes you would help but in the end it's just plain annoying. You have a business, there are actual suppliers nearby. Use them.
Mostly we got told it's because they didn't have the money to buy them in the first place so needed to take money before.

The true spirit of Christmas right there. Manchester is full of cunts though so not surprising.

What is the true spirit of Christmas?

This would never happen on a sushi stall.

15 pages. I am really impressed.

Kids, some posters are just taking a piss. Of course it's infuriating for anyone with hospitality and food stall experience. It's meant to be now!

Ahhh, Christmas… it’s all about peace, love, goodwill to all men, baby Jesus, shepherds, no room at the inn, rip off Xmas markets, £15 kebabs, £3 cans of pop, people too tight to spare a plastic fork, and a profit margin in a pear tree.

It's more likely that they have been sending people over for a while. We used to call them the borrowers. Traders who turn up unprepared, for example having no takeaway boxes, then send staff over to try to get some. No one has unlimited stock. We even had someone come in to try to steal mayonnaise sachets as they'd forgotten them.... Mostly we got told it's because they didn't have the money to buy them in the first place so needed to take money before.

It's interesting, isn't it, how these things cost next to nothing, so you're a nasty big mean old meanie for refusing to hand over something almost valueless; and yet the reason why they haven't brought their own is because they're too expensive for them to be able to/want to pay for.

If they can't afford to pay for essential items upfront, then they simply don't have a viable business. It's like wanting to be a taxi driver, but not having a vehicle! Why should somebody else who waited until they did have the funds to properly run their business be expected to bail out somebody doing a half-arsed job and expecting to make the money without putting in the investment?

Ok, so you've mentioned Traders who come in on the first day: Well that's pretty understandable that they're going to make a mistake.
Then you've talked about the unprepared ones, but you haven't talked of repeat offenders who over a long period of time send customers over to your stall. Was this also a common occurence? Someone sending someone over to you every day?