To expect a restaurant to be able to do a pint of milk?

[YourAgileBiscuit]

My autistic DD (13) will normally only drink milk when we are out in restaurants etc.

Some restaurants (including chain restaurants and pubs/carvery places) get a bit funny about it when she orders/asks for milk though. Even though they already have milk for the kitchen and for teas/coffees. We’ve had some restaurants outright refuse as well even though they have milk in the building.

Is it unreasonable to expect restaurants to be able to serve milk for a paying customer? Of course we pay for her milk, we are not asking for it for free!

I would say about 50% of places we go to get funny about it which I don’t understand as they already have milk in the building.

I don't think most places will be that bothered about losing the odd customer over a glass of milk, in all honesty.

This! This would be the right solution in most places.

And then their stock levels would be messed up wouldn't they?!?

I am always genuinely flabbergasted on any thread talking about 'why doesn't a business do X' about how many people have such a low low grasp of business acumen. I always think they must be the same people as the ones who are at the front of the queue for the flights that everyone has a specific seat on.

I'd ring ahead and ask if it would be possible or just take your own milk and explain that it's for medical reasons. Wouldn't be as much fuss then.

Really? They’d rather cling onto that extra pint of milk that might well get poured down the sink the next day if they sell five fewer coffees than expected?

Surely that depends where you restaurant is and how well staffed it is.

High street cafe next to 24hr convenience store. Not a problem.

Beachside restaurant at the end of a sandy track. Not so easy.

But accommodation of a small need for what may turn out to be a regular customer who will then possibly recommend your business to others is surely beneficial not detrimental ?

@OhYesImgoingtosay
You also are severely underestimating how many people would require a bespoke service. It would never just be a one off.

I work for a very large restaurant chain. We wouldn’t have milk available (no hot drinks sold), so wouldn’t physically be able to accommodate a request for milk. They may be able to do it from their staff drinks fridge, but this would leave them short for their own teas / coffees.
Also, most restaurants have a till system which only allows them to select a certain menu item. Even if they have milk available for hot drinks, they wouldn’t be able to select this as a standalone drink. Giving it to the customer would leave them with a variance in their till and inventory at the end of the day which would mean they were short against their expected budget amount. Although this will seem small, restaurants nowadays are so tight on margin that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate this request.

I've always managed to get milk for my kids in restaurants

Oh nooooooo!!! 😱😱😱

Sadly I think that’s the case as most are saying that OP is being unreasonable . Really says a lot about people’s attitudes to accommodating the needs of others .

Wtf, is everyone here from 1955?!

Most places have a coffee machine and sell milk-heavy coffees like lattes. Of course they're not going to miss a pint of milk.

Madness.

For most businesses, it's just not something they'd be that arsed about.

They're quite happy to refuse to sell something that's not on the menu, just as they'd happily turn someone away for insisting on Pepsi when the restaurant only has Coke. It's not on the menu so they don't care if they can't offer it.

They probably use an online supplier with an automated ordering system so having an extra glass of milk is awkward to provide unless they sell milk anyway. Why don’t you take your own and explain why you have it? You can get insulated holders for it.

I know it's not directly answering your Q but I think I'd deal with it by just taking a thermos cup or similar of milk with a couple of ice cubes in it with me and giving her that if it's all she wants to drink.

We may or may not be able to serve you a glass of milk,may or may not be able to do a pint.

Tue we probably could-when we have 4 pint carton because we have about 30 people in for coffee/tea.

Wednesday-there maybe some left, .......or not.

The rest of the week we use dinky foil topped individual milk servings,which are far longer life.

So it maybe that the establishment you go to is the same/similar

You're not being unreasonable at all. It's a normal enough request for an autistic person to make and to be honest you'd have to be a bit of a rubbish person (manager level etc) to refuse the request. Restaurants and bars lose milk all the time to things like improper storage, spillages-- pouring a pint of milk once a year isn't going to bring their business to its knees, ffs

Surely it’s not that common for a child with autism to need a pint of milk . So rare in fact that why would it be a problem if you can’t put it through the till ? Just give it to them for free ?

And if it’s not possible then there should be no issue whatsoever for a parent to bring their own milk

I mean, you can take the piss, but that's how business works. You can't just sell X as Y and forget about it. It all has to tally up properly on the till and the stock system, otherwise it triggers a whole bunch of investigations and hassle.

If the till system doesn't match the stock in store, then it triggers stock take and if stock take is out by a certain amount, it triggers even more investigations. It's a right pain in the arse.

Computer says no

So for all who have a problem with supplying milk in this situation would you also have a problem with a family coming in and all
ordering food / drink but a child having a pint of milk from home ?

We quite often order DS a milk if there isn't proper fruit juice on the menu (apart from orange, which he doesn't like). The only times we've been told no is when they don't have any; even then we've had times when they say they don't have enough so will run out to buy some. I wonder also if it's because you ask for a pint, next time just ask for milk and order again when he's finished the first glass?

I work for a very large restaurant chain. We wouldn’t have milk available (no hot drinks sold), so wouldn’t physically be able to accommodate a request for milk.

Well that’s different, isn’t it? You physically don’t have it - therefore can’t refuse to sell it because of “the system” or rigid enforcement of a children’s menu age limit. It’s no different to saying “Sorry, we’ve run out of the lamb cutlets”.

They're quite happy to refuse to sell something that's not on the menu, just as they'd happily turn someone away for insisting on Pepsi when the restaurant only has Coke. It's not on the menu so they don't care if they can't offer it.

Again, if a restaurant only has Coke, not Pepsi, of course it can’t sell you Pepsi - it doesn’t have any to sell. This is very different to having milk but refusing to sell it, because you only usually use it as an ingredient. For your Coke/Pepsi scenario to make sense, it would have to be a case of saying “We have Pepsi for the Pepsi Floats on the children’s menu, but we can’t sell you an actual Pepsi.”

Pretty much. It's a shame but it's how many businesses work these days.