Charged for an empty plate?!

[sandwichh]

I recently went to a greene king pub for a carvery. After plating up my dinner, I asked for a plate for my 10 month old, not to take any extra food but to take it off my plate to give to him. They wanted to charge me for it! Never had this issue before, AIBU?

That's exactly what op was doing, feeding the baby a few mouthfuls from her own plate. But she wanted to put that food off her own plate onto a clean plate.

comment of the night !!!

because too many people have done the same but they lie and just fill up an extra plate for free

Everyone with a plate can. If you don't, you can't.

There's nothing to stop people supplying their entire family from an unlimited plate ...except they will all have to share off that one plate

That's the entire point. Pay per plate.

Totally different.

What you describe is the equivalent of asking for one dessert with two spoons. So a fixed amount of dessert, to be shared/sampled between two (though to be honest, I prefer not to share my dessert).

However, here with we have an unlimited buffet. That you then share with others, even asking for a plate, and that's qualitatively different. Even though it's 'just' a child who is the additional diner in this case

The thing is, when it’s a buffet cavery, you are in a sense paying for the plate to put the food on. Children’s portions get smaller plates.

If you have a separate plate for your baby, you may well be getting separate food for them. And the restaurant has no way of knowing that you’re not, as presumably you can go back up for more food like at most carveries?

Plus where do they draw the line?

You can see how they would soon be losing money if a lot of people cottoned on and asked for a separate plate for children to “share their food”.

The alternative is to do a “kids eat free” like at premier inn breakfast (or similar) but then the adult prices would go up.

It doesn't matter if I add extra food to my plate, there's no limit. If I was without the baby no one's going to tell me how much to put on my plate. I did end up feeding him from my plate which is fine, but it's easier with his own plate. It's really no different that you and your husband/wife sharing a sharer meal/dessert!

I recently went to a buffet breakfast at a lovely hotel £40 for adults (champagne breakfast type thing) £19 for children. I didn't pay for my 1 year old. She had a piece of toast and a yoghurt. They didn't try to charge me but now reading this I'm wondering if I'm a CF? I assumed I wouldn't pay for an under 2. I have 4 children. I paid for the older 3.

I wouldn't have expected to pay for the baby either tbh.

Makes a change though to the scenario of bringing in a mini picnic for the child in a cafe while an OP just eels out a coffee

Mind you I’ve also never been to a Greene King, just local independents. Perhaps someone who has eaten at Greene King can confirm if the sides are ‘all you can eat’ or single pass?

If she's giving food to someone else then obviously she's just putting the extra food on her own plate.

I don't know why on earth people seem to think their kids should be able to eat for free! It's YOUR job to pay to feed them, not Greene King's!

Didn’t they have a kids plate option you could have ordered him? At 10 months my DS could eat a most of a kids portion, he ate more than my 3 years old. Of course you need to pay for your child to eat, although I wouldn’t pay for an adult portion at that age.

Exactly - and that is a bit inconvenient and off putting - sharing a plate with your whole family. And would be embarrassing. So the business model relies on people not wanting to do this and/ or insists on paying for a plate per person (obviously they didn’t insist here as they were happy for the baby to eat off OP’s plate)

Don’t be so fucking ridiculous!!

It was a buffet style carvery so the OP helped herself, she would obviously have put extra food on her plate to account for the child !?!🤷‍♀️

At first I thought they were charging you for using dinnerware (I’ve seen that happen) but did they actually charge an extra full meal?

It does seem like overkill. I probably just wouldn’t go again.

But it is because he's eating and you are eating. Yes, it's only a small amount but I guess they have to draw a line somewhere. I think they'd be entitled to charge a small fee, but not the full cost.

Completely agree!

Probably a bit more leeway in their profit margins at this sort of place so don’t mind a bit of toast and a yoghurt.

But there is a limit, you are the limit. Otherwise 5 people could eat on one ticket. If you buy 1 dessert and share it that’s fine. But if you buy unlimited desserts for 1 person but share with multiple people then it’s not the same.
That said in any buffet situation I expect very small children to be free or very cheap.

A baby that has been eating solid food for 4 months is going to be squishing up a couple of carrots at best as their main food till one year is still milk.

I think your language is a bit out of order. It doesn’t take much to show a bit of common sense about things like this.

A carvery charges by the plate and they don’t have the staff to monitor it to make sure of who’s eating what. You could technically have gone up and got a full serving of meat with your extra plate without being noticed. That being said there’s usually an age under which they eat free or they have a toddler bowl. Did they only offer full adult servings?

The limit is supposed to be one person’s appetite - not one person plus a bit extra popped on for the baby.

Yes, it’s not wholly fair as a massive six foot guy is charged the same as one of the “teenie tiny appetite” mumsnet brigade but that’s the only way they have of limiting something like this.

But the baby would be there anyway, if she'd brought food from home - changing mat, nappy, dirty high chair and all! Anyway don't most people wipe their high chair and pick up after their baby?

You would hope so, but many don't.

Every carvery I have ever been to has been refillable. Meat is set amount, but you can go up as much as you like for the sides.