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?

Why are so many people not getting this?!

"All you can eat" is charged by the plate. So you pay for the plate, thats how it works. Dont want to pay for a plate? Dont ask for a plate, easy.

This sort of thing is why some places now charge by the seat rather than the plate. I am in the industry and its not unheard of for people to go to an all you can eat, pay for one plate and everyone on a table of five share it and keep going back for more and more food. I was gobsmacked but it happens!

If you want to share with your baby, call ahead and ask the best way to do that.

I'm astonished at how many people on a parenting website don't seem to appreciate the difference between a baby under a year old and an adult!

Would it be cheeky and embarrassing to stack up one plate high and then sit eating from that one plate with your husband, instead of paying for two meals? Of course it would.

Would it be embarrassing and awkward to put your husband over your shoulder, ask him in a sing-song voice if he has windy-woo-woos and burp him? Obviously.

Would it be weird to take your husband to the toilets and change his nappy? This is just getting silly now.

Many, many people at carveries pile their plates way up high. Some even have it down to a fine art - maybe taking several Yorkshire puddings to act as a perimeter barricade and vessels for extra food! Whether they eat it all or not, it makes no difference to the restaurant (well, if they leave a lot, that's extra waste for them to have to pay trade rates for). Taking only what you will actually eat yourself and what a baby will eat as well is going to be far, far less than many adults will take.

Unpopular viewpoint I’m sure but to me the noise and mess that young children make in pubs is really off putting, and I’d imagine it makes a lot more work for the staff!
Parents should appreciate that they’re not actually doing anyone a favour by dining out and as such they shouldn’t expect freebies!

I used to take ds a plastic bowl from home when we went to carveries & fill it from my own plate, never had a problem, he just had cauliflower cheese, mash, carrots & gravy with a tiny bit of shredded turkey.

Oh you dear sweet naive darling.

But thank you for being one of the tiny minority that do clear up after their kids.

I get their fair reasoning that every plate given out could be filled repeatedly with food; but what I don't get is the people on this thread who are calling it CF behaviour to add an extra spoonful of mash and a couple of carrots and a dozen peas for a baby - when many people take enormous amounts as a matter of course.

Most places nowadays don't let you return to refill a plate anyway, so I presume they must already have an eye on anybody trying to do so. I don't know about Greene King, but places near us usually give you a ticket once you've paid and then hand you a clean plate in return for the ticket at the actual carvery counter. Anybody turning up without a ticket or with their own plate (whether previously filled there or brought from home, like Alan Partridge!) would be turned away.

You’re missing the point, that’s the pricing structure, you pay per plate, hence why you can feed your baby any extra from your plate.
Are staff supposed to assume that the extra plate isn’t going to be piled high, and a non eating guest eats for free, are they supposed to monitor the OPs table?

Agree, How can anyone clean up after their baby, it’s not like the staff will lay out cleaning g products for you to do it yourself!
I didn’t eat out much with my girls when they were little, it was too difficult as they both have autism, but I would try and keep the mess to a minimal but I drew the line at scooping food of the floor and wiping down with our own wipes!

And that’s what OP should have done.

Not sure about Greene King, but most carveries nowadays don't allow return visits. They gatekeep the plates at the time of issuing them. It would be very obvious with one glance if somebody was piling it up, rather than taking a couple of tiny spoonfuls for a baby.

They could even insist that you have to put all of the food on to your own plate and only give you a second 'decanting' plate to take away with you empty.

It's all very well saying to just feed them from your own plate, but babies will often dislike or be sensitive to baby-friendly food - like mash, peas or carrots - being allowed to come into contact with sprouts, anything fatty like roast potatoes or sauces - especially horseradish!

She was taking her food off her plate to feed the child, she was paying for that food, is comprehension not your strong point?

This!

Why do you draw the line at scooping up food from the floor that YOUR kids put there?

Why do you think that I should do it and you shouldnt?

Tip for you......asking for a cloth and a brush and dustpan when your kids make a mess will get you a "Dont worry, we will sort it" reaction. Walking out and leaving a shit hole behind you will mean that the next time you come in (yes we will remember you) we wont bother helping you out with things that are not our job, you can struggle.

You get what you give.

For Christ's sake people - READ THE OP.

She wasn't going to take MORE food for the baby, she was going to give the baby a few bits OF HER OWN DINNER FROM HER OWN SODDING PLATE.

If she'd remembered to take one of the baby's own food bowls from home, nobody would have batted an eyelid if she'd then put some of her own meal in it and then fed the baby from that.

OP - I'm with you on this one.

The OP had no intention of filling up a plate for free ?
She was paying for a plate of her own food and asked for a clean plate to transfer some food to for baby, presumably to allow it cool down and mush it up so it’s more palatable for a baby to eat.

we do get it we know op said she wanted it fpr a baby-but they dont know do they - its proabably done all the time and their fed up of it

Haha! What a weird comment!
As I said I rarely went out as both my girls have autism so getting out of somewhere in one piece without a meltdown was a near impossibility! so most staff would prefer we get out as soon as possible rather than faff around cleaning up!
hmm 🤔 I don’t know who the hell you are and I have no expectations of what you do and don’t do, my comment wasn’t to you personally!!!🙄🤣🤣🤣

BUT She didn’t remember to bring a baby bowl from home and asked for another plate at a place that charges by the plate, perhaps YOU AND OP DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT?

Tip for you, don’t work in hospitality if you don’t like clearing up kids mess!

She was feeding him bits from her own plate. No extra food required.

The OP is quite clear. I don’t understand the confusion.

Maybe it varies from place to place, but there are those who do clear up after themselves and their families. Many don't, but some parents do.

In the case of my family, my late husband lost fine motor control after his stroke. I'd use a napkin to pick up anything that landed on the floor. Apart from anything else, leaving a mess bothered him.

As @PyongyangKipperbang suggests in one of her other posts, very often the waiting staff would say that they would take care of it and we'd always tip generously.

YANBU
a small charge is fine, a full extra meal type cost is ridiculous.

I really think the staff should be able to use their common sense when the extra plate is for a baby who’ll be taking a few bits from the parent’s plate.

Absolutely, and my comment was mostly hypothetical as it was so rare I went out with my kids!
i would tidy up after my kids as much as possible but what I wouldn’t do is delay leaving to clean up after them and risk a major meltdown!
I guarantee staff would rather I leave then hang around!

Why not?