Birthday dinner ruined - restaurant refused eat free offer!

[Heatherstory]

NC’d for this.

Birthday meal out at a local restaurant - they do an offer where the birthday person eats free as long as 1. It’s their actual birthday date and ID is provided to confirm and 2. There’s a minimum party size of 5.

It’s an all you can eat concept where food is brought to the table rather than you go and get it, a great deal as the food is lovely and the offer saves £30.

When we asked for the bill, we mentioned it was my birthday and I said I’d get my ID out of my bag. Someone came over (not the person we asked for the bill) and explained we were not eligible for the offer as only 4 of us had the all you can eat. My 2 year old DD was with us and obviously had a small meal (which we were to pay for).

My DH asked to speak to the manager - the person who came over said that he is the manager and refused to budge. We reluctantly paid.

We’ve checked the offer wording and it’s clearly stated it’s based on 5 dining (doesn’t specify it has to be the all you can eat) which we fulfilled.

It really soured the evening and we will not be returning which is a real shame as it’s a lovely restaurant, but they have been so underhand with this.

He’ll make himself look an idiot then. It’s obvious that to get the birthday person (5th person free) on the £30 all you can eat deal, you have to have five people booked for that AYCE. A 2yo would only count if they were one of the five diners on the AYCE.

So if you took four kids, and it was your birthday, would you expect to pay £20 for the five of you?

You totally missing the point of what you were being asked! It's the financial aspect people are trying to get through to you! They are pointing out to you that 4 toddlers would only cost £20 to feed so would you expect to get £30 off in that scenario,? It's to help you understand why a toddler meal that costs so little can't be valid for an offer!!

Are you really willing to try and damage someones's business for £30, or is it just you can't cope with not getting your own way.

God I sincerely hope you don't. You're clearly delighted with the drama, looking for trouble. Kids are never counted towards actual dining numbers, most people know this. YABU!!!

@justnottinghill
Ahh so you're also one of those entitled twats as well.

Saying local businesses 'deserve to fail' is really shitty

Yep, well aware of Ts & Cs and also how expensive they are to create rock solid ones so CFers like you and OP don't exploit them.
I also know the wafer thin margins the hospitality industry work on and if they have any spare time it should be spent on health & safety, food hygiene and customer service

So well done - you have 'won'
It doesn't stop the vast majority of us thinking you are utter dickheads

From the restaurant point of view I would be frustrated that you only mentioned the offer at the bill stage and not when you booked or were seated.

From your point of view you are frustrated but surely £30 didn't ruin your birthday - don't let it be the one thing you remember about the day. In your deathbed don't be saying "and I still think that meal in 2025 should have been £30 cheaper"

I find it really hard to believe that out of 4 adults no one said “are we sure this deal applies as DC will only be having the kids menu?” And that’s reinforced by the fact that you didn’t mention you were there for the deal until after the meal. Most people say something at the beginning of the meal.

It all sounds like you set this up once you realised the venue had failed to say in their T and C that it only applies to adult meals. That’s really quite unpleasant

This is why you should always read the negative reviews of places.
Someone whining that
“they didn’t count my toddler as a diner and give me a free meal ( no shit Sherlock!)”
would not affect my likelihood to use a restaurant where the food and service were otherwise good.
Not going there again could be referred to “cutting off your nose to spite your face” but it’s a free country!

They deserve to fail? For what? Not having a loophole that allows two adults to take 3 little kids in and get all the kids meals free and £15 off the two adult meals?! You can't see how unsustainable that would be? People can't run businesses where most of your food is given free! Don't be so greedy and hateful at time where our country is already in mess!

OP you're being ridiculous. Obviously a £5 kids meal wouldn't count in the minimum of 5 offer. If it's not in their small print, it'll be because they assumed customers have common sense. They'll need to amend the wording.....

You are being unreasonable firstly that you thought a child’s meal would count without checking and then secondly letting it ruin the meal.

You sound like someone I work with that’s equally as grabby as you.
im sure its in their Ts&Cs that they can withdraw this offer at any time.
you didn’t get it- move on and don’t go there again, no need to write a bad review… you’ve told Mumsnet about it, that’s more than enough.
happy birthday btw.

Pathetic

ffs please dont, just move on from this

I often read one star reviews of places and products and in many cases all It does it does is show the reviewer up in a bad light.

If the review is posted I hope the restaurant replies appropriately to show up how stupid the OP looks.

Ooo a strongly worded letter. That’ll learn em!

OP you’re not being honest with yourself. You knew full well that your toddler wasn’t what the restaurant meant when they said “party of 5.” They didn’t word it perfectly but the spirit of the deal is obvious: 5 paying all-you-can-eat adults. You tried to game it and then acted outraged when they pushed back. That’s not underhand from them, that’s you pushing your luck. Own the fact you misjudged it instead of dressing it up as some moral failing on their part. It reads petty, mean and entitled.

Sorry agree with everything that's been said.

1. If you are going to complain, why does it have to be DH and not you? If you are that reliant on him why didn't you ask him to check the offer before booking.

1. Agree that you should have mentioned on arrival it's your birthday and you wanted the deal. What would you have done if they had then told you it's only if you have 5 people eating the buffet (which would make absolute sense). Would you then have walked out?

I think you just need to reframe it. You made a mistake but went to a restaurant where the food is lovely. A discount would have been nice, but it would have been a bonus.
I don't know why you have let it ruin your birthday.

You are being very unreasonable and if you look at the yabu/yanbu poll you’d be even more unreasonable to leave a bad review.

The restaurant was in the wrong and normally would stipulate T&Cs. But I would have assumed a toddler wouldn’t have counted in the first place.

If the restaurant genuinely does not state the t&cs of the offer, no small print etc then a) I’d be surprised as businesses are usually good at ass covering and b) they could have offered you the child’s meal for free as a token “sorry you misunderstood” gesture.

But yeah, the reason there is a minimum of 5 diners is so that they can cover their costs. One of those diners being a 2 year old paying £5 will not, so I am not surprised atall they don’t count children for the offer.

I agree that common sense might say that a toddler wouldn’t be included, but that’s not how voucher T&Cs are normally written. They’re normally written to be absolutely crystal clear, to avoid situations like this one.

Is there really no small print on the back of the voucher that says it?

If there isn’t, then I don’t think you’re unreasonable to find that a bit annoying.

I would have checked we qualify before eating not at the point of paying the bill. If you like the food there don’t cut off your nose to spite your face by refusing to go back.

I think the restaurant could’ve been clearer that children’s meals are not included. But I also think that when they explained it’s 5 adults, it could’ve been left there and certainly shouldn’t have ‘ruined’ the evening. The economic logic is there eg for a family of 5 with 2 kids, you’d still be expecting a free meal? You seem very determined to have your way and benefit from what you see as a loophole. Maybe that’s something to reflect on.