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.

It says in the op that its a minimum of 5 diners, and its an all you can eat concept, with the food being brought to the table. The two year old wasn't involved in this option, as she had a kids meal for 5 pounds. So there were 4 people having the meal, and so not eligible for the deal.

I know I am you’re not highlighting anything to me that I’m not already aware of 🙂

I’m aware I’m a snob. There’s worse things in life 🙂

If you’re investing this much time into a Mumsnet thread and drafting a “suitably toned review” over £30.00 then you obviously can’t afford to be dining out.

Business owners work very hard, long hours, and invest large amounts of their own money before they even see a profit, most start ups make losses in their first year. They don’t deserve to have their livelihoods tarnished by petty people who are living beyond their means.

But as per the OP, it doesn't state that everyone must be partaking in the all you can eat

OP, why not alert the daily mail and practise your very best tabloid face?

My OH & I often use vouchers or take advantage of offers when eating out & we arent poor, so why would you assume that the OP's OH "can't provide for her" just because they thought they might be able to save £30? You're making assumptions that her OH is the breadwinner, that the OP earns less than her or that OP is incapable of paying her way and also assume that they're broke, he has crap career prospects & is still crying about the not free meal, none of which have been confirmed in any way by the OP

It couldn't be clearer to me based on the deal as op explained it, or to most people on here it seems. I mean you could book for 5 people, and 4 of them could just order a cup of tea, would they expect to qualify for the deal then?

No, it states 5 people dining. That means eating

it states 5 people dining at all you can eat from what i can see. Not five randoms eating in the restaurant, it’s an all you can eat offer. So 5 diners on the all you can eat. And if they were having loads of customers brining their kids to the all you can eat, buying a kids meal and demanding free food, I’m sure they’d have changed the wording. And it’s clear the op isn’t going to link, as it will be obvious.

all the ones I’ve seen do state ‘must have X full paying adults in the party’.

if your restaurant only said ‘party must have 5 diners’ then I guess it’s contractually at fault.

common-sense wise, however, most people would never expect a £5 toddler meal to count toward the deal.

It doesn't state that though from the OP, but I would love to know the name of the restaurant so I can check it myself! If there's ever a special offer or voucher for a restaurant I always read the t&cs with a fine toothed comb and have a screenshot saved. This came in handy recently when Bella Italia had £1 pasta. The waiter was wrong on 2 counts: he said that we had to order a full priced main course to qualify, and that if I didn't spend the qhole amount of my gift card I wouldn't get any change. I pointed out his errors & he took it quite well 😊

I’m way too invested now! But this is one at a restaurant near us. Clear as can be, really.

Birthdays are not rare occurrences. And going for a meal to celebrate a birthday is a common occurrence. Therefore restaurants generally host birthdays regularly. So by your thinking, if the restaurant was to let this one slide in favour of OP since it’s a ‘rare occurrence’ for her birthday, every Tom, Dick and Harry would similarly be exploiting the restaurant’s generosity.

Fair enough you admitted you, like the OP, thought the deal would include kids. But you also would’ve found out, that you were wrong.

It’s the fact she didn’t just go, ‘oh oops, my bad’. She is arguing her case, blaming the restaurant for ruining the meal and her birthday, and will be badmouthing them on the internet (via her husband) AND wants a voucher out of it.

Because the silly man is spending his weekend time drafting a negative review because he had to pay £30.00 for food in a restaurant. Of course he’s broke, why would anybody comfortably off give it a second though.

It’s an assumption but not a far stretch.

Even if he’s not broke, he’s stingy. It was his wife’s birthday for god sake. Pay the £30.00 and shut up.

@fatphalange

Going out for birthdays is not a rare occurrence. It seemed to me that this particular birthday scenario as described in the OP (four adults and a toddler) might be a rare occurrence. Perhaps not as a rare as I thought.

Yes, I accept that I would have found out that I was mistaken. I also don't think that I would be as angry about it as the OP.

However, I think this proves my point that the fact that the restaurant did not specify that the offer was only for adults, means that genuine misunderstandings can happen as a result of this.

Therefore, the wording of such offers should be absolutely clear and precise.

@fatphalange

I agree that that is an overreaction and is where the OP is being unreasonable.

But she is not being unreasonable if she genuinely misunderstood. And I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that going forward, the restaurant should change their wording to make it clear that the offer is only for adults.

Well you'd be right, if it happened to be the exact same restaurant the OP went to. Ah, but this restaurant states a minimum of 6 people and at least 5 people paying full price. Apart from that, spot on!

How do you know he was paying? Maybe the friends were paying. You don't know and it's completely irrelevant. If anyone I knew was taking me out, whether it was my OH, or a friend etc, if they got a meal free I'd think great! They've saved some money!

We're going out as a family next week and have a 40% off voucher at a local restaurant. We wouldn't go there otherwise as it would cost around £25 per person for food but it doesn't make us cheapskates. I think good on you if you're able to save some money

I feel you’re deliberately missing my point. Its not about them trying to save money, It’s the fact that they’re going out their way to vindictively trying to tarnish the reputation of a small business because they didn’t get a freebie, as opposed to sucking it up and moving on.

No one cares about your vouchers, and they’re not relevant to the discussion.

Where I’m from it’s beyond crass and tacky for a man to kick off a stinking fuss because he had to pay for his own wife’s meal.

@Jtfrtj i suspect they are comfortably well off and it is the principle of it rather than anything else

Regardless of their financial situation it’s an embarrassing state of affairs all round. They’re classless.

Again, why do you assume that the OH was paying for it? And how do you know it's a small business? I don't know where you're from but it is obviously a very sexist place if you think everyone should keep their mouth shut for fear of looking "crass". And OPs oh didn't kick up a fuss. He merely pointed out their own t&cs

Ok 4 people just having a starter then, still 'dining' but not having the all you can eat. Most people with a modicum of common sense would understand that the offer is a free meal if you buy 4 other equivalent meals, the amount of people, or their ages is irrelevant. I dont think the op is unreasonable for being mistaken, but I think she is unreasonable for calling the restaurant 'underhand' and doubling down by posting a negative review with a view to getting a free voucher.