Would you give me the replacement chips?

[Houseofdrums]

Im with a group of mum friends at a food court. We all go off to different kiosks. Order our food. We find an available table.

I order from a Thai cuisine, a noodle dish and some chips for the little one.

I pick up the food, put toddler in highchair, put the chips infront of her. I’m about to take my first serving of noodles and baby kicks the chips all over the floor.

The chips cost £5. One of the mums says that it’s been less than 5 mins and they didn’t touch the chips, I should be able to ask for a replacement.

So I go to the kiosk, politely explain that I was just here and the baby annoyingly dropped all the chips. I show them the picture (we are sitting on the other end of the food court).

They say no. But I plead a little bit - I do have a soft voice so I’m being nice. Then they go on and on about how every mum will be asking for freebies. I should pay for another one. And I should go to another one of their stores who would provide me free chips.

Turns out she was also the manager.

I worked in waitressing many years ago, and honestly, we would have just given a portion of chips. Id be hesitant if it was the whole meal - but a couple of chips for a baby?

Was I being unreasonable?

Probably more through luck than design, if you’d feed them off the floor in a public arena.

Oh yeah, so many fatalities from eating food that touched a floor!

I cannot believe a whole day later the OP is still chuntering on about these bloody chips. Your kid dropped them - why should the cafe replace them?

Why is a baby having fast food?

If you bought a vase and dropped it on the floor outside the shop would you expect a free replacement? Same principle. YABU and entitled

Is the five minute rule for buying food like the five second rule when you drop something?!

She isnt a baby, she is two and a few chips to keep her going until home is hardly setting her up for a lifetime of health issues, especially considering what she ate when they got home....ffs.

Food police alert 🙄. She chose to buy her 2 year old child (hardly a baby) some chips that's obviously why

YABU but people feel entitled to this sort of thing all the time at work...spilled my drink, can you clean it up and get us another....kid dropped the burger, can we have a replacement....kid didn't like food can we have X instead....

Then act appalled at the very idea of PAYING for these things!

And if you ask and don't get, you complain? Funny that you didn't say in your op that they were rude. Sounds to me like you did more than ask... and at no point have you acknowledged that you shouldn't have given your baby the entire portion.

Like fuck am I going anywhere that charges £5 for chips in the first place.

But YABU

Wow how embarrassing for you! Including ordering chips for a baby in the first place 😕 grim.
perhaps they were trying to tell you they wanted real food like yours?

Blimey,a great example of Entitlement. You dropped the 🍟 chips,well your child did so of course you should pay. How embarrassing for you to go up and ask 🤦‍♀️🙄.

Nope.

Cheeky to ask but if I worked in a food establishment and I'd witnessed the incident, I'd probably have given you another.

Im in a different country and at this age a child wouldn’t have chips so thanks for clarifying

Baby? Your child is not a baby if you are feeding them chips. I also can’t understand how your toddler is in a high chair but could kick chips off the tray. You are being very unreasonable - if the food was dropped then you would need to replace it. Why should the restaurant cover the extra cost? It wasn’t their fault/responsibility.

I’m literally astonished anyone would have the cheek to ask for a replacement but to then send an email complaining is diabolical I would have apologised for the mess, cleared it up and chalked it up to experience that you don’t leave food in your baby’s reach, the email complaining is another level

People are such tight arses. I don’t suppose independent catering kiosks have a ‘clumsy baby insurance’ they can fall back on. In a restaurant they may have offered to replace to be nice, but no chance in a market setting.

I must try this next time I’m at miller & carter ‘ I accidentally drop a piece of steak on the floor; hopefully they’ll replace my steak for me & I can have another juicy steak for free

It's not their fault your baby dropped the chips, it would have been a nice goodwill gesture but shouldn't be expected. Next time only put a few on the highchair at a time to save losing all the food.

I'm cringing on your behalf for even asking, how flipping embarrassing.

Wow the comments on this post 😂 MN love being high and mighty even calling OP out for complaining. If I go out for food and the staff are rude or give poor customer service then I too complain. Yes they didn’t have to give free chips but they also didn’t have to be rude. Personally I couldn’t give a shit if I worked for a large chain refusing to give some bloody chips to a toddler. We all know it would happen very infrequently and they probably threw loads away at the end of the day like all chain restaurants, never in a million years would they have seen a drop in profit that day. The main point is the woman was rude to OP so complaint was justfied

I’ve had this situation many times with my little with them spilling or dropping a brand new meal/ snack. It’s so inconvenient, I have had lots of replacements but I’ve never explicitly asked. I usually either have been spotted by waitresses cleaning up the fall out, and given replacement, or I will go to the till and say sorry I need to reorder XYZ again as my toddler/ baby just dropped them everywhere. A few times they have just taken the order and charged me (which is of course completely fair also) but most times they have kindly replaced for free. I’m not very outspoken in such situations so maybe that’s the difference, but I don’t think there’s too much harm asking but you shouldn’t expect it as a given x

I thought this was satire, then saw you’ve replied and further complained and received a refund.
I wouldn’t have had the neck in the first place to even ask. Things happen. I feel sorry for the counter assistant.
How embarrassing.