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?

OP, you are coming across as so entitled.
Particularly as you "continued to plead in a soft voice"
The whining and pleading would have annoyed me too.
Of course they shouldn't give you free chips if your toddler kicks them off the table!

If I'd seen this happen and recognised that you'd just bought the chips from my counter, I might have offered to replace them for free if permitted. But I can easily believe that there was a policy not to do this and the frontline worker didn't have a choice, and once the manager was involved she wanted to uphold the rules and support her employee. So, very nice if they'd done it right off the bat, but not a strike against them that they didn't.

Soft voice sounds irrelevant; if they'd replace your chips they should also replace Fran Drescher's chips in the same circumstances. And of course you were being "nice" when asking for an extra accommodation.

I am actually embarrassed that you would even ask. How ridiculous. The staff didn’t spill the food therefore why would they replace them?

If you choose to give something to a toddler then you can’t make someone else responsible when it throws them everywhere.

Plus you have caused them more work, you didn’t say you cleaned up the mess your child made and even if you tried, they would still have had to mop the floor etc.

The manager had obviously had a lot of experience with entitled mothers

I don’t understand your mum friend’s logic about it being less than 5 mins. Everybody with a child who was fussy, changed their mind or played with their food instead would try and get freebies. Hospitality is really struggling and can’t go round giving away food.

How many chips do you get for a fiver? Chips at my local chippie costs less and you get a massive amount that would be suitable for a very hungry adult rather than a baby.

And ‘pleading’…. Please tell me you are joking. Where does it end? You should have cleaned it up, offered to mop and apologised, not try to blag free chips.

I bet the local cafes love it when you lot come in 🤣

yabu

What on earth 😳 I’ve worked in restaurants and hospitality all my life and never once ever given out free replacement food because the customer dropped it. Madness.

Oh god l am imagining a pretty please pathetic little voice, l wouldn't show myself up for a few chips.

Tbh I’d have just picked the chips up and let my kid eat them . Toddlers put everything in their mouths anyway and a bit of floor dirt will boost their immune system !

Chips at my local chippie costs less and you get a massive amount that would be suitable for a very hungry adult rather than a baby

A "standard" portion of chips at our local chippy is enough for me and DH and we still chuck some away.

Oh God - I promise I'm not one of those "teeny tiny" portion people!!

£5 for chips for a toddler. YABU for that alone. But also for being a CF and wanting a freebie.

Of course you are being unreasonable ffs! And cheeky as all hell! Your child knocked the chips off…you should have supervised more closely!

Your entitlement is astounding! And the ‘soft voice pleading’ is fucking embarrassing frankly!

Tbh if I witnessed this in the cafe I worked in I would have given more chips but only if the manager wasn't around

Sorry but YABU

Its not their fault your baby / child knocked over the chips.

You say you went to have your first serving of noodles - so basically you were eating your own food and not paying attention to the baby?

Perhaps better to keep your eyes on them til they’ve finished or at least mostly finished eating when that young - or give them their food bit by bit so they can’t knock it all over.

I’m not one of those portion people either and I’m the same. One standard portion is too much (and I eat a LOT)!

Personally I would because 99% of what you've paid for would be the service, cooking, overheads of renting the space, staff wages etc. And you'd ordered other food. The actual cost of the chips would be negligible.

Staff probably have to follow a policy though, so not surprised you were refused.

This they wouldn’t be “replaced” it’s a new order!

Tbh OP, if you act like this when things are your fault, you might be better off not taking your child out to eat - I don’t think the local cafes will be able to afford it.

That's why you don't put the whole portion of anything in front of a baby/toddler, tbf. I'm assuming a very young toddler as you use both toddler and baby to refer to them! In which case I'd have just given them 2 or 3 chips (that I'd cooled down a bit first) at a time. Apart from anything else that saves them all from getting mangled then left, so you get the leftovers 😁

If I’d been working I would have probably just given you the chips but I wouldn’t expect it.

What a weird way to twist it. Her post doesn’t suggest she wasn’t paying attention to her toddler at all. Toddlers move quick!

I think as it was a food kiosk it would be a smaller portion than chip shop chips.

I don’t want to sound all Mumsnetty but my toddler would have been furious if I was having ‘Thai cuisine’ and she was given some chips. Even five English pounds chips.

Why is a baby eating chips??!! Do they have Coca Cola in their bottle too?!