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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this lady in cafe was BU?

35 replies

BertieBotts · 30/10/2009 15:37

I was in a cafe yesterday and the cafe owner took great offence to (and even went and had a word with) three customers sharing a pot of tea for two.

I thought this was a bit mean. OK so the tea wasn't that expensive anyway but surely they would only be getting 2/3 of a cup each anyway, it's not like they magically got more by only paying for a pot of tea for 2.

OP posts:
MaggieOicheSamhain · 30/10/2009 15:39

I always do this!! took the children out in the rain today and we shared 2 muffins between three of us and they shared a bottle of orange ! i had two coffees though.

If cafe staff said anything i'd never go back!

Original poster
BertieBotts · 30/10/2009 15:41

That's what I thought Maggie - can't be very good for business to go harrassing the customers!

OP posts:
citronella · 30/10/2009 15:43

Well they are not about to come back again in a hurry now so he has just done himself a disservice. They are customers whether they had 1 cup of tea and 3 straws or 3 bottles of champagne. What ever happened to the customer is king attitude. Tsk, Tsk.

GhoulsAreLoud · 30/10/2009 15:52

He should serve it in mugs and not teapots if he's that bothered.

When I was poor young we used to ask for hot water to refill the teapot and sit there even longer.

mathanxiety · 30/10/2009 15:52

This is a case of penny wise, pound foolish if ever there was one.

troutpout · 30/10/2009 15:55

I do this all the time with the kids. The man is a fool

Original poster
BertieBotts · 30/10/2009 15:57

She was a woman, not a man (not that it matters, just wanted to correct that )

OP posts:
TheDevilEatsBabies · 30/10/2009 15:57

??? wtf?

why is it any of his business if they want to share??

as you said, it's not like they're getting more each because they're sharing it!

i could understand if it were an "all-you-can-eat" buffet, but a pot of tea???

TheDevilEatsBabies · 30/10/2009 15:58

she

hocuspontas · 30/10/2009 16:00

Sounds a bit old-fashioned. We used to buy three meals and ask for 2 extra plates and no one ever batted an eyelid.

The cafe owner probably didn't think. It's not like he was losing custom at that table. Another customer wouldn't have come in and sat at the same table and asked for a pot for one.

troutpout · 30/10/2009 16:01

The woman is a fool then

troutpout · 30/10/2009 16:02

'she hocus'

hocuspontas · 30/10/2009 16:05

she

Vivia · 30/10/2009 16:07

My partner, myself, and a friend went to an extremely posh and expensive restaurant last night. At pudding time, we ordered one dessert and three spoons. They quite happily gave us this despite a pudding being £10 where they could have made £30 out of us all having separate ones. It was a place where you might not feel comfortable doing that, but they didn't bat an eyelid. The woman in the cafe is ridiculously tight to find tea-sharing for three problematic - it was to be shared anyway!

cakeywakey · 30/10/2009 16:07

What a misery! Totally unreasonable.

Original poster
BertieBotts · 30/10/2009 16:24

The way she peered suspiciously out of the door at them and tutted was quite funny. In fact I didn't look round straight away and assumed that it was 3 teenagers sharing one bottle of beer or something and she was suspicious that the other two were underage. Then I asked what she was talking about and she said "Well, they had a pot of tea for two and asked for an extra cup, but the three of them are sharing it! Well, that's a pot of tea for three then, isn't it? It's just not on." I thought about pointing out that they would only have 2/3 of a cup each but decided to just put on my unhelpful-HV-advice face and agree with her.

I have no idea what she expected them to do with the extra cup!

OP posts:
Docbunches · 30/10/2009 16:31

I think it's exremely odd and unfriendly behaviour from the Cafe owner.

Some places positively encourage sharing - for example, when my DD recently went to Nando's with a friend, the waiter suggested they share a coke with two straws because they could be endlessly refilled thereby saving them money (which I thought was really sweet, obviously leaving aside any hygiene issues ).

Pikelit · 30/10/2009 16:33

Here's the theory -

It's the loss of the sale, not the loss of the dosh - 3 people equals tea x 3 @ whatever the cost of tea per person is. Plus that third person is occupying a seat that a paying customer could have sat in.

It's all very small minded and not how I'd like to run a cafe or the best way of attracting customers back but on the other hand, I have witnessed some people go to quite bizarre lengths to stretch out basic refreshments (I'm talking adults here) and it does leave you wondering why if they really can't afford a cup of tea, they've gone into the caff in the first place.

hercules1 · 30/10/2009 16:33

ACtually I am going to disagree. I think the customers were being unreasonable. They used a chair and cup of a possible paying customer. Very tight imo. THe cafe owner is entitled to make a living.

thrifty · 30/10/2009 16:36

actually I'm going to go against the grain and say its a bit cheeky. If they were sharing 2 cups, then fair enough, but the cafe owner then has to wash the extra cup. You wouldn't go into starbucks and order a extra tall latte then ask them to split it into small 2 cups,would you? you'd get charged for 2 small lattes not 1 tall one. so i dont see the difference really.

p.s. I biased though as i run cafe

pigletmania · 30/10/2009 16:36

Whats wrong with that! A bit tight but no crime.

hercules1 · 30/10/2009 16:37

Noone said it was a crime...

thrifty · 30/10/2009 16:38

lol, cross post hurcules.

i think sharing dessert after you have paid for a meal is entirely different however. as is sharing with children.

pigletmania · 30/10/2009 16:38

They paid for the tea its up to them what to do with it, that cafe owner is not doing his business any good at all.

thrifty · 30/10/2009 16:40

to be fair, the cafe owner should have just delined giving the extra cup, than moaned about it afterwards.

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