RHU DISCUSSION: Custys With Ridiculous Requests
Hello first time poster-long time reader ( yada, yada, yada).
I have a WTF moment and in turn question for all of you.
First let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a mother and wife- first and foremost-, a state provided day-care provider, a waitress, and a part-time security guard.
I can't stand to sit still and I love to talk (read: shove my weight/ideas around occasionally).
I was at job #2 a week or so ago when a family of three came in to have a nice, quiet, sit-down meal at my restaurant.
They ordered two dinners for the parents and one 'small appetite' breakfast for the child, and were very courteous during and after the meal.
What's the problem you ask?
Well, "The food was 'wonderful' but, our daughter didn't eat all of her mea l- is there any way you can take it off the bill?"
I stammer/manage to get out that since she ate half of it and since there wasn't anything wrong with the food-or service- I couldn't refund the meal price. (It was 3.95 BTW)
At that moment the mother proceeds to tell me that "She does this every time we go out to eat. She says she's hungry but will only eat half of it! She's just wasteful!"
My question is to any of you servers of the Satan's spawns (adult or child):
Have you EVER been asked something this ludicrous?
I'm not sure of a name yet---but since I have three jobs-all in completely different fields and am somewhat (ha ha) of a smart-ass:
--Triple Threat Tart????
Posted by Freddy on Friday, October 29, 2010 | Permalink
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Comments (23)
OMG, I am so going to try that next time my wee man decides to eat about 3 bites of the dinner I order for him. Or you know I could just ask them to box up the leftovers and feed them to the little stinker for lunch the next day. Pretty simple way to avoid waste.
There are some places where he eats for free like the Chinese buffet and there's one server at out favorite Indian that always brings him a free bowl of mango but that's their choice and I always tip generously in that case, $4 on the $6.50 tab at the buffet for the two of us for example. If I'm actually ordering a meal for him then I expect to be charged for it.
Posted by: N/A | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 05:17 AM
I agree with N/A. Box up the food. My parents would do that when I was little if there was extra food. Heck, we still box it up and voila, I had lunch/dinner for work the next day. The kid at least ate the food.
Posted by: KitKat | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 05:28 AM
I'd box it up. The expectation is that when you order a meal, you pay for it,and it's yours. It sucks when a child won't eat all their food, but they're children, and they do that. The novelty of an environment that isn't home can be so distracting they won't eat everything. My kids will usually tuck in after we get home or have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner the next day.
Posted by: Charissa | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 06:54 AM
Wouldn't it be great if we all could just return whatever leftover portions of anything we don't use!
Posted by: Enna | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 07:02 AM
Iagree with above posters...I would just ask to have it boxed up...proportions are so big at a lot of places it's almost a nessesity...I actually enjoy having leftovers from restaurants, it's like getting two meals for the price of one!
Posted by: Spritzy | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 07:04 AM
wtf, she never heard of a doggie bag?
My son loves pancakes and eggs at the diner, so we purposely get him the adult size breakfast. He'll only eat half a pancake, pus a bit of egg and some toast. So we box it all up, and he's got diner breakfast for the week! Even the kid size breakfast he can't finish, we get everything to go. sheesh.
Posted by: me | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 07:50 AM
Those parents are called: "cheap"
I never finished a meal as a child and we always got a "doggie bag" to take it home. It would then end up being lunch/dinner the next day.
Pay for what you order; if you don't finish it, take it home. Pure and simple.
Posted by: Bitch Boy | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 08:51 AM
Those parents are cheap and stupid! And besides, doggie bags can be the best part of the meal, particularly if it was really good and you can look forward to having it for a meal the next day. That's probably my favorite part about eating out.
Posted by: Token Female | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 09:03 AM
I wonder that myself: what's wrong with just asking for a bag? And why does the mother feel compelled to complain about how her daughter eats in front of a stranger?
Posted by: Psyche | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 09:15 AM
While I think that the size of kids meals at most places in the United States is idiotic (the same size or greater than an adult portion in most countries in the world), I do believe you pay for what you order.
They can box it.
The kid though, kudos to her for only eating what is satisfying instead of force-feeding herself.
Now provided she avoids getting fat phobic to the point of an eating disorder in the future, she's right on track for being a healthy eater.
Posted by: RT | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 10:26 AM
HOLEEEEE COW! I once made a joke at the in-laws (now out-laws) about a left-over steak from dinner going to the dogs and got the look of death.
Doggie bag it. Plain and simple. They ordered a small meal, the child ate small, there's nothing more you can do. Left-over's are left over and eaten the next day. A reminder of a great meal. Those parents wanted free. Unless there was a problem with the food and they all went home sick, they still needed to pay for what they ordered and ate, not for what they left on their plate.
Posted by: Humor_Me | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 11:11 AM
Were they foreign by any chance? Some cultures just don't do doggy bags. I know my mother is mortified by the idea. She will occasionally get one for her leftovers if I bug her about it when I'm there but she takes the term doggy bag literally and she gives them to her dogs. Not that that explains why they would ask for it for free but it might explain why they didn't think of getting a doggy bag.
Posted by: N/A | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Wow, way to be cheap and assholes.
They should have just boxed it up like the above posters said.
Glad you kept your cool, I wouldn't have xD
Posted by: Burger Bitch | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:26 PM
I can see not asking for a "doggie bag" (I just call it a box) because of cultural reasons, but in that case have they never heard of an extra plate? Take a little of your food and give it to the child that under eats so that way you aren't paying for something they aren't eating, and the parent is probably eating closer to the right amount of food.
Sheesh, asking for the food for free. She even admits that her kid does it all the time! What next, asking for a refund from the electric company because your fridge wasn't full of food, so it wasted electricity keeping air cold?
Posted by: righteothen | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 01:23 PM
Almost every time my family eats out we get the leftovers boxed up. Nine times out of ten the food will be eaten in a day or two, every now and then it will get forgotten in the fridge, go bad and get thrown out. When my son was younger, he couldn't finish the kids portion of his food, so we just took it home. I never even thought to ask if I could get his food for free because he didn't finish it. Gotta wonder if she does this "every time" they go out to eat and her daughter doesn't finish her food?
Posted by: NC Tony | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 02:15 PM
But leftovers are the best part of eating out!
Posted by: WMDKitty | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 02:50 PM
An alternative to the dogg bag; why not eat the kid's leftovers herself? we've done that before, when the kids leave part of their meals and we're still hungry...
Posted by: Tanz | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 03:59 PM
3 out of 5 of my family eat quite a bit whereas my mother eats maybe a quarter to half an adult plate (she grazes throughout the day rather than three separate meals) so myself, brother in law and dad eat the rest of her meal. So we get a meal and a bit rather than a meal and sugar and cream. Slightly healthier.
Posted by: TechDeath | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 06:42 PM
When I was with my family one time we ordered a few desserts and then couldn't finish them. When we asked the waiter for a doggy bag he looked as us blankly and was like "...a what?". My dad spent ages trying to explain what they are until my mum finally went "a box. To take home the food." I don't think he really understood..
Posted by: Jess | Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 04:16 AM
I wish I could get a refund on left over soap and carrots that go squishy.
Posted by: Pagemaster | Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 07:04 AM
Tell her she should just send it to the starving children in Africa. Tell her, if she boxes it up and addresses it to a valid address, you'll mail it. See what she says.
Posted by: Luka | Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 06:02 PM
N/A: They weren't foreign-just the run of the mill locals *sigh*
I did offer them a box but they refused.
RT: Also, the small appetite meals are just that- for small appetites. It was 3 small pancakes and 1 scrambled egg. Something a 5 year old-let alone a 10 year old(which is around the age I'm guessing she was)- could have eaten.
Posted by: Triple Threat Tart | Sunday, October 31, 2010 at 10:43 AM
CUSTY: Can we drive to London from here?
ME: No, I'm sorry.
CUSTY: Why not? We'd like to visit the museums.
ME: Well, because it's in England. This is Northern Ireland.
CUSTY: Well, we have passports with us.
ME: ....great, you got an amphibious car?
CUSTY: No, don't be stupid.
(because it's me being stupid here.)
ME: Well, I'm sorry but unless you take a ferry, you won't be able to drive there, and it would probably be cheaper to just get a cheap flight.
CUSTY: What do you mean a ferry? We're in the United Kingdom! Isn't London in the United Kingdom?
ME: ...Yes, but the Irish Sea is in the way.
CUSTY: Don't lie to me! I know this is an island! There's no seas in the United Kingdom!
Posted by: Mistress Macha | Monday, November 01, 2010 at 07:27 AM