Ed's Easy Diner- Refused "Childrens Menu"

Penguin123

My daughter and I went to Ed's easy diner on Friday for tea .
She wanted a junior hotdog but we were refused as she is 11 and the waitress said the junior menu is for under 10's.

Daughter wanted to stay ( was ready to go elsewhere ) so we ordered an adult hot dog and she left about half of it as she was too full .

What a waste of food plus we won't be visiting again so Ed's have lost a customer.

It seems ridiculous to enforce a rule like this as you could visit one day and the child be 10 but on her 11th birthday the next day the child wouldn't be able to eat what she liked the day before.

We have been to other restaurants where the junior menu was for under 12's . Who decides when a child can eat adult meals!
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JReacher1

In fairness under 10s is 9 years and below so your daughter is 2 years out. They have to have a cut off at some point.

marliepanda

The restaurant decides.

It drives me and when people moan about cut off points. There has to be one cut off point. One day past the cut off is one day past. If you let people one day past off, then what about people 2 days past...

She was too old for their children's menu, so you can just choose to eat elsewhere. I wanted a child's meal in nandos and asked of they could 'scale it up' and I pay a adult meal price (they don't do chicken strips for adults I don't believe) and they wouldn't. I didn't moan.

Azari

Cut off points are fine when the service you are getting does not change for a child.

For example, a child still takes up one seat on passenger transport or in the cinema.

But when the service changes - such as a smaller portion size at a lower price, the restaurant is not only offering poor service but also doing themselves out of business because a lot of people do not want to order more food than they are going to eat.

Azari

JReacher1 wrote: »

In fairness under 10s is 9 years and below so your daughter is 2 years out. They have to have a cut off at some point.

Why?

I've ordered a child's portion when I haven't been very hungry and I'm well past any cut off age.

Presumably the cafes concerned have had the good sense to realise that only wanting a small meal is not just something that happens to little children and if they can make a profit selling a smaller portion rather than nothing at all, then it's sensible to do so.

You don't see Burger King telling people that they can't have a small coke just because they are over a certain age.

JReacher1

Azari wrote: »

Cut off points are fine when the service you are getting does not change for a child.

For example, a child still takes up one seat on passenger transport or in the cinema.

But when the service changes - such as a smaller portion size at a lower price, the restaurant is not only offering poor service but also doing themselves out of business because a lot of people do not want to order more food than they are going to eat.

They tend to make a loss or just break even on children's meals as they are cheap. They make money on the adult eating not the child. At some point a child has to switch to an adult meal and 11 seems a reasonable age.

JReacher1

Azari wrote: »

Why?

I've ordered a child's portion when I haven't been very hungry and I'm well past any cut off age.

Presumably the cafes concerned have had the good sense to realise that only wanting a small meal is not just something that happens to little children and if they can make a profit selling a smaller portion rather than nothing at all, then it's sensible to do so.

You don't see Burger King telling people that they can't have a small coke just because they are over a certain age.

I've noticed you always like bring other irrelevant companies into your posts. Nobody has mentioned BK, there is an obvious difference between a restaurant and somewhere like BK.

If you dine in restaurants from the kids menu then you must look very strange to the other diners. A lot of them come with crayons and something to colour in. Do you request that as well?

JReacher1

I've just looked at the menu and the difference in price between the kids dog and the adult dog is £1.35. It doesn't really seem like a deal breaker.

joansgirl

I remember a few years ago when my mum was still alive 6 family members went to a restaurant for a meal and they happily provided a childs meal for my mum who couldn't manage adult portions. And no, she didn't want the colouring books and pencils either.

Azari

JReacher1 wrote: »

They tend to make a loss or just break even on children's meals as they are cheap. They make money on the adult eating not the child. At some point a child has to switch to an adult meal and 11 seems a reasonable age.

If that is actually the case, then, yes, that's a fair point.

But in this (and other) cases, they are offering a small portion for less money. What has age got to do with how hungry someone is?

They'll make a good deal less money if the person in question decides they'll just have a coke. (Which people do - or, in some instances, just have starter.)

Of course, as with so many of the problems we see here, this comes down as much to signage as anything.

If you are going to restrict a service to someone based on their age, as opposed to whether or not they are a 'junior', why the f**k not say what you mean, rather than display a headline offer that is not actually available because of some arbitrary qualifying decision you have made but is not known until the waitress informs the soon th be !!!!ed off customer.

"Special menu available for under 10's" - Everyone is clear from the outset.

"Special junior menu" - Guaranteed conflict when the cafe's definition of 'junior' conflicts with the customer's.

Azari

JReacher1 wrote: »

I've just looked at the menu and the difference in price between the kids dog and the adult dog is £1.35. It doesn't really seem like a deal breaker.

The OP seemed much more concerned about the waste of food than the cost - as I would have been.

And if it's not a deal breaker for the customer, why should it be the cafe?

When I'm running a business if I can take one course that is not a deal breaker and keep my customers happy that's exactly what I do. Doing anything else is pretty stupid business.