At the same time, if they are making such a big deal then as a parent I'd consider going to McD's instead. As someone said above, they don't bat an eye if you order a child's meal no matter your age. They usually have a play area for kids too.
Would screw up the inventory control system as well Much more important than keeping the customer happy.
I know of restaurants where an adult can freely say they want the "child portion/menu", if they are not hungry for a full meal.
Goes without any quarrels.
Edit: Not McD
Doubt this logic very much.
4 nuggets and a mini portion of fries might be true worth 5 CHF, including oil and batter et al. - and I am sure they are priced at at least 10-12.
(And no, I am not counting the "employee's preparation time effort" of throwing the two into a frier box)
Or get your cover blown publicly when they exclaim, I'm not 5 I'm 6
Issue 1: ‘I already have too much money and I don’t want yours’
The first one is restaurants (and other businesses) in Switzerland (of all types) generally not being customer friendly in general and not being kid friendly specifically. [Side note – I am going to make a general complaint about Switzerland which is something that I generally try to avoid. As a rule, I am pretty positive about living in Switzerland and I don’t like to complain]. But, I notice a whole lot that restaurants (in general – there are, of course, tons of exceptions) aren’t as customer friendly as they are in other countries... These are the kind of things that I seem to observe:
- You come to a restaurant and there are a lot of empty tables outside. You sit outside and someone comes and tells you that you can’t sit there. It isn’t open or whatever.
- You come to a restaurant with kids or strollers and ask where to put them. You aren’t given a helpful answer.
- You have a specific dietary need or other question and the response makes it feel like you are the problem.
I call this the ‘I already have too much money and I don’t want yours’ situation that seems to happen in Switzerland more than other places. You come to a business. You have some money in your pocket (or account). You want to give the money to the business owner and they don’t seem to want it. (i.e., you can’t sit outside, they don’t have place for your stroller, they aren’t interest in accommodating whatever your not-so-complicated-special request is). By the way, this also happens when you talk to a repairman or handwerker or whatever. They begin by telling you how complicated your request is and what a problem it is . I always feel like... 'if my business is such a problem for you, I’ll hire someone else'. Naturally, there is a ton of artificial friendliness in the states, but often when I come to, say a restaurant, in the states with my kids, the response is... ‘super – they want to buy my food, I want to sell my food, I am glad they are here.’ Which I miss here.
And here, I think a lot of the comments are missing the main point of the original complaint from Diego Knyte. DK said that because his kid was too old, he wasn’t able to buy nuggets/fries at all – irrespective of the price! This is exactly the issue I mentioned. DK had some money, he wanted the product from the restaurant and was prepared to pay it – even prepared to pay more than the kid menu price. The restaurant effectively said ‘I have chicken nuggets and fries / I know you want them / I know you’ll pay for them / you can’t have them!!!. This is crazy for a business and I feel like I run into it all the time.
Issue 2: People who abuse kids discounts...
Come one people. Don’t abuse these restaurant or whatever discounts by lying or whatever you are doing. It just makes things harder for the rest of us. It is clear that a restaurant has to have some kind of control mechanism or whatever or else people will constantly cheat. Also, it is completely understandable that restaurants charge less for kids to encourage families to come. This is ok if they want to do their business this way.
Told my wife about the thread. She's shaking her head how many people have been responding of something so yesterday. Good times!
Thought I'd respond to a few comments/questions...
-----
nickatbasel : Did they have nuggets on the adult menu?
DK: Nope. She wanted to iterate that she even asked them if they could make an adult portion, in essence made it a double kids meal, if they didn't offer it on the menu AND was more than happy to pay for it. NOPE. That item was ONLY for kids 9 and under. Didn't ask if a 1 month old could order it tho. heh
-----
Chuff: If they break the rule for you do then then need to break it for every 10 year old who comes in? Usually in the menu it says the specific age that kids can get a childs meal up to, so if it clearly stated that it was 9 then what right do you have to get arsey with the restaurant if they choose to enforce it? If no maximum age was stated then it would indeed be confusing.
DK: Not getting arsey. Just found it really odd and seems like maybe they were. Hence the title, 'mini-rant' not something r/entitledparent worthy.
-----
Samaire13 : The age restriction and its enforcement I find okay.
What baffles me is that they couldn't just throw 2 extra nuggets and 5 extra fries on a plate and charge a couple bucks more (assuming you wouldn't have cared about the price). Clearly both items were available, so what's the big deal?
DK: Yes, what's the big deal is the question.
YuropFlyer: Alternatively asked... do you argue with SBB ticket checkers why your 6 year old kid suddenly needs a (half fare) Ticket while it didn’t needed one till recently?
DK: No. Like a previous response I made about a Cinema analogy. Not the same. The SBB ticket destination is a specified product/service. That price is definitely age regulated and doesn't pertain to this instance. Thanks for clarifying.
------
jazh: ...And here, I think a lot of the comments are missing the main point of the original complaint from Diego Knyte. DK said that because his kid was too old, he wasn’t able to buy nuggets/fries at all – irrespective of the price! This is exactly the issue I mentioned. DK had some money, he wanted the product from the restaurant and was prepared to pay it – even prepared to pay more than the kid menu price. The restaurant effectively said ‘I have chicken nuggets and fries / I know you want them / I know you’ll pay for them / you can’t have them!!!. This is crazy for a business and I feel like I run into it all the time.
DK: Thank you! She (my wife) wanted to pay more so my daughter could get her treat. NOPE. This was the first time I've encountered this here. We've actually had other restaurants accommodate us here in Chur on multiple occasions with my sometimes-pickey-eating daughter.
------
Tom1234 : Yes, big childrens' big nuggets - otherwise know as schnitzel.
DK: Hah, that's what she ended up getting.
---
Anyway, thanks guys for your feedback. Not really much to do about it except either lie about her age (not going to happen), eat something else or eat somewhere else. I won't argue but I agree chicken nuggets are not the healthiest but are damn yummy sometimes.
til next time, ciao!
First things first: Migros restaurants have chicken nuggets for all ages. You won't pay the kid's cheaper price if the child is older, but you can have them at any age for a little higher price. Might be worth looking for a Migros Restaurant instead next time.
If the next time you go to the coop restaurant and they refuse to give the kid's menu, you can try to talk them into paying buffet price on the weight. Since the buffet is over priced anyway, it might qualm their profit oriented minds. And your kid will be happy. And you won't be breaking any rules.