How would you have handled it?

Tonight a couple of ladies came in to eat (not really regulars, but come in occasionally) with their kids. They ordered in and asked for two to go orders to be ready when they were ready to leave.

Our store is in an old gas station so we have some related items around. One is an old quart oil bottle with the metal spout. You would measure the oil into the bottle, then dispense the oil through the spout. My wife thought that would be neat if she filled it with M&Ms and made them available to our guest. If you can find these they are somewhere in the neighborhood of $60.00.

Tonight two of the ladies kids used it as a tug of war vessel and broke it. Both mothers were at their table and not supervising their kids. The take out order had been made but not given to them.

How would you have handled it?

Tough one.
It's not your job to babysit except it's your place so you have to.
If this happened before you had a chance to notice these roughhousers
the mother's should have offered to pay for it.I don't know
Other than that I am looking forward to what others think.

I was in the kitchen being the cook for the night.

Than who was watching the room ? I just have a scenario in my mind of the responsibe party's offering to pay and the shop owner declining. Like a price of doing business/public relations type thing. Personally if they didn't I would say this cost me $60 and I don't know if I can even replace it. And see what they say. This is one for the experienced store owners.

I had a cashier that was close, but she had a line of customers she was waiting on. She said one grabbed it and then it only took a couple of seconds.

We need help on this from other business owners.

I'm the second generation, bought a 40 year old business from my dad. All you can do is say nothing and look for a new watchit on ebay.

I'm posting twice as this is how strongly I feel about this subject, the subject of speaking up. It never never never ever ever pays to open your mouth. You'll never regret not saying something.

As much as I hate to keep my mouth shut in a situation like this, I have to agree with Theedge. It will do nothing but cost you much more than the object is worth that they broke, to say what you would like to say about controling children.

This is a job for Dr. Smoke.

Let 'em go. Shrug. Forget it. Life is cruel. Next?
The Bear

quote:

Originally posted by saps

This is a job for Dr. Smoke.

Personally, If I was the cashier, I would have got you, and had you come out to critique the situation.
Then, depending on the customer, and if they were regulars, they should have said something to you.
Otherwise, just chalk it up to shame on me, shame on you..
Get rid of the things kids can break. Most parents let their kids run wild, and the less things for them to play with and break, the better.
I know you like to have nice things in your place, but you must consider the risk factor.
I have noticed that most parents dont give a damn what their kids are doing as long as they arent bothering them while they are eating, and turn their backs to let them do as they please.
I like kids, but parents really need to watch their children, and like the sign says:
You break it, you buy it!

Post a sign as a CYA for the next possible incident!
A good warning maybe just as effective.
Cut your losses, but CYA for the next parent that lets their kids use your restaurant as a playground.
(not to offend parents here, but...... do you let them do that at home with your china and crystal???)who picks up the mess at home when they throw food on the floor??????????? a waitress??????

How did the ladies respond? Did they offer to help clean up or pay for the damage?

quote:

Originally posted by kland01s

How did the ladies respond? Did they offer to help clean up or pay for the damage?

I'm not ready to tell what I did just yet, but will after I get some more responses.

I will tell you both ladies never moved. Never offered anything, and both were about 15 feet away from where it happened and knew what had happened.

The icon at the top of the post with the pencil is the edit button.

If I was the mother, and had seen this thing, I would have immediately approached the manager / owner and apologized and offered to pay, and then taught the kids a lesson at home by taking it out of their allowance until it was paid off.

Andrea

The same person who lets his or her kids run rampant just very well may be the idiot who passes you on the right, doesn't say thank you when served, doesn't clean up after themselves in a fast food restaurant, mocks anything that smacks of goodwill and respects only money. Etc, Etc., Etc.

Someone cuts you off on the highway. You exclaim indignance. Their answer? "Get over it!"

Indeed, what we have is a courtesy problem in this country. People have forgotten that doing good for the sake of doing good is what it's all about.

My favorite joke about this was told by Jay Leno. He bought something in a supermarket, got his change, but didn't yet leave. The cashier said, "Yes?"

"How 'bout a Thank You?" asks Leno

"Oh, it's on the receipt," answered the cashier.
The Bear

Frusterating indeed, I went to a bakery in South Norwalk CT and the place has a somewhat small seating area so we only had room at these stools so we placed our lunch at the table and we all went back to the counter to pick up our hot beverages and when we came back two kids (5 or 6 years old) had hopped on our seats and just running around the place in general. I placed my hot coffee on the counter,next thing i know the kid is reaching for my food. What if he reached for my hot coffee and it tipped over??!! Would I get blamed?? Meanwhile the mothers are just gossiping away at a table just a few feet away from the table doing nothing.
Or you go to a casual family place and a family with kids after they finish their meal don't bother to even slightly clean up after themselves.... the table and the floor where they are sitting is just TRASHED with food. Lets not forget the 2 tip...
No common sense....
I'd have to agree though with the folks who say ..you just eat it and chalk it down to experience, you know these folks don't have a clue and if you approach them with any negativity then you become "Child haters" and it's all over...

Slick, I can't wait to hear what you did. I was just imagining Seinfeld's "soup nazi" handling it. I understand the "PC" response we all give but that also encouraging these jerks to keep acting this way.

quote:

Originally posted by Slick

One is an old quart oil bottle with the metal spout. You would measure the oil into the bottle, then dispense the oil through the spout. My wife thought that would be neat if she filled it with M&Ms and made them available to our guest. If you can find these they are somewhere in the neighborhood of $60.00.

Tonight two of the ladies kids used it as a tug of war vessel and broke it. Both mothers were at their table and not supervising their kids. The take out order had been made but not given to them.

How would you have handled it?

I would have been tempted to (and very possibly done) ask the mothers to pay for the item their children broke. Never mind that you aren't exactly sure how much money that was, never mind that you aren't 100% sure that you could even replace it.

I agree, treating the customer better than they deserve is a good idea. It's a good plan. It's what we try to do. But how many small shops have signs "You break it, you buy it." (Or maybe phrased more delicately.) They should get what they ordered, get what they paid for, but they ought to be responsible for your property which they (rather their children) destroyed, through no accident, but purposeful negligence.

Of course, I've never owned my own place. I've just managed places that belonged to other people, so my stakes weren't quite as high.

quote:

Originally posted by AndreaB

If I was the mother, and had seen this thing, I would have immediately approached the manager / owner and apologized and offered to pay, and then taught the kids a lesson at home by taking it out of their allowance until it was paid off.

Andrea

Andrea shows good common sense. I would wager they are not regulars----if the were I'm sure they would have offered to pay, just as I'm sure that slick would have graciously declined.

Hi Everyone: This is my first post, although I've been a visitor for the past couple of years. If my kids damaged something valuable in a restaurant, I would certainly offer to pay for it. I don't understand how people can think that the owner must absorb this loss. What does that teach our kids - that they can break other people's property and then not be responsible for their actions?

I was playing cook last night so I didn't get the word for a few minutes. As soon as I could let go I went out front to see for myself. I had the kids pointed out to me and my cashier said the mothers had not said a word about it even though they were about 10 feet from the breakage.

I approach them and asked if they knew their children were responsible for breaking the oil jar. They both said they were. I told them that it was an antique and cost about $60.00 if a person was lucky enough to find one. There was no apology, no anything from either lady.

One mother then said that it was both children involved and I told them they both should be equally responsible. One of them then told me that I should not have expensive items out where children could get to them, so I asked her if it was my fault that her children had broken a part of my store. She said "yes."

I made another request for the money and was told by one that I wasn't getting any money. I asked for their names and addresses and they both refused.

I left and they sent one of the kids to get their to go order. The cashier refused turning it over to me to handle. When the more vocal lady came to the register I told her that I would give her the order as soon as I saw some Identification from both ladies. Again she refused.

Just so happened that one of the local police officers was dining in a different dining area and saw pretty much everything. They went to him to try to get their order. I told him that they could have it as soon as I saw some I.D. and he explained that it was all a civil matter and to give up their I.D.s and they would get their food.

So, now I know who they are and can seek action if I decide to.

Now, in retrospect, I kinda wished I'd stayed out of it and left the matter alone taking the loss. There were several new people in the restaurant that saw all this and they may never come back because of it. And of course the moms will be calling me the biggest sh!t head on earth which may or may not hurt my business.

My wife wants blood, though.

I've never been in the food business, but I do eat out very frequently. I can tell you that places where my dinner is disrupted by rambunctious and/or unsupervised children are places I avoid.

I understand that children are not minature adults. Their needs are different and their behaviors are different. If, however, their parents don't teach them basic respect for the rights of others, disrupting dinner may well be the mildest thing they do.

Wait a minute slick, you weren't prepared for this so you did the best you could at the time and I will bet someone in the circle of friends of those women when told about this will "call them on their s..t" if you know what I mean. Me and my friends would. Who knows they may come back and make good. I understand your concern about the new people and maybe that's why most of us wimped out with the p.c. answer. You're OK

Slick,

Interesting story, I don't see where you could have done anything more.

Perhaps you can prepare yourself for future unruly children, however. Stock up on New Years style noise makers and give them out to the unruly children as they are leaving your place, just because they are "so special."

The best revenge is that which disguises itself as kindness.

I would have brought the kids' destructive behavior to the attention of the two mothers, just to make sure that they were aware of their kids' behavior. However, I would not have insisted on compensation, because of the potential for ill will and disruption that such an action could potentially cause (as it apparently did in your case.) The most troubling thing about this whole incident to me is that the mothers did not offer to pay for the object broken, or at least publically reproach their young ones to show their disaproval. What kind of a message do parents send their children when they allow them to destroy the property of others without any attempt to compensate the owner or without any other apparent negative consequences?

quote:

Originally posted by Slick

Now, in retrospect, I kinda wished I'd stayed out of it and left the matter alone taking the loss. There were several new people in the restaurant that saw all this and they may never come back because of it. And of course the moms will be calling me the biggest sh!t head on earth which may or may not hurt my business.

If I were present and saw such a thing, it would probably encourage me to return. I love kids and I expect children to be children. But breaking things because they're unsupervised is unacceptable to me. I would be glad to see a business owner who had enough respect for himself and his business to not allow a "guest" to abuse him.

I have a few friends like those moms and their calling you a ****head wouldn't deter me from eating in your restaurant. At all.

quote:

Originally posted by Slick

The icon at the top of the post with the pencil is the edit button.

I have no pencil icon, just show profile and quote

Bottom line---------these "parents" (and I use the term loosly) refuse to take responsibility for their own children. I don't think you'll lose business over this, slick-----I think those women are the only ones who will badmouth you----and if their friends are like them, you're better off without. Any of the other customers, new or not, who saw what happened, I'm sure will understand and not hold it against you. Especially if the food's good!