Children's portion?

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golden mean

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I had occasion recently to purchase some of the famous ninety nines at Teddy's icecrem shop in Dun Laoghaire. Since one of the party was a mere three years old, I asked if they could prepare a small cone.

Certainly, the smiling assistant replied....... but I'll have to charge you full price for it.
 
Not someplace you would go again on that basis I guess, but it's policy in a fair few places I know of, and one where I worked.
 
Policy, schmolicy- when you have as many kids as I have, these policies hit hard- (think "latte effect", only chilled- if I invested the price of all the uneaten/dropped icecreams I have paid for in a top earning fund, it would probably send one of the them to college by the time we get that far....)

In fairness Teddy's did give me the option of buying an empty cone, but decanting drippy icecream on the side of a busy road while controlling small kids was not my outcome of choice.... A round of Crazy Daisies next time, I think.

This trivial example illustrates though a sad impulse of some businesses. I suppose they reckon that if they can get away with doing what suits themselves, why give the customer what THEY want? I just thought it would be nice if they saw the little child and gave her something she could actually manage and enjoy, at a fair price, while still making a profit for themselves.

(I am once again impressed with the breadth of your own personal experience by the way!)
 
I agree that it is unreasonable, but that's only my opinion-there is nothing to stop Teddy's (I have never been to or heard of before) or any other business coming up with policies that annoy their customers. Fortunately, Teddy's do not have a monopoly on ice cream sales here in Ireland, so vote with your feet.

The wider issue of "business=bad" is a wider issue that is probably best kept for Letting Off Steam as it is undoubtedly an emotive issue.

Let's see how this thread develops-it may be worth making the owner aware of it if enough people express shock/support and are put off from ever visiting Teddy's. I certainly won't if I am ever looking for ice cream for a 3 year old.
 
I don't think business=bad! (If anything I think that customers who don't complain=bad)

Anyway, since it seems to be only ourselves at this hour of a Sunda', lets wait as you say and see if this resonates more widely as a consumer issue.....
 
It's the sort of thing the Irish Times Pricewatch page on Mondays might be interested in.
 
europhile said:
It's the sort of thing the Irish Times Pricewatch page on Mondays might be interested in.
Click to expand...

Indeed, good idea.

Conor Pope is the journo in question who compiles that page.
 
Just back from a visit to France. Went to a local creperie to sample a cholesterol crepe. My good wife only fancied a cup of coffee. Two spoons and two forks were provided with a smile just in case my wife wanted a mouthful. Teddy's is an institution and a goldmine. They should have been more helpful, try the ice cream van in future at the top of the pier or in Sandycove. www.icecreamproducts.com MMmmmm!
 
Unfortunately it seems that most places in Ireland do not cater for child size portions. Certainly my experience has been that they either sell 'nuggets & chips', 'sausages & chips' or 'fish fingers & chips' in a lot of restos, but try asking for a small version of an adult meal and they are stumped and/or unwilling to comply.

Experience in other countries indicates that dining establishments are more geared up to serving kids and seeing them as a good way to get repeat business out of the parents.

Some places do cater for kid size meals but they are definitely the exception to the rule.

As for Teddys - logic goes out the window when it comes to this place. Why else would people queue with kids for 10-15 minutes on a tiny footpath with traffic roaring by ? If enough people are prepared to do this then I guess enough people will also be prepared to pay full whack for a kids icecream.
 
I agree with the sentiment expressed above ... charging the same price for half the portion is ridiculous. I was on a rare trip to McDs recently where I asked for an apple pie ... the assistant told me that would be 1.25 ... I could buy 2 for 1 euro ... so I did and gave the other one to the next customer ... customer service my fat bum ... customer service should be giving the customer what they want and not trying to tell them what they want!
On the plus side, I have often asked for child portion is restaurants around the country and been given a generous half portion of a meal. When I ask for a child portion of chips or nuggets, I make sure to specify that I only need 8 chips or 3 nuggets ... the rest will be wasted.
 
In fairness to Teddy's, the same amount of labour goes into preparing a 'child's portion' cone as goes into a normal cone, and given that the raw materials are probably only a fraction of the cost of the product and the labour makes the bulk of the cost, it seems only fair they can charge fairly for the labour involved.
 
I tend to be very sceptical of most "rip off Ireland" stories. I also tend to take the side of the business or service provider on many consumer issues, probably because I run my own business.

However in this case there is something disturbing or unsettling about a business insisting on charging full price for a small ice cream for a 3 year old toddler.

In my own experience, shops have regularly offered me an extra empty cone for free when buying an ice cream with a small child in tow.
 
and given that the raw materials are probably only a fraction of the cost of the product
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The customer should not be charged for that fraction of the cost of the product - and charging for same falls into the category of unearned income.:)


Justsally
 
europhile said:
It's the sort of thing the Irish Times Pricewatch page on Mondays might be interested in.
Click to expand...

pricewatch@irish-times.ie

There was a story in today's column that was very similar to this-someone being charged for a pasta main course despite only ordering a plate of plain pasta.
 
Went to the Glenroyal Hotel on Sunday with my son (3.5 yrs) and was offered the option of a 'childrens portion' half the price, but exactly the same size as adult portion. And service with a smile too!!
 
golden mean said:
In fairness Teddy's did give me the option of buying an empty cone, but decanting drippy icecream on the side of a busy road while controlling small kids was not my outcome of choice....
Click to expand...
This sounds like an overreaction to me. We got a free empty cone at Teddys some weeks back and it took 2 seconds to scoop some ice cream into the empty cone.
 
golden mean said:
. Since one of the party was a mere three years old, I asked if they could prepare a small cone.
Click to expand...
You are greedy, could you not have shared yours ? ;)
 
RainyDay said:
We got a free empty cone at Teddys some weeks back and it took 2 seconds to scoop some ice cream into the empty cone.
Click to expand...

Well, the price has gone up to 30c now, and, if it only takes 2 seconds, why can't the Teddy's employee do it for me?! (There wasn't a huge queue behind me, for once.)

Anyhow, maybe you are right and I am overreacting. I don't like to feel ripped off, and I prefer to take the easy way out by having all the kids get handed their cone by the peson behind the counter. They like to be made that much of, and so do I. If I was to dish the stuff out myself, I'd wait til we got home and use the soft scoop from the supermarket!

As others have pointed out, I can (and will) take my custom eleswhere in future, and Teddy's will no doubt not miss me.....
 
golden mean said:
why can't the Teddy's employee do it for me?!
Click to expand...
Sounds like the great philosopher Homer Simpson's election campaign slogan "Can't someone else do it"! If you're going to stand on ceremony and insist that you get some work out of the employee, I kind-of understand why they charge for the service.
 
Lets see- I was already paying 1.75 per cone. Then they want another 30c for an empty cone... and because I want to "get some work out of the employee for my money" I am unreasonable? Now, as others pointed out, the raw materials don't cost much so yes, I want to be SERVED!

They are selling an experience as much as a drippy and cold dairy product and for the kids the experience includes (parental arm count permitting)being lifted up to the window to see the nice lady making their cone.

Are you yourself the famous Teddy? (Or maybe a French trade unionist?)

Anyway, I feel a locked thread coming on.
 
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