Restaurant refuses to sing happy bday to 6 yr old

[Jasper109]

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lol @ anyone saying that this is disgusting, or they are complete douche bags...c'mon, what a joke, if the owner is trying to shift the image of the restaurant, than take your kid to applebees next time if this is going to be such a big deal. the customer is not always right, especially in the restaurant industry.

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[tuq]

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Guids,

A) It isn't that hard to bring together 3-4 people to sing a song. I've worked in the full gamut of restaurants and it was never difficult or disrupting.
B) The owner should do a better job of educating her staff if the policy is that important to the owner.
C) The owner just lost an entire group of customers for the rest of the restaurants existence because she didn't want to placate a 6 year old.

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QFT. guids, you're coming off especially bad here. He probably lost those families as customers AND perhaps some others that they tell the story to. Do you still think it's worth it? And that doesn't even take into account making the kid happy. I'm not a kid person but the way the story played out I feel kinda bad for him.

[blackize]

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Everyone that is complaining about people spending 30 seconds to sing happy bday you need to seriously lighten up in life. Is it really that much of an inconvenience to you?

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Whenever they sing happy bday to some little bastard, they pull every waiter off the floor for a few minutes to get ready and then take the 30 seconds to sing the song and another few seconds for the ingrate to blow out his candles.

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Maybe you should stop dining at these restaurants youre harping about or perhaps suck it up and deal with it happening once in a blue moon.

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It's not like this is a rare occurrence, I would estimate that I have to deal with it at least 60% of the time I eat out and that doesn't include nights where they have 2+ birthdays in the restaurant.

[tpir]

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The hostess should know the policy, as should all of the staff. Really what should he have done? Asked to speak to the manager or owner of the restauant to get the happy bday policy?

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Sounds like she should have asked, although I doubt anyone working there would have known it was this big of a deal.

IMO you guys are biased towards the wishes of the 6-year old. This is only an issue because singing is something they could have easily knocked out. If she had messed something major up, like telling you guys everything was on the house, no reasonable person would expect them to honor that.

[tuq]

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have you ever been to a macaroni grill? I was there on a service call, and saw some lady's birthday. id rather eat with no pants on in a crowded restaurant, than have an opera singer bring me some cake.

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Yeah I've been there. I think it's REALLY weird when staff is doing it for grown adults. Personally I wouldn't miss ever seeing it again, but in this particular case w/r/t the expectations put forth by the restaurant, they should have done it.

[guids]

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Guids,

A) It isn't that hard to bring together 3-4 people to sing a song. I've worked in the full gamut of restaurants and it was never difficult or disrupting.
B) The owner should do a better job of educating her staff if the policy is that important to the owner.
C) The owner just lost an entire group of customers for the rest of the restaurants existence because she didn't want to placate a 6 year old.

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QFT. guids, you're coming off especially bad here. He probably lost those families as customers AND perhaps some others that they tell the story to. Do you still think it's worth it? And that doesn't even take into account making the kid happy. I'm not a kid person but the way the story played out I feel kinda bad for him.

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it doesnt matter tuq, the guy is trying to change the ambience of his restaurant, which is tough enough to do, if he loses a bunch of uptight ninnies, its not that big of a deal in the long run if the change in style brings more people in. Its short term vs long term thinking....kind of like worrying about results in poker. Yes, the hostess should have known the policy, and it sucks that she didnt, but too bad. If you are going to stop frequenting a restaurnt because of something like this, Im going to make an assumption your raising a spoiled little brat.

[tpir]

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Maybe the owner should take the entire staff aside for 30 seconds, inform them of the new "no singing policy" and then this wouldn't happen.

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Maybe your group should realize that no one cares about the singing, and the fact that you *do* care does not count as a good enough reason for them to take action.

[wtfsvi]

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If she had messed something major up, like telling you guys everything was on the house, no reasonable person would expect them to honor that.

[/ QUOTE ] That is because that is not a normal agreement that hostesses make, and one we could not expect this particular hostess to be authorized to make in this situation.

[Vehn]

obviously the owner messed up after the hostess said they would do it, but lets say the hostess didn't say that. Would you guys still think they should do? A few restaurant workers halfheartedly singing 2 verses of happy birthday for the thousandth time belongs in chain restaurants, not in a nice individually owned place that tries to separate themselves from being a one location chilis.

[blackize]

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Would you also think it was fine if they ordered blueberry pie for dessert, and then the restaurant served and expected them to pay for banana splits in stead? I'm sure they wouldn't have gotten up and gone to another restaurant if the hostess had told them they were out of blueberry pies.

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Lolololol. I hope you understand that the above is completely different from the situation at hand. It's another story if the father was paying extra for the song and dance routine.