Reasonable to fine diners for taking too much food at a buffet or not?

[webfact]

Reasonable to fine diners for taking too much food at a buffet or not?

Image: Sanook

CHIANG MAI: Thais were debating the issues of whether it is reasonable to fine diners who take too much food at 'all you can eat' BBQ restaurants.

A group of twenty Thai men had gone to the well known restaurant in Chiang Mai but when they finished their meal there was a lot of food left over they had not eaten. The female owner fined them just 100 baht over the 5000 baht bill but the men were incensed.

According to other diners who posted online the owner was jostled and left in tears after the group of men swore at her and said they would share the pictures of the food online and name and shame her. Even when they were out front of the restaurant the slanging match continued.

Most netizens, however, took the side of the owner saying that it is understood that if diners take too much food then there is a penalty. The group of men countered that they had paid a lot with one shouting at the owner: "I ate a (obscenity deleted)  lot but I paid a (obscenity deleted) lot".

The owner said that in twenty years of operation she had never been treated like this. "Is it so wrong to have a charge for unfinished food?, she said online. "Would you have done the same or just let it go?"

Source: Sanook

--Thaivisa 2016-08-02

 

[Jingthing]

Wow. Very short sighted of an owner to be so petty on such a large check.

From my POV, when eating at a buffet sometimes the eye is bigger than the stomach.

To force people to finish their plate promotes obesity.

Sometimes I'll take a portion of something that looks good but it turns out it's awful tasting, so don't eat it.

Sure there are limits such as if someone hogs a whole tray of seafood and then doesn't touch it but I doubt that happens that often. 

Cost of doing business.

[canuckamuck]

If the picture in the OP is the total amount of leftover food from 20 guys having moo gataw, then I think the owner was over reacting. In large groups yo have lots of people bringing back extra for others to share, it's the culture. with 20 people you are going to get people bringing too much. That's just the way it is.

If the picture was just from four or five people, the I can see that the customers were taking advantage.

[fiddlehead]

I know I  personally would feel very guilty for leaving anywhere near that much food. 

I always try to eat all I take at one of these barbeques.

Maybe I was brought up differently. 

 

[rhythmworx]

They should be beaten with a wet Pla Kapong IMO

[AlphMichaels]

If it's an "all-you-can-eat" buffet, and you decide to arbitrarily decide when a table takes too much and doesn't eat that you'll penalize them on the check..., you better state it up front.  

[chicowoodduck]

Oh my Buddha, if you are going to be like a baboon at the buffet try and finish what you take back to your table.....the Chinese  are famous for over taking at the seafood buffet at the Hilton.....total waste of good seafood....don't dicker and pay the sticker....??

[Dipterocarp]

When there are many items, sometimes I just try a spoonful. Would rather clean my plates. If agreeable one may go back for more.  Leaving mountains of uneaten food at buffets is "très gauche".

[NancyL]

It's well-known and publicized that this is how these places charge.  Personally, I'm surprised the owner charged just 100 baht.  

They're not like a western-style buffet where the food is already prepared and you're selecting and filling a plate just for yourself.

[Kasset Tak]

I went to one of these places that had a BIG sign; Buffet 350 Bath, leftover food 100 Baht per plate.

[cm247]

Don't you know that they just dump the leftovers back in the pans and sell it to someone else?

[Jip99]

Perfectly reasonable to charge for excessive use.

 

 

If anyone has seen the Chinese in a restaurant (or the Thais at a village wedding) it is understandable that some limit is placed on what is taken.

[happy Joe]

Question of education.

Around a breakfast or a free buffet is used to measure appetite. This is not debatable.

Should there be a lack of education in the fine?

No, impossible.

For selfish gluttons have no idea of their misdeeds. They may come in a damaging controversy in the tranquility of others.

I suggest to the owner to forget the fine of 100 b and create "the ogre panel" at the entrance, with photo of these and their remains.

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Wow. Very short sighted of an owner to be so petty on such a large check.

From my POV, when eating at a buffet sometimes the eye is bigger than the stomach.

To force people to finish their plate promotes obesity.

Sometimes I'll take a portion of something that looks good but it turns out it's awful tasting, so don't eat it.

Sure there are limits such as if someone hogs a whole tray of seafood and then doesn't touch it but I doubt that happens that often. 

Cost of doing business.

Are you for real?

 

[jobwolf]

Jingthing you are reacting Brainless. You will be the first person to cry foul if somebody increases the price of food to make up for losses.

After many years in the Hotel Business I can tell you that people like you are plenty and should be fined for excessive loading and not consuming.

[Emster23]

Places advertise "all you can eat" have yet to see one say "all you can take to your table". Easy solution would be one large plate or tray per person. Eat it up, then refill as needed.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Kasset Tak said:

I went to one of these places that had a BIG sign; Buffet 350 Bath, leftover food 100 Baht per plate.

Yes, this is a fairly common and perfectly reasonable way of handling it. The important thing is to make people aware of it before they sit down.

These places are advertised as "all you can eat" not "all you can pile up on your table". So it's up to the diner to take small samples first and get more later if they want to.

[Radar501]

Maybe the group misunderstood the sign which read, 'FINE FOR UNEATEN FOOD'  

By the end of the evening, these restaurants often look like mess rooms. 

[jayceenik]

At the chain Sukishi buffet you're warned that you'll have a supplement to pay if you leave a substantial amount of food on your plates when you leave.

They mean a substantial amount of food not a spoonful of uneaten rice.

I'm surprised that so many BM on this thread don't understand the concept of the buffet.

In a buffet you take as much as you want to eat. If you take more than you plan to eat and leave it behind on the table when you leave it's called waste.

You can always go back if you want more of what you took initially.

If you eat off the menu show your great spender magnificence by ordering more plates than you plan to eat - you paid for them so they're yours to eat or to waste.

But at the buffet you pay to eat what you take and not to waste the buffet food.

And, yes, me and my TGF love buffets.

 

 

[jobwolf]

Yes you are right. Stupid people have to show their splendor by wasting good Food.. People with Brains will go back and replenish if they need to but

will not take much more then needed and simply waste it. People like you are the worst customers one can have if one want's to be able to provide

good and enough Food for a fair price.

[Bob12345]

Quote

A group of twenty Thai men had gone to the well known restaurant in Chiang Mai but when they finished their meal there was a lot of food left over they had not eaten. The female owner fined them just 100 baht over the 5000 baht bill but the men were incensed.

 

20 men with a bill of around 5000 baht. That's 250 baht per person, including drinks. 

And then they walk away shouting they ate a lot and paid a lot? 

[FitnessHealthTravel]

Having lived in China for many years and now seeing so many Chinese (and other nationalities) waste food I agree there should be a charge for leftover food. Some International Hotel now have signs at their buffets saying you will be 'charged for food left on your plate'.  The poverty mentality of some 'buffett goer' starving themselves all day so they can gorge themselves to almost sickness is hilarious ;-) (I've done that myself many years ago) I was at a buffet breakfast once when I overheard the table next to me ask for a dodgy bag. They actually wanted to take a selection of the food home with them. I have to admit, I am addicted to this forum/news service there is no place online that delivers so many laughs and stories of how stupid humanity is. I love it.  Sorry to hear about the Restaurant owner who was bullied. A sign in the restaurant will help next time...possibly. 

[SOTIRIOS]

...they filmed and ridiculed the Chinese tourists....

...one difference is the Chinese pay a pretty penny to come here...and are now major contributors to the economy...

...doubt the 'locals' will be shamed on national news ....

 

[nus01]

This is the biggest clear cut case of false advertising since the  film The never Ending story

 

 

[KKr]

If you put it on the plate, you eat it. 
Old-fashioned?
Not at all, I was brought up in a place where people experienced a shortage of food during a war.

[Johnnyngai]

 it is a sin to waste food.

[moon47]

I think a waste of almost any kind should be charged with a fine. Its one thing to have a few things left over.

 

Its another to be glutinous and waste tons of food.

 

Making people finish there food does not cause obesity or even promote it, it promotes responsibility. Do not take it if you do not intend to use it... !!

 

20 people or 2 it was only 100 baht or 2% of the total bill, sounds like a bunch of arrogant people to me... =[

[dingo61]

Totally agree with the owner's sentiment.

However the fine of 100 baht is so small, it is not worth the hassle, conflict & abuse they experienced.

[Krataiboy]

Gives the expression "fine dining" a whole new dimension.

[gyrosman]

If the picture shown is all the food left, well typical Thai culture to be rude and especially the men.