The great Babychino ripoff

RichardM

Craziness. I felt horrible a few weeks back when I took a relative and two children to a cafe I regularly visit. It's a small building, with three levels, but it's very narrow. We had one whole level to ourselves. They charged $1 for the babychino, which had flaked chocolate on top (perfectly reasonable). By the time we left, the two babycino's in their entirety were on the floor, and salt was on every other table (they'd run around pouring salt everywhere). I was horrified. As the relative walked down the stairs, I grabbed napkins and started franticly trying to clean it up. If parents were charged the real cost of the cleanup, they'd be far worse off than even $2.50 per babycino.

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1320744732:

Craziness. I felt horrible a few weeks back when I took a relative and two children to a cafe I regularly visit. It's a small building, with three levels, but it's very narrow. We had one whole level to ourselves. They charged $1 for the babychino, which had flaked chocolate on top (perfectly reasonable). By the time we left, the two babycino's in their entirety were on the floor, and salt was on every other table (they'd run around pouring salt everywhere). I was horrified. As the relative walked down the stairs, I grabbed napkins and started franticly trying to clean it up. If parents were charged the real cost of the cleanup, they'd be far worse off than even $2.50 per babycino.

I said something similar to your experience, back on post 10?

on 1310811910:

I have no problem to charge an appropriate amount for a baby chino Please dont take me to task over the next sentence - as cleaning up after a family with kids is generally (not always) twice as much work I see it with my own eyes when I am at a cafe KK

Kelsey

If you're near Caloundra, give Edge Espresso a try on the boardwalk near Bulcock Beach. The owner, might well you some Di Bella beans.

Springbok

Charge them $10 I say - I think its the most pathetic thing Ive ever heard of...what have we come to..? :head:

Brett H

on 1320752571:

Charge them $10 I say - I think its the most pathetic thing Ive ever heard of...what have we come to..? :head:

Ditto.  Anyone who expects something for nothing is ignorant.  It doesn't take a business owner and an MBA to work out that if the business is operating, it will charge what it needs to stay viable.  The fine balance between viable and greedy will determine the success of the business just as quickly as the balance between viable and philanthropic/charity.  Bottom line, if you like a product or a cafe, spend money there so that the usiness is viable and around tomorrow.  If your favorite local has Lobster tail, caviar and saffron Panini for lunch and all you can drink JBM shots for $7.50 but their bubby-cinos are $25 treat the kids, pay up and enjoy. 

askthecoffeeguy

dont get me wrong - mine is a family friendly cafe, and we've been 'awarded' as much based on our willingness and ability to cater for young families but the other day I came as close as I've been in a long time to evicting someone from a cafe it was actually two someones - two mum's and their badly misbehaving three year old children the kids poured out a water jug on the table, tipped salt everywhere, and were demolishing the sugar sticks on the table as well - but this was actually the least of my problems after being asked repeatedly not to the kids ran amuck up and down the length of the cafe, and if this wasn't bad enough they began shouting at the top of their voices we weren't super busy at the time but we were reasonably full with at least two business luncheons going on at the time I asked the kids to pipe down three times, clearly stating that other patrons like to enjoy their lunch in peaceful and quiet surroundings I'm not unsympathetic to the plight of parents, I have two young kids of my own In fact I was up a good part of the night before looking after my kids in some capacity or other - and it was only the fact that I was completely sleep deprived myself, and thus incapable of making a clear decision regarding asking these customers to leave, that prevented me from doing so in any other circumstances I believe I would've acted sooner and asked them to settle up I was actually thinking about what words to say at the time that would be appropriate to evict a patron from the premises - but all I could come up with was: "Why dont you take your little brats and %#@%@# off!" So I refrained from so doing so as I'm quite convinced that no matter how noble my intentions on the day - those are the exact same words that I would've used as it was I did speak to the table on four separate occasions and they  eventually pipe down a bit and then leave but I have to wonder what were other patrons thinking at the time? if they we're thinking "Right, that's it - I'm not coming back to this joint - it's too noisy" - then even $100 per baby chino would not come close to covering the real cost in this instance having said that if a cafe is well set up and well managed to cater for young families, then there is no reason why kids should get out of control, as staff and management should be on hand to manage any potential situation before it escalates we literally sell 100's of baby chino's at my joint per week, and are happy to cater for families - but in two years of trading in the current location I've never seen kids behave like that and NOT be censored by their mums sure some kids behave badly sometimes but the mums (and dads for that matter who come into my cafe) are usually the first ones to try and settle their children - and if that doesn't work then 9 times out of 10 they remove  them from themselves from the cafe altogether ... P

DoubleRistretto

I know this is a slightly different angle, but wasn't there some pretty big stuff in the papers about a Mum with a mis-behaving child being asked to leave a cafe in Melbourne last week? - not yours obviously!! :stir

Brett H

Spot on AM!  Perhaps the only way is to set up CCTV so that any media ruckus that follows an ejection can be justified with footage of the little terrors.  Then you'll be in trouble for filming kids without consent.  What an age we live in!  ::) Perhaps easiest way is to give the kids a couple of complimentary cappuccino's.

askthecoffeeguy

I'd be surprised if the parents in question show their faces again - I wouldnt want to go back to a place if my kids behaved like that - or perhaps the oposite is true? maybe they will return as their kids behaviour is 'tolerated?' :tearhair: :tearhair: :tearhair:

Brett H

on 1321362175:

I'd be surprised if the parents in question show their faces again - I wouldnt want to go back to a place if my kids behaved like that - or perhaps the oposite is true? maybe they will return as their kids behaviour is 'tolerated?' :tearhair: :tearhair: :tearhair:

I am often taken aback by how shameless people can be especially in regards to service industries.  They possibly didn't give your complaints a second thought because as the old commonwealth bank add used to say: "who's the most important person in the world? You are!" What a crock of Starbucks!

askthecoffeeguy

Pleased to announce hords of kids today and all of them well behaved !

Brett H

on 1321507267:

Pleased to announce hords of kids today and all of them well behaved !

Yay!  How much did the cattle prod set you back? :rofl:

Lacehim

askthecoffeeguy, you could try a distraction for the kids?  some pencils and paper, bucket of toys in the corner.  Might keep them quiet, and occupied for a while.  Roll the cost into those $100 babychinos  :rofl:

askthecoffeeguy

on 1321514603:

askthecoffeeguy, you could try a distraction for the kids?  some pencils and paper, bucket of toys in the corner.  Might keep them quiet, and occupied for a while.  Roll the cost into those $100 babychinos  :rofl:

we're actually in the top ten family friendly cafe destinations in victoria according to a number of prominent guides - so I do have colouring in books, , board games, several boxes of toys,  and an enclosed rear courtyard for the rugrats to run around in - so we're pretty sorted as far as that goes... but the main draw card is that we're located opposite the train tracks - which seems to provide endless hours of entertainment for the little ones (watching the trains I mean not playing on the train tracks... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:)

Lacehim

I had a kiddie free day today in Brisbane so my wife took my 6 year old to the Noosa farmers markets.  She ordered her cup of tea that she buys every week from the coffee guy, a coffee for her mum and a baby chino for our 6 year old. They tried to charge her $3.00 for a baby chino!  Seriously, you can get a small latte for that!  She jumped up and done a bit and they gave it to her for free in the end.  There wasn't even a marshmallow in it!!!  Fair enough, I don't expect them to be free unless offered, 50c, maybe a $1.00, but $3.00  ???  ???  ???

RichardM

At the markets, that is insane. It's not like the kid is even making a mess or anything like in a cafe.

Dry_bean.

on 1322992841:

I had a kiddie free day today in Brisbane so my wife took my 6 year old to the Noosa farmers markets.  She ordered her cup of tea that she buys every week from the coffee guy, a coffee for her mum and a baby chino for our 6 year old. They tried to charge her $3.00 for a baby chino!  Seriously, you can get a small latte for that!  She jumped up and done a bit and they gave it to her for free in the end.  There wasn't even a marshmallow in it!!!  Fair enough, I don't expect them to be free unless offered, 50c, maybe a $1.00, but $3.00  ???  ???  ???

Bet the coffee guy won't try that stunt on her again. ::)

Brett H

on 1322993934:

Bet the coffee guy won't try that stunt on her again. ::)

I wonder how many times he's gotten away with it?  There are some pretty deep pockets in Noosa!  Why not set a fair price (nobody should have to work for free) and avoid opportunist grabs for cash that will only damage your band and credibility.  It seems so simple  :doh:

Dry_bean.

on 1323002815:

I wonder how many times he's gotten away with it?  There are some pretty deep pockets in Noosa!  Why not set a fair price (nobody should have to work for free) and avoid opportunist grabs for cash that will only damage your band and credibility.  It seems so simple  :doh:

Its called human nature Brett, where money is involved some people just cant help themselves. :stir

RichardM

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/27792256/storm-in-a-coffee-cup/

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1325842055:

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/27792256/storm-in-a-coffee-cup/

I just had a look at the video It has the morning TV spin on it but pretty correct in the content KK

askthecoffeeguy

I reckon cafes either set out to be family friendly or they don't - it's a different scenerio to actually consciously create a kid friendly environment as opposed to just 'tolerating' them. And there are plenty of cafes which are either ambivalent or even intolerant of kids, which I don't have a beef with if that's what you've set out to create, but as a parent myself I'm always pleased to find a place which is the complete picture (for me anyway) with great food and even better coffee, and outstanding service, which also caters for all of the local community, and not just a select few Admittedly different venues have different demographics, and I don't always want the distraction of kids when I'm out, but it's nice to have options for the whole family !

Lucinda

To be honest, I think parents need to be in control of their kids. If they cannot control them, or ignore bad behaviour than the cafe owner has every right to ask them to leave. My kids were not perfect, nor are my grandkids. However, they know exactly what is expected of them when they are out in public. Everybody has a right to sit and enjoy a coffee without being harassed by another persons kids. My grandson can be really messy, so we usually clean up after him, although he has improved now he is a bit older. I have never had an issue with paying up to $2 for a babycino, although back in the days when my kids were little they were gratis.  :coffee2:

beanflying

Babychinos or even just a marshmallow for a little peace and quiet for 2 minutes is worth it  I did about 10 days straight with coffees out the front over Christmas, still didn't charge for them but some parents left up to $2 each for some of them. As the more permanent cafe thing is coming $2 is likely to cover costs, staff etc. Along with a Soy surcharge to go with using Bonsoy (Exe)

askthecoffeeguy

on 1325842055:

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/27792256/storm-in-a-coffee-cup/

Gee... Must've been a quiet day at the news desk that day but allin all the story is well told with all interested parties represented - Personally I think anything more than $1.5 for same is a rip off but I'll still happily pay if the product and service is good

Dry_bean.

on 1326890623:

Gee... Must've been a quiet day at the news desk that day but allin all the story is well told with all interested parties represented - Personally I think anything more than $1.5 for same is a rip off but I'll still happily pay if the product and service is good

My feeling is places that charge top dollar for kids drinks are sending a message that kids are not really welcome in their establishment, some even refuse to make these things.  :-|

askthecoffeeguy

I paid $2.5 for a babychino somewhere recently and whilst i didn't bat an eyelid at the price at the time I'd be reluctant to fork out the same amount again so its horses for courses I guess...

Koffee_Kosmo

Not sure if this has been mentioned before The kitchen rep came today to quote and noticed my coffee gear and sign I have Anyway he said that he had seen a sign in his local cafe that said All unsupervised children will be given a free espresso & a puppy to take home KK

Jonty

Interesting debate . I just happen to have two girls under the age of 4 & so the wife often goes out with 'mothers group' for coffee and cake once a week....  A certain establishment in our local city which they had visited for a number of months, in which you can swing a cat (big floor plan) so all the crap that goes with mothers groups doesn't affect other customers....  Anyway, 12 mothers weekly doing coffee and cake at this establishment, one morning kicked through to 1145am and all decided to have lunch there. They wanted to order at 1145 and were told no. Orders for lunch can only be taken from 12 noon.......... Moral of the story, all 12 mothers left, went to another local establishment, had lunch and will never return to that cafe mentioned. And imagine what 12 mothers talk about and word gets around......  "value in the eye of the customer"

Dry_bean.

on 1327530279:

Interesting debate . I just happen to have two girls under the age of 4 & so the wife often goes out with 'mothers group' for coffee and cake once a week....  A certain establishment in our local city which they had visited for a number of months, in which you can swing a cat (big floor plan) so all the crap that goes with mothers groups doesn't affect other customers....  Anyway, 12 mothers weekly doing coffee and cake at this establishment, one morning kicked through to 1145am and all decided to have lunch there. They wanted to order at 1145 and were told no. Orders for lunch can only be taken from 12 noon.......... Moral of the story, all 12 mothers left, went to another local establishment, had lunch and will never return to that cafe mentioned. And imagine what 12 mothers talk about and word gets around......  "value in the eye of the customer"

Hear what your saing Jonty, however the other side of the coin is if I happen on a cafe and feel the desire for a quiet cuppa the presence of 12 mothers with their darlings would stop me in my tracks, I'd seek out a more peaceful environment.