By JamesK - 15/12/2016 23:23

Today, I went out with my kids to eat at a nice restaurant. While I was in the bathroom, my 7-year-old daughter ordered 15 plates of "pearls" on the menu. Those "pearls" turned out to be salmon caviar. Guess who got a 425$ bill. FML
I agree, your life sucks 8 946
You deserved it 2 635

Same thing different taste

Top comments

what kind of restaurant takes an order from a 7 year old without an adult around

I would have talked to the manager that waiter took advantage of the situation. This is one of those few instances that I would not tip. I hope you enjoyed your pearls though (:

Comments

what kind of restaurant takes an order from a 7 year old without an adult around

Comment moderated for rule-breaking.

Show it anyway

And the ridiculous cost aside, what if the kid was allergic to something? A seven year old that doesn't even know what she's ordering can't make a judgement about what's safe to eat. This is really negligent on all levels. I hope OP fought this bill.

Also, why would they let a 7 year old order 15 of them??

I see where you were trying to come from..I wouldn't care how much $$ my family had I wouldn't let my 7 year old order 15 meals to herself lol. The waiter needs a new job.

My thoughts exactly. It does have an answer though: those with waiters that are dishonest enough to make a quick buck any way possible...

Minimal tip for that waiter ... withOUT the caviar factored in. :-(

I see what you're saying... but if that 7 year old came from money and was so mature and worldly then wouldn't they have ordered caviar and not 'pearls'? I was a server in college and now I have a masters in education... there are ways you can check with parents without throwing the kids under the bus or getting yourself in trouble... it's not rocket science!

Isa_fml 20

And why would you leave a 7 year old unsupervised?

He was in the toilet. He could have had a 12 year old at the table not paying attention.

He was in the toilet. He could have had a 12 year old at the table not paying attention.

One with a 425 $ profit that night ;) (Seriously though, highly unprofessional)

Isa_fml going to the toilet for 5 min is hardly leaving a child unsupervised.

I would have talked to the manager that waiter took advantage of the situation. This is one of those few instances that I would not tip. I hope you enjoyed your pearls though (:

tounces7 27

I would have refused to pay. You can't ******* tell me that the waiter didn't know better than to take an extremely expensive order from a 7 year old. Let's see him convince a police officer of that.

But, as #67 said, they could have had an ordering service through tablets and the daughter could have just pressed the caviar a lot because she thought it was pretty. If so, then no one is really to blame (except maybe the father for leaving them alone with a tablet) and I feel bad for the restaurant for wasting so much expensive food.

pretty sure a restaurant shouldnt serve a 7-year-old that much expensive food without adult supervision

Pretty sure you shouldn't leave your 7 year old unattended and causing trouble

Pretty sure they should hire waiters with actual common sense instead

Going to have to agree to that and to maybe teaching your child some manners. At seven a) I wasn't taken to expensive restaurants because I always SEVEN and had no reason to need to eat meals that cost that much and b) knew better than to order multiple of anything off the menu because I was taught it was not my place to spend my parents" money without permission. Besides, this story has bs written all over it. No waiter would take this order. If he did a quick talk with a manager would resolve it.

Shame on the waiter for even allowing her to do that. I'm with #2, I hope you talked to the manager!

What idit took that crazy order from a 7 year-old?

epicgamer 18

The same one that can't spell idiot correctly.

On what planet would a waiter think it's okay to let a 7 year old order something like that without an adult around

Why would you leave a 7 year old unattended in public place? Someone could have lured the kid away.

I look after kids for a living and am certified in child development. 7 is old enough to be left alone for a 2-5min bathroom break with other kids there. OP said he took his "kids," so I'm betting there's more than one. This gives them a little responsibility and independence without throwing a lot on them. This jerk of a waiter just took advantage. Also, a person after children is not going to take them from a group, in a restaurant, which usually has quite a bit of people.

#19, thank you for spreading common sense here. My son is turning seven soon, and while I wouldn't let him take a public bus to school on his own just yet, he is old enough to visit his cousins, who live in 5 minute walking distance through mostly private owned paths, alone, as long as we check he has arrived OK. At that age, back when I was a kid, we'd walk to school alone and the first time you'd know something was wrong would be noon. Looking a bit more closely after our kids is fine, and maybe necessary, but overdoing it to the extreme is potentially damaging to the child, and unnecessary.

I'm guessing your daughter? Sell her toys until you reach $425!

ollygollymolly 6

Comment moderated for rule-breaking.

Show it anyway

7 is probably not old enough to understand how long it takes to earn $425 or that the "pearls" are that expensive. Kids usually don't think that far ahead.

ollygollymolly 6

When I was 7 I sure as hell knew not to ask for anything at a restaurant without my parent's permission. So maybe the real issue is that this person needs to teach their kid to respect them?

7 is that middle age where you're starting to want to order your own meals, hand money to the cashier yourself, etc. OP might have been allowing their daughter some of these new freedoms, but it isn't reasonable to expect a 7 year old to understand the value of delicacies like that. She couldn't possibly have known how expensive they'd be, and it's on the waiter for actually filling such an order. They should have had the common sense to realise "hey this is a kid and she's ordering several hundred dollars worth of food. I'd better wait for the parents"

Don't menus usually have prices in them? You'd think a seven year old could figure out that this is crazy expensive. Especially if they are allowed to order for themselves.

they might but why should they? the kid knows it's not allowed because they're doing it behind their parent's back

I'm curious - if your daughter had ordered ten glasses of 'nice sparkly drink in a pretty glass', would the waiter have brought ten glasses of Moet for the child to drink?

DeMamp 15

You didnt seriously have to pay that right?? What the **** kind of waiter takes an order like that?!