Father Takes His 11-Year-Old Son to Dinner, and the Restaurant Charges More Because He's Taller Than 4.5fts: No Kids' Menu for Craig Cantrill's Child, Who Decided to Share the Incident Online.
The News
While for some that being tall is an advantage, in Sheffield, "height equals double the bill!" Just a few weeks ago, Craig Cantrill (father of Joshua, 11 years old) dined at the Chinese restaurant Wong Ting with his wife and another couple of friends. When it came time to settle the bill for his son's meal, he was charged £22.50 instead of the £10 price designated for children as indicated in the restaurant’s signage. The restaurant staff considered Joshua too tall to be "categorized as a child." According to Wong Ting's policy, children over 4.5ft in height must pay the same as adults. Craig's outrage upon receiving the bill was substantial.
"Joshua only ate half a plate of chow mein, crispy duck, and shrimp, but I still had to pay the price of an adult dinner. The incident ruined my evening; I was really annoyed. I just wanted to settle the bill and leave. I would understand if Joshua were a 15 or 16-year-old, or if he attended secondary school, but he just started his last year of primary school and recently turned 11. I was absolutely disgusted," he told the Daily Record.
Craig also mentioned that during the dinner, a staff member asked Joshua and the friend's child to follow him to measure both of them. When he returned to the table, the employee stated that Joshua would be charged as an adult due to his height. "There was a rather tasteless sign on the wall that someone had drawn with a pen, and the menu mentioned that the price would depend on height, but it didn't specify what height. The restaurant owner then started joking with my son, asking him if he wanted a pint of beer. I replied that he could have one since we would be paying the full price, but he left. We spent a total of £217, not a small amount, so I don't understand why they charged us an extra £12. It wasn't the first time we had dinner there, but we won't be going back," Mr. Cantrill continued.
The controversies and bad publicity from Craig, however, don't seem to have disrupted Lance Pang, the manager of Wong Ting, who remained steadfast, saying, "I will stay true to my beliefs because this is our policy. If someone doesn't like it, they have the option to leave."
