Eatery Charges Customers RM30 Surcharge If Their Kids Make Noise & Disturb Other Guests

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Angie's Oyster Bar & Grill, or known simply as Angie's, located at Outram Road in Singapore, raised eyebrows for a rather unique and unusual rule executed for the comfort of their customers. 

A screenshot text message by the restaurant to a customer was submitted to the Singaporean digital media outlet, Mothership, which highlighted the eatery's child-unfriendly conditions for families with young kids who are planning to dine at the locale.

The message was apparently sent by a customer who made a reservation at Angie's and requested for a baby chair. Responding to the message, the restaurant begins by addressing these requests. "We would like to inform you that we do not have any baby [chairs] available as we are not a [kid-friendly] restaurant," they wrote. They also told the customer that if they need space for a pram, to make such a request immediately.

The message then takes a blunt turn when they explain their 'Screaming Children Surcharge' policy. "All children are welcomed to dine at Angie's. However, screaming [or] uncontrolled children disturbing other guests will NOT be tolerated. Charger will apply [SGD10]." The message ends with, "Looking forward to hearing from you," and a smile emoji.

Posted to Angie's Tripadvisor page, the message begins with the user, who goes by Ruth, stating that she has been to Angie's a couple of times with her family, including a baby. However, after waiting to hear back from the eatery on reservations she made, she was sent practically the exact same message outlined in Mothership.

"This was the first time we were informed of this even though we had been [there] on other occasions. While I understand that a screaming child would disturb other guests, I thought Angie's could have [taken] a more polite approach. [I am] pretty put off by the reply. Guess we won't be heading back," wrote the reviewer.

Nonetheless, it is unverifiable as to whether the individual who submitted the message to Mothership and the reviewer on Tripadvisor is the same person.

"We pride ourselves in providing a pleasant environment for all our dining guests at Angie's. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve our customer experience and make it a point to ask guests for feedback on their dining experience — our food, service standards, and overall ambiance," they began.

Continuing on, the eatery noted that as of recent, they have received more complaints of children running around unattended and disturbing other tables during service periods. "Not only is this dangerous as servers are often moving around with hot food and sharp cutlery, but it is also disrespectful to other diners who may wish to dine in a quiet and comfortable atmosphere."

The eatery goes on to mention that while these issues are sometimes managed immediately after their team speaks with the parents or guardians of these kids, the matter is sometimes ignored altogether.

"This is both frustrating and embarrassing because it puts the restaurant in an awkward position when explaining to other guests why nothing is being done to address the matter," they carried on. Because of these experiences, the staff at Angie's felt that a penalty would best address the situation.

Closing out their comments, the eatery hopes parents and guardians will understand as they aim to provide as many pleasant dining experiences as possible.

"We ask for nothing more than mutual respect from all our guests, but we've sadly come across a few diners who may feel more entitled than others. It pains us to impose the policy but it was never our intention to diminish any of our guests' experience," ended the response.

Holding a strong 4.1 stars out of five on Google Reviews, the response to this policy waved in many directions.

Multiple people took to Google Reviews and gave the eatery a rating of five stars, signalling their full support of the policy for diners to have their meal in peace.

A fair share of the reviewers who gave the eatery five stars came from those who admitting to not visiting the eatery yet, though plan to now as they admire the policy.

"This isn't McDonald's," one writer said. "I don't want to have a nice night out only to have it disrupted by screaming kids whose parents won't do anything about it." Another person stated that they really support the policy, and that not all patrons should be expected to tolerate such behaviour. 

An additional commenter took it a step further, linking misbehaved children to their parents. "Poor parenting needs to be addressed and the surcharge is just one measure that's heading towards the right direction of taking ownership to misbehaviour."

Nonetheless, there were also a string of reviewers who gave the restaurant a one star rating, simply for this policy. One user straight up claimed that the policy was discriminatory against families, while another stated that he would not advice those with young kids to visit Angie's.

Name:
Angie's Oyster Bar & Grill

Address:
313, Outram Road Tan Boon Liat Building,
02-01, Singapore 169073.

Operating hours:
12pm-3pm, 5pm-11.30pm (Monday to Thursday).
12pm-3pm, 5.30pm-12am (Friday).
10.30am-4pm, 5.30pm-12am (Saturday).
10.30am-4pm, 5.30pm-11.30pm (Sunday).