Restaurant 'fines' diners at Chinese buffet for not eating all their food

A family are fuming after being told they would have to fork out extra – because they didn’t eat all their meal. Beverley Clark was enjoying an all-you-can-eat deal at the Kylin Buffet in Ocean Road, South Shields, with son, Sam Clark, 10, and six-year-old niece, Toni Murray. But the 40-year-old from Hebburn claims it turned sour when she was asked to pay an extra £20 because they left two onion rings, a piece of prawn toast, and a spring roll on their plates.



Staff pointed out a notice that explained customers would be charged for “wastage of food” but Miss Clark, who avoided the additional bill by putting the leftover food in her handbag, has accused the restaurant of poor customer service. She said: “After we had our starters, we went up for our main course. But a member of staff came over and asked if we weren’t going to eat the food on our plates, and said we would have to pay an extra £20 to cover food wastage costs.

“I was furious and said we were already paying £18 for three meals, but the staff kept checking if we had eaten the food. In the end I wrapped it up in a serviette, and put it into my bag when they weren’t looking, so it looked like we had eaten it.” Miss Clark said she complained after the meal, last Saturday afternoon, and was given £3 off her bill. She added: “We squared the bill and left before having our main course.



“In the end I didn’t have to pay the extra charge, but it felt as though they were trying to rip me off. This was very poor customer service and I wanted to make the public aware.” Sam Fung, manager at the Kylin Buffet, said: “I accept that my staff should not have spoken to the family about the food on their plates more than once. However, they left a lot of food from the buffet on their plates and we have to charge for wastage of food. We stand by our policies.”