Pub’s hilarious response after customer moaned about £2.40 charge for not eating enough

This pub has started to charge people for leaving too much waste on their plate - if they don’t eat enough, the pub adds an additional charge of £2.40.

Customers are shocked by the policy and the popular pub has faced criticism for its unusual idea.

The Star Inn at Vogue, a hamlet that blends into St Day, near Redruth, said it was the first time it had ever enforced the clearly stated policy and that the food left by two individuals was "excessive". 

The Sunday roast meal at the pub costs £12 per person, so the customer was shocked to see an additional charge added to the meal.

The pub allows you to eat as much as you’d like for £12 and said its rule is clearly displayed at the carvery station. However, the customers were not impressed and had "never heard anything like that before".

Landlords of the pub received praise for their decision and replied with a witty response on social media. They said the food left by the two customers could have served two more people, if not more. They also shared images of just how much food the customers left.

Cornishman Mark Graham, who owns and runs the pub, told CornwallLive: "I say my mind and that's how it is. That was the first time we've ever had to put the charge on and the first thing I did was send my staff back out to ask if everything was alright. [The customers] said the food was lovely and that was it."

Mr Graham said: "I don't care about a couple of potatoes getting left. It's just stupid, excessive waste that bothers me. If everyone did that I'd have to cook shed loads of food."

The small charge will go back into the cost of buying ingredients, he said he isn’t bothered about getting the money but it's the principle of waste he doesn’t like.

He added: "I tell everyone, I'm in this game to earn a living, not make a fortune. I just like the job. I've always been in and out of this job since I was 14 and it's a way of life. I enjoy it. I'm making a living, not a killing and I'm not ripping people off. We want to help everybody out."

The pub staff took pictures of the left over food which show the plates are nearly full.

Verity Farmer, the customer who shared her experience on the public Facebook group Newest Newquay, said: "Just been for a Sunday carvery at the Star Inn, Vogue, St Day, we paid for our meal at £12 each, and when we got our bill it had got an extra £4.80 added when questioned about it they said it was a charge for not eating all our meal. I’ve never heard anything like that before."

Verity’s post got nearly 400 comments in less than 24 hours, with The Star Inn also replying to the post. It wrote: "We just try and make sure there is enough food for everyone.

"I'm sure if you were a customer later on in the day and I had to tell you I had no food left for your booking because it had all been wasted and gone in the bin you would not be very happy and would have made another social media post too."

The post sparked debates between people who agreed with the pub, or with Ms Farmer.

Hazel Petrie said: "As my mum would have said they had eyes bigger than their belly. I hate to see good food wasted. The notice in the Star Inn is clear enough; I've seen it myself. It says you can go back for more so it's perfectly fair."

Jaz Holmes said: "Brilliant idea. We went to a carvery today and saw a woman pile on 10 roast potatoes. No exaggeration. I commented to my partner what an absolute waste that's going to be.

"If you're able to go up as many times as you like then there should be absolutely no waste. Take a small plate and go and get more if needed. Simples!"

Christopher Maguire adds: "That's an obscene amount of wastage that would feed me two days when I was broke."

This is not the first time that pub owner Mark has been featured in the news as fashion brand Vogue threatened to sue his pub over its name.

Despite his pub being over 200 years old, the fashion magazine brand wanted Mark to stop using the word ‘vogue’ in its name to avoid confusion. Vogue later admitted it’s mistake and apologised.