Mum says cafe made her pay for drink they gave to man who had nasty fall

A cafe apparently charged a woman for a cup of tea that they gave to a man who fell over - and people are saying it was pretty cheap of them.

In a now deleted post shared on Mumsnet, the woman explained that she helped a man who had tripped over and cut his face when staff intervened and asked if he needed a drink.

After the man left, the woman went to order her food and staff charged her for the cup of tea they’d made.

Writing about the incident, she said: “Eventually, the man felt able to sit up and he was helped to a table at the cafe by some lovely people. A member of staff brought the First aid kit and we cleaned up his face and temporary patch.

“The staff member asked if he wanted anything. He wanted water (blood in his mouth) and as he’d have to wait for whilst his lift arrived he wanted a cuppa tea with several sugars.

“I went into the cafe and put in his request, took them to him.“I returned to my children and dog and then went to order drinks and cake for us. As I paying the member of staff was running through my order said “oh yes, and a cup of tea.”

“Me: ‘I hadn’t ordered a tea.’ Staff: ‘It’s the tea you bought earlier.’ Me: ‘But that was the man who had the accident....’

“Staff: ‘Is he coming to pay for it? Me: ‘No he’s left’. Tumbleweed silence.....staff member looking at me.

“Me: ‘Oh whatever I’m not falling out over a cuppa tea,’ and I paid. I’m a scaredy-cat afraid of a challenge, aren’t I? I shouldn’t have paid.”

Reacting to the story, some people thought the cafe was being mean.

One said: “How much does a teabag and cup of hot water cost, what a bunch of meanies. Hope he is ok.”

Another wrote: “I can’t believe they expected anyone to pay for a cup of tea! How much does a cup of tea cost them to make? Certainly not what they charge for it. They could have covered it themselves for the man who fell.”

But others thought the cafe shouldn’t lose out on income. One wrote: “Well, you should have offered to pay for it, to begin with. It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind not to offer.”

And another said: “Although it seems tight if any business is near a place where people have regular accidents, it could cost them a fortune. No business can sustain that.”