4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[surfer_chicken]

Every year my group of friends go out for a meal instead of buying each other christmas presents. Last night we went to the local Wetherspoons as it meant we didn't have to rely on parents for lifts and it's always seemed a very light-hearted place so we figured they'd accept a group of twelve 17-19 year olds being a bit over excited (though we were nowhere near as loud as the work party near us ). The table had been booked for 6pm, over a month in advance, with details that there would be a few under-18s and we would be ordering off of the main menu (not Christmas dinners, which had to be booked in advance). When I have been with family before the service has always been pretty good (even letting us bring our own birthday cake and light candles) so we were looking forward to a good evening.

 

When we arrived, dead on 6pm (though there were about 3 of us running late), the waiter came over (who has served us before, at family meals, and has been nice) and said "apparently you're not all 'of age'". He said this in a tone which made it seem as this was somehow inconvenient to him, but we were in the family area of the restaurant and 3 hours before under 18s aren't allowed in the building, plus they were told this when we booked the table. He asked us if he was true we were ordering from the main menu and when we told him we were, he walked off clearly muttering "suit yourself" under his breath.

 

Ten minutes later our three other friends still hadn't turned up, but had rang us to say they were nearly there. Meanwhile we were just sat at the table chatting and looking at the menus. The waiter came over again and asked "are you ready to order yet?", to which we replied, "no, and we're still waiting for some more people to arrive, but they'll be here soon". He then looked at his watch and said, "well it's ten past six, and this table was booked for six so you really should have ordered by now". We all laughed at this, thinking he was joking, but at no point did he smile or laugh in return. By this point I was pretty . Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought when you book a table at a restaurant, you book it for the time you are going to arrive at, not the time you're going to order by.

 

He continued to be rude to us throughout our meal, seeming bored when taking our order and frustrated at those who weren't completely decided at what they were going to order (despite the fact they'd only had a few minutes to look at the menu). He had to walk through our room regularly to get to the rest of the building and would always glare at us as he went past. When about 50% of us had finished our mains he started clearing away plates. As a slow eater I felt extremely rushed by him hovering around and taking away the plates of those who finished their meals almost instantly.

 

After the mains, he asked if we wanted dessert. When we said yes, he paused and sighed (very loudly ) and acted completely inconvenienced when he had to go back and find us some menus. Luckily we had a different waiter serve the desserts as by this point it had essentially ruined my evening. Safe to say we didn't leave a tip, but what annoyed me this most is that before we left we went to the bar to speak to the manager and told him why we didn't leave a tip and all he had to say about it was "...okay".

 

I know people may jump to certain conclusions when they see a large group of teenagers, but we have had perfectly normal service at restaurants we have been to in previous years and did nothing to upset this waiter. He was just rude from the moment he started serving our table. After getting no response from the management I am seriously considering making a written complaint to the head office as I am really annoyed and the evening was ruined for me.

 

Sorry about how long that is, but I really needed to let off steam.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Guest

[Cinnamon]

This sort of thing makes me really angry.

No group of people should be treated differently because of their age,race,gender or whatever - if they are,then that is terrible.

 

You need to write a letter to Wetherspoons head office. Don't be tempted to email them, & also forward a copy to the manager of the branch you visited,& put on each letter that a copy has been sent to the other place,at the bottom.

 

Include as much detail as possible,keeping it measured (not angry sounding),concise & clear. Include a copy of the receipt,if you have one.

 

If you need any help,just pm me,as I can write a pretty decent letter of complaint & would be happy to walk you through it.

[Angie]

I worked for a year in a very well to do Hotel on main reception as a break from nursing, before stopping work due to my health.

All the waiting staff were fantastic and mostly young people ,some older , some quite ancient.

Around Christmas there were many bookings for the main dining room , bistro or family area, even High school proms for 16 - 18 yr olds. Not One of these young guests were ever treated any differently than a vip guest in the hotel.

The Ethos being 1/ Guests pay your wages, 2/ The reputation of the Hotel chain was paramount .3/ Everyone was treated equally from 0 to 100 + yrs. 4/ Be clean , well spoken and your guest needs came first. 5/ smile and be pleasant at all times.

I would be very tempted to inform Witherspoons of there short comings.

Poor staff and word of mouth for poor treatment can destroy the reputation of the chain.

[Chucky Mama]

I agree with Cinnamon, you need to write a complaint. The service was disgraceful and in the current climate they really do need to get their act together

[The Dogmother]

That is disgraceful service and attitude! Complain as Cinnamon has suggested.

[surfer_chicken]

I'm working on a letter now. I'm terrible with them though! So I will send you a PM later Cinnamon when I have a draft worked out. Thank you!

[snowberry]

I can only agree with the comments above. If I had behaved that way when working in hospitality I would have been before a disciplinary hearing.

[Purplemaniacs]

How disappointing for you. I agree with the others, I too would make a complaint.

 

Just because you are younger it does not mean that you are going to cause trouble and you should be treated the same as any other customer. In the party season some people who are old enought to know better can cause a lot of problems and they are not treated differently initially.

 

Very kind of Cinnamon, I am not very good at that type of letter

 

Chrissie

[poachedegg]

Good luck with the complaint - I think some people forget that your age bracket probably have a lot more diposable income than others and that you are their potential future regular customers.....very short sighted of them!

[Geoid]

Complain, but don't rant, be firm but not angry in your letter. I have found you will get a much better response if your letter is polite and sticks to the point.

[sadietoo]

This sort of thing makes me really angry.

No group of people should be treated differently because of their age,race,gender or whatever - if they are,then that is terrible.

 

You need to write a letter to Wetherspoons head office. Don't be tempted to email them, & also forward a copy to the manager of the branch you visited,& put on each letter that a copy has been sent to the other place,at the bottom.

 

Include as much detail as possible,keeping it measured (not angry sounding),concise & clear. Include a copy of the receipt,if you have one.

 

If you need any help,just pm me,as I can write a pretty decent letter of complaint & would be happy to walk you through it.

 

I agree that a complaint should be made. I have a nagging feeling that Wetherspoons Pubs are actually franchised? I'm sure it was Wetherspoons in Clifton where we had to complain about dreadful meals when we were visiting Bristol Uni with DD. It was certainly a franchise because the manager gave us a double refund on all our meals!

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[The Dogmother]

Complain, but don't rant, be firm but not angry in your letter. I have found you will get a much better response if your letter is polite and sticks to the point.

 

And also tell them what you expect in recompense so that it's not left open ended.

[Chicken shack]

I don't think it was your age that bothered them to be honest. They like to get you in and seated on time and back out of the door as quickley as possible as more than likely the table was booked again for 8pm. When my husband was 60 I booked into an eat as much as you like chinese for 60 people. The advert said nothing is to much trouble so I popped in to arrange table decorations and the cake etc. They were visably horrified and told me that we would have to clear the restaurant befor 9pm. As they like a quick turn around, by this time it was to late to book anywhere else. Hotel rooms had been booked for guests who were comming from afar. I decided to cancel and hold it at home. I had less than a week. I ordered food and glasses from Sainsburys, drinks from Tesco and tableware over the internet and party banners and balloons were also delivered. My son took him to London for the day while I set the house up. All 60 guests turned up and he had a great birthday party that went on into the night.

[craftyhunnypie]

Not exactly in the Xmas spirit are they? Good one you to write a complaint - that was disgusting!

Hope you get a good outcome. Don't settle for anything though!

Emma.x

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Totally agree with all the above - you have every right to complain!

[Seagazer]

I don't blame you for complaining, very poor service. If you've booked a table for 6 pm, that doesn't mean you choose your food at 6. That's just silly. Sounds like he's in the wrong job.

[surfer_chicken]

I sent a letter of complaint on 23rd December. Got my reply today. It says:

 

"Thank you for contacting our Customer Service Team.

 

We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the service at the Saracen's Head recently. We do try very hard to provide a good service and standards and apologise if we let you down on this occasion.

 

Please be assured that this matter will be investigated internally and appropriate action will be taken.

 

Thank you again for your valuable feedback. I do hope that you will not be put of from visiting our pubs again.

 

Yours sincerely

 

*******

JD Wetherspoon plc"

 

Not entirely sure how to take that, but at least I got a response. I also sent a copy of the letter to the manager of the branch I visited and haven't heard anything from them.

[Lewis]

Bit of a non answer

[abwsco]

Email address for the chief executive is jhutson@jdwetherspoon.co.uk

[Chucky Mama]

Bit of a non answer

 

I agree, not really good enough. It's a bit like an email auto responder reply

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I think your complaint warranted a more personal response and a proper apology. "We are sorry to hear ..." isn't an apology . You weren't giving them "valuable feedback", you were making a justified complaint .

[The Dogmother]

Yup, it's a fob-off how insulting is that?

[Cinnamon]

I had to write a snotty letter myself to the HO at 'Frankie & Bennys' after an appalling meal,where my first main,which was fish,came overcooked & burnt & the replacement was frozen in the middle.

 

They didn't charge me for either main & gave me a bit of an empty gesture voucher in the restaurant (had to be used in 30 days & only applicable if you bought 2 other mains), so after a night of tummy upset I decided to write...am still waiting for a response.

 

You deserve more than that automated sounding response & if I were you I would write back ,enclosing a copy of your first letter,& say that you expect each complaint made to the company to be dealt with in a timely & individual manner,& that you expect a more personal response & some form of compensatory offer.

 

Again, it to the manager of the restaurant too.

[Seagazer]

Good luck with it. I am awaiting a response from Baxters after I found something blue in a tin of soup - my suspicion is that its a plaster Luckily I hadn't started eating the soup.

[abwsco]

It's definately been worth me dropping a polite email to the MD of a company. I expressed my disappointment in having an online order worth £25 cancelled and they phoned me and have also sent me £75 worth of product which I received today.

 

surfer_chicken, have you emailed the Weatherspoons head man?