Slug & Lettuce @ Richmond - WARNING

[AdamK]

Hi,

First off, apologies if this is the wrong place for this post, MODs feel free to move it.

Secondly, I didn't really want to post this at all, but then I realized that it's just my old Irish mentality of not wanting to complain about anything, and that I should let people know of the experience we had at the Slug & Lettuce in Richmond on Saturday - especially seeing at the amount of Leinster fans that frequented the bar.

A group of us made our way down to the bar on Saturday afternoon. I went into the bar and my mother said she'd go up for the round. She met an eldery Ulster gentlemen (in his late 60s) at the bar and they got chatting. Now, this fella was nice as anything, if a little animated, but not a bad bone in his body. When they got to the bar they were refused, when I asked my mother what the bar manager said to them she said 'He said he wouldn't serve people who wave money at them'. Referring to the fact that they had cash in their hand in clear view when ordering their drinks. Neither of them were waving the cash. The bar manager made a point of saying it to the Ulster man, but refused to serve my mother either.

I didn't think too much of it at the time and I offered to get the drinks instead. I made my way to the bar through the que when I noticed my mother had felt aggrieved enough to make a complaint to another bar manager, who was female. At that point the bar manager who originally refused to serve them started shouting out from behind the bar 'Ignore her you've better things to be doing with your time'. After a moment he made a point of going up to two of them were they seemed to exchange words.

I went over, by this time their conversation had finished, where my mother was clearly upset by what was said to her. First, he accused her of calling him stupid, which was untrue. Then when the other manager gave her the owner's business card to register a complain, the barmanager turned to her and said 'You f*cking Irish, you think you can have everything you own way!'

We left and after a few minutes made a point of forgetting about the whole situation, as we wanted to enjoy the day that was in it. But thinking back on it, I'm pretty disgusted with the whole thing. Us 'f*cking Irish' were paying his wages for the rest of the month considering the amount of us in there buying food and drink. How busy can that place be on a saturday afternoon when there isn't a match on? And the fact the were nothing but polite yet he felt the need to abuse my mother was also pretty low. The other manager admitted she was his wife, and afterwards you could see her pulling him aside and she didn't look happy.

Anyway, rant over. I just thought I'd share it with you as I know a lot of Leinster fans like to frequent the bars around the riverside there, but I for one will definitely not visit the place again, when quite simply the barmanager was borderline racist.

[berniemac67]

that pub is part of a national chain afaik

i'd bet that a well written complaint to head office will get significant results

PS: just checked the website. it is a national chain, and they have a facebook page. the site has a feedback form, i'd definitely write and complain

[AdamK]

that pub is part of a national chain afaik

i'd bet that a well written complaint to head office will get significant results

Thanks, will do.

[mikerob]

The S&L in Richmond has a great location by the river but other than that, it has very little going for it. In the few times I've been there, my impression was that they don't give a sh!t about customer service as they know punters are going to flock to the place anyway, particularly if the weather is good.

[honeyec]

Adamk, I was talking you your mum outside the Slug & Lettuce after that happened and she wasn't a happy camper at all. I'd definitely be sending them a polite, but assertive letter letting them know that you aren't a bit impressed.

Bar staff are the single biggest reason I could never live anywhere in the UK - beyond useless.

[domhnallj]

You should definitely write to the company - if possible get the managing directors name and address and either send your letter to him/her or send a copy. Make sure that you mention the rude and aggressive behaviour of the manager and highlight the racist comments you had to suffer. Also state that you have let your friends/family/and us on the board know exactly how you were treated. That you won't be back over their threshold ever again. After hearing this I will never set foot in one of their pubs (I can't stand them anyway) until I hear that your complaint has been resolved. If you managed to get the names of the staff it would help that you could mention them by name but not to worry if you didn't. I'd be surprised if you didn't hear back within a week of posting your letter.

[ronk]

What's the situation with English licensing laws? Can you still object to the renewal of their license? Complain to the police? Picket them for a future match?

[domhnallj]

What's the situation with English licensing laws? Can you still object to the renewal of their license? Complain to the police? Picket them for a future match?

I think making derogatory comments about someones nationality would be grounds for a formal warning from the police (but am prepared to be corrected by any lawyers). I suggest that no-one steps inside the place on match days until Adam and his ma are happy with the outcome to their complaint. Simple and effective - hit their pocket.

[AdamK]

Adamk, I was talking you your mum outside the Slug & Lettuce after that happened and she wasn't a happy camper at all. I'd definitely be sending them a polite, but assertive letter letting them know that you aren't a bit impressed.

Bar staff are the single biggest reason I could never live anywhere in the UK - beyond useless.

Hey! Small world and all that. Was great to meet you!

And thanks for the advise all. Didn't wanna sound like a moany michael or anything but just thought I'd give the heads up considering how many Leinster punters were in there on the day... I'll let you know how we get on if we get any response.

[sheepshagger]

Manager according to thir website is Nicole Gore, their email is

SlugandLettuce.Richmond@stonegatepubs.com

http://www.slugandlettuce.co.uk/richmond/feedback

[bails]

I was present in the pub and witnessed this man's offensive behaviour, towrd your mother. He refused to give me his namer.

I have already written to the Chain of Pubs outlining the incident and his subsequent racist behaviour.

Please don't ever cross the door of this Pub again, there are lots of other alternatives.

[Sea_point]

Always take a name in situations like that, regardless if you never do anything with it. Or take a photo with your mobile if he refuses to give his name. There was absolutely no excuse for a bigoted comment.

Don't bother writing to the Pub, go directly to the company offices with your complaint.

Do call us on 0845 126 2944

or write to us at:

Slug & Lettuce Co Ltd
Porter Tun House
500 Capability Green
Luton, Bedfordshire, LU1 3LS

The Parent Company Stonegate has a contact form and you can select from a list of their full range of Pubs when submitting comments: http://www.stonegatepubs.com/contact/

He obviously couldn't cope with the amount of business that they were getting and was stressed which'd be the only reason any barman/manager would complain about note waving (the English do it all the time, I came over here as a barman 24 years ago and worked in and ran pubs for my first six years over here). In my day I'd take in a session as much as three English staff would easily, they just can't handle volume business.

Ronk - you'd have to residing in the district and be a council tax payer to be able to object to a pub licence or request a review via Richmond Borough Council.

[Sea_point]

****Duplicate****

[bails]

I was present in the pub and witnessed this man's offensive behaviour, towrd your mother. He refused to give me his namer.

I have already written to the Chain of Pubs outlining the incident and his subsequent racist behaviour.

Please don't ever cross the door of this Pub again, there are lots of other alternatives.

I got a standard e-mail acknowledging receipt and advising that they will be in touch when they have investigated the incident

[sid]

Note made to self to avoid any future time I'm in London for a game.

[simplythebest]

I was present in the pub and witnessed this man's offensive behaviour, towrd your mother. He refused to give me his namer.

I have already written to the Chain of Pubs outlining the incident and his subsequent racist behaviour.

Please don't ever cross the door of this Pub again, there are lots of other alternatives.

I got a standard e-mail acknowledging receipt and advising that they will be in touch when they have investigated the incident

No disrespect but this is a very old fashioned way of airing your complaints and will be met with the usual procedure of wearing you down. They will take an age to investigate and then come back with some drivel. By that stage your outrage will have subsided and you'll just let it go. I was reading an article recently that people who complain on Twitter and Facebook tend to get instantaneous and positive outcomes to their complaints. Apparently this is the way to make a compliant nowadays, and skip the letter writing and/or ringing Customer Service etc. Businesses are terrified of the "All can see" nature of Social Media and feel that they must not only act, but be very clearly seen to have acted, in the case of poor publicity. The Slug & Lettuce have a Facebook page.

[Logorrhea]

Thanks for the heads up, will be sure to avoid in the future.

[rosscarrick]

This is awful to hear, but fails to surprise me.
Nearly all the bar staff I met were slow, unfriendly and inept at bar service.
I'll be more patient with our Irish staff in future!

[ratpack]

Not shocked to hear this tbh, sad state of affairs really. I live in Chester and have have been to the Slug and Lettuce here and in fairness it's always been decent.

Wholly agree that the standard of bar staff in the UK is abysmal, generally very slow.

If I owned a bar in the UK I think I'd have to try to pay my staff on the basis of how much drink they serve!! Only way to get them to move!

[ellandleinster]

Loving this thread. keep it coming folks!!!