City Arms, Wells

I would like to tip off everyone visiting this establishment about our visit today. We have been coming to the City Arms since the 1970s and have always found it to be a very warm and hospitable place with good food. Whilst visiting Wells today after some considerable time, we decided to have lunch there. We waited patiently for our meals for half an hour and when the table next to us received their food as they had actually come in 10 minutes after us we asked the barmaid how long our meal would be as they had put their orders in after us. She snapped at us WHO? We told her which table and as we didn�t want to bring the people in on it we apologised to them.

She shouted at us and pointed her finger in my wife�s face that cooking salmon takes a very long time. My wife said that she cooked salmon fillet in about ten minutes. The barmaid then said that they didn�t cook salmon in butter. She then picked up my half drunk pear cider and stormed off saying that you can have your money back. We both felt that this was a very rude way to treat paying customers and decided that under the circumstances as we had not said anything offensive. We really could not stay and felt that it was best that we took the refund and left. However, she then reappeared with two plates of COLD food. we told her that we couldn�t stay and she shouted at us well you�re not getting any money back from me cos you have got your food.

We asked to speak to management, she said she was the owner and she could do what she liked, which we found quite disturbing. We said that we didn�t feel like eating as we were too upset. She told us to �GET OUT OF MY PUB�!!! been watching too much Eastenders I fear. We had to take the meals outside and eat in the yard. By now it was quite cold outside.

We ate the food because we were actually hungry and had paid for it. Halfway through our meal a gentleman appeared with my half drunken cider and the glass was slammed on the table. I decided not to drink it as by that time so many people had actually handled the glass it was possibly contaminated.

The food was as I suspected it would be - disgusting and cold. The salmon had been cooked in butter and the �hollandaise� sauce was indeed butter sauce. It was all quite tasteless. She told me earlier that If I didn�t enjoy my meal she would refund the money. However, we were far too upset to go back into the pub to tell her about the food for fear of her showing us up again with her vitriolic shouting.

This is taken from her website - Our ethos is one of values, quality, good service and customer awareness. What a joke. She needs to go back to customers services training that is if she ever had any - I think not

19 Sep 2010 18:43