Tap and Spile, Harrogate

I have been going to this pub for the last 7 years or so on and off and for the last
two of those years very regularly indeed taking in various different friends to show
them a decent little Yorkshire pub with a friendly atmosphere and a good beer
especially on a Tuesday evening when the folk jam session is on. Everyone i have
taken into this pub is always pleasantly surprised in many cases with the exception
of the landlord Roger i think hes called. Hes been noted on many occasions as damn
right miserable for someone working in hospitality however although i always
partially agreed i would always stick up for him seeing as though he was ok with me
and i even managed to get a few words out of him an have a quick natter on a few
occasions, not much really after all my custom but ok fair enough. I went in there
with two friends a couple of weeks back now and we ordered three drinks. He told us
the price at about ten pounds something not a cheap pub but were used to that now,
and i explained to him that i was paying for my beer separately to which he replied
raising his voice considerably in an extremely rude manner why "why didn't you tell
me this before i added it up" I was astounded and so shocked and just politely responded
"excuse me" and he carried on moaning again extremely rudely to me saying that i have
done this before to which i replied that i thought he was missing the point of this
argument and the fact he had to deduct about three pounds twenty from the total in his
head and charge it separately was irrelevant the point is you must never talk to a
customer like that especially not a loyal one! By this point i was extremely angry
and offended and shocked and didn't really feel welcome and felt as though i wanted
to leave as did my friends! When we explained this to him he very strongly told me
that after talking to me like i have never experienced anywhere as a customer he
would then go on to bar me from the pub saying that if i didn't pay for these drinks
i would never be allowed back in! Without having time to think about what to do we
stupidly made the mistake of paying for them an left feeling uncomfortable and angry
within ten minutes! In this situation all you expect is a big apology and drinks on
the house! As he knows i work in a bar as a deputy manager myself a considerably
busier one than his most of the time and i do understand and actually struggle myself
with difficult customers who make your job harder but i have never spoken to a
customer the way he did that night and feel i could possibly loose my job if i
did so! Its a great shame that i wont be returning to my favorite pub but i just
don't feel welcome there at all and quite frankly don't want to be putting my money
into a persons pockets who talks to me like that! I think for a start he should
stop drinking quite so many beers behind that bar that we have always seen him
putting away as on this night it clearly affected his attitude as you could see
he was a little drunk and he has lost in my opinion a couple of good customers!

18 Nov 2013 13:45