The White Horse, Bearsted Green

Since its refurbishment I decided to go for a drink in this pub last night with two other friends. We were first met by a under managed bar where the bar maid was rude and seemed to avoid serving us. When we were eventually served we were all asked for ID which is not a problem as we all had our driving licences on our persons. We were then served our drinks and charged accordingly, however after having our drinks put in front of us we were later informed that as one of our party who was 19 years old she was not allowed to drink on the premises. We asked could we at least finish our drinks and leave, however my friend who is 19 was not allowed to stay. We subsequently asked for a refund so that we could all leave together and was in the first instance only offered a refund for one drink. Eventually the Manager came to aid the situation after we were left for 10mins of waiting for him. He greeted us with contempt and rudeness suggesting that 'there is a pub down the road where the kids drink' bearing in mind two of us are 24. I suggested to him that as the pub did not display any signage of house rules in regards to its age policy, I was distressed about the way we had been treated. He then said 'we do not have to display such information as people just know'. Eventually we were given a full refund and left the premises sharply. I believe the Manager could do with either changing his career path or perhap taking a long awaited course in Customer Service Skills. It is a great shame as the Pub itself is extreamly well fitted out and in a good location, unfortunately it no longer has a welcoming village feel of common decency and courtesy. Instead the Whitehorse has become a place of snobbery where good paying Customers are no longer valued. Take our advice and go to the Oak On The Green.

1 Aug 2007 12:29