02 January 2023 , 16:05
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Customers who faced a nightmare Christmas Day lunch have finally received an apology from the hospitality giant Marston's after a pub had a festive shambles.
The trouble began at the George and Dragon, in Meaford, near Stone, in Staffordshire after three members of staff failed to show up.
Customers' gripes included waiting too long between courses, 'cold' soup, 'Yorkshire puddings that looked like pancakes', 'burnt' stuffing, and the kitchen shutting at 4pm which left diners without their puddings.
One customer, Debbie Conway said will never forget her 2022 Christmas Day visit to the George and Dragon - for all the wrong reasons.
She told Stoke on Trent Live: "When the main arrived, I had ordered sea bass, it was cold, I had to search for the fish, and there wasn’t enough to make into a fish finger. The prawns were only cooked on one side. No management came to see us - we had to find them."
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Claire Trenfield, who has already received her refund, added: "We were in the party of 12 that left without waiting for our desserts to be served. It was an absolute joke."
Staff failed to show at The George and Dragon (BPM MEDIA)The Christmas Day shambles has attracted four TripAdvisor complaints.
Each review has given just one star out of five.
One read: "The main meals arrived with a few small bits of turkey, pigs in blankets, burnt stuffing, rock hard vegetables, cold beef gravy for turkey, and no cranberry.
"I partly ate mine because I was starving. We did not wait for the sweets to be served. Other parties in the upstairs dining area had the same experience we had."
Another party had a two-hour wait for their main course.
The reviewer said: "I was ready to start eating the table - and it would probably have been the tastier option. Overcooked veg , a Yorkshire pudding that resembled a slightly puffed-up pancake, and gravy that was just brown water."
Marston's has issued a statement on behalf of itself and the venue.
A Marston's spokesman said: “We are extremely sorry that our guests had a disappointing time on Christmas Day.
"We had three members of the team who didn't show up for the later shift and unfortunately errors were made.
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"We have spoken to the customers directly to apologise and resolved the situation.
"The standards were not up to what our customers should have expected and for that we are very sorry.”