Pub owner hits back at customer who says they 'won't be back' for rude behaviour
A pub owner didn't hold back after a grumbling customer left a one-star review after eating at his boozer.
The seething customer made himself memorable, but not in a good way, slating the "zero customer service skills" at The Clickham Inn in Blencow, near Penrith in Cumbria.
The quaint countryside pub has 918 Tripadvisor reviews, with 805 of them being "excellent". It's also in the top 10 best-rated restaurants in the whole of the Lake Districts. But grumpy punter John wasn't happy, branding the service "terrible" when he and his wife visited for her birthday.
John wrote a furious review last year titled "WE WON'T BE BACK!!!" and went on to explain his frustrations. His main gripe was with the service, which he claimed was "rude" and "abrupt", with a "very hostile owner." He also said there was a "dog barking at his table begging for food".
The boss of the dog friendly-pub, Stephen Bailey, hit back on TripAdvisor, saying: "We are all collectively really happy that you will never be returning as we are known for being attentive and polite and it is easy being nice to nice people."
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Steve, writing under the username Geri B (who is also an owner of the pub), started with: "This review was expected and anyone who read your nasty words will be interested to read the truth.
"Firstly, upon entering your entitled self-important self was rude and dismissive of our helpful staff to the point that the staff warned me about the terrible people on table 15."
"After being escorted to your table and a short while after your drinks order being carried to your table an experienced member of our staff asked if you were ready to order. This was met with how you wanted to wait until you were ready to order and how amateur we were for asking."
A furious customer left a 'terrible' review of the pub him and his wife visited but got a scathing response back (Getty Images)It seems that Steve and John failed to hit it off from the get-go. When Steve introduced himself he said John had "talked over me and had an opinion on everything," and according to the owner, the "rudeness" continued from the customer throughout the meal.
Things came to a head when John had asked for the dessert menu and was denied because the kitchen was closed, and while usually accommodations could be made for customers, owner Steve said he wouldn't reward bad behaviour.
He added: "Ordinarily we would have made your sweets, regardless of the time but you were not going to be rewarded for your bad behaviour."
Owner Stephen told Cumbria Rack at the time that they rarely get bad reviews on their TripAdvisor page, but that staff had "warned me how bad he was and in the end he walked out shouting after he paid for the meal but I wasn't getting into a shouting match".
He said: "It's just one of those rare bad occasions, but I’m not going to be ruled by bad customers, otherwise you open yourselves up to all sorts and lose control."
The Clickham Inn describes itself as a traditional village pub in a "great rural location, complete with open fires, fine beers and a very warm welcome". It's also dog-friendly.
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