We keep hearing about how threatened the hospitality industry is....business rates, small businesses taxed into oblivion etc.... but Im starting to think its just a giant rip off. I went out for lunch yesterday, 5 of us, to a country pub . The first 4 things people asked for on the menu they didnt have. ( It was becoming a bit like a 2 Ronnies or Monty Python sketch by the end " oh well, yes you see, we havent actually got that" over and over again) The water they brought was in a dirty jug. The seats of the banquet thing we sat on had stains on, the toilets, and indeed the restaurant itself, were really really cold, and there was an old local with literally one tooth standing at the bar half drunk who kept coming up interfering in our conversation....hugging my elderly mother and almost spitting in our food when he spoke. When we raised eyebrows, we were told by the( very flaky ) waitress that he was a ' harmless part of the furniture'. The food was nice but the bill was £200. I left feeling like we customers are all ever so slightly having the piss taken out of us by all these moaning restaurant owners. It's by no means the first time Ive felt like this after going out to eat either. And im not one of those moaning minnies who deliberately looks for faults just coz i like having a go either. Whatever happened to decent food at reasonable prices in a warm space with clean surroundings. Is that really too much to ask these days. I remember a time when reasonable quality goods and services was standard. You didnt pay extra for what should be basic good quality. Its all getti g a bit Emperors New Clothes. Anyone else finding this to be true ? I think a lot of so called ' business people' need to get their heads out of their arses.