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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to complain about this Pub manager's aggressive behaviour?

33 replies

ComposHat · 28/01/2012 01:40

A few hours have passed and I am still seething about this, so apologies if it gets a bit ranty.

Anyway here goes...

I went to a city centre pub I'd never been to before in order to meet a female work colleague. She had arrived ahead of me and had got a table and ordered a drink. She'd also bought her Brompton-style folding bike with her, which was folded up to the size of an overnight case and had put it in the corner out of harms way.

Ten minutes passed and things seemed okay, when the manager ran across the pub screaming at my colleague bellowing at her to move the bike outside, invading her personal space to such a degree that he was inches away from her face and making her feel very uncomfortable. He then frog marched her to the door and when she was away locking up the bike, proceeded to take her coat and handbag and fling it off the chair and berate me about my colleague's bike. I tried to politely explain that it was not my bike, but he wouldn't listen and continued to get more and more hostile.

My colleague had no problem with moving the bike outside and immediately agreed to do so, however we both objected to being confronted with such unprovoked hostility, when a simple polite request would have done the job.

In the course of the 45 minutes he again returned to further harrangue me about an issue that had nothing to do with me. The whole experience was extremely uncomfortable and got quite physically intimidating towards the end.

So anyway I got home and decided I wasn't going to put up with this and sent a furious letter to the Brewery complaining about this. One part of me thinks that he shouldn't be allowed to get away with this, although another thinks I should have let it lie and just given the pub a wide berth in future.

So was I BU to send an email of complaint to the Brewery?

OP posts:
Boomerwang · 28/01/2012 01:44

Did nobody else in the pub see this? I'm astonished that nobody tried to help. I have no idea if a brewery would help you out but his behaviour sounds too incredible to be a one off so if others have complained maybe the letter is worth it. Can't hurt anyway, can it?

You are not being unreasonable, imo.

LineRunner · 28/01/2012 01:45

Honestly? I'd have left as soon as I was treated discourteously.

WorraLiberty · 28/01/2012 01:46

How utterly weird, was he drunk or something??

randommoment · 28/01/2012 01:59

You're not BU. City centre pubs are rather strange places and I don't like them very much, but this seems hyper weird.

ComposHat · 28/01/2012 02:00

I had a look on a few pub review sites and numerous people have complained about this man's behaviour.

Complaints included:
Refusing to serve tap water with a £20 round of drinks
chucking people out for not drinking fast enough
Chucking people out for only ordering soft drinks
Someone asking if they could eat a shop bought sandwich with a drink they'd bought in the pub only to have 'Fuck off' screamed back at them.

A few regulars (I assume) saw it and tried to play it down 'don't take it personally love, he's a grumpy git sometimes' when my friend was taking the bike out. In my opinion it went beyond being merely grumpy and towards threatening and aggressive.

Crazy thing is, it was voted the city's CAMRA pub of the year for 2011. Obviously they don't mark on service or he was enough of a crawl arse to kept his trap shut when CAMRA were in.

OP posts:
Boomerwang · 28/01/2012 02:10

You could do with sending off the info about the pub review website to the brewery.

ComposHat · 28/01/2012 02:14

Bommerwang - I did mention it to the Brewery so hopefully they will realise it isn't a one off.

OP posts:
ThatVikRinA22 · 28/01/2012 02:37

i would copy and paste the above issues to the brewery! what a dick! you are right to complain. do it loudly.

HairyBeaver · 28/01/2012 05:50

Well if his a tenant landlord then the brewery wont do a thing as its nothing to do with them

Shushshessleeping · 28/01/2012 08:45

I hope you didn't give him anymore money! Absolute shocker, seems like he wouldn't care if you complained though to be honest.

Shutupanddrive · 28/01/2012 08:51

Definately complain

UnimaginitiveDadThemedUsername · 28/01/2012 09:06

OP - put your experience on the pub review site.

jinkers · 28/01/2012 09:21

That sounds really frightening and totally unacceptable. Don't know where in the UK you are, but in Scotland you could also write to the local Licensing Board and express your concerns about this man's irrational and aggressive behaviour making him unsuitable to hold a licence. It may be a similar system elswhere.

MorelliOrRanger · 28/01/2012 09:26

I'd actually have left the pub and spend my hard earned cash elsewhere.

*surprised you carried on drinking there.

YANBU to complain and also to give them a wide berth next time.

Jolyonsmummy · 28/01/2012 09:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lottiegb · 28/01/2012 09:31

I think you'd have been unreasonable not to complain. Behaviour like that needs to be dealt with for the sake of the next customer. You could pass on your letter and highlight the reviews to CAMRA too.

ShatnersBassoon · 28/01/2012 09:37

I don't understand why you didn't leave as soon as he appeared unhinged. He frogmarched your friend across the pub, yet you stayed and spent money there. Strange way to let him know you thought he was behaving badly.

eurochick · 28/01/2012 09:38

YADNBU to complain. TBH I would have walked out at the bike incident and voted with my £££.

TheParanoidAndroid · 28/01/2012 10:13

A man screamed in your collegues face, "frogmarched" her out, threw her belongings about and yet you sat down and ordered a drink, and let him shout at you some more, to the point of physical intimidation? In a city centre where there is presumably no end of other places you could go?

Really?
Either you are exaggerating or you are a masochist. Why would you do that?

lurkerspeaks · 28/01/2012 11:17

I would complain but I would also have left as soon as he started to manhandle my belongings.

I would also have been twitchy twitchy about leaving a brompton outside. Because they are so small and portable they get stolen a lot. Only really safe it with owner.

Were you in London? Near Waterloo?

JustHecate · 28/01/2012 11:18

Why on earth did you stay there?

Why should he benefit from your money while treating you like that?

Rindercella · 28/01/2012 11:20

YANBU to complain. But why did you choose to stay there after his initial bout of rudeness? I would have left immediately and chosen to spend my money in a place where the staff treated me properly.

MarquiseOfMelburnia · 28/01/2012 11:30

Absolute arsehole. Sorry no advice to offer. I probably would have screamed back at him, grabbed my things, left, then told anyone who would listen never to go in there.

Some publicans have just been doing it too long, I think.

ComposHat · 28/01/2012 12:39

No we didn't order another drink, we finished the one and only ones we'd bought and then left.

I was buggered if he was going to rob us of the drinks we'd paid for.

The pub was in Liverpool.

OP posts:
MrsPotter · 28/01/2012 12:42

name and shame them, i would.

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