Not eating there

[bordellosboheme]

Long story short. It was a friends birthday and she invited 15 of us to a local pub for lunch. She had reserved us tables. As soon as I arrived the manger said to me.... 'We need your tables' there are other people coming after you. I asked her what time she needed us out (baring in mind we had booked) and she refused to give a time, instead saying 'I'm sending the bar manger up to speak to everyone'. Wibu at this point, to flounce off and not order a meal as I felt under time pressure and treated badly. Gutted as had not seen my mates for ages. They later came around to the house and apparently the woman treated them like that too. They were annoyed too. We were spending a couple of hundred quid there probably.....

Reduced to tears by that? You cry too easily!!
VU, overly dramatic and totally unnecessary - hope your mates get into trouble for not paying as well

So not only did you flounce out of the lunch arranged to celebrate your mate's birthday but a couple of your mate's friends refused to pay for the food and drink that they'd already had, at this lunch arranged to celebrate your mate's birthday? I think your mate really needs to get new friends pronto!

"Reduced me to tears" "Horrid You sound like Violet Elizabeth Bott.

I can't believe you're still defending your poor timekeeping and rudeness.

If you're telling guests you want their seat before they've even sat down to eat, you're way too greedy a business owner IMHO

It's got nothing to do with greed and everything to do with managing people's expectations and running a system that is universally known to work.

Arriving 20 minutes late to a restaurant sends a very clear message that you genuinely believe that your time is vastly more important than anyone else's. The manageress was absolutely right to make you aware that the table was rebooked for later, because in my experience people who are perfectly happy to keep their own friends waiting certainly aren't going to have any qualms about keeping other customers waiting by hogging the table for longer than is reasonable.

This entire situation could have been avoided if you had just turned up on time. It's really not that hard.

The landlady had said exactly the same to the birthday girl who had arrived early. So it wasn't about being late. We don't live in some metropolis. We live in a sleepy town in Wales.

If that makes you cry you need to get out more.

Only 5 year olds use the word "horrid", surely. Adults say "horrible". And no, I have never been 20 minutes late without calling and letting people know, and I have never been reduced to tears by a jumped-up waitress. Perhaps you need assertiveness training and a better watch.

So the party had been reminded that there was another sitting to come after them. I don't see the problem. It also doesn't alter the fact that your poor manners and timekeeping made the situation more difficult.

You cried because a manager informed you that your table would be needed soon?
But are "laughing" at these responses?

IMO it would take A LOT to walk out on a friends birthday because of the staff.

Do you frequently make dramatic gestures in the face of mild conflict?

Basically what Lolly said, we run a restaurant and book at 15 minute intervals, someone coming in late means all the people who turn up on time the run the risk of their meals being late because the kitchen gets hit all at the same time.

So id rather just piss off the customer who was late than every other poor guest!

Also "hard earned cash", do you know how small restaurant profit margins are? I hope the place took a credit card on booking and charge it for both your thieving mates meal and your no show.

YWBVVVU, for all the reasons others have said.

Twenty minutes is a long time in restautant terms. What sort of fuss would you have made if the staff had been 20 minutes late bringing out your food?

Grow up.And stop being late for things.

Why is everyone on here being so nasty to the op?

It is unfortunate that you were late as this delayed the ordering - in fact, that was unreasonable of you.

However, the manager was also unreasonable. If they were not able to facilitate a group booking (telling your friend as soon as she arrived that tables were needed) then they clearly don't know how to manage customers.

These replies are making me laugh. I'm assuming everyone whose saying WIBU has never been 20 minutes late for anything, ever.

Oh, I have been late, but I dont think I have ever been late to a table booked at a restaurant, that would have been rude and disrespectful.

So, have I got this right - your friend booked a large group booking on a busy sunday and was reminded that it was a booking for a set period, she was happy with this and continued, but one of the party (you!) turned up rather late, which made the staff think they were unlikely to turn around your group before the next diners arrived, and wanted to remind you to hurry you.

You got in a strop and left - assuming not ordering or eating. Other members of the group had ordered already and did eat, but some of the group walked out without paying. Did the others pay and were they able to just pay for their own, or did they end up paying for the total bill for the group?

In fact, have you via your actions, meant that a rather embarrassed birthday girl ended up having her birthday meal ruined and she paid out to cover the short fall in the bill?

you were late. by the time you fluffed about, sat down, looked at menu n ordered you would have held up the whole sitting by at least another half hour on top of what they already allowed to turn over the tables. you say it was a sleepy village, then having 2 big bookings on the one night was important and one late cudnt give a shit world revolves around me customer was not gonna lose them the income and they were right.

I hope the place took a credit card on booking and charge it

Agreed. Both for the thieving diner and for the OP.

MrsCosmopilite I have a gut feeling perhaps op may have arrived later than 20 mins giving her op and replies.

now if the manager was rude that should not have happened. she could have delivered the news more diplomatically but in essence what she said was nbu.

Sorry but I have some sympathy for the OP. The restaurant did sound rude, especially not really saying a time you needed to eat by. I think 20 mins isn't so terribly late so they should have said we need the table in about an hour and a half. You make a call not to eat starter or whatever. But just, 'we need the table as soon as possible' when you have 15 people eating. I would be tempted to say 'Fuck that. Have it now then.'
In reality I would probably have ordered a drink and stayed with my friends though rather than risk spoiling things.

I think a lot of posters have missed out on the 'service industry' element of the business that a restaurant is running. Even if the Op is a bit silly any restaurant with staff who reduce a paying customer to tears doesn't deserve many paying customers.

20 minutes late (with small child)

You knew you had a child before getting ready?

I have 2 little children, I know that, so allow time to get myself and them ready.

I am never late.

Being told your table is needed again before you sit down to eat? When would you rather have been told? When you ordered? When the food came? 15mins before they needed the table and you still hadn't ordered dessert/coffee because you didn't realised there was a time constraint? Who's fault would it have been then?

It is common practice for restaurants to inform customers at the time of booking and remind them when they arrive that the table will be needed again at X time. Normally 2 hours after.

If the member of staff was infact rude in they're method of relying this information to you should have complained to a senior member of staff. Who probably would have said the same thing in a more dipolmatic way.

If it was the actual situation of them needing the table back that you found rude or upsetting you need to get out more!

Hmm...I do agree that the restaurant could have been more specific in actually telling you the time they needed the table back for.

That said, if I knew I was going to be late to something like that I would have let friend know and either asked them to pick me a starter or said 'look, do starters without me and I'll order a main when I come. Don't wait for me'. Not clear if any of that happened?

The landlady had said exactly the same to the birthday girl who had arrived early. So it wasn't about being late

No, it was about MANAGING EXPECTATIONS.

The manager was EXPLAINING TO YOUR FRIEND that she did not have exclusive use of the table for an indefinite period of time.

RESTAURANTS ARE THERE TO MAKE MONEY, and the only way they can make money is by SERVING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS EVERY SERVICE.

Customers need to SIT AT A TABLE in order to eat their food.

Restaurants have FINITE NUMBERS OF TABLES.

As you may be aware, there is a TEMPORAL DIMENSION TO THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT - in other words, TIME IS A THING THAT EXISTS.

Therefore, most restaurants seek to "turn tables" during a service, ie have MORE THAN ONE SEATING ON EACH TABLE. Your party was the EARLY BOOKING.

Clearly, there was a LATE BOOKING on that table too.

Your party NEEDED TO HAVE VACATED THE TABLE BEFORE THE SUBSEQUENT PARTY ARRIVED, so that the new arrivals had a place to sit down.

This means that you needed to have ordered, received your food, eaten it, asked for the bill, argued over the bill, and paid the bill, BEFORE THE NEXT PARTY ARRIVED.

Customers have the use of their table for a finite but reasonable period of time. If they CANNOT BE FUCKING BOTHERED TO ROCK UP ON TIME, then it is impossible for the restaurant to serve them in the anticipated timeframe.

Informing customers that they have the use of the table for a finite period of time is normal practice. The manageress was not being a bitch. She was trying to explain a really fucking basic concept. I can only imagine how she must have gone into the kitchen and howled with laughter when you stormed off, affronted by her temerity.

Sorry but what kind of nasty piece of work reduces a customer to tears then goes and 'howls with laughter' in the kitchen? Not one who should be customer facing.

I'm giving the OP the benefit of the doubt that it was the rude and unhelpful delivery of the message that got to her, not the message itself.

Where did "howled with laughter" come from? Talk about expanding the op.