To not understand snobbery against Wetherspoons?

[CatsArePeople]

They're really ok. Certainly not worse than McDonalds or your local greasy spoon.

I'm about as anti Brexit and anti Tory as it gets, and it's definitely not my kind of place to go out, but I have to defend the way they treat staff. My dd worked there as a student for a few years and she and her young colleagues were treated really well as an employee. They were furloughed during covid, and they were given generous bonuses when their branch did well. They got good pay too for their age and experience.
Contrast that to the local hippyish alternative cafe my other dd worked in which treated their young staff like utter shit. I will never set foot in there for the way they treated them. It's not always black and white.

Tim Martin is reason alone not to go there imo. Plus the general crowd that hang out there, not great.

I wouldn’t give Tim Martin the steam off my piss…

I would sooner go home and cook my own tea.

@dogseggs

I'm about as anti Brexit and anti Tory as it gets, and it's definitely not my kind of place to go out, but I have to defend the way they treat staff. My dd worked there as a student for a few years and she and her young colleagues were treated really well as an employee. They were furloughed during covid, and they were given generous bonuses when their branch did well. They got good pay too for their age and experience. Contrast that to the local hippyish alternative cafe my other dd worked in which treated their young staff like utter shit. I will never set foot in there for the way they treated them. It's not always black and white.

Interesting. Good to hear something positive. It seems as though the quality of management is variable across the chain. I used to think they were awful based on my local ‘spoons, the look and feel, and how they treat their staff. Then I found myself in a lovely one when I visited Bristol - it couldn’t have felt more different.

I don't dislike wetherspoons per say, I just don't like the party atmosphere of tons of newly turned 18 year olds, college kids, and creepy old men. I prefer proper country pubs with fires and there's a low murmur and you can actually hear the conversation. That could just be the WPs near me though.

@Momicrone

Well not sure I'd hang out in my local weatherspoons as a woman on my own

Always the victims, eh?

Well not sure I'd hang out in my local weatherspoons as a woman on my own
Must depend on your local pub and area as as a woman I like nothing better than taking myself off to our local one and ordering a couple of drinks!
Free WiFi and cheap grog, what's not to like

The big plus for me is the 'no piped music' or blaring TVs policy - inspired by Orwell's essay 'The Moon Under Water', a description of his favourite (fictional) pub. The coffee (Lavazza) is excellent, as is the wi-fi....so for 99p, and a log-fire ! I find its a great place to work.

Mothernatureson, eh? I'm very happy to go to a bar on my own just not somewhere full of drunk men like wetherspoons, how does that make me a victim?

It's not snobbery. I just hate Tim Martin and all he stands for. Brexit is my main complaint, but the way he behaved in the pandemic is also awful.
I still have to go there when I'm in the UK because I have friends on a low income who won't go elsewhere and others who need a big place to be sure of space and being able to distance.

@balanceo

The big plus for me is the 'no piped music' or blaring TVs policy - inspired by Orwell's essay 'The Moon Under Water', a description of his favourite (fictional) pub. The coffee (Lavazza) is excellent, as is the wi-fi....so for 99p, and a log-fire ! I find its a great place to work.

Some of them do have TVs now.

"Well not sure I'd hang out in my local weatherspoons as a woman on my own

Always the victims, eh?"

Some pubs aren't good for women on their own. Most of the Weatherspoons I know are OK, but there are some old men's boozers where a woman would just be stared at and hassled.

@3teens2cats

And just to add ds actually worked there for several months and was treated very badly!

Weatherspoons staff often hate Tim Martin. They also hate having to put out his awful Brexit magazine.

"Wetherspoons are happy to sell booze long after they should be refusing service"

I find the opposite. They're stricter than other places about this, maybe because they have a reputation as a cheap pub.

Cheap micro waved and fried food isn't really my thing. Give me a country pub any day.

If cheap and cheerful is your thing though and you aren't fussed by quality then go for it.

Gwenhwyfar Sat 15-Jan-22 13:02:41
balanceo

The big plus for me is the 'no piped music' or blaring TVs policy - inspired by Orwell's essay 'The Moon Under Water', a description of his favourite (fictional) pub. The coffee (Lavazza) is excellent, as is the wi-fi....so for 99p, and a log-fire ! I find its a great place to work.

Some of them do have TVs now.

Nearly all have TVs......but with the SOUND TURNED OFF !

Another reason some people like Wetherspoons is that many of them are really good re disabled access (though others are impossible - it does depend on the building).

Mind you, I hope those of you whining and virtue-signalling about Tim Martin's politics also boycott Amazon, whose treatment of staff and negative impact on high streets and small businesses is far, far worse.

And IKEA for its use of child labour ?

I agree! For cheap eats they are great, good when travelling and you need to watch the budget some nights especially. Their hotels are good too I've found. They are what they are - you won't get innovative food options but for basics like steak and chips they come up trumps. Food snobs don't like them because they are full of ordinary people, people who want tasty filling food rather than something that requires waiter interpretation. Drinks are cheap too, and excellent draft ale unlike many bars and restaurants

Tim Martin is a bit of a knob. But Wetherspoons pubs aren't that bad. Good for a cheap lunch, my kids like going there. And I've been in some on my own sometimes.

If I go out somewhere with my kids I usually try and find a Wetherspoons because I know what's on the menu, and know it won't cost loads. Pretty basic stuff, but their burgers are nice. I like the app, though lots of places use apps for ordering in these covid times.

I also greatly enjoy climbing many flights of stairs to the toilets. It was disappointing when I went to one with the toilets on the ground floor. I felt cheated!

@ChocolateCakeYum

Our local Wetherspoons is definitely posher than many, menu is much more extensive than other branches I've been in with good draft ales. We don't go in much due to the owner but sometimes it just fits the bill, especially when DD's are home from university, they like cocktails and Wetherspoons is cheap!

It's likely to be inconvenient but you do have to time your visits to Wetherspoons if you want to avoid the piss artists. In my experience they turn up every day at opening time and are usually gone by lunchtime so it's a safe bet that you'll avoid their drunken shenanigans by the early afternoon. If you have no choice but to go there for breakfast or elevenses, it's worth bearing in mind that these people tend to huddle together so it should be fairly easy to avoid them, especially in the bigger Wetherspoon pubs.

By and large, I have no problem with Wetherspoon pubs. The company transformed a grim pub near my home several years ago and are already renovating another one they took on just a few years earlier. I'm not interested in Tim Martin's political and socioeconomic views, no matter how much he bangs on about them.

I worked for JDW in their offices and they are a dire company to work for. I know there are some flagship pubs in the chain that are beautiful and they really took pride in how nice their toilets were. Their menu is varied and at good price points so can see why it attracts - however, my local one is a dive and filthy and I’ve never spent any of my money ever again in a JDW chain since leaving there. And yes, the CEO is an awful man.

"Nearly all have TVs......but with the SOUND TURNED OFF !"

Not with a big match on. My local one had a big screen as well (one of those massive white screens you use with a projector).

@balanceo

And IKEA for its use of child labour ?

"Mind you, I hope those of you whining and virtue-signalling about Tim Martin's politics also boycott Amazon, whose treatment of staff and negative impact on high streets and small businesses is far, far worse."

We're not virtue signalling. Like I said I even still go to his pubs. I just make sure I correct all the bullshit in his magazines with a pen.
I prefer to use the high streets to Amazon, but not everything can be found there and for big chunks of the last two years the shops were either closed or open only to small numbers at a time.