To not understand snobbery against Wetherspoons?

[CatsArePeople]

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

I thought people hated Wetherspoons because the owner showed himself to be a scummy piece of shit when the pandemic started?

There's one near me even though I'm in Ireland. I was in it once and I couldn't believe the lighting, it was like 100 watt bulbs. No wonder young people go there. Nobody over 35 wants to see their smudgey make up face at the end of the evening by the light of an 100 watt bulb!

user1471519931 Fri 14-Jan-22 23:12:52
It's not snobbery against Wetherspoons, it's not wanting to support that cunt if an owner!

Tim Martin is not 'THE owner'....he has a large shareholding of c22%.

The rest of the shares are mainly owned by institutions, such as pension funds, and if you are invested in a UK pension fund, it's quite likely you are 'an owner' too.

single women friendly space

my friend and I had our drinks spiked in Spoons. Didn't really have the capacity to seek help the night it happened, I remember drinking the drink and then waking up the next morning, reached out to the wetherspoons the next morning who couldn't give a flying fuck and flat out refused to help us. Wouldn't even give us a description of the two men we left with that night.

I love good old pub grub and fast food but I just can't get away with the food in spoons. It all tastes the same, even the chips aren't good and I don't know how you can get chips wrong.

Love going there for a drink though. Have no problem meeting mates there or taking DS down for a breakfast to get out the house.

There's nothing snobby about disliking overpriced microwave meals

@WindyState

Some are ok.

Some are properly shit.

The owner is a class-a bellend.

Honestly the best and most succinct summary

I appreciate the free refills on hot drinks. And our local has an open fire. Can have a lovely catch up with a friend for a quid

Only place I have ever seen a safe wait space notice up to welcome lone women who for whatever reason need somewhere to wait. I was pleased to see that and I would in that situation have been happy to wait in there had I been on my own rather than with a group of colleagues.

No worse than my two supposed locals and the spoons staff are friendlier, the service quicker and they aren't full of 'thats Stan's seat' types.

It's the clientele and the general atmosphere, it's not a nice place to be. I certainly wouldn't feel safe alone in one. Similarly I can happily go on a night out with my friends and feel safe alone in a nightclub, as they have strict security etc.

It's not for me but if it's for you then fair enough x

No mcdonald's here either, can't stand the place.

The Wetherspoons in my home town is full of sad looking alcoholic men. It's depressing as hell. I went once when my friend asked me to as I was visiting home for the week. NEVER again.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

You generally know what to expect. Doesn't matter if its Aberdeen, Southampton, Blackpool, Norwich... they are the same.

Not my experience. The spoons nearest to where I live is awful…it attracts the most troublesome and troubled people. It’s intimidating to go in at night. …but I ended up in one on a visit to Bristol and it was lovely. The wine was decent for the money too.

Ha ha yes @JeffThePilot

The breakfasts are fab, and piping hot. And fast, and cheap. And I don’t have to wash up. We’ve had way worse in boutique hotels. DH loves a sausage (who doesn’t) and the Wetherspoons ones are lovely, no yucky bits.

YANBU, I love our local Spoons
(Even though Tim Wotsit is a massive knob to put it politely)
The food is always good even though its cheap, and definite bonus is the brilliant vegan menu, they've got a great choice!
(No, I don't work for them lol, just a fan )

They are ok. We’ve been to ones for breakfast a few times and it’s an eye opener how many people are already drinking at 9am.

I'm kind of ambivalent about them. They are affordable and convenient (and you can almost always nip in to use the loo and out again without buying anything), they do carry a good range of decent beers, often from small breweries and, depending on the individual pub managers, can sometimes be really quite pleasant, welcoming places.
But I had reservations about them for years because of their tendency to buy up beloved live music venues and turn them into identikit music-free pubs. One of my dearest friends won't set foot in a Spoons because, as a European national, she takes the owner's pro-brexit stance very personally. Decades ago (this isn't outing IMO) my dad did some work for the company and considered Tim Martin an absolute shit.

And then again, yet again, I find some of the hatred of the chain to be self-righteous whinyarsery from those who think it's immoral for the lower orders to be able to get a cheap pint because, waa, the British peasants are too fond of pubs and 'intoxication culture'. All those meddlers who, despite never having been to a Spoons, insist that they are all full of gammons making sexist jokes and just Shouldn't Be Allowed.

But I'd rather spend my money in an independent pub, given the chance - as I am lucky enough to live near several.

Why do so many people think that the staff are treated badly? And just ignore posters saying its not true and keep parroting it.
I get about the public pressure and the U turn at the start of furlough but they did change their minds about that and people just keep going on about the way the staff are treated badly.

RightOnTheEdge Fri 14-Jan-22 23:45:58

True....so man on here, blinded by their own prejudices. Spoons staff retention rates are far higher than the industry average, and they have won a 'Top Employer' for 17 consecutive years

What’s not to like about a place where people are downing pints at 10am on a Monday? Where the CEO is a total fascist? Where girls that look about 14 can’t even make it to the loos to throw up? Where there’s a threatening looking unconvincingly attired trans person in the ladies’ loos late at night. Yep, it’s a delight.

It's also been the case for a long time that, if you're in an unfamiliar town with DC and you want to find somewhere to use the loo, get out of the rain and have some affordable, mainly kid-friendly food, you'll probably be all right if you can find a Spoons.

And I absolutely love a fry-up and a pint at 9am when I've been up since 4 or on an overnight coach trip.

Not all Wetherspoons are the same. It appears that most posters who hate it live near one that is in a horrible building, dirty and full of drunks.

Some are like that, just like some non Spoons pubs. Many are clean, in lovely old buildings and serve decent food and drink. I wouldn't choose it as a destination for a night out, but it is fine for lunch.

It also looks like most posters don't know that the stuff about how the CEO treated his staff during the first lockdown just wasn't true.

@Momicrone

Yeah the clientele from what I can see are older men who like a drink, or 2 or 3

As if people are going to the pub for more than one drink! Well I never.