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AIBU?

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Original poster

JD Wetherspoons

146 replies

Teeniebf · 04/01/2008 10:47

Mmmm interesting news about this well known 'family friendly' pub chain. They have in place a policy which limits parents to 2 drinks only - alchohlic & non alcholic - to prevent them from staying too long in their establishments with their children. One customer queried this when he was told about it and was told that the adults could stay in the pub that he child would have to leave, unsuprisingly he chose to leave and go elsewhere and was told yes this is true and that the JD Wetherspoons would back any of their staff/managers who enforced this policy. I used to take my family to a local wetherspoons as I enjoyed the fact that they are quiet and peaceful places. But from now on I will not be going anywhere near any wetherspoons - with or without my 2 sons and I intend to let everyone I know who has children that they shouldn't go into wetherspoons. Just another wonderful example of family unfriendly UK at it's best!

OP posts:
pyjamagirl · 04/01/2008 10:49

my bil works in one of these !

Can't believe it how disgusting

Twiglett · 04/01/2008 10:49

thread here in 'In the News'

ToomanynewyearsROSElutions · 04/01/2008 10:52

TBH, i/we enjoy our local ws and i personally wouldnt want more than 2 drinks with our meal so i dont see the prob(i only have soft drink anyway, dp might have a pint..2 max anyway), i know theyre all losing business with the smoking ban and should be more family friendly, but ive been in there when parents are throwing booze down their necks and their children come over to us and my dd to chat and play, parents dont even glance round, so i dont have a prob with it, they will though, theyll lose more money!

FluffyMummy123 · 04/01/2008 10:54

Message withdrawn

exbatt · 04/01/2008 10:55

Why would anyone want to spend so much time in a Wetherspoons that they would drink more than 2 drinks? Genuine question - I've rarely been in a pub I would want to sit around in with my children for too long.

Strictly speaking, I suppose they're not limiting your time at all - you could spin those 2 drinks out for as long as you want!

Still, there are plenty of cafes and restaurants out there that are happy for families to stay for a long time, so I don't think Wetherspoons is much of a loss. There are much nicer places to have a drink (alcoholic or otherwise).

FluffyMummy123 · 04/01/2008 10:55

Message withdrawn

HonoriaGlossop · 04/01/2008 10:57

Yes it may be more to do with not encouraging parents who abuse the fact they can take kids in. Some will drink all day and leave the kids to run riot. Unfortunately for the kids

ToomanynewyearsROSElutions · 04/01/2008 11:00

i have been in ours before when there was a family in who were getting pissed with little boys(young toddler) sat there being totally ignored..theyd had a meal but had finished...manager went over and said they cant have child in when not eating, they said theyd had meal, manager said but youve finished now..family said well we'll order him a desert..manager refused..too right i say..scum bags!..get him a cake to keep him quiet! while they got pissed!

HonoriaGlossop · 04/01/2008 11:04

exactly toomany. I don't think this is about being family-unfriendly, it's just a way of trying to moderate the behaviour of some people.

ToomanynewyearsROSElutions · 04/01/2008 11:06

dd loves going to 'the pub' for lunch, it can be w.s or a wacky warehouse family type..we order meal and ddrinks, eat meal and go........if you want to get pissed you get a babysitter and go out on your own.

FluffyMummy123 · 04/01/2008 11:07

Message withdrawn

ToomanynewyearsROSElutions · 04/01/2008 11:10

you dont do yiou?...really!!!...

HonoriaGlossop · 04/01/2008 11:10

I'm with you iCod. When I go to the pub I want to GO TO THE PUB - if I want to eat out with ds I'll go to a cafe!

fireflyfairy2 · 04/01/2008 11:12

I agree with this policy actually.

One time we went in there for our evening meal when I was at college. Myself & 2 of my friends got chatting to the people at the table beside us. They had 2 children with them both in school uniforms & neither of the parents were capable of stringing a sentence together.

The barman had to call them a taxi, he knew the children's names & said they came in every Thursday after school to meet their parents who are there from lunch time

Maybe if this policy had been in place there it would have stopped these people from abusing the 'family friendly' bit.

southeastastra · 04/01/2008 11:13

it's a good idea. the chain is pretty rank and who wants a childhood spent in crappy pubs anyway.

HonoriaGlossop · 04/01/2008 11:14

hear, hear southeastastra

NickiSue · 04/01/2008 11:16

Wow! How awful!

They are opening a Wetherspoons here very soon and Im looking forward to it. As a smaller town we need more family friendly places with room for buggies / decent prices and childrens menus etc.
Having said that - have never been in a Wetherspoons myself! Would you recommend them for a family lunch out wit ha 18month old? What sort of food do they do and what is the general quality / price?
I'd love to know x

serenity · 04/01/2008 11:20

Unfortunately it's not Wetherspoons looking out for childrens welfare, as the limit of two drinks is on both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks, and counts whether you're just sitting having a drink or drinking with a meal. There was a case of a woman being refused a third drink of water with her meal in one article I read. If they don't want children in their pubs, fine, just don't advertise 'family' areas, and have childrens meals on their menus. Can't have it both ways (I'd rather poke my eyes out with pins than waste an evening drinking in a Wetherspoons with all the grumpy old men, but DCs quite like going for pub lunches occasionally, and their sofa are quite comfy )

SorenLorensen · 04/01/2008 11:21

well tis a shitty pub isnt it full of ruffians

Pretty much sums it up, cod

I agree with Honoria - it's an attempt to moderate the behaviour of some people. It's a bit heavy-handed but I don't see how else they could do it. Sadly there are people who would quite happily get pissed in the pub while letting their kids run riot. It's not an anti-child, or anti-family policy at all, imo.

naturopath · 04/01/2008 11:21

I also agree with this policy - surely it's a good thing for parents with children not to drink too much when out with the family?

juuule · 04/01/2008 11:28

While it might be a good thing for parents not to drink too much alcohol while out with their children it's not a good thing imo for Wetherspoons to put a blanket ban on more than 2 drinks for everyone. While some adults might be irresponsible not all adults are and they should be able to make their own decisions on things. Surely it would make more sense to deal with specific individuals rather than make decisions for competent, responsible adults.
I agree it's more to deter families from staying long or going at all.

OverMyDeadBody · 04/01/2008 11:29

I would never go anywhere near any Weatherspoons anyway, Cod is right, they are full of ruffians around here and it is known as a place for underage drinkers, football hooligans and the unwashed masses (or all three rolled into one)

mumeeee · 04/01/2008 12:03

I haven't come across this policy and we started taking our children to weatherspoons a few years a go. When the youngest was about 12 as found that we could get decent meals five of at about the same price as Mcdonalds!
The youngest is now 15 and we went to Weatherspoons for coffee recently. The only restriction was that she was not allowed go near the bar as she was under 18. They did not say anything about only 2 drinks. There was a family area.
We don't have more than 2 drinks with a meal so that policy would not worry us anyway.

alicet · 04/01/2008 12:05

Have to say our local ws is fab and the childrens meals are great. The family area is well away from the bar so I have no idea how they would police this policy. In fact on several occasions I have had more than 2 drinks while in there! When ds1 was much younger and would go to sleep in his pram at night we would go with friends on a friday and have a few drinks! Not pissed but def merry. It was great. Can't do this anymore as he needs entertaining and will only sleep in his bed but they were fun days.

Think its a ridiculous policy - really nanny state. If people want to go out and get pissed and ignore their kids (which I think is totally wrong) then this isn't going to stop them - they will just go elsewhere!

cherryredretrochick · 04/01/2008 12:09

We go to our local wetherspoons occasionally with dc for lunch ( I am talking once or twice a year). Just chatting to DH and told him of this thread, he said is that a new policy we have not heard of it, I pointed out that we have never stayed longer than 2 drinks max in any place be it pub or cafe with the dc. They start to get bored after that amount of time and it is no longer a pleasnt family experience. I do however think that this decision should belong to the parents and not the establishment. We take alsorts of fun things for the dc to do and generally have a lot of fun on our lunches out but they can't go on for too long or everybody gets frayed, I can see how a pub would not want this. Anyway having v.little booze these days 2 drinks can get me quite legless.