Was I BU to leave the pub after being told off by the manager?

[EmptyTheFrickingBins]

I had booked a table for a group of seven people to celebrate a Ruby wedding anniversary. On arrival to the pub we found the table with our reservation and sat down to wait for the rest of party - this was at 4:30 which was our booked time.

Three other guests were already seated at the table and there was no indication that any other table had been reserved for us.

My parents - who are both elderly and disabled - arrived and I returned to the table with them where we asked the other guests if they'd be happy to share-- there would have been room and we couldn't move because the only free tables were for four or under. This was at 4:45 and we had been waiting for them to finish.

They reacted in a very angry way and stormed off from the table and must have informed the staff on the way out.

I just want to be clear - at no point where we rude or demanding.

We were viewing the menu when a manager in a pink top came over to the table and told us rudely that we shouldn't have asked the other guests to move (again - at no point did we do this), that another table had been reserved for us and we should have spoken to the staff - again none of this was indicated, and only the one table had our name on it!

I felt extremely embarrassed by the interaction - we sat at the table in good faith as it had the reserved sign on with our name.

The woman's attitude was awful and spoiled the night - we ended up leaving because we no longer felt welcome - everyone was looking at us as she told us off!

You sat at a table and intimidated folk to get up to go because your name was on it didnt ask bar staff acted like an idiot .but don't want to admit you were wrong you acted like a twat pure and simple .

Even with my disabled mum I don't think I would have ever done this. OP said there were other empty tables, just smaller, so her parents could have sat there while they waited for the big table to be free.

Sounds like you went to a restaurant for the first time in your life

A horse that hasn't eaten for a while.

🤣🤣 very funny

When you have a reservation you need to speak to the manager or hostess when you arrive.

You don't just head to a table you assume is yours, regardless of the time, and regardless of how many people you believe could be seated at the table.

Staff often clean off other tables and move them around to accommodate parties with reservations.

For all you knew, the staff were about the move tables to accommodate your party and the people seated at the table you sat at might have also had a reservation for a party of six or eight.

There were people there and their empty plates were in front of them.

The staff would have needed to clean the table and make sure there wasn't food on the floor or spilled on the chairs before seating your party.

Do you eat out much?

This is so weird. You turn up and see people at your table and didn’t go to the bar to speak to a member of staff you just made the people sat eating feel really uncomfortable waiting for them to finish? Utterly bizarre behaviour. The staff member shouldn’t have been rude but maybe she was just so confused by your behaviour.

So you stood around with your thumbs up your arse for 15 minutes before you asked them to share and didn't think to speak to a staff member?

Most people would:

• approach staff member and say you've got a table booked and let them take you over
• see their booked table is occupied then go and ask a staff member for your table

Very, very, very few people just stand and watch people finish eating and chat for 15 minutes, and then join them.

You willingly sat at a dirty table and asked other customers to shift instead of letting staff deal with it.

I worked in hospitality for over 10 years from my 20s to my 30s and have never come across customers who do what you did...

Here’s a possibility:

table reserved with Unusual-Surname card; Slow-Eating party arrive much earlier; staff reckon they’ll be done before you arrive and would rather have paying customers than an empty table for half the evening; Slow-Eaters are the slowest eaters in the world but, hey, they’re spending money, if they’ve not finished by the time Unusual-Surname party arrive, we’ll just shove two other tables together.

Oh no, Unusual-Surname woman has got into a row with Slow-Eating party; Slow-Eating party stormed off; Unusual Surname party stormed off (without spending any money); lady in pink top has a little cry in the back room and then carries on with her very long shift for crap pay and looks forward to reading the mean review.

YaBU.it was wrong of you to sit down when other people were still there. I don't understand why you just didn't talk to the staff

To be fair to the OP she asked to share the table, she didn't ask them to move. If I was sat as a three at a table large enough for 10 and had finished eating I would have said go ahead and sit down to the OP and not gone running to complain.

If you make a specific booking anywhere, Hungry Horse or otherwise, surely the first thing you do is approach a staff member and ask to be shown your reserved area?

I don't think I've ever gone wondering around any restaurant looking for my name on the table, much less actually sat myself down with people who were already there and still eating. That really was an odd thing to do, the manager was right to tell you, but wrong to shout at you.

There was no need for you to leave, although I can appreciate you felt embarrassed after all that hoo ha.

OP is clearly one of those posters who is determined that she is NBU, and it won't matter how many people tell her otherwise.

OP, your behaviour was really weird. If people were sitting at your reserved table, you should have spoken to the staff and let them deal with it.

It's a very casual pub. So taking a seat is normal. Also the table has OP name on it. Could you have shown the staff member the sign and explain that was the innocent and understandable reason you sat there? Was it the case that these others had the same name as you? If I were you I'd boycott the place. There's no need to make people feel awful over an innocent misunderstanding. They could have politely explained and led you to your new table with no fuss.

And then lady in pink top has to explain the bizarre behaviour from unusual-surname party to her manager when they read the review who then decided to give her a dressing down/unofficially verbal warning and be on extra special "hospitality face" behaviour so she gets no other marks against her name.

Meanwhile she is taking her turn for a little cry in the walk in fridge.

Not if they have other customers kicking off on the other side of the bar. There is often way more fuss than you think when these things happen

Very weird and rude behaviour from you OP! When you have a reservation you let the staff know so that they'll bring you to your table. It's not uncommon for them to put 2 or 3 smaller tables together to accommodate bigger groups when you've arrived.

It isn't the policy at ours either but
the customers were still sat / eating at their table.
It had your name on it but it was still there's at the point.
That's why you should have checked with staff.
Asking to sit at their table whilst they finish their meal is clearly going to make them feel rushed and uncomfortable.
You were unreasonable to do this, but not to leave in shame.

Yeah she asked to share after she and her party eyeballed the other guests for 15 minutes. So in fairness, she did make them move.

Nah, I reckon that lady in the pink top's manager is a MNer and will have already read the whole saga on here. Pink top lady will start trying to explain the inexplicable, and her manager will say, yeah, don't worry about it, I already know that Ms Unusual-surname is completely bonkers!

And that'll be the end of it!

And if you'd asked a staff member at 4.30 when you realised your table wasn't available, they'd have had somewhere to sit.

Ah I hope so.

There's only so many times you can scream into a vat of garlic mayo in a walk in before you finally decide to leave the whole industry.

This really made me chuckle.

😅🤣 you win!!!