Pub refusing to serve soft drinks?

[hellycat]

This story from Belfast has really staggered me today.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-pub-owner-refuses-to-serve-glass-of-coke-to-customer-42228145.html

My first reaction, who the hell does this publican think he is? Someone wants to be responsible, maybe driving, maybe on medication, maybe unable to drink for whatever reason, history of alcoholism being the most obvious but there are many more - and he gets refused service because he's not buying alcohol? Are teetotal people not welcome in pubs?

Bet the same boy would have plenty to say about the Qatar govt banning alcohol at the WC games though. Is he really just the other side of the same coin?

Absolutely pathetic.
I love pubs and love drinking!..
Imagine a customer having a choice about what they would like to order in a bar! It's all profit after all!
I actually live in Belfast so this particularly annoys me. Pubs are for everyone. They are closing down by the minute. If we don't use them, we will lose them.. and this sort of landlord certainly doesn't inspire you to want to line his pockets!

Anybody can order a coke if they want, obviously... but as you say, could be driving, could be working, could be on chemotherapy. So their business isn't good enough for him?? Don't know who he thinks he is treating paying customers like this!

He's well know for his 'rules' if I remember correctly he won't sell half pints, he kicks people out to let other people in and basically will just refuse to serve anyone for no reason 🤷

Also I think the mark up on a pint of coke is better than a pint of Guinness.

Didn't know this. What a dick.
Hopefully he never gets sick and wants to call to the local for a half or a soft drink- to he treated like this.
I would be so upset if my mum (for example,) was turned away from a pub when she was dying of cancer and just wanted a non alcoholic drink.
I would find this so embarrassing for the city if I took visitors there and got treated like this!

Obviously desperate for a bit of publicity - and the sad thing is, it’s worked, to an extent. There will be people who lap up this kind of crap.

Coke aside, isn’t it literally illegal not to serve small measure (eg half pints, small wine) etc? I’m pregnant so not drinking, but my husband isn’t.

Clearly he's busy and popular enough that he can make that choice!

I'm not saying I totally agree or would do it myself but he's right that there are people who would order a soft drink and sit nursing it for hours. He has a business and needs to turn tables. If he owns the business its up to him who he serves. I'm sure there are pubs nearby which would cater to non drinkers.

So what if they sit nursing it for hours? It's their CHOICE! You can equally nurse a guinness as long as you like. As you can a meal in a restaurant, a coffee in a coffee shop.. (And I believe the mark up on soft drinks is significantly higher than guinness.)
What happened to the customer being important? (Seen as they actually pay your wage, your rates and keep your bar open.)
You will never convince me that this is anything but appalling. Shitty customer service, shitty landlord and gets away with it because people still support the place and pay his wage.

Surely he's turning away drinkers as well, because I sure as hell wouldn't stay in a pub where a family member had been refused a soft drink. This guy is an idiot.

Yes, someone I know was just telling me about him a short while ago. He sounds like Basil Fawlty, throwing perfectly reasonable people out for asking for the wrong shape of glass and so on. He must be the rudest landlord in Ireland. Ah well, if you are down this way anytime do call into Bittles Bar in Victoria Square for some traditional Belfast inhospitality!

I would have thought someone could sue him for sex discrimination as he's basically refusing pregnant women although my gran gold me to drink more Guinness when pregnant.

This reads as though he told the press about this himself. He just wants attention, and a few more pint men through the door.

I wonder what would happen if he refused to serve pregnant women cokes the idiot.

My grandmother was actually told by her doctor to drink Guinness when she was pregnant. Something to do with iron, allegedly.

This was the 1940s, though, so maybe the landlord hasn’t moved on as much as medical advice has!

Yes, very true. It's right beside Belfast Chambers and RCJ so maybe he'll get his comeuppance someday if he refuses a pregnant female solicitor!

There was a thread on Twitter by the person refused the coke and its took off from there
Its a toss up whether he's "all about the craic" by people allowed in or a rude tosser by practically everyone else 😄

@Cocolapew

Often a fine line!

I believe that pubs and licenced premises have to, by law, provide tap water free of charge if you ask for it.
I don't know if this also applies to N.I.

Playing devil’s advocate here, I guess the person drinking the coke won’t generally sink 3 pints of the stuff in 30 minutes the way the drinkers will. Regardless of the profit margins.

I work in hospitality, and hate to say, but obviously we do prefer customers drinking wine, cocktails etc over those who just have 1 soft drink. It’s how we make our profit.

However we would never make ANYONE feel unwelcome just for not spending money. That’s the easy way to a bad reputation locally, which would kill your business in the end.

twitter.com/Kristian7Ross/status/1601191822428377089?t=mbI2DEiPjCezHkmNzeeFRg&s=19 this is the thread on Twitter

Exactly what he wants, I imagine. He’s probably hoping for the “Karen’s Diner” effect.

Surely it’s encouraging drunk drivers as well as your mate who’s willing to be designated driver won’t be going

No, there'd be no case. A private business is allowed to only supply things that a pregnant woman isn't advised to consume and it not be sex discrimination. You can be a butcher only selling liver if you want, for example, and that's fine. Or a cheesemonger who just does brie. There's no requirement to provide consumables that can be accessed by the whole population even if it is a protected characteristic that means they wouldn't want/couldn't have what you're selling.

But presumably he sells coke, it would be an odd bar that did no mixers.

He is really going to stand there and say 'no you cant have that unless you're prepared to buy a vodka or rum with it'?

I believe in individual liberty, he is entitled to run a pub serving only customers buying alcohol, I suppose, but he really needs to put up a sign to that effect, or he will be in trouble. Northern Ireland has had enough vexatious actions brought around that sort of thing.