Red Lion Inn — Restaurant in Derbyshire Dales

I don't usually leave negative reviews but this was quite possibly the worst customer service encounter I've ever experienced.

I've visited the Red Lion a couple of times in an evening for a drink and usually had a great experience. I've even recommend it to friends and guests from out of town (until today).

We decided to do a long hike along the river to finish at the Red Lion for a Sunday roast. After a 4 hour walk I got to the bar and waited my turn to be served. The man in front of me asked to open a tab a placed his order. No issues. The woman behind the bar then looked completely past me and asked for the order from the man behind. Bit strange, but I let it slide thinking maybe he was queueing before and came back. Then she deliberately looks past me again and attempts to serve another man who has just walked in. He says "I think this guy was before me". She rolls her eyes and gives me the filthiest look. I thank the guy and ask her if I can please open a tab. She looks at me with utter disgust and responds "what".

At this point it's clear to me that she was deliberately not wanting to serve me, so I just said OK and walked away. If I hadn't of been desperate for food and there was literally anywhere else to go, I would have left. My partner decided to try, and although they didn't receive the best service, they were at least served.

I understand it was a busy Sunday on a hot day but only I seemed to have received such a hostile attitude. I'm hoping it was a case of mistaken identity, or if I did do something to offend this woman, I would very much like to know so I could apologise.

It's clear my money isn't welcome here so I unfortunately won't...

This pub has always been one of our favorites. My wife has worked outside Manchester the last 5-6 years for long periods of time and we’d spend weekends out in the countryside and would often come here for dinner. However, the pub is now under new ownership - the old owners were lovely and we loved their dogs. The new ownership leaves a bit to be desired. On a Friday we popped in for a late dinner - their website says on Fridays the last seating is at 8:30 and kitchen closes at 9. Got there at 8:20 and said we’d like to order some food and will be quick about it. The woman behind the bar who apparently is the owner along with her husband who cooks said the kitchen is closing and we couldn’t be served. I said that it said last seating was at 8:30 and she sarcastically replies “well this isn’t McDonalds. Our food is homemade and there isn’t enough time”. This was an obvious dig towards our American accents. I was so flabbergasted I didn’t really know what to say other than “we’ve been here many times before, that’s too bad”. As we were leaving a young man stopped us and said “please don’t go, I talked to the kitchen and they can easily make you some dinner”. Despite not really wanting to give her our money, we decided this might be our only chance to eat and he was so kind for doing that that we stayed and had a nice chat with him. I guess I can’t be surprised what people’s opinions are of Americans these days, but you also can’t run a business just assuming that we are all a bunch of Neanderthals. Best of luck, but we likely...

My homity pie order was meant to come with salad and sweet potato fries, written down on the menu as such. The fries were missing, I was told that they hadn't been available for months. Note the menu has not been amended to reflect this. I was mis sold something with no apology . I expected to get a price reduction for the missing food and at first was asked how much I wanted. I said four pounds ( ordinary chips were £3.50 so I thought this reasonable , otherwise I was paying £14 for potato pie and lettuce and tomato,). They then changed their tune and somebody else I said I had just been given extra salad and two teaspoonfuls some onion chutney thing instead of the fries. I said that it was not ok. I never requested a replacement, never wanted the chutney ( which was tiny), never given any choice. Also I questioned that the salad was actually bigger, it came in some standard size container - if it was meant to be a smaller container originally it would have been no bigger than a salad garnish so therefore I find it hard to believe the salad was really bigger- and anyway I paid for, and was expecting , the special fries. They didn't even offer ordinary chips.Unfortunately we had already paid, otherwise they would never have got a full price payment from me for a meal missing a substantial part of what was advertised. Terrible customer service for falsely advertising a meal and no apology or part time refund. A busy pub can get away with this kind...