The Cottage Inn — Restaurant in Dudley

i have been going in here for the past 20 years.. at least 3 to 4 times a week. AND NOW I AM BARRED!!! Since the new owners took over from Gary, my initial thoughts were that they were unfriendly and very unwelcoming but as it is my local felt i would put this down to teething troubles.. Over the past 12-18mths, i have been in with members of my family and recieved poor service and food that we have had to send back, but again continued to use the pub.. i have given feedback about the food only to recieve a defensive “well there is nothing wrong with that!! “ More recently we have become more friendly with Neil (the manager) and his wife and have some nice times, at Christmas we had a lovely meal in the restaurant upstairs with my mum and dad and felt that they had turned a corner. About 2 weeks ago, my son and i went in for a few on a Tuesday evening, it was dead!! there was a barman in there, late 30’s, dark hair, he called last orders and then on the second bell, i went up for my last pint to be told he had called last orders. i looked at the xlock and it was 1min before 11, i mentioned this and he said “you need to look at the clock!!” .. i appreciate that he is within his right to not serve who he likes but it was the aggressive and rude way he spoke with me. my lad and i left!! The following week my fiance and i went in for tea and a beer, i asked for my beer and that barman was there again.. He was busy talking to his colleague, saying he had had enough and was going to go early, ( it was dead again, but i didn't really want to hear this) when he served my beer, i said “ by the way when you speak to me in future please dont address me like you did the other day” again he was aggressive and rude saying “ i have spoken with the gaffer about you and he said i am ok to barr you” i said “ well get him here then” and i was advised he wasnt at the pub..we left the pub asking Neil to call us, he never did!! My partner called Neil a few days later but he would not listen to her and was rude, she came off the phone upset and annoyed as he sustained that i am barred. Although i know that all my comments can be responded to, customer service is about “perception” if you read the reviews there is a common theme that THEY ARE RUDE!! After 20 years i have had one confrontation and get barred and yet i gave them numerous chances VERY...

I went here for a carvery with the family for Mothers day .The staff were great , very friendly & welcoming , the atmosphere was good, I enjoyed the music playing quietly in the background. We all had the carvery , it isn't self service, they ask you what you want. There was an excellent choice of meat and veg and there was a lot of food on the plate, you don't really need self service . All the food was great besides the cauliflower cheese, I think the chef needs to taste it themselves before giving it to customers to see if its something he would eat . I had Bread and Butter pudding after my lunch, I would highly recommend it , it was beautiful with plenty of custard. I had two cups of tea while I was there, I had to send the second cup back the cup was quite dirty, they changed it without a fuss. We were sat by the entrance as you walk in from the carpark, so we could see everyone running up and down the stairs, how those girls do that day in day out is beyond me , they must be as fit as a fiddle, I would imagine there's been a few falls with the kitchen being upstairs. It makes the entrance way very busy and I'd say quite a health & safety risk for customers and the staff -it felt a bit like a train station with people coming in and out and going up and down the stairs constantly. The pub definately needs a dumb waiter for the meals to save the staff running up and down all the time especially on celebration days like Mothers Day , everyone must be absolutely knackered at the end of the day . I think the price of the carvery was expensive even though I didn't pay for mine , it was almost £16 , which totally surprised me because there is nothing special about the pub that sets it apart from others, it's more expensive then a Toby and this pub is nowhere near the calibre...

Headed into Kingswinford for a haircut, having found Sim’s barbers on the net. Not a local, but now live fairly locally, I’ve never had cause to slow and check out the businesses on this road before. Looking for parking, I spotted a large, empty car park behind a rather nice looking pub, the cottage inn. That’ll do, I thought to myself, pubs don’t open until lunchtime even if it’s the pub carpark and not a public one. It would give me a chance to check out the menu too, always on the look out for great places to eat.

So, having tucked the motor up out of the way, I headed to the front of the pub to look in the window, before heading to the barber shop around the corner.

Unfortunately I was immediately and rudely challenged by a grumpy faced old woman who shouted at me across the carpark that she was expecting a delivery and I couldn’t park there because it was private. Now, I did wonder if this might be the case, but thought that the fact that the pub wasn’t open, I wasn’t causing an obstruction, that I was a potential customer and I was spending money in the local economy would mean that they wouldn’t possibly mind.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. I can only assume that the old woman was having a bad day, because the grumpy tirade of abuse I received when I tried to apologise and ask if she wouldn’t mind as I just wanted to visit her neighbouring business for a short time was shocking. Anyone would think I’d have asked to curl one off on the bar, rather than to park a car for twenty minutes in her empty car park. Potential customer LOST.

I certainly won’t be bothering to visit what looked to be a promising pub if that’s the attitude that the proprietors hold towards the general public, who are all prospective paying customers.

Be warned;...