Summerhouse — Restaurant in England

We booked a table and added a message saying we were both disabled and had walking sticks so please could we have a table near a wall to lean sticks on. When we arrived at the pub we had to stand coughing and spluttering next to the smokers to try and put our car numberplate into the pay machine with bright sunlight, making it almost impossible.

As disabled people, and as asthmatic, I did not appreciate being forced to stand around smoke in order to pay for a ticket that I don’t feel you should have to pay for anyway, if you have a booking am I using the pub. We didn’t enter the pub and saw two flights of stairs to the main restaurant area. We did not see this on the website so we asked if there were any tables downstairs. There was only one table, but the people in the tables in front was sitting on the chairs and that would’ve made it impossible to get to and throw the table. The only other tables were small round bar tables with a bench and a little round stall all around the tiled area which is not suitable for two people to have a meal together, especially as we’re both disabled, and neither of us could sit on one of the little round barstools. We politely asked the bar woman for a £2 refund on the parking ticket and after a lengthy wait when she went to find out we were told we couldn’t get our money back. We explain clearly why we weren’t able to stay as they were not accessible tables that we can access. She suggested we walked around the long path to the front, but I was not prepared to go and walk past the smokers as my chest has already wheezy from having had to stand in the smoke in order to put the numberplate in the machine. We ended up paying an extra 40 p.m. buying a bag of crisps in order to not lose £2.

However, this was the most ridiculous experience at a pub we’ve ever had, they simply do not understand about disabled needs and someone really should’ve picked up on the message onto Booking and sent us a text. Lovely bar women, though, only nice thing to say about the place...

We booked a meal for Christmas Day for which I paid the deposit in person (cash) and then paid the rest of the meal by card later on. I then got a phone call from a manager saying that I had an outstanding payment and they wanted me to hand them over more money. I then pointed out that we had paid enough money and while the person on the phone had to go and ‘sort something’ we heard her talking about us to her colleague saying ‘well let’s see if they pay or not’. When she got back on the phone, I informed her that I was wanting to pay but was just trying to make sure it was the right amount. She put it down to a ‘miscommunication’ and said she wasn’t talking about us when she clearly was. The meal was ok but did take a long time to come out. We were there for around 3 hours about 2 of which we spent waiting for food but we understand this due to it being Christmas Day and very busy.

One of the main issues we had was that before the meal I phoned and asked if we could swap the Proseccos that come with the meal for glasses of coke as none of us drink. I was told this is fine and we were led to believe that this wouldn’t cost any extra. Then at the end of the meal one of the staff unexpectedly handed us a £42 bill for the cokes. When we explained what had happened they rudely told us we were wrong and tried to pressure my mother in law to pay for the drinks. The manager was then called over and we explained that there had been a misunderstanding and she rudely said ‘well there has been a mistake you still have to pay for them’. We then said that we would not pay for them just for her to rudely say that she isn’t going to argue with us which was fine by us so we left. Everyone at the table felt uncomfortable with this and it just seems that they were trying to get extra money out of us on 2 separate occasions.

Make sure you go careful with Christmas Day bookings as there is either very poor organisation with payments or someone trying to pocket extra money...

We ordered from our time which we had reserved. Our starter came out and we asked for our main to come straight away, we didn't need to wait. We watched as three other tables which arrived after us get served and waited up to an hour and then asked a waitress where our food was. It was explained to us that it hadn't been cooked yet and that they would do it straight away, that it had been missed. Complimentary drinks were offered to us, which considering it was table service we were told we had to go downstairs to the bar to get them. Once the food came out our steaks were not medium rare they were more medium well done and they left a bad taste after each bite. One member of the table only ate half of hers and the other only had one bit. We told the waitress who told us that there had been several complaints about the steaks as they have a new supplier and we're working on it. Desserts were offered for free. 25 minutes after ordering the desserts they came out, one was hot on the bottom (sticky toffee pudding) but only warm on the rest of it and the chocolate cake tasted stale. To say we were not impressed is an understatement! We were not even welcomed on arrival and had to find our own table. I have worked in hospitality for many years and this was very unorganised, understaffed even considering it wasn't even full. Bar staff when doing our drinks mixed two different Rose's in the same glass, due to...