The Boatyard — Restaurant in England

UNBELIEVABLE! ... ACCUSED OF BEING A LIAR AND STILL NO APOLOGY!

See recent Tripadvisor Review below posted by Vanda M and Manager's Reply.

FACT! Booking made and deposit paid on 2nd November 2017 at the same time as requesting a round table. Booking made from my home phone which is ex-directory. FACT! The Boatyard's telephone system did not record the call I made on 2nd November. FACT! The 9 phone recordings referred to in the Manager's reply were made from my mobile. The question that I am still waiting for an answer to is 'how did they receive my deposit which I made over the phone on 2nd November when according to their telephone recording system, I did not make a call to them that day' ... they clearly cannot prove that I DID NOT request a round table and yet I have a written record of the fact that I did, which was shown to them at the time! It's also worth mentioning that I have written to the owner of the Boatyard about the appalling way I was treated by the Building & Operations Manager and am still waiting for a response from him also. To this end, I remain totally and utterly dismayed!

Tripadvisor Review posted by Vanda M:- Sadly we had a terrible experience at this restaurant.....ignorant manager, who was so rude! We will NEVER go there again, nor would I advise any of my friends to ever eat there. Two of our meals had to be sent back because they were cold, desserts were served without any cutlery. Feel sorry for the youngsters working there (who, in the main, were lovely) under such bad management!

Manager's Reply:- We have had the opportunity to investigate the cause for your scathing, and unwarranted, comments. You were dissatisfied the minute you arrived because you had not been allocated a round table, apparently this 'ruined' your entire evening. Yet despite calling us no less than nine times prior to your booking you did not once request a round table, in fact the table where you were seated is one of our most popular, right in the window with fantastic views over the estuary. Nevertheless, you proceeded to vent your frustration on our polite receptionist who was doing her best to comprehend the reason for your dissatisfaction, had she been able to move you to a round table she would have done so, however by this time they were all already occupied by other diners. Our manager had done his best to address your concerns but even this wasn't good enough and as you were leaving you continued to grumble, haranguing him quite vociferously, giving him the benefit of what we would best describe as a 'tongue lashing'. This is a manager you describe as 'ignorant and rude'. Forgive us for suggesting that it wasn't he who was the 'ignorant and rude' participant in this sorry saga. Boatyard Management Team

My Initial Review:- Food ok but 2 of our group had to send their burger back because it was cold ... cutlery was not provided where required; no soup spoon when soup arrived and no cutlery given at all with the desserts ... repeat requests for water for the table. To some people these 'small' issues would be worth complaining about and they can easily be resolved ... BUT the worst thing about our visit was the appalling attitude of the Building & Operations Manager! I have never been spoken to like it before! I had requested a circular table at the time of booking and we were given a long table, which I queried. He basically called me a liar ... he was more interested in finding the recording of my phone call to prove that I had not made such a request. Unfortunately, he was unable to establish that fact as our phone number is ex-directory. In the end WE were asked to leave the premises! The average age of the group is just over 50 so we are not young trouble makers. At no point did he offer an apology for not being able to fulfil our request. What happened to the 'customer is always right'! Sadly, I can see no resolution to this...

Dinner at The Boatyard Fri 24 July 2015 I don’t usually do this, mainly because there‘s always two sides to every story and I think the internet often distorts truth but we were treated so badly at The Boatyard restaurant in Leigh On Sea that I feel compelled to put my thoughts ‘out there’. I would love to hear the thoughts of the Manager or staff at The Boatyard but don’t hold much hope. Apologies for length……………. Late July, 2015 - We were down from Glasgow visiting my parents for a big family party in Benfleet, Essex. This included my Aunt over from Australia. Had a spare night on the Friday so 8 of us went out for dinner. Instead of the usual pub/’Harvester’ type fare, we decided to ‘go posh’. The Boatyard in Leigh looked just right (on the website). Booked a table for 6.30. Arrived at 6.15, stood at the front desk for 5 mins before being acknowledged by one of the four staff behind the desk. About 15-20 staff in small groups dotted about the restaurant and bar, some busy, some not. Told to order drinks at the bar and they would tell us when table ready. Young barman was very polite, helpful and good at his job. Unfortunately, this was the highlight of the night. Lots of activity, they were setting the place up for a busy Friday night. At 6.55, I went to front desk and asked if our table was ready or if there was a problem, and the girl vaguely pointed to a far corner area and grabbed a handful of menus. At last, we thought, but the table was only set for 6. It then took another 10 minutes to push another table next to it to make the 8 spaces, (10 minutes to add a table!), then another 10 mins to get drinks ordered. I know that all this 5 & 10 minute stuff sounds petty, but when you add it up, we’d now been in the place for an hour and hadn’t even seen menus yet. There were more staff than customers for that first hour but you wouldn’t have thought so, because of the way our table was forgotten about and just plain ignored. During the meal, everything took twice as long as it should have and there were lots of ‘issues’ with VERY SIMPLE THINGS, eg. My Wife asked for a side plate for her bread roll and was told “We do it the continental way here, just use your napkin”. C’mon, if someone asks for a side plate, you don’t try and educate them about different cultures, you get them a side plate……………. Later, we waited 25 minutes for dessert menus (25 mins!) and even then, she only brought two…. “I’m trying to find you some more”. More menus, in a restaurant?! I was beginning to wonder when Basil Fawlty would come out……… There were lots of staff and it got quite busy later on but no one seemed to be in charge, and they honestly didn’t seem to care if we had an enjoyable experience or not. The setting is great, the food is ok (not brilliant, not bad) but the service is awful, if you don’t look the part. I say that because it was around about the dessert menu that I realized that they genuinely didn’t want us/our type of people in there, surely that is the only reason for such appalling service. All I can say is, well done Boatyard, you succeeded. WE WILL NEVER RETURN, but will also tell AS MANY people as possible about your awful customer service. Couple of days later, we had Sunday lunch at The Harvester at Tarpots in Benfleet and it was like night & day. The setting is alright, the food is ok (not brilliant, not bad) but let’s be honest, you know what you’re going to get with a Harvester……………….. here’s the crunch though, the service was first class (a lovely, polite, friendly, helpful, and above all welcoming young lady called Leigh Anne). When we took GREAT JOY talking about our Friday experience at The Boatyard, we were told (not by L-Anne) that the Manager of The Boatyard was in this particular Harvester the previous week. I really hope that he took notes on how to do it right, but somehow, I doubt it. The Boatyard at Leigh On Sea, Ladies & Gentlemen………….. AVOID...

"DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY"

Where do I start, Sorry but deserves a rant!

Booked a special family meal for 7 of us. On arrival the receptionist could not find our booking name which was booked and confirmed via email. So waited at the bar till our table was ready. The table was ridiculously big for only 7 people, more suited for a large party of 12. Two of our party ordered piri piri salmon and two dover sole ( which was more expensive than fillet steak I may add at £45 each was way over priced) To say the food was a complete disappointment was an understatement, underwhelmingly bad!!! TASTLESS and over cooked! We had ordered Skewered Mango king prawn which was like frozen breaded prawns with a drizzle of chilli sauce, not a skewer in sight and a prawn cocktail was a glass of lettuce with about 5 tiny sauceless prawns on it! was so bad! The truffle and parmesan crusted chips were nothing like the explanatory menu but were a bag of frozen warm chips! yuk!

We had an accident with a broken glass on the table as there are No table clothes anywhere! just bare metal tables which is not very inviting, nor giving you a fine dining vibe which a slight knocked glass resulted in it being shattered on the metal table.

The waitress did not know what to do to rid of the glass but could not believe our eyes when she brought out an old manky large floor dustpan and brush and swept the worst of it into the pan. Leaving all the shards on the table the whole time we were there. Unbelievable!!!!

Our main course took over 40 mins after we had repeatedly asked how long it would be. After already having to get up twice to ask where our drinks were and butter for the bread.

Being asked at the end of the meal when half of most but 2 dinners were left, how was your meal was a little late, no asking is everything ok during or do you need anything else was non existent.

When the manager came, we explained our disappointment rather than making an official complaint. But have to say how it was handled and having to justify our complaint is completely not acceptable nor is it good customer care.

Sorry The Boatyard, but your handling in customer complaint procedures needs addressing as well as staff training as chiefs.

The whole experience was poor!! Over priced! And Overrated! Learn to take onboard and be accountable for customers comments. Not take in one hand and give it back in another being defensive. Not a good way to run a business. Where is even the customer service?

Will never go back! Harvester food springs to mind!!! Definitely not a fine dining...