Yates York — Restaurant in England

Well, literally just left and won't be back next time we travel up to visit family. My partner ordered 2 cocktails using the app and after 25 minutes she went up to the bar to enquire. Woman, dyed hair and septum piercing was at the bar, explained that they were 'extremely busy and snowed under' and sorry about the wait.. (Wouldn't exactly say they were snowed under myself but OK) She said she will get the drinks made for us and they will be brought over to the table straight away and apologised again.

The drinks we ordered were actually sat on a tray at the bar which we'd noticed about 10 minutes earlier and obviously now we're hoping they weren't ours. My partner pointed that out just to make sure.

A waitress brought the drinks over for us around 10 minutes later. Guess what, they were the drinks from the bar! Ice melted, watery and not exactly very nice, maybe would've been nice 30 minutes ago but we will never find out now. So my partner was fairly annoyed about this obviously, which she told me about while we drank them (thirsty) but other than that initial annoyance we drank them and continued the conversations. Over comes the septum lady from behind the bar walking over like Liam Gallagher, clearly the waitress had mentioned it to her that we weren't exactly happy but we didn't even say anything to her, maybe it was our faces.

Well. She wasn't happy, she's very passive aggressive, short and rude. Embarrassing and shameful, especially in front of a group of people out enjoying ourselves on a weekend visit. She also said she was off getting us our crisps when my partner had walked away from the bar, which was rude.. but we didn't order crisps...? and if we did, where were they? They never arrived with the drinks. So not sure what that was about, unless she meant she was going to make us our drinks, which she actually did 20 minutes earlier.

I mean if she was angry about our reaction to receiving stale cocktails, she could've just gave us new drinks or something, but there was no actual complaint from us and certainly not towards her or the waitress.

But she was snowed under. So off the...

I booked a surprise 60th birthday party for my husband at your venue, organising a special evening for 12 family members, including a Christmas buffet. However, the entire experience was ruined due to your strict and unreasonable policies.

Our granddaughter had just turned 18, but her photo ID had not yet arrived. We contacted the venue in advance, explained the situation, and offered to bring her birth certificate and other proof of age. Despite this, and after speaking to three different managers, we were told she would not be allowed entry without photo ID. Your team’s lack of flexibility and compassion was extremely disappointing.

This decision completely spoiled what was meant to be a surprise party. With just two hours until the event, and everyone’s transport already booked, we had no choice but to cancel. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving our granddaughter at home while the rest of the family celebrated without her. The stress and upset this caused were immense.

Your managers essentially turned away a party of 12, including a Christmas buffet booking, which represented a significant amount of money. This treatment is unacceptable, and I hope the superiors or directors of your company investigate how we were treated. At the very least, we should be offered compensation for the distress caused.

Thankfully, after hours of stress, we managed to find another venue that welcomed us and allowed the entire family to celebrate together.

I have requested a full refund for the booking, but it goes without saying that I will never return to your venue. Nor will any of our family and friends. Your rigid policies and lack of understanding ruined what should have been a joyful and...

I was utterly dismayed yesterday when, waiting outside Yates with a couple of friends, my ID was refused, and I was turned away altogether. The bouncer, a somewhat passive aggressive individual who clearly had a point to prove, claimed my Pass Card, which denotes proof of age, was not a valid form of identification and could have been easily forged. Leaving to one side the shaky logic and inconclusive evidence used to support this claim, the Pass Card is issued by the national Post Office, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, and is accepted throughout the United Kingdom as a valid form of ID. Furthermore, I am blind, and therefore have no way of obtaining a driver's license. Nor do I carry my passport around with me. I have never had an issue with my Pass Card before, while the attitude of this particular bouncer was frankly uncooperative and demeaning, especially when my friend sought clarification with the manager on this matter, as any reasonable person would do. This incident serves as a classic example of ableism, and demonstrates a fundamental lack of knowledge surrounding the legal implementation and regulation of ID. So, unless you, the manager of Yates York, wish to lose the establishment money by turning away more customers like myself, I suggest you reflect on what has occurred, and make the necessary changes...