The Black Lion Pub & Boutique Guesthouse — Restaurant in London

First up we never leave bad reviews until this one. Where we get great service and experiences in accommodation we always do something positive. If we have a bad experience we just move on.|This one burns though. We are now back in Australia and I have had time to ponder whether it is worth the effort and this one is, especially as it is supported by 3 with similar themes to ours, one being a particularly heartless experience also.|These people have plenty of positive reviews so I am probably swimming against the tide. However our experience was so poor, it was implied that our intentions were less than honest, and this is the warning to other prospectives if things go awry like ours did. If I could have rated zero I would.|We were attracted to the Black Lion because their reviews were so good. In accommodation we look for location, cleanliness, friendliness and service. This place seemed to tick the boxes so we eagerly looked forward to it as the finish of a trip before returning home.|They will have their version of events, they can respond however they like, I really don’t care. We know exactly how things unfolded, what was said and what wasn’t said. Their communication is abysmal.|About a month before our stay whilst still in Australia, we reconfirmed all of our stays and said we were happy to pay upfront prior to departure and to let us know. In this situation The Black Lion advised no, that their ‘secure payment gateway’ would take the funds from our supplied card 7 days prior to arrival. No worries there.|About 9 days prior to arrival we emailed the Black Lion and said we were also travelling with a Mastercard issued by our local bank which does not attract international fees, could we use that but stressed (twice as it turned out), if it was an issue, not a problem, leave the existing card in place to pay.|From 11 days prior to arrival there were easily sufficient funds in the account to cover payment using the original card supplied. As best as I can tell they tried to take payment 9 days prior to arrival. Their summation and the poor wording of what happened was so poor it is impossible to tell.|They cancelled the booking stating firstly they had previously advised us the payment had failed, which they hadn’t, and secondly they had sent us a link for another payment, they had not done this either. I was furious. We were totally blindsided by the whole debacle and our London stay was turned upside down.|This is the warning. We had no idea our payment had ‘supposedly’ failed. All this took place on the 7th day before arrival. They said they advised us a ‘couple of days’ prior. No such advice was received. They said they had sent us a link. They never did.|If they were able to walk the walk as their service implies, and truly made contact, this debacle would never have happened. And this is the real warning. If something does go pear shaped they will spit you out, you are just a number. I cannot tell what happened or why in this case, they certainly didn’t advise in any understandable way what happened, the funds were there for their ‘secure payment gateway’.|If they had an ounce of service credibility they would have followed up properly, with some customer interest, if in fact there was a problem. Blind Freddie could see we were genuine. The insult topped it off. Beware, their service on the accommodation side is skin deep. I cannot vouch for the pub side which attracts the reviews, but would certainly never set foot in the...

First up we never leave bad reviews until this one. Where we get great service and experiences in accommodation we always do something positive. If we have a bad experience we just move on.|This one burns though. We are now back in Australia and I have had time to ponder whether it is worth the effort and this one is, especially as it is supported by 3 with similar themes to ours, one being a particularly heartless experience also.|These people have plenty of positive reviews so I am probably swimming against the tide. However our experience was so poor, it was implied that our intentions were less than honest, and this is the warning to other prospectives if things go awry like ours did. If I could have rated zero I would.|We were attracted to the Black Lion because their reviews were so good. In accommodation we look for location, cleanliness, friendliness and service. This place seemed to tick the boxes so we eagerly looked forward to it as the finish of a trip before returning home.|They will have their version of events, they can respond however they like, I really don’t care. We know exactly how things unfolded, what was said and what wasn’t said. Their communication is abysmal.|About a month before our stay whilst still in Australia, we reconfirmed all of our stays and said we were happy to pay upfront prior to departure and to let us know. In this situation The Black Lion advised no, that their ‘secure payment gateway’ would take the funds from our supplied card 7 days prior to arrival. No worries there.|About 9 days prior to arrival we emailed the Black Lion and said we were also travelling with a Mastercard issued by our local bank which does not attract international fees, could we use that but stressed (twice as it turned out), if it was an issue, not a problem, leave the existing card in place to pay.|From 11 days prior to arrival there were easily sufficient funds in the account to cover payment using the original card supplied. As best as I can tell they tried to take payment 9 days prior to arrival. Their summation and the poor wording of what happened was so poor it is impossible to tell.|They cancelled the booking stating firstly they had previously advised us the payment had failed, which they hadn’t, and secondly they had sent us a link for another payment, they had not done this either. I was furious. We were totally blindsided by the whole debacle and our London stay was turned upside down.|This is the warning. We had no idea our payment had ‘supposedly’ failed. All this took place on the 7th day before arrival. They said they advised us a ‘couple of days’ prior. No such advice was received. They said they had sent us a link. They never did.|If they were able to walk the walk as their service implies, and truly made contact, this debacle would never have happened. And this is the real warning. If something does go pear shaped they will spit you out, you are just a number. I cannot tell what happened or why in this case, they certainly didn’t advise in any understandable way what happened, the funds were there for their ‘secure payment gateway’.|If they had an ounce of service credibility they would have followed up properly, with some customer interest, if in fact there was a problem. Blind Freddie could see we were genuine. The insult topped it off. Beware, their service on the accommodation side is skin deep. I cannot vouch for the pub side which attracts the reviews, but would certainly never set foot in the...

First up we never leave bad reviews until this one. Where we get great service and experiences in accommodation we always do something positive. If we have a bad experience we just move on. This one burns though. We are now back in Australia and I have had time to ponder whether it is worth the effort and this one is. These people have plenty of positive reviews so I am probably swimming against the tide. However our experience was so poor, it was implied that our intentions were less than honest, and this is the warning to other prospectives if things go awry like ours did. If I could have rated zero I would. We were attracted to the Black Lion because their reviews were so good. In accommodation we look for location, cleanliness, friendliness and service. This place seemed to tick the boxes so we eagerly looked forward to it as the finish of a trip before returning home. They will have their version of events, they can respond however they like, I really don’t care. We know exactly how things unfolded, what was said and what wasn’t said. Their communication is abysmal. About a month before our stay whilst still in Australia, we reconfirmed all of our stays and said we were happy to pay upfront prior to departure and to let us know. In this situation The Black Lion advised no, that their ‘secure payment gateway’ would take the funds from our supplied card 7 days prior to arrival. No worries there. About 9 days prior to arrival we emailed the Black Lion and said we were also travelling with a Mastercard issued by our local bank which does not attract international fees, could we use that but stressed (twice as it turned out), if it was an issue, not a problem, leave the existing card in place to pay. From 11 days prior to arrival there were easily sufficient funds in the account to cover payment using the original card supplied. As best as I can tell they tried to take payment 9 days prior to arrival. Their summation and the poor wording of what happened was so poor it is impossible to tell. They cancelled the booking stating firstly they had previously advised us the payment had failed, which they hadn’t, and secondly they had sent us a link for another payment, they had not done this either. I was furious. We were totally blindsided by the whole debacle and our London stay was turned upside down. This is the warning. We had no idea our payment had ‘supposedly’ failed. All this took place on the 7th day before arrival. They said they advised us a ‘couple of days’ prior. No such advice was received. They said they had sent us a link. They never did. If they were able to walk the walk as their service implies, and truly made contact, this debacle would never have happened. And this is the real warning. If something does go pear shaped they will spit you out, you are just a number. I cannot tell what happened or why in this case, they certainly didn’t advise in any understandable way what happened, the funds were there for their ‘secure payment gateway’. If they had an ounce of service credibility they would have followed up properly, with some customer interest, if in fact there was a problem. Blind Freddie could see we were genuine. The insult topped it off. Beware, their service on the accommodation side is skin deep. I cannot vouch for the pub side which attracts the reviews, but would certainly never set foot in the...