Toby Carvery Redhill — Restaurant in Reigate and Banstead

OK this will be a FAIR review based on my experience, what I saw and how I got treated,

We booked in advance for a table 730pm, there was loads of slots until 9pm so assuming this would be an easy quiet service and night WRONG oh god was I so wrong,

We arrived at 705, we were told they were short staffed and our table wouldn't be ready until 745, fair enough we got a drink and sat in the bar,

The place was very busy, it's a large site, first impressions not good, dirty plates, cups and glasses piled up on tables everywhere, nobody seemed to be cleaning and tidying tables, the SO CALLED MANAGER was booking in customers in between running to and from the bar to serve drinks, clearly couldn't MANAGE which is what he's paid to do, then at moments just disappeared for 10-20 mins leaving booking in unmanned,

8pm came and went and STILL despite only having two young girls running around like headless chickens the manager was STILL letting people without bookings enter and being told 10 mins wait, CLEARLY A LIE bad management, the website shouldn't of been allowing bookings with so few staff and the manager shouldn't of been telling people 10 mins wait when it was much longer, I felt so sorry for the two young girls doing everything whilst the idiot manager piled pressure further on the girls,

BY 815 me and my partner had had enough, I requed and to my horror people that had NO BOOKING ahead of me were being shown to a table by the idiot manager himself, I voiced my annoyance to the girl booking in which to her credit she then took us to a table that clearly hadn't been wiped down and was sticky, but a table by 830pm an hour after our booking and 45mins after our apparent time given by the idiot manager,

So we rushed to order drinks and fetch our food, The member of staff on the Carvery was friendly and helpful, the food didn't look great considering the time, we got our food and sat down, we attempted to present a Groupon to the waitress before ordering and just like the couple next to us that had a groupon we were told to do it at the end, THIS IS NOT what the groupon policy or Toby policy and bad practice by the poorly trained and seriously under pressure overworked under paid young waitress,

We ate our food well atleast tried whilst chatting to the couple next to us that felt their experience of Redhill Toby was just as bad as ours in everyway,

The food was random in its level of quality and level of cooked or not especially the veg, potatoes, yorkshire puddings, the meat was OK,

eventually after desert it was time to pay, the couple next to us ALSO with a groupon wanted to pay we were first and to our shock the bill came with the other couples orders on with ours and the waitress wouldn't accept both our groupons on one bill and couldn't reverse it, we called the manager over, it was a clear mistake by the waitress and lack of training and under pressure, she assumed we were a group of 4 but in fact we were two couples side by side chatting both with groupons, the manager was adamant he couldn't and wouldn't reverse the two bills on one and wouldn't honour both groupons on one bill, even though he admitted it was staff error, after arguing with him for 10 mins he adjusted the bill to reflect still 4 people instead of two but honored one Groupon and said the other Groupon was still valid and we should take this up with Groupon if still not pleased which we were not,

Eventually when leaving the other couple paid to us what they owed , we accepted their Groupon onto our bill which wasn't fair on us, we was still stuck with a Groupon that was valid but couldn't be used against our bill, but atleast on our part towards the other couple it felt right and they left,

IF YOU GET THE CHOICE NEVER VISIT TOBY CARVERY REDHILL ITS AWFUL FOR MANY REASONS, many ive listed here, Its actually that bad it beats the WORST TOBY I've ever experienced - CRAWLEY which is hard but it does,

One bit of advice keep your money go elsewhere AVOID AVOID AVOID.

PLUS points

Two very hard working young girls

NEGATIVES

too...

Whist I have always enjoyed the Toby Carvery for food, I came here today for a drink and the manager decided to conduct his management meeting on the next table, with 6 colleagues.

After an hour, I now know the in and outs of this business, discussed very loudly and I would say unprofessionally, my space was intruded on and I had to move at one point due to the noise.

Meanwhile, it took me 15 minutes to get a drink, as the bar staff were stretched, 6 managers at a table and not one thought it good business to serve a customer.

It's a good job I am not the competition, they just shared the inner workings of the business with a stranger, sitting at the next table, and believe me it wasn't pleasant listening, on content or conversation style, more swearing from one manager than you would hear on a building site, I don't mind swearing but some people would very offended

I will add the two staff who were left to run the restaurant and bar were excellent, and are far more savvy than the managers when it comes to customer service.

The irony in this review is that the topic in the team meeting was the manager's instructions to his management team to engage positively with customers to get google reviews, this basic business idea was not taken well by his colleagues, and the head swearer, who I learned later is the assistant manager offered her feedback in sentences liberally sprinkled with the F word which outnumbered all other words in her sentences.

So I wrote my review on the spot, and informed the manager and his team it's very easy to get google reviews and suggested they look at the Toby Carvery Google Maps page to see my review, which they did. What seems to be lacking in this managers world, is to warrant a positive Google review, you need to provide excellent service

I remained in the pub for another hour as I brought work with me, which I had found difficult to do earlier because of the noise intrusion. In that hour the only people who engaged with me were the two bar staff, who had been left running the ranch when the managers were having their swearing festival disguised as a meeting.

What had been intended to be a quiet drink in the bar and catching up with work turned out to be a very uncomfortable experience for me, it was rowdy, with foul language,(and that's the managers), and very unprofessional, the assistant manager was rude about a staff member (behind her back) who had to interrupt the meeting with a valid question,.

This got me thinking what type of business culture is Toby Carvery running when the assistant manager mocks a staff, member behind her back, in front of a customer, and some of the others joined in, this is not just really unprofessional its a form of bullying.

The fact that the manager and his so-called management team were made aware of this review, whilst I was on the premises and did nothing, shows a significant level of management incompetence

An apology would have gone a long way for the unpleasant and unnecessary noise intrusion I experienced, but despite being aware of this review, the managers ignored me and went about their normal tasks, which was awkward. They were clearly not happy with what I wrote, and I think they wanted me to leave, but I wasn't going to leave or feel uncomfortable by their now very apparent hostility.

I have worked as a management consultant and business psychologist in many businesses around the world. We all make mistakes in management roles, I thought my review would be useful feedback and an opportunity to learn. In business, usually, the manager attempts to resolve a customer complaint, and if there was a genuine apology, I would have removed this review, but instead, I extended it

Finally, if Toby Carvery seeks to create a pleasant experience for customers in addition to serving great food, I would suggest a minimum action point on this review is to prohibit staff from swearing on duty and to avoid public criticism of staff which is a...

I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction and discomfort with the experience my partner and I had at your establishment on Monday, the 6th of May, during our booked dinner reservation at 7:30 PM.

Upon arriving at Toby Carvery, Red Hill, we were immediately met with an unpleasant incident that tarnished what was supposed to be a family dinner outing. While in the smoking area outside the front entrance, members of your staff engaged in unprofessional behavior by flirting with my partner in a manner that made him feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Specifically, your staff member made inappropriate remarks about my partner's appearance, commenting on his attractiveness and asking intrusive questions about our personal lives, such as whether he had a king-size bed. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable and created a hostile environment for us as customers.

When I confronted the staff members involved, they not only denied any wrongdoing but also dismissed my concerns in a patronizing manner, attempting to gaslight the situation by suggesting that my partner's discomfort was merely a figment of my imagination.

As a customer, I am deeply disturbed by the lack of professionalism displayed by your staff members. Not only is it inappropriate for employees to engage in flirtatious behavior with customers, especially in a public area where families are present, but it is also concerning that they would attempt to manipulate the situation when confronted about their actions.

I strongly urge you to investigate this matter thoroughly, including reviewing any security camera footage that may have captured the incident. Additionally, I request that appropriate disciplinary action be taken against the staff members involved to ensure that such behavior does not occur again in the future.

It is my sincere hope that you will take this complaint seriously and take the necessary steps to address the issue promptly. As a longtime patron of Toby Carvery, I am disappointed by this experience and hope that you will take the necessary measures to prevent similar incidents from happening...