Ye Olde Crown — Restaurant in Rochford

Dear Marston's,

I am writing to express my frustration as my previous complaint, submitted almost 3 weeks , has not only gone unacknowledged but remains unresolved. Despite allowing ample time for your team to respond, I have yet to receive any form of acknowledgment or an update on the matter.

This lack of communication and resolution is extremely disappointing and has left me feeling disregarded as a customer of over 20 years . I kindly request an immediate response to this issue, as I expect timely action and a satisfactory resolution.

Please confirm receipt of this complaint and provide an update on how you plan to address my concerns below is my original complaint

Dear Marston's,

I am writing to express my utmost disappointment and frustration regarding the treatment my child received recently.

On 08/02/25, I was with my child, wife and a group of friends in Ye olde crown in Rayleigh watching the rugby match England V France . We were enjoying the game when, unexpectedly, My wife was abruptly told our 5 year old boy had to leave the premises with only 15 minutes left of the match. When questioned, I was told only he had to leave, you (me) can stay (what am I supposed to do, leave a 5 year old outside while I finish watching the game?) I will admit I did not respond well to being shouted at and I did shout back, what also attributed to my frustration was the response I got when I asked how I could complain. Response being: "I don't know, it's Marstons". I asked if she could find out for me and was told "no, It's Marstons". So, so far there appears to be an issue with duty of care with the poor suggestion that my child could wait outside, a lack of customer service and inability to provide one's employer's contact details to a customer and as to my next point, not aware of the difference between policies & law.

I understand that there may be policies in place (myself and my wife have been unable to find these despite searching online - I daren't ask the staff at the pub what they are - or reasons for the decision, but the way in which my child was treated was completely unacceptable. Instead of being approached with respect and provided with an explanation that we would not be able to watch the game in full before it started, he was rudely kicked out without any regard for our experience, our friend's experience or the money we had spent at the pub.

As a loyal customer of this pub for over 20 years, I have always appreciated the atmosphere at this establishment. However, this incident has left a sour taste in my mouth and has made me question the level of care and consideration given to customers, especially young patrons. When it advertises itself as a family friendly place.

I would also like to bring to your attention a matter of training and development for your staff, as your deputy manager does not understand the difference between company policies and the law. I bring this point to your attention as the confusion between the two, when the deputy manager is telling me it's the law and my child can not be in the premises at this time, which is not accurate, with some simple training so the staff are adequately trained on the difference this situation would have been prevented ,

I urge you to address this issue promptly and provide a satisfactory explanation for why my child was asked to leave the pub when It was quite clear that we were in to watch the game. I also hope that steps will be taken to ensure that such disrespectful treatment does not happen to any customer in the future.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing back from you soon and hope that we can resolve this issue in a mutually...

We had never been to Ye Olde Crown before and due to the events that occured in Southend, we wanted a change of scenery. We had a leaflet though the door offering 30% of mains, so we decided to give it a try for our date night (even though I forgot the voucher 😅). It is a nice, small pub with friendly staff and a good selection of food and drinks at a reasonable price. The music was to our taste (we are 28 and 29) which we were surprised at but thoroughly enjoyed. There was a small incident with a group but it was handled quickly by staff and doormen and dispersed quickly. This did not put us off coming back as we feel it was handled very well. We ordered out first drinks at the bar then ordered food and the rest of our drinks via the app which was easy to navigate. The only thing I would comment on is that on the app is says closes at 23.00, so I thought that meant for food as well so I waited till gone half 9 to try and order something to soak up the alcohol but found I could no longer order. My fault, I should have checked with staff, but it didn't specify on the menu or app when the kitchen closes. However, I look forward to trying the food next time and the burger my partner ordered, he...

Been eating here every visit to Rayleigh high Street over the last 10 years. Today they were catering for a table of 7 people. I hope they paid enough to cover the loss of anyone else not being able to order food ??!! But we were told to wait 20 mins as their kitchen can't cope with any other orders yet fair enough.. then we ordered more drinks and put money on the car park ticket... waited again another 30 mins.. asked again told would be even longer another 30 mins. At that we left and will never go again. Kept waiting on the promise of food to keep spending on drinks is disgusting service! Why not take down the table menus if food is not available. 7 people all eating the same xmas meal surely can't be too taxing the throw some chips in a flyer and empty apology...