The Pub and Drinks

BennyC

BennyC

BennyC

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Quite often my friends and I will meet at the pub to have a catch up. As I'm normally driving I don't like to drink and when I do drink something it's normally water as that's my preference over lemonade, orange juice etc or any soft drink.

4 of us, this evening which was a very quiet night at the pub in question although it did have about 10-15 other people in there. My friends bought a few drinks each over the duration of our meet, I had some water which when I initially asked for it was met with a 'tut + ptscchhh + a shrug'.

Eventually the deputy manager I think came over and said:

'If you're not going to buy anything you're going to have to jog on'.

And with that we left. I can understand if it was aimed at me personally as I had not bought anything and am well aware it is a business and not a place for me to come and enjoy (barely) for free. However my friends had bought a few drinks each which would surely see our places 'secured'. Perhaps he just remembered previously I hadn't bought anything and had taken a disliking to me.

They way in which we were spoken to wasn't particularly polite and whilst my friends seem to like it there I never have so gives me more reason to avoid it in future.

It seems a little short sighted to me as we do go there fairly regularly however I will of course me suggesting to my friends that we don't in future.

Is it naive of me to think that if the majority of the group is buying drinks that you are entitled to sit in and enjoy they establishment? Or is it common practice that you must always be buying drinks ever 30/45 minutes? I know this is usually the norm but on a Wednesday night he can't really be expecting people to be drinking heavily? :confused:

I await the responses telling me I'm a tight bar-steward for not buying a drink.
 
What exactly is the law regarding tap water?

If you serve drinks or food I believe a person has to be served if asked. But then it's the landlord's discretion to throw somebody out or not. :confused:
 
Maybe the guy was just having a bad day and wanted someone to take it out on?

I could understand if it was a busy night and you were effectively just taking up space that other customers who were drinking (more) would want but if it's a Wednesday night then it's not normally a busy time. Seems a bit short sighted of the deputy manager, I'd just chalk it up to him being an idiot and probably choose a different pub more often.
 
Well, yeah it takes the mick a little to expect a seat when you're not paying any money, even if it's just a couple of quid for an orange juice.

I would use my own discretion in a situation like this, if the pub is busy, then keeping your glasses full would be a good idea (this doesn't mean you have to drink like a madman), if there are lots of seats empty, then take your time, but sitting there with an empty glass for the best part of an hour (45 mins) is probably pushing your luck a little.
 
Sounds like their loss to me dude... In my opinion, if you're with people who are drinking there - I see no problem...
 
I'd suggest speaking to the manager. Licence holders are encouraged to support dedicated drivers, and this is no way of showing that!
 
semi-pro waster said:
I could understand if it was a busy night and you were effectively just taking up space that other customers who were drinking (more) would want but if it's a Wednesday night then it's not normally a busy time. Seems a bit short sighted of the deputy manager, I'd just chalk it up to him being an idiot and probably choose a different pub more often.
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This is what I was thinking. If it was early in the evening and it was starting to get busier then something like 'I'm sorry to bother you but we're getting a bit busier now and if you wouldn't mind buying some more drinks or food otherwise I'm going to have to ask you to leave', would have gone down perfectly fine. You would think any pub owner would be happy to have people sat in his pub, most of which are paying, and making it look busy and inviting.

Andelusion said:
Well, yeah it takes the mick a little to expect a seat when you're not paying any money, even if it's just a couple of quid for an orange juice.
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I agree, I just thought it was a little pedantic when the majority of the group have bought drinks and is going to cost you any future business for the sake of £2/3.
 
Sounds like a bit of a tool to be honest. Basically kicked out for not fancying a lemonade.... Some popel dont drink or are driving. You are with a group so it shouldnt matter. My girlfriend doesnt drink, she is usually on water and I have never come across that before.

If you were on your own on a friday evening then its plausable but not with a group of others on a quiet night. Kicking out paying customers because one wasnt drinking is just an angry little scrote.
 
Yeah sounds like a crap pub.

There is one just like that in Leek and I had exactly the same experience. The owner is a complete douche!

The pub in question had recently had a refit and me and a group of mates thought we would go to see what it was like. There were about 6 or 7 of us and I was the only one who didn't order a drink as I had no money/I was driving/It was the middle of the day/We weren't planning on staying too long/I wasn't really thirsty/I wasn't going to ask a friend to buy me a drink for the sake of it.

The owner came up to the table saying I would have to leave if I didn't buy a drink. The pub was empty and considering my mates had spent around £20 I thought it was a bit out of order.

The final straw was when one of my friends went to take one of the newspapers from the bar. The owner slammed his hand down on it exclaiming that he was reading it (he clearly wasn't). We left promptly and have never gone back.
 
If you were a group not buying any drinks at all, then yes I could see their point. If the rest of the group were paying for drinks I really don't see the issue.
 
I'd write to the local rag, given the issues of drunk driving their attitude stinks. It's bad enough pubs milk soft drinks with 1000% mark ups but treating you like that is just out of order.
 
StewartMG said:
Personally I think you should have bought a coke or an orange juice at least, but meh.
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Then thrown it at the wall!

I completely agree with Pez and Van Hellseek aswell.

Think i hated about 'my pub' was that a large group of us go in there every week. then they have the cheek to charge us £15 to go in there on new years.

We all went somewhere else and 'my pub' was dead. I think they have learnt their lesson as they havnt done it again since... *******
 
Telescopi said:
I'd write to the local rag, given the issues of drunk driving their attitude stinks. It's bad enough pubs milk soft drinks with 1000% mark ups but treating you like that is just out of order.
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I agree with the above. It doesn't exactly promote a responsible attitude by the pub although admittadly they were not forcing you to purchase alcohol but for all they know you could have some sort of allergy etc (Just playing devils advocate here) so kicking your out when all your mates are drinking seems very OTT to me.
 
7 people buying 6 drinks is like having 7 people sharing 6 portions of chips. I don't see the problem with that, especially if the place isn't busy. Any amount of business is better than no business.
 
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