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My friend and I visited Harry Ramsden's at Blackpool with our two year old daughters. We ordered off the main adult menu, Haddock & chips with a pot of tea £7.95 each. We explained to the waiter that our children wouldn't eat a full meal, so could we just have 2 sausages and they would be able to have a few chips off our plate. The waiter was fine with this.
When it was time to pay our bill we discovered that we had been charged £4.49 per sausage - this was basically the full price kids menu. We spoke to the lady on the till who said that we had to pay for a full meal, even though we didn't actually have everything on it. I told her that that this was ridiculous and that the waiter hadn't mentioned this when we ordered our food, but she insisted that he would have done and went off to speak to the manager.
The manager came over and from the moment he spoke to us he was rude, antagonising and condescending. He frequently interrupted us and insisted his waiter would have explained their policy and basically accused us of not being able to read! All through this he kept referring to us as "My Love". I asked him to stop this as I found it very rude and patronising - as a result of which he did it even more. I reiterated that at no time had the waiter said anything about having to for a full meal for the children even if we only had the sausages. If he had then I would have just shared the food with her off my plate and not paid £4.49p for a full meal.
He just wouldn't budge and just kept saying "If you look at the menu it says - children's menu £4.49." I pointed out that we didn't want the full menu, we just two sausages and where on the children's menu did it say you had to pay full price for one item.
We were basically made out to be liars and illiterate ones at that. We were treated in the most arrogant, patronising manner when I mentioned to him that other restaurants such as Wacky Warehouse and Pizza Hut offered a better, more flexible service when it comes to children's meals. He just laughed at me and said "Wacky Warehouse? At Harry Ramsden's we are a high class restaurant."
I eventually paid the bill in full and we left. I certainly wont be recommending Harry Ramsden's in Blackpool to anyone I know. No customer care, put down and patronised by the manager and made to look stupid. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that we were £8.98 out of pocket for a couple of sausages.
By: Abster
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So you were told by the waiter and didnt bother to read in thin air what he had just said?
I think the manager needs some training.
WHA, get a life.
I've been to the 'restaurant' in question, and I wasn't impressed by the service or the food either. Blackpool in general is a minefield of poor customer service; I blame it on the fact that as the residents are so intolerant of tourists, everyone gets tarred with the same brush. But that's no excuse for this kind of tone from a manager.
My motto is watch every penny, don't pay these prices if you can possibly avoid them.
.......a fair reaction under the described circumstances, but it is a criminal offence. I think the correct is to register your complaint, leave your name and address, and tell them you are taking it up with Trading Standards.
Having said that, if you had tried to share you food off your plate then I would not have allowed that in my restaurant. It's amazing sometimes, (although thankfully not very often) someone would order one meal and ask for two plates! What a cheek! I am sorry but no.
I think that you should have been made aware that you would have to pay the full childs meal price and again if you was not made aware of this then that is not good but it is not their duty.
To say that other establishments offer better and more flexible service is a little silly. You were not in any other establishment you were in Harry Ramsdens so their policy applies in their restaurant. I am sure if you complain to Pizza Hut that you did not like the meal at Harry Ramsdens then you would not get very far with the complaint.
The high class restaurant remark is just laughable :)
If you don't like the service or the food or even the attitude in that restaurant or even the company policy then you will know in the future wont you.
There are an awful lot of people like these places.
Frankly from my point of view children and restaurants don't mix, I believe they are usually a nightmare.
The people in these sort of places have to work so hard for their money givr them a break.
If the money was tight or you were just watching the cost then really you should have asked in the first place. You decided to have someting that was not listed on the menu and they served you what you wanted. So therefore it is your own fault really. At least you will no for the future wont you
errr hmm.
Go to one of the better places like Pizza Express, Starbucks, MacDonalds, Burger King, etc... where what you see is what you get.