The Marksman, Shoreditch

I recently visited this pub for Sunday lunch with two friends having heard several recommendations but ended up being very disappointed. The "discretionary" service charge is apparently far from discretionary. I asked the waitress to remove it from the bill explaining that we wanted to decide on our own tip. At which point she demanded to know why several times. I explained that I wasn't happy with the service and she stormed back then continued remonstrating and raised her voice to the point that she was shouting at me in this busy bar. In the course of her tirade she mentioned that she had been really busy all day, that she had started at 11 that morning, and that we were "lucky" to get a table - I fail to see how this is relevant to the service we received. I asked to speak with the manager and he was at least good enough to refrain from shouting at me but did not apologise or it seems try to calm down his irate staff member. I'm sure not everyone has this experience here but I will certainly not be returning.

I suggest that they either remove the "discretionary" suggestion from their menu or adjust their prices to reflect the actual cost and pass on to their staff accordingly. Certainly they should try to employ people with more realistic understanding of what customer service entails.

7 Apr 2013 21:47