The Railway, Tulse Hill

I've been going here for about 15 years, and the service has recently gone from the usual pass-the-valium inactivity behind the bar to jaw-droppingly dreadful...

In 10 minutes waiting for a drink with 3 staff serving and six people waiting,

Broken glass flew at me as the supporting pint glass on the drip tray broke.
Spattered with foam as someone tried to pour a pint of lager from an empty barrel - "Becks is off|"- yep, just wiping it off my arm.
Asked for a drink then ignored as

On settling tab at the end of the evening, I had to fight tooth and nail to get a wrongly charged round taken off.

The usual slow and moody service I can take, given the lovely garden and good food, but get rid of the recent rash of cretins that seem to lurch zombie-like behind the bar.

Serve drinks quickly, cheerfully, and bill properly. Not difficult.

8 Jul 2010 00:28

The Exhibit, Balham

Uniquely terrible customer service. One of the Exhibit's only draws is the sunny terrace at the front. Yet it has a 'policy', displayed nowhere of The 'policy' of only letting diners sit at the front is fine, but enforcing it when there are tables free is perverse. Pointing out a) the idiocy of this policy and b) the pointlessness of enforcing it in a half empty pub ended up with me arguing with two of the staff, who seemed to equate a 'policy' with holy writ. A girl who complained immediately before me, and pointed out that there were free tables, was told by the bar manager 'I'm busy - I've got a bar to run'. I was the only other person at the bar.

It's a shame, because the food's actually pretty good. But there are plenty of bars with good food that give a monkey's about their customers

13 Sep 2009 01:06