1 /5 Paul Marshall: I am writing to formally raise a concern regarding our experience at this pub on Christmas Eve.
We attended with friends and family to enjoy the evening together, as we have done in previous years. Our group was mixed, ranging in age from 23 to 60, and we fully understood that the pub would be extremely busy on this occasion.
During the evening, a karaoke host was present and an area of the pub that is normally accessible was cordoned off using a barrier made up of a coat draped over 2x wet floor signs and this being no higher than a foot tall. This was not clearly marked, and as a result, several customers understandably attempted to pass through, not realising the area had been restricted.
On more than one occasion, these customers were met with verbal abuse from the karaoke host. This escalated into a prolonged rant lasting several minutes, which included repeated swearing and the use of an extremely expletive word within earshot of other patrons and on an open mic Id like to add, for all to hear! This was deeply uncomfortable and entirely inappropriate, particularly in what is promoted as a community, family-friendly pub on Christmas Eve.
At 22:00, the bar bell was rung and all customers were instructed to leave immediately, which further added to a disappointing end to the evening.
We appreciate how challenging it can be to manage a busy venue, especially at Christmas. However, the behaviour described above fell well below what we would reasonably expect, and it left our entire group and most of the other patrons, feeling unwelcome and disheartened.
Lets hope this establishment will take this feedback seriously and review how external hosts represent their establishment, with or without consent from the pub management, particularly on a significant community occasions. It appeared that she (the karaoke host) was having some technical difficulties with her equipment during the evening and was attempting to deflect these issues back onto the patrons to save face.
In reflection of the above we could go down the health and safety road and with this in mind ultimately, this is the responsibility of the establishment/karaoke host and not the patrons.