A popular community establishment, The Hulton Arms, has directly addressed a negative review posted by a customer after she dined there on Bank Holiday Monday. The review, which appeared on the pub’s Facebook page, labelled the service as “totally disgusting” and described the staff as “incompetent,” claiming they “do not give a damn about paying customers.”
The dissatisfied customer detailed her experience, stating that it took 45 minutes for their food to be served, and even then, a meal was missing. She reported that one member of their party had to wait to eat until the others had finished. The review concluded with criticism of what she perceived as a lack of proper apology from the staff, citing that one of the staff members seemed more interested in socialising than attending to customers.
In response, Adam Griffiths, the owner of The Hulton Arms located at Four Lane Ends in Over Hulton, Bolton, took to social media to defend his team. He provided a detailed timeline of the events, referencing CCTV footage to clarify the situation surrounding a table of nine customers.
According to Griffiths, the timeline revealed that the group placed their order at 14:12, and food began arriving at 14:56. He explained that the food is prepared to order, contributing to longer wait times, particularly in a busy pub environment. The final meal arrived shortly after, but a pizza was subsequently identified as missing. Griffiths noted that a staff member immediately addressed the issue, apologised, and arranged for the pizza to be delivered free of charge, which occurred just ten minutes later.
In his post, Griffiths extended an invitation for further discussion with the dissatisfied customer, offering his contact number. However, the customer later clarified that the pizza had been paid for and maintained her stance that the staff had not apologised adequately.
Support for Griffiths and his staff poured in from other patrons on the pub's Facebook post, with many customers commending the venue for standing up for its team. Commenters expressed their satisfaction with both the food and service at The Hulton Arms, with sentiments such as, “Good on you Adam for calling them out,” and “The food and service have always been great whenever we’ve been.”
Griffiths, who has managed the pub for nearly two years, indicated that while he welcomes feedback from customers, he felt it essential to respond to what he saw as an unfair assessment of his staff's performance. The Hulton Arms continues to operate daily, serving the community and fostering a positive atmosphere among its patrons.
Source: Noah Wire Services