Barracuda Group rant..

floralaura

A few weeks back we visited out local pub thats part of the Barracuda chain..we ordered and sat down. I gave my Baby his bottle and then went to get a highchair to sit him in, only both the chairs were awfully dirty. So Baby ended up staying in the pram the entire time.
A while later we re-visited and again the chairs were awful..i actually looked at them properly this time and what i thought to be dirt was mainly mould and mouldy ingrained food and old food remnants..so these chairs obviously haven't been cleaned for a long time.
Now, I do carry anti-bac wipes, spray and hand gel with me to clean trays of chairs etc but these were beyond help, they would be thrown out of the tip for being too manky! If a pub is going to promote its self as a family chain, have a family area, have a kids menu then surely they should make sure their children's seating is clean! They wouldn't expect a adult to sit at a mouldy table and eat would they, so why the heck would they think im putting my 4mth old into that situation?
I'm not good with confrontation so decided to email then when i got in, even included photos..2 days later i get a 'we will let the manager know' email back..fair enough.
four days after getting that email we return again (last sat) and STILL the chairs are there and not been cleaned.
So I have deduced that they really don't give a hoot about the level of filth on these chairs, so i will be gladly ringing environmental health tomorrow morning..see if they take it seriously then!

RadoJo

What did you ask for in terms of resolution - a response to let you know what they were intending to do about it, a full refurb of the furniture at your local branch, a voucher for another meal to prove that they were taking your complaint seriously? If you didn't tell them what you wanted them to do about it, then there's not much chance that you will get a response beyond what you have already received, but if you made it clear what you wanted from them, and they have failed to live up to that, then I suppose it's a case of voting with your feet.

Also, in fairness, four days is not a very long time to allow them to resolve the situation, especially considering that they are a chain, so requests for replacement furniture (which you suggest they needed) would probably take some time to pass through the chain of command and actually take action.

Lip_Stick

Urgh, that sounds horrible. I always give highchairs a wipe over before and after my little one uses one, but once I asked for someone to wipe one as it was in a bit of a state. I find it unbelievable that staff will wipe down a table, and not touch a highchair but I know it happens.

I would have asked for the highchairs to be cleaned. Your baby has every right to sit in a clean environment. I doubt anyone would get stroppy about cleaning them. They're there to do a job, and that is part of it.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Yuk. When I worked in a pub/restaurant, not only did we have to thoroughly scrub clean all outside tables and chairs weekly, all inside chairs had to be upended and cleaned weekly.

High chairs had to be done as part of the table clearing process - plates, glasses, wipe table, wipe chairs, clean high chair as though it were your own child going in it next.

There's no excuse - I wouldn't have returned so many times though.

Former_MSE_Archna

Barracuda has sent us this reponse:

Dear Laura
I understand our customer services team have contacted you directly regarding this matter, We are very sorry to hear of your experience at the Clwydian, Prestatyn, and would like to assure you that this is most unusual and outside of our normal standards of hygiene and service.

The area manager has arranged for four new high chairs to be delivered to the pub and he has discussed this with the manager and staff there.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and I hope we have reassured you that this was not a typical level of cleanliness and service in a Barracuda pub. I hope you will continue to enjoy the Clwydian.

Yours sincerely

Sarah Calderbank
Barracuda Group

molerat

I have found that manky high chairs are not confined to any particular location, large or small chain or small private establishment. It seems to be something that is often overlooked.

Paul_the_Painter

What I'm most shocked about is that you keep going back - and eating there!

A high chair is pretty easy to see - and clean.

Are they cleaning out their beer lines regularly? What about the difficult (and hard to see - impossible for the customer to see) areas in the fridges and work surfaces in the kitchen? What about the dishwashers?

There are so many things to get right in a pub/restaurent that you have to ask serious questions if they can't manage the easy ones.

To be fair to them - it is almost always different staff and managers who have responsibility for front of house and kitchen/bar area. But you are trusting that the kitchen has a good team/head chef as they are apparantly not being overseen by a good manager for the site as a whole.