A celebrated pub has spoken out against a group of punters who refused to pay for a meal they’d already eaten.
The customers complained to staff at The Pack Horse, in the Peak District, after eating the majority of their meal.
Staff said the group demanded a new dish despite 'not flagging any problems' when employees checked in on them during their meal.
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The group eventually left without paying their bill, with the pub’s owner saying one member of the group then even winked at him as they left.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Owner and chef Luke Payne explained the situation as ‘immensely frustrating’ for him and his team.
Explaining what happened, Mr Payne said: “They were perfectly pleasant to begin with and then everything just changed.
“After they'd eaten about 70 per cent of the food, a lady brought her plate up to the bar and said it wasn't to her liking, wasn't what she expected, and could she swap to another meal for free?
“I said 'No', because she'd eaten most of it and we can't give food away for free when it's just personal preference. That's not really how it works.”
The group then threatened to not pay their bill, with Mr Payne telling them: “That's not really acceptable, you've eaten most it, and you were given the opportunity to say there was something wrong with it.’”
The pub takes card details at the time of booking in case of no-shows or walk-outs, but the group said they would cancel their cards, leaving The Pack Horse out of pocket.
Luke said: “If they'd flagged it up in the check-back we could have done something to rectify it.
“We don't actively like making people unhappy, it's our job for people to have a really good night.
“We love people leaving with a buzz and knowing they've had a great time with us and 99% of the people we have in are absolutely lovely and have a great time.
“We put in so much effort and passion and love, so every negative comment is taken personally.
“We will always do our utmost to fix a problem if something is wrong - if we've made a mistake we'll hold our hands up and we'll own it.
“So in an instance where absolutely nothing is wrong and people have kicked off, it hurts.”
The Pack Horse is one of the North West’s leading and most respected gastropubs, with Luke saying that business has been great since they were able to reopen their doors after lockdown, but that all the kindness brought about by the pandemic is beginning to fade away.
He said: “I feel like there was a point in the pandemic where everyone was like 'Be kind, be nice.
“But I've certainly noticed over the last couple of weeks that there's been more stressed-out people with shorter tempers, and I know that there's a lot of hard times for people at the moment, but it doesn't take much to be nice to others.
“It was such a great opportunity to have that societal reset, but I think some people have slipped back into their old ways.”
