dippyhippy

Really sad to hear this news. My goodness, there was plenty we disagreed on, but I always admired her commitment to Our City, and her local patch in particular. RIP Glenda, you will be missed.

Brilliant, Bobby! Wishing you, and all contributors and readers, a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. My hope for 2018 is that we can all be a tad more tolerant, and a whole lot kinder to each other. It costs so little - but can mean so much. Warm regards to one and all.

Stop it! £287,320. Blimey. So.....she's off for 5 years sailing the seven seas. And you're quite right, Megilleland - there's plenty of room for the whole rotten bunch. Pity there wasn't a competition to name it.....I'm sure we could have come up with a few good ideas. I quite like 'Inadequate.' A little reminder of the state she left children's services in. Or Maybe ....'Asset Stripper' ?? It has a certain...something, don't you agree?

Bought herself a bloody yacht???? Ye Gods. Be nice if she could take Tony and Harry along as the deck hands......I've heard The Bermuda Triangle is an interesting destination.

Can we just wait to see what the facts are, before jumping in with comments, all guns blazing? The 'terrorist bus attack' turned out to be...not a terrorist attack. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/apr/21/dortmund-bus-attack-suspect-arrested-as-police-allege-share-dealing-plot On 21 April 2017, the federal prosecutor announced that it had arrested a 28-year-old German-Russian citizen, identified only as Sergej W., on suspicion of 20-fold attempted murder, bringing about an illegal detonation of explosives, and aggravated battery. The man had been staying at the Borussia team hotel. He planted explosives along the road where the team bus would later leave to the stadium. During check-in, he chose a room with a window facing the road so he would be able to remotely trigger the explosion when the bus passed by. It was later revealed that on the day of the attack, he had bought put warrants for €78,000 from an investment bank using the internet connection in his hotel room. These would have made him a large profit of up to €3.9 million if Dortmund's share price were to plummet after a successful attack, but it only dropped by 5% after the attack and later recovered. The unusual transaction raised suspicion of money laundering with bank employees, prompting them to alert authorities and pass to them the identity of Sergej W., which later led to his arrest. Police also said Sergej W. left letters at the scene of the crime to frame Muslims for the attack.[3]

Pat Morgan on a world cruise, eh? So. The rumours were true!

That's good to hear, H. I've heard similar reports. Slim...been there many times. Even in a large group, service is friendly and accommodating of our various needs. Veggie/ Gluten free etc. Ubique! Top man! A letter of complaint. Love it! Much better than just leaving a review on Trip Advisor.

I can't say I'm a fan of Maduro. To me he is a wolf in sheeps clothing - a populist authoritarian masquerading as a democratic socialist. I got why Jeremy supported Chavez - but Maduro? No. It will be interesting to see what is or isn't said about current events as they unfold. We all make bad choices sometimes in the people we offer a hand of friendship to - just look at Thatcher and Pinochet... http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/tories-have-forgotten-that-thatcher-wasnt-just-a-terrorist-sympathiser-but-close-friends-with-one-10507850.html

Hi Paul, oh you poor thing. That sounds awful. If you were feeling brave - I'd go in and complain/explain....I'd be really interested to hear how your experience was dealt with. The more I talk to people, the more I'm coming to realise that we just don't seem to complain when we receive bad service. The modern way of complaining is to leave a review on Trip Advisor! This is useful - but it doesn't reflect just what businesses would/wouldn't do, when faced with a dissatisfied customer! Hope you're feeling better.

Nice to hear from you secret squirrel! Hopefully we'll get quite a few members views on here. I was thinking - I know, the second time in as many days - and service isn't just about restaurants is it? It covers shops as well. I don't know if anybody has spotted it, but there's a rather fabulous new shop in Church Street - Timothy Hawkins Gallery.This gem of a place contains.....all manner of beautiful, locally made, totally gorgeous....things! From furniture to jewellery. Breathtakingly good. And the lady in there was lovely. Genuinely warm and welcoming. She knew so much about the artists/craftsmen and women. Where they lived around the county, how long they had been producing their crafts....and encouraged me to pick up anything and everything! Which was actually very brave of her. I'm sure had she realised how clumsy I can be, she might have thought twice! I shall be visiting again soon!

Quick update Slim... The friend in question has called round in need of wine and a natter! (Obviously I was the best choice!) She rang the restaurant today and asked to speak to the manager.....it was the lady who had served her the day before. So...I guess when you say 'training starts with management' if that's an example of what the manager deems acceptable customer service, then there's little an unhappy diner can do.

Trip Advisor Reviews.... 1. Bad food, Bad service, Avoid! Shockingly bad! , Starter, I ordered marinated prawns wrapped in noodles and was given prawns wrapped in filo pastry! Im no master chef but really! They could have been from any supermarket, upon eating the third filo wrapped prawn I had to spit if out, 100% raw, blue, i was nearly sick. The most inexperienced waiter ive come across serving food did not have a clue what he was doing, he took my plate away and came back offering more prawns, no apology what so ever from the chef or the Manager. After eating the rest of the meal with caution the bill arrived and the prawns were still on the bill. This restaurant needs to take a good look at there customer service skills, pricing and invest in a good chef, I would NEVER go back to this place and would not recommend this to anyone. Disgusting. 2. Dire Service. We were visitibg for my wife's birthday with our 8 yr old daughter. Orders taken including discussing my daughters food but it didnt arrive. We had ordered plain fried squid and prawns. When it finally arrived it was covered in oyster sauce. Mangeress had to be asked for a discount!!!!We wont be going there again. 3. I have read the previous reviews and wonder whether the management read these web sites or simply don't care. The whole place smacked of being in a production line fast food establishmnet and the food lacked that TLC that I would have expected at the high prices. Although I've given one star to each of the choices that was done purely to submit this review as I really wanted to give no stars to the food, and value, 4. What A Decline In Standards! This place used to be loud but the food and service were good. Now, however, it is truly awful. The staff are surly, the service is appallingly bad, the woman front of house thinks its acceptable to ignore customers and then be rude to them, I'm sure my friend wishes they had checked Trip Advisor.....several reviews mention the bad service. Hi Ubique, I remember you telling me about this awful experience. Spoilt Christmas for you both.

Hi Slim, you're post is really interesting! I can only speak for myself - and I have never been in a situation where food/service has been truly awful - but I don't think I'd have the nerve to leave without paying! Morning Colin, thanks for sharing. It sounds as if the Miller & Carter menu debacle is similar to Thai Gallery. I'm sure we can all understand errors or mishaps....to me, it's the complete lack of customer service that is the real issue. Good to see you have found Hereford Beef on the menu....and that's from a vegetarian! (Albeit too far to be a quick lunch destinations!)

I'm lucky enough to eat out quite regularly....I rave about Nutters, and Little Black Dog. King Street Kitchen never disappoints, and The Rocket Cafe is fab. The one thing all these places have in common, is the lovely warm welcome you're given. Friendly, helpful staff. After hearing about today's events, I shall appreciate the wonderful customer service in my eateries of choice even more! We've just had a 'Scores on the Doors' thread, about hygiene ratings.....perhaps this thread could rate on customer service?

Ok. So this evening I received an email from a very good friend of mine - I've known her for years. They are the sort of person that would do anything for anybody, and is always relentlessly cheerful! (Unlike myself!) Today she took her daughter in law for a birthday lunch at Thai Gallery. ( I've been on a number of occasions myself - the food is great.) They went in, and although it was very quiet, were shoe horned onto a tiny table. They ordered. My friend deliberately chose a dish containing no mushrooms, with noodles and a few other bits and bobs. When the food arrived, my friend could see mushrooms...and also bits of egg. A waitress was called over, and my friend explained very politely, that this was not the dish ordered. The waitress insisted it was. My friend pointed out the mushrooms, the eggs and the ribbon like noodles ( not the rice ones expected.) The waitress was having none of it. Her daughter in law then asked to see the menu again. One was duly produced, and the meal description was read out. At this, the waitress did concede - rather reluctantly - that the mushrooms should not have been there. She said the plate could be returned to the kitchen, the mushrooms removed, and the meal reheated. "And the egg?" My friend asked. Only to be told that there were 'no rice noodles.' My friend asked for the plate to be taken away. This was not a meal that could be eaten. Her daughter in law ate hers at my friends insistence. Just then, another dish was bought out from the kitchen to go to another table.......containing rice noodles! The waitress was called over again. "We thought you said there was no rice noodles?" The reply was beyond belief. "There are no rice noodles in the dish you ordered." My friend pointed out that had they produced the actual dish that was ordered in the first place, the situation would not have arisen. This logic fell on deaf ears. So.......a dish is ordered, it's not what was on the menu, no real attempt is made to rectify the situation, and the waitress was unbelievably rude! My friend went to pay, (Still £25. for one dish, a glass of wine, a glass of water and a pot of rice - uneaten - it's rather bland by itself.) and had one final go at getting through to the waitress just how bad the service had been. By now, the waitress looked bored. She did respond - however, the first word she uttered was 'But...' My friend was in no mood to listen to excuses and left. This got me thinking..... Has customer service got better, worse or has it become indifferent? Any members have any examples of good, bad or downright ugly?