Crown & Anchor

Well, where do I start with this post other than to say it was appalling how my friends and I were treated recently at the Crown & Anchor on Drummond Street in London by the manager.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been visiting The Crown & Anchor both with family, friends and my work colleagues for well over a year and up until last weekend haven’t really had any issues with the place. In fact, my colleagues and I have frequented the pub just about every payday Friday for the past 6 months, often with 15-20 of us standing outside so that people can smoke for around 5 hours until closing time. We’ve also been there on many occasions for birthdays, leaving do’s, mid-week evening drinks and of course team meetings at lunch for a bite to eat. With family and friends, whenever I’ve been in London I’ve spent time and money at the Crown & Anchor too so it goes without saying and certainly without a shadow of a doubt that I and my colleagues have been long-standing, loyal customers of the pub for well over a year and during that time we have spent thousands of our hard earned money at the place.

I won’t however be spending a single penny more at the establishment, nor will my family and friends and nor will any of my colleagues after how we were treated by the manager who very willingly and aggressively offered his name as a Mr G Whitehouse.

Mr Whitehouse showed his true hospitality last Friday evening, taking it upon himself to aggressively swear at and intimidate my female colleagues (right up in their faces too) who were doing nothing more than trying to finish up their last 2 inches of wine. The bell had rung for last orders 20 minutes prior to this and the pub was closing so they were clearing out the bar of people – standard Friday night stuff. Yet despite there being 3 tables of people still sat around drinking and our group already making our way towards the door, my colleagues were told to get out of the “fucking pub” and leave the drinks behind. This was the first request for us to leave – really friendly(!!)

“I don’t recognise any of your fucking faces”

Obviously this wasn’t something we expected and so questioned the manager about how he could possibly talk to us in that way – a group of his customers who drink and spend so much money at his pub so frequently. His response to this? I can’t remember his exact words but amongst a lot of “fucking” this and “fucking” that I do remember one statement being along the lines of “I don’t recognise any of your fucking faces, you don’t come here often and I don’t need your money, get the fuck out” (this naturally resulted in a pretty heated argument). Are you serious – I don’t recognise your face either you prick but that doesn’t mean I don’t drink there!! Now I’ve just looked at my online banking and I (not including my friends and colleagues) have visited and spent money at this pub on no fewer than 26 separate occasions over the past 6 months, coming in just shy of £1000! That’s an enormous sum of money for me and for most people.

I’ve been to a lot of pubs up and down the UK over the years and I and my colleagues are ASTOUNDED that this guy, who let’s not forget is the manager, could be SO rude and aggressive to his customers, who have been so loyal to his pub.

Rest assured, the Crown & Anchor is now effectively blacklisted at my head office after this event and certainly neither me or my friends will ever step foot inside again. In an economy such as ours where disposable income is small and so many pubs close each week, loyal customers should be treated with the utmost respect. No scratch that. EVERY customer should be treated with respect. This guy is a disgrace to the establishment.

As this guy has enough money and enough customers that he recognises I strongly recommend that anyone thinking of drinking at the Crown & Anchor walks 2 minutes up the road to the incredibly warm and welcoming team at The Square Tavern which is spacious, has plenty of seating and where you are always greeted with a smile – this is officially the new favourite local.

Nice knowing you Crown & Anchor, learn some (fucking) manners.

By Nick

Nick is the founder of Life of Man with a passion for trying out the latest technology, eating out at the best local restaurants, trying the latest IPAs hitting the craft beer scene travelling the world. As a parent Nick loves to spend time with his family and write about days out as dad blogger.

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