Letter: Pubs are making a meal of their menus
SIR – I agree entirely that we should be helping the hospitality industry at this time but some pubs are not helping themselves.
Twice recently I have visited pubs for lunch that expect you to read the menu, order and then pay on your phone.
The first time I was with a group of six. It was very difficult to read a phone screen due to the bright sunshine.
We had mixed success trying to place orders. The only consistent factor was the bad temper it generated.
One person even gave up and decided to order nothing.
The final straw was being asked to add a service charge before even placing an order, let alone receiving any service.
Normally we would have ordered coffee and dessert but nobody had the energy to fight the ordering system again.
We won’t be returning.
On the second occasion, my phone was loading slowly and I could not connect to the pub’s WiFi, so we left and went somewhere more customer-friendly.
It may be possible to operate in this way in the summer when there are plenty of visitors around.
However, pubs that persist in this practice may find a shortage of customers in the autumn when they become more dependent on locals, many of whom are mature and do not live with a mobile phone glued to their hand.
Colin Lyde,
Hythe
