A diner with an 'attitude' has been banned from a curry house for 'treating staff like servants'.
One unhappy punter left a damning Tripadvisor review complaining about the 'shocking' service his party of 26 experienced at Birmingham curry house Bombay Pickles.
The diner said the huge group had waited three and a half hours for their food - and that a service charge had been added to their bill without being disclosed beforehand, BirminghamLive reported.
According to the main group organiser they would not be returning to Bombay Pickles again - having visited regularly for 10 years.
But the restaurant's manager decided to respond to the review - pointing out that the group had not paid their deposit upon booking - required for such a large party.
The group had also refused to order their food in advance, which is also a restaurant policy for such big groups.
The manager also said the main group organiser was "whistling and clapping as if our staff were their personal servants" - talking to them with a "disgusting attitude and manners".
They added that the service charge was clearly stated on the bill - and had worked out to be less than 99p per customer. The manager added that it was unfortunate this had "caused such distress to your group".
The manager signed off the review adding that they do not tolerate "such appalling behaviour" and the restaurant would refuse bookings from the group again.
Bombay Pickles in Stourbridge has a 4.5 rating on Tripadvisor - with more than 500 independent reviews. The restaurant was last week named as a finalist in the English Curry Awards.
One recent review complimented the "great customer service" and "amazing" food. While another added: "Best Indian in Stourbridge or the area."
But this particular reviewer, identified as Phillip, was left less than impressed - leaving a one star 'terrible' rating in their review.
His review in full said: "Meet up with large group of friends. Service was shocking 3 & 1/2 hours waiting for food and they blamed it on such a large party!!!
"Our bill was £162.95 they attempted to charge us £195.55 stating additional was a service charge of 10 per cent. Service charges are illegal if it is not made clear before ordering.
"The bill was more than 10 per cent as well . After eating at this venue for the last 10 years and supporting it through Covid as a group we are disgusted.
"They have now lost our business which is 25 diners at least 4 or 5 times a year …. Shame."
The general manager of Bombay Pickles, identified as Kashim on Tripadvisor, left a lengthy response - calling out the party's behaviour throughout.
The response said: "We are sorry that you were not pleased with the service provided on this occasion given that we were willing to accommodate 26 guests without a deposit given as the group organiser is always adamant to not pay a deposit to secure the table.
"Although at Bombay Pickles we do whatever it takes to make sure our customers get the best experience possible.
"Not only were we willing to accommodate but we even had to politely ask our previous booked customers if we could reseat them elsewhere to accommodate your booking which was at 19:30. But arriving 30 minutes too early arriving at 19:00.
"Now this was quite unfair to them as their allocated 2 hours were not yet compete. All tables are allocated for a maximum of 2 hours so we can allow others to enjoy their food and time here.
"But never minding that we still managed to accommodate happily. Yet upon arrival the guests had constantly flooded the bar to individually order and pay for drinks in a limited space bar area.
"Surrounding the entry point of the restaurant when we had kindly requested the guests to sit at the tables and a member of staff will come and take your drinks orders on a separate tab.
"As you can imagine we do have influx of orders coming in and out as well as other guests trying to come in to be seated, collect their takeaways.
"Or have their food served to them so all of the guests standing around the bar when they had kindly been asked to be seated had not only caused an inconvenience to other guests but were extremely difficult and rude to the staff.
"Moving on to the food orders, for large groups (if accepted) we always ask for orders in advance to avoid delays in service and maximum satisfaction. Ensuring every little bit is prepared to get your food to you on time.
"However in this case that wasn’t how the orders had been taken, rather every individual of the 24/26 guests had wanted to order individually ON THE DAY.
"Yet we did the best we could with a warning of slow service in advance due to such a large order of food not being given in advance.
"Following this the main group organiser was whistling and clapping as if our staff were their personal servants speaking with such disgusting attitude and manners.
"Possibly a gentleman with low self esteem targeting the opposite gender to feel good about oneself.
"In regards to the service charge. It clearly states on our menu that we will provide a minimum service charge which had been 10 per cent on top your £165.85 bill which had come to around £181.50 and I can assure this as I keep copies of every bill for the day.
"It is unfortunate that the mandatory service charge calculated of less than 99p per person had caused such distress to your group.
“Legally Restaurants and hotels are fully entitled to keep that *service charge* which is deemed normal business revenue” - as stated by Irishtimes.com Or you can check gov.uk for the VATSC06130.
"Which cover all sections regarding the mandatory service charge and how it is used for Tax & VAT contributions.
"We do not tolerate such appalling behaviour to our staff and disruption to our guests therefore refuse to take anymore bookings by this organiser. Kind regards, Management."
