Grieving diner slams ‘UK’s best pub’ for refusing to refund family £660 for table after dad died suddenly
AN ANGRY diner has slammed a Michelin-starred “UK’s best pub” for not allowing him to move a table booking – while his dad was dying in hospital
Martin O’Grady had handed over £660 as a pre-payment for a birthday meal at the award-winning Fordwich Arms near Canterbury, Kent, named the UK’s best pub in 2019.
But four days before the party on New Year’s Eve, his father had a serious accident abroad and a family member attempted to change the reservation, which was originally booked for a table of six.
But shockingly, the request was refused – as was a full refund – and on the day of the planned meal, Martin’s father died.
Sharing his disappointment on Facebook, the grieving man said: “We are utterly disgusted by this experience, not to mention £660 worse off, and just feel compelled to share this horrifying story with anyone ever considering making a reservation at this establishment. There are no words.”
In response to the public post, Fordwich Arms head chef Dan Smith said he was “sorry to hear of Mr O’Grady’s loss”.
He told how a pre-payment was taken because a lot of “premium expensive ingredients” had been purchased specially for the night and had to cover the wages of 16 staff members brought in to provide the “best experience service”.
Dan said: “This means that margins are very tight as always in restaurants.”
But the response has further angered Mr O’Grady, who blasted: “Obviously they are feeling the heat from all the negative attention this has drawn. They are “sorry for my loss”? They didn’t communicate that to me.
“It seems that all the negative comments and criticism has pressurised them into commenting. Arrogance at best. Their rationale is just about economics. The human aspect of this seems entirely lost on these people.”
Mr O’Grady reiterated he had not sought a refund from the pub, and merely wanted to change the date of the booking given his father’s accident and grave condition.
He said: “We were simply requesting a goodwill gesture to allow us to change our reservation to a later date once I had a chance to return to the UK.
“When asked how management view such extenuating circumstances the manager and owners neither cared nor wanted to hear anything about it. Another recital of terms and conditions ensued.”
Mr Smith said Mr O’Grady was told tickets for the New Year’s Eve dinner were non-refundable, but said they could be transferred to another person.
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He explained: “The first contact we had with this booking was a phone call on Saturday, December 28, in which we were informed that one of the party’s relatives was unwell.
“Once we had heard the news our manager immediately phoned the two tables on the waiting list. However, at the late stage they had already made plans elsewhere.
“Unfortunately, due to the late stage we were unable to fill this particular table. The manager also phoned them on the Monday, which was his day off, to inform them we had not yet been able to sell the tickets and to see if they had any luck.”