The Sportsman pub, very dissapointed.

[hggcraig]

Been a fan of the Sportsman since my first trip, although I had a bad experience on my recent trip and never returned after that.

 

So I was sitting enjoying my food by myself, browsing the internet on my phone. Whilst looking down at my phone, I heard a smash and as I looked up my glass had been smashed.

 

What happened was that the lad playing pool had accidentially hit the pool ball off the table, it went straight through my glass, glass went onto me and cut my finger, my plate and the pool ball ended up in the middle of my barely half eaten meal. Obviously this was an accident so when the lad came over apologising, I told him it was OK and that mistakes happen, he offered me a drink which I turned down.

 

The waitresses came running over asking if I was OK, and I seen the farang manager walk past me to the kitchen without saying a word to me. I then sat in silence for over 5 minutes thinking they are bound to replace my meal or even just half of it. After waiting I then decided I wasnt gonna get anything so I decided to check bin, to which to my amazement they tried to charge me for the full meal even though I had barely eaten half of it. The lad who hit the pool ball then insisted on paying for my meal, even though I told him not to.

 

All in all, I wont return there again, the food is nice but customer service in my opinion is seriously lacking.

[Diggsy]

I can understand your frustration from the management's passive response, he should have come and offered help.

 

But tbh I am not certain that the pub should've paid for your meal, it's the guy's fault which he insisted in apologizing and making up for it by paying your bill. In a place like Pattaya where 90% of the people around you are intoxicated; lots such incidents happen all the time, if the venue has to pay for each accident then they'll be out of business in no time. Again it doesn't mean that the manager shouldn't have handled this differently.

[hggcraig]

I can understand your frustration from the management's passive response, he should have come and offered help.

 

But tbh I am not certain that the pub should've paid for your meal, it's the guy's fault which he insisted in apologizing and making up for it by paying your bill. In a place like Pattaya where 90% of the people around you are intoxicated; lots such incidents happen all the time, if the venue has to pay for each accident then they'll be out of business in no time. Again it doesn't mean that the manager shouldn't have handled this differently.

 

I think the bar could have replaced half of my meal.

[ingo67]

Ok the Farng manager was useless but the pool player offered to pay for a drink and eventually insisted on paying for your meal, it was his fault after all, why were you so reluctant to accept his offer ?

[docbunsen]

if you thought you should get a replacement meal why not let the lad pay for it ?  maybe the owner should of been a bit more of a middle man but in my opinion it wasnt his fault and you had no complaints before the accident  regarding your meal

[LaaMok]

The farang manager would not ignore that. I know him very well. Did you tell him what happened? It was the customers fault not theirs. Plus the staff cant give random discounts imo.

[chris2004]

Sounds like it was the pool player's fault not the bar's, why should they replace the meal. He offered to pay why the drama?

[KittenKong]

It seems to me that if the restaurant chooses to put things like pool tables near where people eat then it assumes responsibility for accidents that may happen with the pool table.

 

At the very least the manager should have investigated, assisted and provided a replacement drink and meal. At the prices they charge in there they can easily afford it: the real cost to them of a 300B meal there is probably well under 100B.

[fatjack1]

Either the manager was completely unaware of the event or he did not react properly.  I agree with the sentiment that placing the pool table near seating for diners places some obligation on the establishment.  And I say this as a guy who eats there about 5 times a week for breakfast.

[mr21]

Sorry that happened to you but to me it doesn't seem reason enough to boycott a restaurant you enjoy. If you've eaten there many times, I'm sure the customer service was satisfactory to you. I would chalk it up as an unusual incident which tends to happen more frequent in LOS

[mrfreeze]

Another Customer caused the accident, offered to pay for your drink and meal and you said no - end of story.

If a staff member had caused it then the yes the bar should take care of it, not if another has caused it and even offered to pay for it all.

[revoluti]

Ive eaten there a lot, found the managers to be ok. It is odd that they didnt acknowledge it

[Jarrod2518]

I agree with Kitten Kong - the decision to position the Pool table was made by the restaurant not by the customers, and the Manager could have foreseen that it could an adverse incident. I think it is appalling attitude towards a customer not to immediately seek to resolve the situation. Shame on the Manager - he is a for liability to the Bar

[Tarl]

Unusual for the manager to ignore what happened. Met him last trip and he is a nice bloke who usualky keeps an eye on what us going on and checks on his customers to make sure they are happy.

 

Lad who caused the incident sounds a nice bloke.

[Pattaya_Brian]

...I then sat in silence for over 5 minutes thinking they are bound to replace my meal or even just half of it....

 

Sitting in silence is never going to get you anywhere with Thais, but then again if you had spoken up and asked to have the meal replaced, they would have no doubt charged you for 2 meals. Thais are never going to take any responsibility in situations like this. And in this case they might have been half right not to.

 

The part about the Western manager is puzzling to say the least.

[just hanging]

The pub should have replaced his meal and his drink, its their place and pool table therefore their fault.   Whether they charge the pool player or not is up to them, but should just eat it to keep both customers.

 

Really bad business to charge this guy

 

old restaurant saying and right on.   its very hard to get a customer and very easy to lose one              and when you lose one, you lose his friends too

[Pheat]

The pub should have replaced his meal and his drink, its their place and pool table therefore their fault.   Whether they charge the pool player or not is up to them, but should just eat it to keep both customers.

 

Really bad business to charge this guy

 

old restaurant saying and right on.   its very hard to get a customer and very easy to lose one              and when you lose one, you lose his friends too

Yep

Totally agree

The pub should have replaced the meal no questions asked

[jocky king]

Yep

Totally agree

The pub should have replaced the meal no questions asked

Agreed , Pool table is the owners reponsibility , he should have known the pool balls could easily jump off the table at anytime . Not the customer's fault .

[jomtienguy]

OP Next time take a monkey into the bar with you...

 

 

A guy walks into a bar with his pet monkey. He orders a drink, and while he’s drinking, the monkey jumps all over the place, eating everything behind the bar. Then the monkey jumps on to the pool table and swallows a billiard ball.

The bartender screams at the guy, “Your monkey just ate the cue ball off my pool table — whole!”

“Sorry,” replied the guy. “He eats everything in sight, the little bastard. I’ll pay for everything.”

 

The man finishes his drink, pays and leaves.

Two weeks later, he’s in the bar with his pet monkey, again. He orders a drink, and the monkey starts running around the bar. The monkey finds a maraschino cherry on the bar. He grabs it, sticks it up his ass, pulls it out and eats it.

The bartender is disgusted. “Did you see what your monkey did now?” he asks.

“Yeah,” replies the guy. “He still eats everything in sight, but ever since he swallowed that cue ball, he measures stuff first.”

[jimpty]

Ok so yes the manager is farang, but your still trying to bring western ideals into a situation that took place in Thailand which as we all know is quite a random location, just because someone comes from farang land doesnt essentially mean there playing by western rules TIT, the situation was eventually resolved the way it should have been with the individual that caused the occurrence rectifying it, personally i think you were a little too polite about it all when offered a drink id have told the bloke straight up id take the drink and that he would be paying for my meal also

[hggcraig]

The farang manager would not ignore that. I know him very well. Did you tell him what happened? It was the customers fault not theirs. Plus the staff cant give random discounts imo

 

The farang manager would not ignore that. I know him very well. Did you tell him what happened? It was the customers fault not theirs. Plus the staff cant give random

 

 

He definitely ignored it, he was sat at the bar. After It happened he walked straight past me, looking at the mess and walked straight through the door at the back of the bar and never came back out.

[Madzar]

The pub should have replaced his meal and his drink, its their place and pool table therefore their fault.   Whether they charge the pool player or not is up to them, but should just eat it to keep both customers.

 

Really bad business to charge this guy

 

old restaurant saying and right on.   its very hard to get a customer and very easy to lose one              and when you lose one, you lose his friends too

Yes I agree plus it probably isn't the first time an incident like this has occurred at the very least they should not have charged you for the meal.

[socrates]

If you want a proper response to this I would post it on The Breakfast Club FB Group the owner is a regular there and will answer directly - this is unfortunately going nowhere

[Syd Tybil]

I eat at the Sportsman all the time, and it seems like it is a regular occurrence to have the pool players hitting the balls off the table in there. I try to sit away from the pool table because of this. First time I have heard of a ball hitting someone's meal though.

[Pheat]

Agreed , Pool table is the owners reponsibility , he should have known the pool balls could easily jump off the table at anytime . Not the customer's fault .

If was my place.

I would replace the meal and the meal would be on the house.

A bit of goodwill goes a long way.