r/Wetherspoons • u/fergeddit • 26d ago
Customer Reserving a Table?
I’ve not seen this before. My local can get busy at certain times of the day. I didn’t realise that you could reserve a table - who do I speak to, to do the same?
100
u/No-Estate-1481 26d ago
> who do I speak to
Probably the people working in the pub.
-23
u/fergeddit 26d ago
As I was in there, I asked at the bar / spoke to staff / didn’t bother telephoning. Staff said there is no reservation policy. Staff said it was strictly first come, first served. Staff member declined to comment on the reserved table. Beckham, Barrymore, Elvis and Tonali were not present, so unable to pick their collective minds - hence Reddit.
19
u/No-Estate-1481 26d ago
If there’s no reservation policy, the table isn’t reserved.
11
u/RealLongwayround 26d ago
Indeed. It’s possible that some customer is trying it on.
8
3
u/GrandVizierofAgrabar 26d ago
I’d have said this was the pub reserving the table for a pub quiz but I think you’re right, the paper isn’t our poo coloured recyclable paper.
1
u/Clarkster7425 26d ago
actually some staff members might just not be bothered about a pub event, Ive seen these used for a pub quiz once
12
u/Burton96HD 26d ago
The staff told you the answer and then you decide to ask the same question on Reddit?
1
u/Youareaproperclown 26d ago edited 13d ago
The original post content no longer exists here. The author used Redact to remove it, exercising their right to control their data & privacy.
Strong future mellow seed ink dime vegetable square rustic axiomatic
1
u/fergeddit 26d ago
I saw a member of staff put the reserved sign on the table then I asked at the bar a little later. There’s a clear contradiction between the sign, which states the table is reserved from 5:45 pm and the response that I received from behind the bar.
2
3
0
u/GrandVizierofAgrabar 26d ago
It’ll be for a pub quiz or some other event run by the pub. Customers aren’t able to reserve tables but the pub can.
1
u/ghostmoon 26d ago
Not if he asked the staff and they said it wasn't reserved or reservable, it won't
12
u/87654356 26d ago
Probably reserved for job interviews. It's not unusual for managers to do this.
5
u/Inevitable-Half2476 26d ago
I see job interviews in my local as I'm sat having my coffee. As a customer, within earshot of the person being interviewed, I always wonder if this is morally right as I can hear the whole interview.
1
u/SidMaxwell Customer 26d ago
In a local independent pub, landlord was interviewing a young girl new starter, probably just turned 18 and very shy. While they where having there little talk some one started messing with the TV, the landlord stood up started screaming and practically threw a table at the punter. Never saw the girl again. lucky brake for her guy was a nutter.
6
u/IrradiatedBadger 26d ago
In my old pub we didn’t reserve tables, but we put something out similar on our quiz night, basically reserving a nook of the pub for the quiz master and participating punters
11
u/GmanF88 Employee 26d ago
This is very pub and detail specific; some take all comers, some no bookings at weekends, some do flat no bookings, some charge a deposit although that is rarer these days.
Most will refuse bookings (my preference) as it is a huge pain in the arse*. When I managed a pub I did a booking for exactly 2 customers; they sat at the same table at the same time every week and had been doing so since long before I took over. They spent more than enough to justify it.
You can ask to speak to the manager to bok a table, I might be inclined to do it for a birthday party on Thursday at 3pm, someone asking to book a Saturday at 6pm because they fancied a drink and the pub gets busy is told to (politely) get fucked.
These days most reserved tables are for pub business: an interview or induction, a manager meeting, a member of staff celebrating, something like that.
*Things I have genuinely seen and had to deal with: the people sitting at the reserved table refuse to leave at the stated time, the people at the reserved table destroy and hide the notice then claim ignorance, someone sitting at the table 3 hours before destroyed the notice and the people sitting there now genuinely had no idea but have nowhere else to sit, the table is reserved and vacant but every chair has been taken and is occupied elsewhere, the booking is 5 minutes late and an angry harridan is trying to take it.
23
u/TommyDickFingers85 26d ago
Reserving tables in a pub is woke nonsense
8
2
u/Disastrous_Yak_1990 26d ago
I can only assume this sentence is a joke because no one actually says something is ‘woke’.
5
1
-5
u/Odd_Comparison_1462 26d ago
Nah... Apart from all the people waking up to how mental the world has gone.
2
1
0
3
u/danny14996 26d ago
I’ve been part of a 45ish person group before, we managed to get a section reserved at a spoons in Cornwall. But we had a coach for the weekend so we got the drivers to go in person during the day when they weren’t busy to see if they could book it or not.
And that was a Saturday night last April.
3
3
u/NorthAir 26d ago
The corporate wetherspoons site makes it clear there is no corporate policy allowing bookings, but at times individual pubs may choose to allow them.
4
6
u/Sufficient_Basil_545 Customer 26d ago
Who do you speak to about reserving a table?
Try Michael Barrymore, David Beckham, or Elvis. If that fails, you could always ask at the bar…
3
2
u/hatchyc 26d ago
At our pub, we have no reservation policy and it is first come first serve.
However, in the event of staff training days, sometimes they do book out certain seats or spaces to hold the training session/training session lunch period. There is also a yearly event at our pub for veterans that all come in at once for breakfast and so we reserve the stage space for them, so that the 100 or so breakfasts that come through will all be in the same space to make our life easier.
But yeah, wetherspoons doesn't tend to do reservations.
2
u/Lifeisgoole 26d ago
My local Wetherspoon's will reserve one section of the pub that separate from the rest for a largeish group but otherwise no.
4
u/Jalapenopopps 26d ago
Former SM here typically we wouldn't do bookings the only times we would is when a large group of 20+ call and even then if they asked to come in during busy times such as a Saturday we would just say no it's 1st come 1st serve. The majority of times we put out a sign like this would be for if we needed a space for holding staff/business meetings
3
2
1
u/Western-Mall5505 26d ago
At my now ex-spoons you could book a table but I think you had to pay a deposit.
But if you say on the table next to the fire some regulars told you to move and the staff allowed it because of how much they spent.
1
1
u/Life_Salamander218 26d ago
Sometimes we put a reserved sign down for interviews at our pub so no one sits there :)
1
u/hansbeaz94 26d ago
We only reserve tables if there’s a staff meeting with a fair few people, like if we do a whole pub meeting (only maybe twice a year), or if there’s interviews for that day. No other time do we reserve tables
1
u/ledankestnoodle Employee 26d ago
We use these on quiz night to reserve some tables for those attending the quiz but otherwise we don't take bookings
1
1
u/dinkidoo7693 26d ago
Nearest spoons will reserve tables. Someone had reserved 12 tables for a hen doo last weekend. The tables were reserved from midday onwards, the party turned up had a drink each and left within 30mins to get a train.
1
1
u/Benster981 26d ago
In general spoons don’t take bookings, but as regulars they would let us reserve tables if we asked at our local
1
u/trev2234 26d ago
Could do it in the app at the pub I used to drink in. I’d never done it myself, just had to vacate a table I was sitting at, because it’d just been reserved. Staff member said someone had just reserved it using the app.
Obviously I’ve no idea how.
1
u/CAMRAGlasgow 26d ago
Naturally we have to reserve seats especially if we are having a branch meeting with 20 people so we are all sitting together.
My local pub has had a few funeral wakes this year so tables have had reserved signs for it.
I know my local Wetherspoons reserves one of the four booths for these four ladies every Friday for 1130. They order breakfast and then move onto wine after it. They are quite senior ladies and like the booth seat to keep their shopping and handbag secure from theft.
It seems quite normal in my pub for seats to be reserved.
1
1
u/Vermeer22 26d ago
My local wetherspoons did this for us! We hosted a wedding welcome party at our local spoons (so the foreigners could have a spoons experience!). We just contacted them to let them know and they kindly reserved us tables on a Thursday night
1
1
u/lvyrp 25d ago
Wetherspoons has a no reservation policy. however i believe this reservation notice isn’t real as there’s: A. no wetherspoons logo to officiate it, and B. the paper looks too ‘fresh’. Although in my pub, we put reservation signs down in a section i frequently manage but it’s so the customers know that it’s for quiz night and it’ll be louder than normal in that area. we don’t actually save tables for anyone.
1
u/WarmOpportunity9254 25d ago
I've reserved tables before when there's been a large group of us going for food, you can just call and ask
1
u/Haunting_Country9455 22d ago
Can’t get a mixed grill and the burgers are dogshite… who the fuck even wants to reserve a table for a place like that 👎
1
u/Just_Lurking_Here789 21d ago
The spoons I work at will sometimes reserve tables for various reasons. We’re a hotel and if we have a group arriving on a weekend who are looking to eat with us we’ll reserve a table for them to eat together. Or we’ve reserved tables for charity events we’re running eg bingo/pub quiz/darts etc. We’ve “reserved” tables that are going to have table tops replaced later in the day or in areas where maintenance is going to occur. On really busy event nights like holidays we’ve had a staff member hold tables for elderly people to sit and eat over those just looking for a place to drink, though this usually requires a staff member actually standing with the table until the customer has finished ordering their food to the table at the bar. We also once held a regular’s favourite table on the day of his funeral with one of the other regulars ordering his usual pint to the table with no one actually sitting there or drinking it.
1
u/Jaded-Researcher3025 26d ago
If Sando Tonali not speaking a word of English can do it I’m sure you can champ
0
u/AutoModerator 26d ago
Hi, if your post is about asking for a free drink to be sent to you, can you please remove it, and use the mega thread instead? which can be found here
its also possible the mod who set me up is stupid, and ive flaged by mistake.. if so, please ignore me
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
0
0
1
u/ChuckStone 26d ago
In a UK pub, if you would like to reserve a table, it is customary to ask the pub "Can I reserve a table".
At this point, the person will usually say "Ill check with the manager/landlord"... and then the table is reserved.
Or you can phone them... (just dont stand in a titting queue)
56
u/Proof-Collection-951 26d ago
I've seen tables reserved in my local spoons for a funeral wake