A family says their Christmas Day was "ruined" after they went to a restaurant and had an "awful" experience that was so bad they gave up and went home to eat jacket potatoes. They have pledged never to return to The Saxon Mill following their disappointing meal on December 25.
Writing on TripAdvisor, a customer using the name Roff said they arrived for a 3.45pm reservation at the gastropub in Warwick, only to join a queue of people in a space they likened to a "cattle area", the Daily Express reports. They then waited for an hour in total - before abandoning the idea of having Christmas dinner out and travelling 30 minutes back home to have their potatoes instead.
In their review, Roff said: "Just awful from Start to finish. 3.45pm booking.
"Arrived at 3.30pm to find a queue outside and a bunch of people gathered in a cattle area! Bad vibes all round as they had all been waiting a long time already. Overall we waited an hour and in the end asked for a refund and went home (30 minutes away) and had a jacket potato.
"Completely ruined our Christmas day. We have been out many times for Christmas day dinner and cheaper than this place and NEVER have we been treated like this. The poor waitresses were running around and not one senior member of staff addressed us waiting.
"People that had managed to eat something walked past us and said good luck. Many asked for refunds, walked out mid meal and said the food was coming out wrong and cold.
"When we were about to leave we were approached by someone and he said that they were short staffed as lots had rang in sick.
"Well you would know at the start of the day how many staff you have surely so even though we would have been angry if you had called us to tell us the situation, you should have given us the choice and had we known earlier, we could have organised something else.
"Also you should have over staffed to avoid this. Won't be back here again on principle."
A spokesperson for The Saxon Mill said: "We are disappointed to hear that we were unable to accommodate the family promptly on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, due to unexpected operational pressures including a much smaller team than we had planned for, the team working on the day were doing the best they could to cater for all guests.
"We encourage the family affected to feed back to us via our dedicated Guest Care team - guest.care@mbplc.om - so we can personally apologise and offer them a full refund on their deposit."
While the family, from Northampton, was disappointed, others enjoyed their Christmas meals at the restaurant, praising its service, food and atmosphere on TripAdvisor.
One person said: "Travelled down from Scotland to have Xmas meal with family. They had picked the restaurant and it was a great choice. Food and service on point and a beautiful old building."
Another wrote: "We were blown away by the building and its setting. A lovely meal ensued, served by cheery staff, with a smile and helpful advice. A real treat for all the senses. Delighted. 11 out of 10."
More than a third of The Saxon Mill's reviews on TripAdvisor are rated "excellent".
