The Dutton Arms Blackpool Welcomes You Or Not as the Case May Be

The Dutton Arms the Only Place in Blackpool where you can que up for 20 minutes then they refuse to serve you for not saying please

The Dutton Arms Blackpool Welcomes You Or Not as the Case May Be

It was a long hot Sunday yesterday after the very well attended Blackpool Air Show.

The Red Arrows put on a great show ans there was a rare appearance by a Vulcan Bomber the only one left in the world that is permitted to fly.

Pictures will be posted elsewhere on this blog in due course.

So after an Airshow that lasted over 2 hours on a hot and sunny Blackpool afternoon it was natural to top things off with a cooling pint.

At this juncture I should point out that the crowds that came to Blackpool were on the part huge perhaps the biggest deluge of people the resort has seen for quite some years as a result all the pubs along the front were very busy with large ques at the bar and standing elbow room only.

Anyway The Dutton Arms which stands at the Junction of Waterloo Road and the Promenade looked favourite as not only was it on my way home but becuase I was also partial to a little lunch from their menu which on average I sample once a week.

The que for the bar was 2 or 3 deep and it took around 10 minutes before I could reach the front and utter the immortal words can I have a pint of Stella and a Diet Coke please. At that very moment there was some sort of commotion to my left which was unseen by me and the chap to my right butted in and shouted his order. I asked why I was not being served and was told by Cheryl Rawlinson who it turns out is the assistant manager ( I learnt all this later) that I had not said please and that I was rude, and therefore she would not serve me. She went up the bar to fetch this other chaps pint and elicited support from the other bar staff who had no idea what had occurred (same as me really) but the visual messages told me I was on a loser to getting a pint. For the record I did say please and this was confirmed to Cheryl by both my partner and the lady stood to my left, Cheryl sadly was not having it though. Bit annoying as the bloke that pushed in was clearly intoxicated and she chose to serve him!!

Anyway to give her her due Cheryl as were the other 2 staff on duty were unduly stressed and given the level of work rate they were being exposed to that afternoon clearly felt they had to expouse some retribution of some sort on an honest customer who simply wanted a pint.

Whatever happened to the Customer always being right?

So beware the Big Blackpool Welcome they tell you will get at The Dutton Arms in Blackpool may not actually be such a welcome at all. Be sure to grovel accordingly particulary if it is a hot and busy day and if Cheryl is on duty or you may not get a drink.

To be fair The Dutton Arms has been going downhill since last Winter when they undercut the prices at the Wetherspoons around the corner to lay claim to the sparse trade available in the colder weather. Selling Fosters lager at £1.49 a pint in Blackpool ensured that they did get a steady trade but sadly it was the sort of trade that sits all day every day in the pub drinking beer. God knows parts of Blackpool has enough of them anyway and most of them decended you know where.

So thanks Cheryl I was looking for a reason to ditch the DA weekly lunchtime appointment and I now have it. Please ask your managers to no longer send me any promotional literature as I feel I cannot reccomend either the DA or the nearby Yates to any of my customers in case you refuse to serve them for not speaking loudly enough or giving you the wrong change or some other non reason.

So Cheryl Rawlinson Thanks for giving me the opportunity to write about you and the terrible service available at The Dutton Arms Blackpool.

It seems poor service is not the only claim to fame the DA has.

There is a whole page here dedicated to the terrible state of the loos in the pub. The picture on the right is not untypical and features s0me discarded shreddies and a bowl full of urine..