Chorlton bar and restaurant The Laundrette has hit out at a customer who left it a 1-star review on TripAdvisor, despite not turning up for her booking.
The customer, who was unhappy at being charged a £60 ‘no-show’ fee after she ‘forgot’ to cancel her booking at the busy eatery over Christmas, made her feelings known on the public review site in a long rant.
Revealing that she also works in the hospitality industry and ‘understand it’s their policy to debit a table that hasn’t shown up, and they were just following procedure’, she went on to say that she still felt she should be issued a refund.
After her card was debited, she had emailed the restaurant to ‘explain the circumstances’ and after twelve days had still not heard back on her request – leading her to take to TripAdvisor to make her feelings known more publicly.
Image: The Laundrette, Chorlton
The customer, going under the name Lauren B, said that she works in an independent restaurant in Chorlton and had booked a family meal at The Laundrette on 30 December 2021 in advance.
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On the day, however, she says a couple of her family members were taken ill with Covid and she herself was being asked to go into work to cover for her head chef, who had also tested positive with the virus.
Saying that she ‘may have forgotten to cancel’, she goes on to appeal for some sort of solidarity in her bid for a refund, making comparisons with her own workplace saying: “At my restaurant we wouldn’t just bill the card payer and not display any sympathy to the circumstances.
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“It’s unprecedented times for everyone at the moment, but especially the hospitality industry, and I know that we have barely made it through this festive period due to staff constantly isolating, tables no-showing, bringing front of house staff into the kitchen to cover in emergency circumstances.
“But I would like to think that despite these uncertain times, local businesses still appreciate human error and genuine mistakes.”
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She also implied that the Laundrette didn’t need to charge her for the no-show as she ‘can see out my window [they] are constantly flipping tables.’
The restaurant has since replied, saying: “Your table sat completely empty for 2 hours on a day we were fully booked.
“This is why you were charged.”
Taking aim at the unhappy customer, it went on to say that as a hospitality worker herself she ‘should know way more than most how detrimental tables not showing up is for a small businesses.’
The post continued: “And on top of that you then seem to think it’s acceptable to leave a bad review on trip advisor despite knowing you are 100% in the wrong.
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Image: The Laundrette, Chorlton
“We make it extreamly easy to cancel bookings. You can do it online yourself. You can message us on any social media platform. You can call us.
“As you live on the road you could have easily just mentioned it to any of our staff while walking past.
“Unfortunately you didn’t bother doing any of these.”
Adding that ‘we hate charging no shows but it’s the only way to protect ourselves’ the restaurant’s public relations manager finished by inviting her to give him a call, but not before delivering one more blow.
“Normally we are absolutely demoralised by negative reviews but… I’m more than happy for this to stay up and be public so everyone can see.
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“Not showing up for restaurant bookings is an extremely rude and disgusting practice.
“It’s the only reason we have put our charging system in place.”
The Greater Manchester high street that now has THREE great wine bars in a 200m stretch
Daisy Jackson
A popular suburb of Greater Manchester seems to be having a bit of a wine bar moment – and for once, we’re not talking about Stockport.
Prestwich has a buzzing little food and drink scene, and just this week has welcomed a brand-new wine bar.
That brings the total number of wine bars in the village to three – and they’re all in just a 200m stretch of the high street.
The latest addition is Cellar Door, headed up by siblings Ben and Sarah and sitting side-by-side with acclaimed neighbourhood restaurant The Pearl.
Cellar Door joins long-standing favourite Whole Bunch Wines (formerly known as Grape to Grain) and the new-ish Chin Chin, which comes from the same team behind Elnecot in Ancoats.
And beyond that, The Pearl has a ‘wine window’ where they’ll pass your drink out to you to drink on their pavement bistro tables.
If you much prefer a decent glass of wine instead of a pint, Prestwich is becoming the new hotspot for a bar crawl.
Read on for more on each of these brilliant independent businesses.
Cellar Door
Cellar Door is the newest wine bar to open in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group
The newest wine bar on the Prestwich high street is Cellar Door, opened just this month by brother and sister Ben and Sarah.
It’s their first project together and is stocked with more than 200 different wines, plus plenty of beers (including some local names), selected batched cocktails served ice-cold, and a menu of nibbles too.
Spanning two floors, there’s a sunny balcony upstairs for sunnier days, but in the meantime, get cosy in a booth with a glass of something from their VAST vino collection.
Whole Bunch Wines (formerly Grape to Grain) wine shop in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc GroupWhole Bunch Wines (formerly Grape to Grain) wine shop in Prestwich. Credit: The Manc Group
An ‘off licence with a difference’, Whole Bunch Wines (which used to be known as Grape to Grain) is Prestwich’s original spot for a wine.
Almost a decade old now, Whole Bunch Wines has a proper enomatic wine machine which means you can have a glass of their chosen bottles each week (without committing to a full bottle – though no judgement if you do want to do that too).
They also have a counter stuffed with cheese, meat and fresh bread so you can customise yourself a deli board.
There’s not much better than grabbing a bottle to take away from Whole Bunch, then changing your mind and cracking it open sat on one of the barrel tables outside instead.
Last but definitely not least on this mini wine crawl around Prestwich is Chin Chin.
This lovely spot comes from the team behind Elnecot, who initially opened it as Dokes Pizzeria (but then Rudy’s opened up opposite and honestly, who can be arsed) before pivoting it to be a wine bar.
There’s jazz vinyls playing, an enormous selection of rotating wines, a smart interior of tiled tabletops and moody red paint, and – a weekly highlight for locals – Sunday Sessions with roast dinner-inspired sandwiches and £4 pints.
Manchester City hit with backlash from season ticket holders after ‘divisive’ North Stand update
Danny Jones
Manchester City have shared a new update on the impending North Stand expansion and concourse upgrade, but the most recent reveal has been met with plenty of backlash from supporters set to suffer the consequences.
The Etihad is currently undergoing a major transformation that will see numerous new facilities added to the wider campus experience – most notably the increased capacity of the North Stand, which will make room for a further 7,000 or so fans.
Back in March, the club revealed the official brand partners for their upcoming on-site hotel, which will also accompany a new sky bar and rooftop stadium walk experience as part of the wider plans, but while adding more seats and things for matchgoers to do sounds good on paper, it’s come at a cost for many.
Reacting to the news of social media, many regular fans are now set to be forced out of their seats to make way for more hospitality sections at the end of the stadium, meaning the post has proved ‘divisive’ to say the least.
Are you joking? I’ve sat in the same seat for almost 20 years and this is how I find out I’m ‘relocating’. It’s an absolute disgrace the way you’re treating loyal fans in favour of tourists. I was there when we were shit, do you think they will be here if we go to shit again?
As you can see, both Blues, neutrals, and even rivals alike are expressing their shock and disappointment in not only the decision but the manner in which the announcement was made.
One person said on X: “You turfed me and hundreds of others out of our seats four seasons ago when you dug them up for digital signage. We were all split up and had to scrape around for new seats. Had enough of all the new rules and digital tickets/transfers. I sit on my sofa now and save £3k.
Reply in the comments underneath the response, a Manchester United fan added: “I don’t like City, but this is something I can stand with [fans] on.”
Even well-known online commentators like ‘HLTCO’ (Hopkin Looking To Curl One), a.k.a. Dan Cook – a notable Crystal Palace die-hard – shared his two cents online.
“Man City season ticket holders are being told that they’re being permanently moved from the seats they’ve had for years to accommodate a new corporate seating area”, he wrote, adding: “This is the sort of thing that fans everywhere have to push back against; these clubs see us as a nuisance.”
In terms of what the stadium overhaul looks like, the latest CGIs show the first proper glimpse of the new ‘Cross Bar’ that will “offer a relaxed, social atmosphere” for around 300 fans, as well as the new ‘City Hall’ concourse area, which will cater to around 500 punters both on game-days and beyond.
As detailed in the full statement on the club website, they have insisted that they will be supporting those “may need to move seats ahead of the commencement of the 2026/27”, clarifying that no one will need to be relocated to accommodate the Cross Bar, specifically.
They go on to add: “We understand that relocating seats may be unsettling, and we are here to support these fans”. They have promised things like a “priority relocation window” and, most crucially, a guarantee that they won’t have to pay more to sit in what is typically a more expensive stadium block.
However, while they have also assured that people will be able to move groups of seats so as to stay around their friends, as explained by a user above, this is easier said than done and ticket uncertainty remains a big concern among the fan base.
What do you make of the latest Etihad Stadium news, City fans?
Georgina Pellant -
18th January 2022 
