Christening location in Waterford

mozattack

Hi all,

Looking for a place around for a Christening. Does anyone have any recommendations. Around 15 - 18 adults, 7 kids of which 5 will be in the running around stage (2 - 5 yrs).

Not an endless budget but would like a good day.

Tried Becketts but they didn't return my call

gscully

mozattack wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking for a place around for a Christening. Does anyone have any recommendations. Around 15 - 18 adults, 7 kids of which 5 will be in the running around stage (2 - 5 yrs).

Not an endless budget but would like a good day.

Tried Becketts but they didn't return my call

We had our first in Becketts. Rip-off! They never made the sandwiches we ordered, so when I complained, the owner made a handful :rolleyes:

Since then, we've gone with the Brass Cock. A party of your size will have the run of the Cellar Bar area. Food is good too - around €12 a head for sandwiches, sausages, chicken goujons and wedges, plus tea / coffee. They also provide the plates etc for the cake (which they'll also store in the fridge). The only negative is there are two stairs (one to the main bar area and one down to the toilets) which kids might get at, but sensible adult supervision and strategically placed chairs will fix that.

mozattack

Thanks for the feedback.

Not returning our call is a good enough reason to look elsewhere. Will check out Woodlands so because that sounds good (can always go to Becketts or Jack Meades if it is sunny afterwards) :cool:

abouttobebanned

Oskars would be my first port of call. Upstairs is a great spot for functions

gscully

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Oskars would be my first port of call. Upstairs is a great spot for functions

Good spot, but Mozattack has already mentioned the amount of kids, and the stairs there would be a hazard.

abouttobebanned

Plenty of room downstairs. Which pubs have playgrounds? I know there are one or two...jack meades being one anyway

ROCKMAN

The bar in the Woodlands has a little private section could be what you are looking for ,and the food there is always top notch ,
Also Sals on the Quay can be hired for private functions may not be everyones first choice ,but was there for a private party and could not knock it , The food was very good .had a very good day to be honest , Marcus looked after everyone very well

mozattack

Hi all,

Just to give you an update.

Becketts never returned our calls.

Jack Meades didn't return two calls and my email.

Woodlands tried to mug us. €24 per person for two courses and €11 per child for chips, nuggets and ice-cream. We were told the €11 would apply to all kids despite the oldest being 5 and 3 kids being less than 18 months!

The finger food was €11 minimum.

We decided to go to Oscars. On the Sunday we have choice of the carvery for €10 per head plus dessert for €3. We can get canapes for a few quid thrown in too. We also can go over in the morning and decorate our area. Also half portions are available and if we go with the buffet option the kids meals are free.

==> easily the best service and offers available. The rest were a joke!

-- Any idea how much the priest should get for carrying out the service?

Aquos76

Glad you went with oscars, we had our third child christening there last year along with our oldest child's Communion. Top class service on each occasion, we paid slightly more however we had a 4 course meal and also table service, I think it was something like €19.95, cant swear on that though.

eiresandra

Isn't it crazy that pubs wouldn't even return calls to people looking to spend money!

mozattack

Eiresanta, yeah its a joke and the above isn't an exagerration either. Totally dismayed by the lack of service.

Also see my post of today in Restuarants Reviews re Cliff House Hotel - long story short, turned down a booking in June/July 'cos wasn't staying down there. Fair enough so! I complained today via email about it.

Friend building house at the moment and the lack of service he recieved from building providers was shocking. They mostly deserve to go out of business.

mozattack

Just an update. We went to Oscars for the day. Had a selection of canapes and dinner there. 18 adults, 7 kids and they charged €250 (including my tip).

Incredible service, food was really good and was very impressed.

On a side note. Cupcake heaven are incredible for cupcakes - just would like to promote her work.

merlante

eiresandra wrote: »

Isn't it crazy that pubs wouldn't even return calls to people looking to spend money!

This is what I mean when everyone assumes that pubs close because there are no customers. Sometimes the publicans and business people in general are incompetent or lazy.

Not returning these kind of calls is a bit of death wish in a recession I would have thought.

dayshah

merlante wrote: »

This is what I mean when everyone assumes that pubs close because there are no customers. Sometimes the publicans and business people in general are incompetent or lazy.

Not returning these kind of calls is a bit of death wish in a recession I would have thought.

It would be easy to send a text saying, sorry but we can't accommodate you, or something. Just out of courtesy.

deisemum

merlante wrote: »

This is what I mean when everyone assumes that pubs close because there are no customers. Sometimes the publicans and business people in general are incompetent or lazy.

Not returning these kind of calls is a bit of death wish in a recession I would have thought.

I agree, I had only 2 businesses get back to me when I was looking for somewhere to have my son's confirmation last month. The places that couldn't be arsed to reply have left a bad taste and I for 1 will not be rushing back to those places in the future.

kksm

Hi.
I went to Becketts last Sunday week for lunch with my wife and her parents and my two children. The food was nice but when I got the bill I wasn't happy to see that they had charged me for 2 glasses of Miwadi orange at 70c each. The bill was €111. I asked the girl was it a mistake that they had charged me €1.40 for the Miwadi and she said it wasn't. She said That they always charge 70c for this drink. I expressed that I wasn't happy and it was the last time they would see me there.
Am I wrong? Is it normal that Miwadi or such cordial drinks be charged?
In my opinion it's poor poor form from Becketts:mad:

wmpdd3

did you think it was free? It was 50p for a glass of cordial the last time i worked in a pub.

MitchKoobski

kksm wrote: »

Hi.
I went to Becketts last Sunday week for lunch with my wife and her parents and my two children. The food was nice but when I got the bill I wasn't happy to see that they had charged me for 2 glasses of Miwadi orange at 70c each. The bill was €111. I asked the girl was it a mistake that they had charged me €1.40 for the Miwadi and she said it wasn't. She said That they always charge 70c for this drink. I expressed that I wasn't happy and it was the last time they would see me there.
Am I wrong? Is it normal that Miwadi or such cordial drinks be charged?
In my opinion it's poor poor form from Becketts:mad:

Seriously? You ACTUALLY thought you didnt have to pay for two drinks, and charging for them is apparently poor form?

G'way outta that. If I asked for a glass of blackcurrant anywhere Id expect to pay for it. Its cordial, not glasses of water.

Also, complaining about €1.40 on a €111 bill?

michellie

To be fair, Becketts have to buy the cordial so therefore you pay for it.

batm!ke

Just said I'd mention the Halfway House (Katie Reillys) for a place for Christening location. Had the little fellas Christening there at the end of last summer, food was good, they were very accommodating, there's plenty of room for kids to run around, plenty of parking etc. We were let set up our own decorations, music etc. Tip for saving money, we did look at DJ's but most were looking for too much (we were on a budget) so what I did was borrow lighting and speakers from friends of mine in the music biz, set up a laptop with all the hours of music that we wanted on it and just let it play away. If you have an iPhone or whatever there is an app you can get that is a remote control and was able to control the music and the volume from the other end of the room!

abouttobebanned

2 ways of looking at this. (well only one in my eyes)

If you came into my pub to watch a match and sat there with a glass of cordial, you'd be charged for it.

If you ran up a bill of €111 I would be telling my staff to not dare charge them for cordial but to make it clear on the bill that we acknowledged it, but didn't charge for it.

Come on guys, have you completely lost the meaning of good customer service?

MitchKoobski

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Come on guys, have you completely lost the meaning of good customer service?

Charging someone for everything they ordered isn't bad customer service.

Tim the Enchanter

In fairness, a drop of cordial topped up with water is not going to break any pub/restaurant. I go to the Ramada hotel sometimes for lunch and they have a service unit where you pour your own glass of water surrounded with various bottles of cordial you can use for free. My local publican also does not charge for cordial. And i also think 70c is a bit much for what is essentially a glass of colored tap water

Libby029

The charging for cordial is ridiculous, as lot of pubs are given cordial free with their beverage delivery .. as a previous poster said, if u are spending over a hundred euro on food... it is a bit greedy, charging over a euro for a shot of cordial.. alot of other restuarants offer cordial with tap water when serving lunch.. and in my eyes it is good customer service, and it is these little extras that will bring you back to a place...

abouttobebanned

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Charging someone for everything they ordered isn't bad customer service.

Where did I say it was bad customer service? Try replying to what I actually said will ya?

MitchKoobski

abouttobebanned wrote: »

2 ways of looking at this. (well only one in my eyes)

If you came into my pub to watch a match and sat there with a glass of cordial, you'd be charged for it.

If you ran up a bill of €111 I would be telling my staff to not dare charge them for cordial but to make it clear on the bill that we acknowledged it, but didn't charge for it.

Come on guys, have you completely lost the meaning of good customer service?

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Where did I say it was bad customer service? Try replying to what I actually said will ya?

Giving someone something for free might be considered part of good customer service, but to me you can give great customer service without giving anything away for free, no matter what it is.

I've been in places before where someone says "Oh I thought that second bottle of wine was complimentary? I have to pay for it? Well I won't be coming back here anyway."

Going by the posters comment, he was having a perfectly great time until he saw he was charged for two glasses of cordial, and then suddenly it was bad customer service or 'poor form'.

Its hypothetical but what happens if he orders 6 glasses of cordial and assume they wouldn't be charged?

Beckett's decided to charge for every item on the bill, as I would do if I was them in that situation, and charging for every item on a bill doesn't show a lack of understanding of good customer service to me.

Edit: That being said, you have full experience in customer service whereas I only have a small few years. Probably explains the differing opinions.

Sully

Its hit and miss. A lot of places do a small charge and others no charge at all. Its a smell gesture not to charge for it on a large bill.

abouttobebanned

Mitch, I'm not saying that it's bad customer service. There's every chance that the OP was given great service and tbh I personally wouldn't kick up a stink if the food and service was good but then I had to pay 70cent for a cordial.

It's not really something that an owner/manager can implement across the board but there should be a line of common sense. If someone has chosen your restaurant and spent over 100 euro then in order to hopefully enjoy their repeat custom it wouldn't be a bad idea to not charge them for things like cordial, extra sauce etc.

I remember being in Eddie rockets once and I asked for some cajun sauce...the girl got the sauce and then reached over for my receipt and added the sauce so it could be charged for later. Sauce costs money so by your argument the girl was right to charge me. But there was 50 euro worth of food on the table already.

ROCKMAN

MitchKoobski wrote: »

Seriously? You ACTUALLY thought you didnt have to pay for two drinks, and charging for them is apparently poor form?

G'way outta that. If I asked for a glass of blackcurrant anywhere Id expect to pay for it. Its cordial, not glasses of water.

Also, complaining about €1.40 on a €111 bill?

To be honest ,yes i would be expecting the cordial to be complementary on a 100euro+ bill,The same as I would expect it to be comped in a round of drinks if it was going to a named driver , May sound a bit much but its these little touches that will get my return business, As abouttobebanned stated different if its been sat over for a match or a tight fisted student /homedrinker etc

Sully

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Mitch, I'm not saying that it's bad customer service. There's every chance that the OP was given great service and tbh I personally wouldn't kick up a stink if the food and service was good but then I had to pay 70cent for a cordial.

It's not really something that an owner/manager can implement across the board but there should be a line of common sense. If someone has chosen your restaurant and spent over 100 euro then in order to hopefully enjoy their repeat custom it wouldn't be a bad idea to not charge them for things like cordial, extra sauce etc.

I remember being in Eddie rockets once and I asked for some cajun sauce...the girl got the sauce and then reached over for my receipt and added the sauce so it could be charged for later. Sauce costs money so by your argument the girl was right to charge me. But there was 50 euro worth of food on the table already.

I'm not so sure those chains have as much flexibility as local businesses.