Sportsman Pub Sukhumvit Soi 13

[Zonka]

To the guys who run the joint:

What is going on in your pub? As a regular customer that comes in at least 4 times a week and has an average bill of 1600 - 2000 I am quite quickly going off the place.

Last week I was enjoying a few bottles of your delicious London Pride (260bht a bottle). After downing a 3rd bottle I ordered another only to be told that they had ran out. So i checked bin, on returning from the toilet I approached one of you guys and told you the situation and got the answer that there was probably stock upstairs. I was unsure if this was a statement or I was expected to run up and get my own drink from upstairs. I didn't want to interrupt your pool game anymore so i left!

On another visit after ordering Kilkenny, I had to send every pint back to be topped up.

The one that really got me annoyed is when I came in last week in the evening. After enjoying a few beers and some food with a friend I checked bin. I was then informed that the cashier had made a mistake because she was drunk and had charged my credit card over 10,000baht! I was then refunded over 10k in cash! Apart from the inconvenience of carrying a largish amount of cash around at 11pm at night I was dissapointed that credit cards were at the mercy of a drunken cashier. Also during all the time it took to sort this out, not even a pint on the house was offered.

This week whilst visiting during the afternoon with a friend, we were in need of a top up. 5 staff were eating lunch at the bar, 2 were playing pool and the other 2 were on their mobile phones. I actually rang the pubs landline to get served! This was all laughed off. (I also took a video of it on my mobile phone)

I really like the pub, but some fine tuning would not go amiss. For a start PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ban your staff from having their mobile phone during shift. All they do is play games and neglect the customers. (this occurs mainly during the afternoon and before 7 pm). If I am going to spend 260 baht for a bottle of beer in your bar, I would like it brought to me instead of me having to go to the bar to get it. Also please don't allow drunken members of staff to operate the the credit card machine. This is an accident waiting to happen (Again!)

On a lighter note, the pub is a nice pub and does nice food. Some of the staff (particularly the lady with all the tattoos, Vichi?) is very hard working and attentive to the customers. It has a great selection of beers (although not always downstairs!) it also is a great venue to watch all manner of sports.

I just feel that standards are beginning to slip recently and as a customer who spends a tidy amount there every month I feel I am entitled to vent my opinion.

The bar business in Thailand is a very difficult business and I don't believe that ANY pub can afford to lose regular well paying customers. Therefore I would appreciate if you could take my complaints seriously and try to address them.

Many Thanks

[thaipod]

Sorry .Can't understand why you keep going back there if you are not happy with the place. Also I would never use a credit card in a bar.

[mikebell]

I agree with Zonka. It is better to make this sort of complaint and give the management time to address the issues. Voting with your feet, as advocated by thaipod can be counter-productive if no one notices and/or the bar is convenient for Zonka.

Mobile phones are a curse and a blight on good service.

[Zonka]

I agree with Zonka. It is better to make this sort of complaint and give the management time to address the issues. Voting with your feet, as advocated by thaipod can be counter-productive if no one notices and/or the bar is convenient for Zonka.

Mobile phones are a curse and a blight on good service.

Just have to hope that management read this and address the issues. Good service in Bangkok is becoming as rare as rocking horse S*#t!

[The Sportsman Pub]

Dear Sir

Sorry about your experience at the Sportsman. It seems like everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. I do regularly see you at the Pub and apologize for what happened. I am told an old customer who the staff haven't seen for a couple of years visited and things got out of hand. The problem with the Kilkenny is to do with the new kegerator which whilst it stops the beer going off is struggling to control the head. We are working with Kilkenny to get this corrected. We now have plenty of London Pride in stock so please pop by for a free bottle on me when you next come in.

Once again my apologises and hope to see you back at the pub soon

Yours Sincerely

Joe@thesportsman