Edmunds Arms - Barnsley

Enjoyed my time here, it was so welcoming and felt safe as precautions due to pandemic were in place, lovely staff especially Reece would recommend to everyone if they want to go to a pub where they can socialise and have a good time.

It is with heavy heart I write this review. I have given the Edmunds Arms, Worsborough Road, Worsborough, good reviews in the past but last nights Customer Service and communication was totally unacceptable and has irretrievably ruined the relationship. I telephoned at 14.46 and asked Dawn for a table for 5 at 7pm that night. She informed me there was a large party in for 7pm asking us to come earlier. I explained I would need to ask others if they could get there earlier. I informed Dawn it might take a while to contact them and get replies and did I need to confirm a time now. She said it would be OK to arrive and order when we got there. We had all arrived by 6.45 and asked the person behind the bar, Reece, if we could order. Reece, wearing a “Let us talk” T shirt mumbled “We are too busy, you have to book” See photo to identify the hoards cramming in the pub . I explained the situation, Reece very helpfully ! asked if I had phoned another pub that is on Edmunds Road, interestingly there is a pub on Edmunds Road, Worsborough Dale – about 2 KM away and easily confused with the Edmunds Arms as it is called The Boatman’s Rest!! Having looked up my phone records I confirmed it was the EA at 14.46… and Reece went around the other side of the horse shoe shaped bar. After 4 minutes he re appeared, and we asked what was happening. All I can describe is there was a “professional” rolling of eyes, a slump of shoulders and a deep sigh – body language for “I don’t need this, go away”. He agreed to talk to the kitchen for us. When he returned, he again went to the far side of the bar, with no eye contact or verbal communication. Eventually he emerged from behind the mirror and we asked what the kitchen had said. This was met with silence then “Nuthin’ I can do”. We offered to just have a chip butty each. Reece turned and went back to the dark side. We had now been in the EA for an hour and asked to see the Manager. Sue arrived and said we should have booked. I explained the situation and Sue nodded her head and walked to the dark side. A few minutes later she returned and informed me that I was wrong about my telephone conversation and that “Dawn doesn’t lie” Asked if she was accusing me of being a liar she replied “I am not saying anyone is lying”. To move things along, I agreed the phone call could be mis remembered by both parties. I then highlighted the highly impressive communication and customer service skills Reece had exhibited. She defended Reece saying, “His communication is good”. Strangely, she could not give me any explanation as to why she was unaware of our request for chip butties. We asked Reece why our request had not been passed on and he replied, “I thought you were being sarcastic”. To maintain professionalism and temper 2 of our 5 now left the pub. Sue said that 7pm had been particularly busy 10 in the restaurant and 7 or 8 eating outside and we should have booked, or Dawn leave her a message. She said that if she had known about this earlier, she could have done us something after the rush!!!! Being calm and polite, I did point out the saga had begun over an hour ago and our offer to have butties had been evaluated and prevented by Reece and his excellent communication skills. I expressed my disappointment at this poor service as I was not used to it on my regular visits. At this point Sue admitted that she recognised me and knows I have been there for food and or drinks for over 3 years. At this point she went away, and Reece continued communicating on the dark side. The only apology was a less than heart felt “Sorry” from Reece re his mistakenly thinking our Chip butty request was sarcastic. No apology for the miscommunication over the phone call No apology re complete lack of customer care or skills by Reece No apology re lack of communication between bar and kitchen At no point in the entire evening did Reece smile at anyone, even when a new customer entered and bought their first drinks. On top of it all we went to EA on Wednesday evening because we like it there, even though they are the only pub in the area that are NOT in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme!!! I must now agree with others reviews that the EA is getting worse. Our work bubble will NOT be returning.

Great pub, but don't go if you want to use your phone, all electronic devices are banned..unusual yes but the beer is kept well.

Let's hope that now the landlady has left the building we can all begin to enjoy our visits to Eddie's again. I know some of the brewery rules are a bit silly, for example the banning of mobile phones, but it's a traditional boozer with extremely well priced ale, it needs a decent menu and a decent landlord/landlady to get the place back to some sort of normality and then hopefully everyone that stopped visiting will return

Very dated and tired pub.Told I could not look at photos on phone as it was a brewery rule what century do they think it is.