Butcombe BreweryReviews of butcombe.com

We stayed in a Butcombe Pub back in April, the stay was pleasant and I shall review that separately. This review is based on the company overall and is regarding use of personal data. When I order or book anywhere I specifically ask that I do not receive marketing information. It appears That Butcombe Inns breach the data protection act by sending unsolicited marketing information even though you have not asked to. It started with emails then recently texts to my mobile. It is not on, yes I can unsubscribe but why should I have to when I asked not to be included, if every company you deal with on a daily basis was to send marketing information you would spend a whole day just opting out. THE RULES - You need explicit consent for sending marketing emails, meaning you must make it clear to individuals that you will be sending them such emails when you collect their details. They have breached the GDPR

What a shambles this company is! Customer service is only available between 9am to 1:30pm. They use DHL who cant work out delivery addresses. Using maps. Or come the time they have messaged they are coming. That was a christmas present. Absolutely atrocious customer service avoid!

Profit over quality! Can’t assure quality as you can’t get any bottled diet soft drinks. Unfortunately they seem to be eveywhere now; taking over some good old pubs and losing my business.

I placed an order in November. One of the products was a pre-order for a Christmas themed product. It was not clear that the entire order would not be fulfilled until Christmas. Then lo and behold the order has not been dispatched on the date agreed and therefore won’t be delivered in time. Worse, as they are clearly struggling, at some point in the intervening 7 weeks, they’ve changed the wording. When raising both issues the fault was clearly mine. No apology offered. Note that I proved with a screenshot them at their courier also agreed with my anticipated delivery timeline yet it’s still me the customer that must be wrong. Great products, awful customer service. No wonder all breweries ending up getting bought out by two major conglomerates.

We don’t like to leave negative reviews, as we believe that good customer service is as much about resolving issues as how good an experience is. However, it's seven days since we emailed Butcombe's Head Office and we've had no response, despite receiving an automated message stating that they would usually reply within 72 hours, so the email definitely reached them. We stayed at the Prince of Burford for a get-together with some friends we don’t see very often, as they live at the other end of the UK. We usually really enjoy staying in Butcombe pubs and eating in their restaurants, however this experience has really put us off doing so again for the following reasons: Saturday 28 October - We followed the express check-in guidelines prior to arrival. However when we arrived, we were told quite brusquely that our rooms weren’t ready and to take a seat somewhere while we waited. They said they were short-staffed so the housekeeper was on their own, yet we were greeted by two members of staff sat at reception - surely one of them could have given the housekeeper a hand? There were other guests were in the foyer also waiting to check in. - We paid extra for the dog but we were in the smaller of the two rooms which was very cramped with the three of us. - I booked a table for dinner weeks ago, but when we got to the restaurant we were told by the manager that we couldn’t sit there with the dog. When we booked a dog-friendly room and paid extra, it should have been communicated that the dog wasn’t allowed in the restaurant. Instead, we were told we would have to move to the bar area to eat, where there was a rugby match on the TV and most tables were reserved. I think at that point we were either forgotten about or it was assumed we knew it wasn’t table service, as we didn't receive our starters for at least 30 minutes, our mains until 9:30pm and dessert until gone 10:00pm (our table had been booked for 7:30pm). We had to chase them several times and at no point was there an apology for the lateness of the meal. Whilst the food was very good as always, the experience really impacted on our evening as we were only staying for one night. - Our bed was broken and sloped down quite far on one side, resulting in a very poor night’s sleep for my husband Sunday 29 October - On awakening, we couldn’t make a hot drink - the coffee only came in sachets of ground coffee but there was no cafetiere. Nor was there any milk, so we couldn't make a cup of tea and aren’t big fans of black tea. Our friends didn’t have any milk in there room either. - At breakfast, when our drinks finally arrived, we were given pots of tea without any lids and told that they had all gone missing. We had to put our saucers on top of them to keep the tea hot, which was less than ideal. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were a number of uncleared tables with teapots on them with lids on - surely somebody could have washed two up for us or given us the option of using the lids as they were? - It was then some time before our food order was asked for. We all ordered the Full English, but when it arrived, it was announced that they had run out of mushrooms and butter for our toast. Could they not have told us this before the meals were cooked so we had the option of substituting the mushrooms for something else? Or sent somebody to the shop? And surely they normally order enough for the number of bookings they have, at the very least. It was only an hour into breakfast service, so they couldn’t have had very much to start with. Whilst we were aware that they were short-staffed and sympathised, we unfortunately felt that the general poor customer service and communication and brusque approach of some members of staff went beyond just staffing issues. It’s a real shame, but we feel it’s only fair that other potential guests have an accurate picture of the Prince of Burford before making a booking.