Pub landlord suspended for serving pints "too full" of beer

[jnelsoninjax]

A pub landlord and ?landlady have been ?suspended and ?threatened with the sack for serving pints ?too full? of beer.

Pete and Debbie Gibson were ordered to close their Junction Inn pub on New Year?s Eve ?because brewery bosses said the heads on their pints of beer and lager were not big enough.

Pete, 48, and Debbie, 47, say they have been told they owe brewing firm Samuel Smith ?10,733 in lost stock for topping up customers? pints.

The dispute centres on whether or not customers are entitled to ask for more than 95 per cent of their pint glass to be filled and get the pint topped up so there?s less of a frothy head.

Millionaire brewery owner Humphrey Smith turned up at the pub at 8.30pm on New Year?s Eve and told the ?Gibsons in front of ?astonished customers that he was shutting it.

The Gibsons have run the Junction Inn, at Royton, near Oldham, Greater ?Manchester for 12 years. It?s been a pub since Victorian times. They live in the flat above and face losing their home as well as their jobs.

Their daughter, ?supply teacher Lisa ?Gibson Hunt, said: ?It?s ??disgusting they?ve been treated this way.

?They?ve worked for Samuel Smith?s for 16 years. They?ve never been down in their stocks, they?re just not reaching the stock targets the brewery wants, it?s not right.?

Lisa, 27, says the row came to a head when Humphrey Smith, who co-owns the 300-pub brewery with his brother ?Oliver, walked in and told her dad to stop ?serving top-ups.

She said: ?He came in on New Year?s Eve at around eight ?trying to discuss things with my dad, even though it?s one of the ?busiest nights.

?My dad tried to keep it private and they talked behind the bar then suddenly my mum was ringing the bell and said that he?d asked everyone to leave.

?Everybody did leave. Some people were shouting at Mr Smith saying he was out of order and that he was wrong.

?He then shouted back at them that my mum and dad were suspended with full pay. It?s the humiliation of what?s happened, customers are ?phoning up and asking what?s happening.?

Lisa said the dispute had ?affected her parents? health. ?It?s had a massive effect on my dad,? she explained. ?He?s gone to the doctor?s with stress and anxiety. I even had to rush him to hospital one night.

?Samuel Smith?s talk about trade ?being down due to the recession but it?s this that will cost them. Mum and dad have tried really hard to build the pub up with customers and friends. They believe everyone should be served a full pint if that is what they want. They really are ?fighting for the customer.?

Loyal customer Ged Barnes, who has used the pub for 31 years, said: ?It?s ridiculous. It?s a scandal, the pint we get off Pete and ?Debbie here is just perfect. I?ve never heard of anything like it. We have the friendliest landlord and landlady... how can you treat people like that when they are just looking after their ?customers??

The row highlights a ?widespread practice that critics say costs drinkers as much as ?500million a year in ?under-filled pints.

A Sunday Mirror ?investigation last month found two thirds of pubs short-changed customers by up to 25p a pint. Our findings were raised with Consumer Affairs Minister Ed Davey by the GMB union, which claims hard-up landlords face financial pressure to under-fill glasses. The union says owners set sales targets that can only be achieved by serving customers less beer.

Industry leaders say the head is an essential part of the pint and customers can ask for a top-up if necessary.

Samuel Smith?s Brewery, based at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, refused to comment.

Source

[DocM]

When govt. regulators start hassling people over crap like this it's a sure sign it's grown too large and intrusive not to be a danger itself.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want,

is strong enough to take everything you have."

- - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the US

[WelshBluebird]

When govt. regulators start hassling people over crap like this it's a sure sign it's grown too large and intrusive not to be a danger itself.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want,

is strong enough to take everything you have."

- - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the US

Umm this was the brewery, not the government.

[DocM]

Umm this was the brewery, not the government.

And the brewery limit is very likely based on the govt. standardized "UK Unit" of alcohol content/serving, which went into force in the 1970's and I'm sure is "encouraged."

[Argote]

And the brewery limit is very likely based on the govt. standardized "UK Unit" of alcohol content/serving, which went into force in the 1970's and I'm sure is "encouraged."

From what I read it seems the brewery wants at least a certain percentage of the pint to be head (it makes sense given that head is an important component to a beer's flavor). How this can lead to the brewery closing the pub rather than just making them stop selling their brand of beer is not clear to me though.

[Davo]

We demand you short-change the customer!

[FloatingFatMan]

From what I read it seems the brewery wants at least a certain percentage of the pint to be head (it makes sense given that head is an important component to a beer's flavor). How this can lead to the brewery closing the pub rather than just making them stop selling their brand of beer is not clear to me though.

It's a bewery owned pub, like many in the UK.