Abusive staff who will actually SWEAR at you? We've visited the The Rose (on 108 Forest Hill Road, SE22) for years, since it was the FHT. My, has it gone downhill. The managing staff are very young, but that's not the problem. My sister saw one of the barmaids snorting someting in the garden! Yes, it was late & there were no kids, but still! Several pumps have been out of action for ages. This gone fortnight, I visited The Rose a few times, and EVERY time, I saw customers go to the bar and stand there while the bar maid faced the other way, hand on hip, chatting with her friends. The most amazing part is that her friends were the managers, & they were facing the waiting customers! So they could see them. On the weekend, I had to pop in there and wait for a friend (I was willing to buy a drink), and it happened to me, unsurprisingly. The door swings, I walk in, but she (another girl this time) was perfectly happy to face the other way, while the young managers said nothing. Even though they saw me. When I went around the bar to get the barmaid's attention, one of the other staff tried to get her attention but failed, as the barmaid now turned to me. This is when the other staff member gave me a real nasty look and said, "For f**k's sake!" I am not joking! This was most distressing. It was the same girl that my sister saw snorting something in the garden. Girl with curly black hair. Later I ended up at The Herne Tavern (much better pub, also on FH Road), & met an old friend who USED to drink in The Rose. When he explained why he no longer did, my jaw fell open as he reported similar experiences of extremely bad service. I also felt better, partly because I knew it wasn't just me. These "people" do not know how to run a pub. Indeed, it seems they don't want to in the first place. I just wonder how many others have had a similar experience. I know they are out there. It's sickening, and at least six of us won't be going back there. It can't just be us.
