Jemma Eat England

Garfunkel’s, Gatwick North Terminal

After a day in the London office my colleague and I decided that we’d get a quick glass of wine on the way home, at Gatwick Airport. I was sure there used to be a Wetherspoon’s style pub there, but we ended up in an eatery at the end called Garfunkels.

We’d considered getting a quick bite to eat there too- but now I’m glad that we didn’t.

First we went to sit at a table, and a waiter asked if we wanted food. We said “just drinks” so he told us we had to move sit by the bar.

No problem.

So we went to sit down by the bar, and the girl behind it barked “you can’t sit here, this area’s closed.” We explained that we’d been told to sit there, by her colleague, but she was insistent that we go back to where we’d just come from.

At this point I thought about leaving and going to Café Rouge.

But we sat down, and perused the drink menu anyway. I settled on a large glass of Chenin Blanc whilst D asked for a small glass of Merlot.

The restaurant was pretty deserted: it was 4:30pm on a Tuesday afternoon in January, after all.

But by the time he’d brought our drinks over, I swear I could have run down to Duty Free,  bought a bottle, opened it and poured it myself!

We asked to pay right away, as now we only had around 20 minutes ’til our gate closed. He brought the bill and we thought it was a bit steep- even for London prices.

We soon realised this was due to us being charged us for a whole bottle of Merlot instead of a small glass.

After five minutes of trying to catch our waiter’s eye, he eventually came over. We pointed out the mistake, and he didn’t seem pleased about having to correct it.

Finally, he came back with the revised bill. We paid and were able to enjoy our wine.

I certainly don’t expect five star service in the airport departure lounge, but I do expect an element of speed.

Still though, experiences like this teach us to be grateful for the great services we often receive and take for granted. Plus the sheer level of incompetence was funny; I dread to think what the food would have been like!

Have you ever received terrible service that just made your jaw drop? Feel free to share in the comments!