The Bees Knees Christmas Spirit (or lack of it!)

[ramshackles]

Dear Readers,
I am writing to you in utter outrage at the appalling treatment that my friends and I received when we went to the Bee Knees in Accrington town centre. We had been to a Christmas party and were in a rather merry mood and as such, a number of our group were sporting Christmas Santa hats and crown-style cracker hats.
We were making our way around the town centre pubs and enjoying the seasonal cheer, but once we got to the newly refurbished Bees Knees, our festive fun was quickly put to an end. We were approached by two door men whilst on the dance floor who asked us to remove our Santa hats. Initially we all thought they were joking, as the very idea seemed so ludicrous! So we laughed it off and tried to continue our party fun, but then they returned in number and told us we had to leave! “Not until I’ve finished my outrageously priced £3.50 drink” exclaimed one of my friends. Everyone (I say ‘everyone’ but that’s rather generous, there were merely twenty people on the dance-floor at this point-which again reinforces the question of how they can afford to be so picky about the type of headwear their clientele are wearing!) was in utter disbelief ; they could not believe that a group of girls, out celebrating the season and spending vast amounts of money, were being ejected simply for exhibiting some Christmas spirit!
Unfortunately, one of my friends decided to try and reason with the door staff. Surely that is a paradox in terms? Reason and door staff do not belong in the same sentence together! When asked why we had been removed, they simply stated it was the venue’s ‘policy’ for no hats to be worn. It’s not as if we would wear them every week, it was clearly a special occasion and so seemed slightly heavy-handed to remove a group of girls because they were infringing their strict ‘policy’. When my friend asked to see the said ‘policy’, she was refused. She then asked to see the manager, who was conveniently unavailable at this point. They did say, however, that those with the cracker hats on were ‘OK’ as they could see under them? What did they think we were hiding under there exactly?! Knives? Bottles of booze? Weapons of mass destruction!? As they were being so illogical, my friend then asked if they would apply the policy to an Indian Sikh wearing a turban, but of course, they said it was not the same issue. Is the Santa hat not a signifier of the Christian festival of Christmas? Clearly, this is a rule that they can pick and choose who it applies to. A vulnerable group of girls, doing nothing wrong, were an easy target to make these door staff look like they were keeping the peace, when in fact, they were doing nothing but creating the trouble themselves; is it any wonder people are afraid to go out in Accrington when you get treated like this?
The final nail in the coffin of our night was when one of the group nipped back inside to grab something they had left behind and the two door staff quickly grabbed her and launched her in to the street. This is simply not acceptable. We were not a group of angry, snarling girls when we went out, far from it in fact, but by God, did those door staff manage to create a monster after evicting us.
When did it become so difficult to enjoy a night out without trouble? It is supposed to be the time of good will to all men but instead we were treated like the scum of the earth. I am still in disbelief that this establishment has deemed Santa hats as offensive and potentially dangerous? To anyone out to have a good time this Christmas, I strongly suggest you avoid the Bee Knees if you intend on enjoying yourself (and wearing a hat)!
yours,

Disgruntled Santa Hat....

[flashy]

write to the manager and tell him you are going to the papers, you'll soon see how a policy can be turned on its head

[Margaret Pilkington]

I agree with flashy.......contact the manager by phone and also in writing, if they treat you like this then they will do it to others. They need to realise that public houses(because that is all it is) need their customers if they want to survive

[LYNX1]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I agree with flashy.......contact the manager by phone and also in writing, if they treat you like this then they will do it to others. They need to realise that public houses(because that is all it is) need their customers if they want to survive

Is it worth the hassle Margaret, will get nowhere trying to reason with these people.....heard nothing good about that place since it re-opened and I for one will never frequent the place, so all their stupid rules will put them out of business as I am sure there are a lot of people out there of the same mind as me

[flashy]

Lynx, if no one complains then nothing will ever be done, i'd rather go out of my way to complain than just let something ride and never get sorted

[jaysay]

I worked for many years in the nightclub industry as a doorman (pubs didn't have bouncers in those days) and we did have very rigid dress policy, but not for women's dress, shoes yes, as in no trainers, the reason being, you can't dictate women's fashion. Reading the policy regarding the Bees Knees, seems that this so call policy is being enforced to the letter (the policy was probable designed with regards to hooded garments) I would certainly put any complaints in writing to the management, I don't know much about who owns this establishment, but if its part of a chain the letter should be sent to the head office not the Accrington venue

[Less]

It's not a new thing, a few years ago we had an accyweb meet in town, some of us met in the Bees Knees to begin with.
Absolutely no problem until about 8 O'clock when the Bouncers arrived for duty, one of them walked straight up to Tealeaf and told him to sup up and go, when asked why he was told because of the trainers he was wearing.
Those trainers had caused no trouble for the three quarters of an hour they had been in the pub before the 'Greeters' arrived and the only trouble afterwards was between the bouncer & the trainers.
Tealeaf left and so did the rest of us leaving the pub empty.

By the way I was wearing a pair of work shoes, they had steel toe caps, which is worse, trainers or work shoes?

[flashy]

Originally Posted by Less

It's not a new thing, a few years ago we had an accyweb meet in town, some of us met in the Bees Knees to begin with.
Absolutely no problem until about 8 O'clock when the Bouncers arrived for duty, one of them walked straight up to Tealeaf and told him to sup up and go, when asked why he was told because of the trainers he was wearing.
Those trainers had caused no trouble for the three quarters of an hour they had been in the pub before the 'Greeters' arrived and the only trouble afterwards was between the bouncer & the trainers.
Tealeaf left and so did the rest of us leaving the pub empty.

By the way I was wearing a pair of work shoes, they had steel toe caps, which is worse, trainers or work shoes?

i would have taken the trainers off, left them at the door and gone back in, just to p!ss them off

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by LYNX1

Is it worth the hassle Margaret, will get nowhere trying to reason with these people.....heard nothing good about that place since it re-opened and I for one will never frequent the place, so all their stupid rules will put them out of business as I am sure there are a lot of people out there of the same mind as me

Like Flashy, I do think it is worth it.
These people are part of a service industry, and they need to provide a service.......and one that is acceptable to patrons.
If they go to the wall there are people who will not have a job....and I am not thinking of just the bar staf, but the people who make the products sold, the drivers who deliver the stuff......it has a knock on effect.

Is the Bee's Knees a tied house or is it 'free'?
I would be contacting the brewery if it is tied and if it is a Free house I would be contacting the owner. I would also make a point of contacting all the local press too.
You just cannot afford bad publicity in such circumstances.

[flashy]

well said Marg

[Mobius1]

To ramshackles,

a few points to clear.

As mentioned to you on the evening the door team tried to appologise to you for asking you to remove your santa hats and would have allowed your party re-entry to the venue if it wernt for individuals in your party becoming violent towards 2 of the door supervisors.

at no point were any of your party "thrown" into the street, you where simply walked without the use of force in any respect.

You where originally ejected for refusing to remove your hats and then accusing the door supervisors of being racist by suggesting that a Muslim person would not be treated in the same manner. to which the response was yes they would,besides which a Muslim person is forbidden to consume alcohol so that is irrelevant.

Apart from the original request to remove your hats which was apologized for, you where not mistreated in any manner. the door team at the bees knees take great pride in the way they work and always strive to make the venue a safe and fun environment for all ,This is apparent with the bees knees receiving positive feedback and also with the hundreds of people that return to this venue every week.

Finally , i can appreciate that you are upset, but you need to understand your violent behavior is the reason for your overall ejection from the venue. not your Santa hats.

Kind Regards

[accyman]

sigh if only the place could go back to when the beer was crap,the atmosphere was great and the sewing machines made damn fine tables with a great view downstairs to the pool tables where you could loose yourself in the view of the clevage on display

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Mobius1

to which the response was yes they would,besides which a Muslim person is forbidden to consume alcohol so that is irrelevant.

Does this mean you don't allow them to buy alchohol ? I doubt it, so while I can understand there are probably 2 sides to this story, that point is also irrelevant

[Tealeaf]

Oi Mobius1

I shall make a point of visiting your establishment at some time next week and vomiting all over your lousy bar.

Unlike last time, I shall not be wearing trainers so you won't know me and won't be able to throw me out until the deed is done.

Kind regards,

T

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by accyman

sigh if only the place could go back to when the beer was crap,the atmosphere was great and the sewing machines made damn fine tables with a great view downstairs to the pool tables where you could loose yourself in the view of the clevage on display

Ah the good old days accyman