The Doctor MIA? No busy dealing with Twats

The busy stretch seems to have come to an end and fingers crossed I can get back to business as usual. I apologize again for being MIA and for my blog being a bit shithouse lately as well.

Firstly I have not stepped foot in a pub since I reported on the steak sandwich I had at The Queens Head a few weeks ago. I did make it to the beer garden of The Brook Green Hotel on one of the warmers days before the weather turned crap - but I opted for a couple of bottles of 'OIrish' style cider instead. I think this is excusable in warmer weather as is drinking copious amounts of lager. Oh and I have not been to the Gunmakers in over a month - it's a sad state of affairs (actually I might sneak out for a quick one this afternoon).

My fridge has played host to numerous bottles of Anchor Steam, SNPA and Punk IPA over the last couple of weeks and I spent £93 in Tesco sourcing a trolley full of these bottles. Basically I have been too lazy to stroll down to the pub for a pint and have been opting to drink in the flat with the Missus. Some CAMRA retards might think this is antisocial, but I think it shows common sense in these tough economic times, plus there is no barman to ever cut me off if I have one too many!

Last week I said I would have some kind of news announcement, well basically I don't have anything worth indulging yet - but fingers crossed I will have something soon. Also worth noting is that I placed an order with an asshole who runs a store called beerclearstore.co.uk. This fool refused to process my order due to some issue he has with PayPal and he was claiming he couldn't get the money I paid him. What a tool! Basically I ordered a few things through his website, chose to use his online checkout (which is with PayPal) and the order went smoothly. He gives me a call saying that he has received my order and it will be with me in 3-4 days. A week later and I haven't received anything so I give him a call;

"Oh, I am having some problems getting the money from PayPal. I'll look into it and call you back." I'm thinking fair enough - but he doesn't call me back. I call again and this tool is still claiming that PayPal are withholding funds. I tell him that his relationship with PayPal has nothing to do with me and to hurry up and process my order. He refuses to process my order - I've promoted this bloke from tool to twat at this stage. I then ring up PayPal and they indirectly tell me that this bloke twat can't access his funds because he has been stooging other customers. So I email the twat and ask for a refund which he claims that he can't provide. I then send him some emails telling him he has no idea about how to run a business and deal with customers etc. I received the expected email back saying that he not going to correspond with me any further. I then lodge a dispute with PayPal which is automatically escalated to a claim and I have my money refunded in a record 11 minutes! Basically PayPal asked this guy to respond to my complaint and he said that he can't do anything as PayPal have my money not him. Whatever.... But the moral of the story is DO NOT buy any thing from beerclearstore.co.uk as it's not worth the effort and you are not going to get the level of customer service which every consumer deserves. I should have picked up on this as he used two different surnames during the process of me trying to sort this stuff out. Anyhow I have reordered my items with another online vendor and should have them early next week. I will describe my purchases in an upcoming post, the items will almost certainly piss some people off. Let the good times roll.......

A Nice Friday Afternoon

Last Thursday saw me back in Wuppertal, Germany on a client visit. This involved a 4.15am start and didn't see me back in the UK until well after the sun had set (OK it was about 10.15pm). The upside of this is that I enjoyed several Altbiers on the companies dime, but I had to travel to Wuppertal (the ass end of the universe) for the pleasure. Understandably I was dog tired on Friday morning and decided to work from home so I could have a lie in. Most people take the piss when they work from home, but for some reason I always end up being smashed with tasks flooding into my email inbox. Last Friday was no exception and I also had to deal with a solid back load of crap from Thursday as well. As I am a "work hard, play hard" kind of bloke I decided to knock off early and head down the pub for a beer and something to eat. My first choice is usually The Havelock for their excellent food and proper real keg from Meantime, but I missed their lunch service (which finishes at 2.30pm). In light of the stupid inconvenient food service hours at The Havelock, I opted to head down to Fuller's recent acquisition "The Queens Head" on Brook Green. This was a good move as they had the new Gales beer "Seafarers" on which is nice and hoppy and very drinkable at 3.6%. I decided not to get any food, but crumbled during my second pint and went for the steak baguette with horseradish mayo. If only all Friday's were this productive!

Punch KO'ed by Fuller's

While travelling home on the tube after a session in "The Castle" yesterday evening, the London Lite informed me that Fuller's have acquired six pubs from dwindling pub giant Punch Taverns. Why does that interest me? Normally this news wouldn't, but in this case I frequent two of pubs mentioned. Yes the acquisitions include Ye Olde Mitre, off Hatton Garden (the closest pub to my office) and The Queens Head on Brook Green.
I welcome both these pubs entry into the Fuller's stable. I wonder how Scottles at Ye Olde Mitre will take the news?
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Other pubs involved in the £21.1 million acquisition are the Red Lion in Whitehall, The Swan on Bayswater Rd, The Scarsdale and The Hereford in Kensington. Apparently the deal on these pubs is some £4.5 million lower than their book value.

Rubbish pubs

Last Friday night I went out for a beer with a few colleagues. In terms of pubs, we are spoiled for choice in Clerkenwell but sometimes even a sure thing like finding a decent pub gets royally screwed up. I should have realised as soon as someone said we would be joining members of the Sales team. I say this as they (Sales types) usually frequent a rather unattractive dive near my office called "The King of Diamonds". This place (pictured left) is more of a drinking factory than a pub and ranks well down my list of options. But anyhow, my excitement was renewed when I learned we were going to a different pub, one called The Blue Anchor off Chancery Lane. Upon arrival the place was packed and way too many people for the tiny bar to cope with. I looked around and to my disappointment realised that it was basically the King of Diamonds in a different location - a real let down. I think I understand the situation. The sales team are mainly single girls in their late 20's, and the Chancery Lane area is teeming with young up and coming solicitors fired up after a day in the law courts. These girls are out looking for a rich bloke (preferably one that wears a wig to work) and will drink in shithouse venues to find him. Sad really.

I did manage to get one pint of Pride in before beating a hasty retreat home where I smashed a bottle of Shepherds Neame Christmas Ale and a Leffe Bruin. Then I went for some Thai at the Parr's Head where I had some more London Pride. I felt suitably redeemed after this, but I will not be venturing out drinking with the sales team again.

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In other news, the snow has eased and I am back at work. Here is a snowman that is currently residing on Brook Green. He is strategically positioned between the Brook Green Hotel and The Queens Head. It is a pity he can't walk to either!

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Rosey Nosey

Another beer I probably should not have bothered with, but seeing as I was faced with the option of Bombardier or Rosey Nosey (4.9 % abv), I opted for the latter. It was late on Sunday afternoon and I was hanging to get some lunch in. I managed to persuade the Aussie delegation sleeping on our floor to join me at The Queens Head on Brook Green for a meal and a couple of pints. I ordered the Bangers and Mash which was excellent and the pub was packed. Obviously the credit crunch is not affecting business here! The pub has also recently been refurbed and no longer smells musty, and it is now a lot lighter/brighter than it used to be.

Anyhow, Rosey Nosey is brewed by Bateman's and has a novelty pump clip featuring a life like beard and a glowing/flashing nose. They had this on at The Gunmaker's last week and one of the chaps commented that if Jeff grew his beard back, he would look the same. I tend to agree, but is Santa really a Geordie?

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