True Lovers Knot

We left without celebrating Valentine’s Day, and the afternoon had already gone wrong. We’d hoped to watch rugby, have drinks and snacks, then enjoy the set menu, but the staff made us feel like a nuisance instead of trying to sort things out. A quick apology, moving a table as discussed, or even offering a drink could have helped. As former hospitality owners, we know mistakes happen. It’s how you handle them that matters, especially when the industry is struggling to keep customers. We’d booked dinner for 7:30 by email after seeing the True Lovers Knot Facebook post on 10 February about its Valentine’s menu. The restaurant had been recommended to us several times, and we were excited for our first visit. After its 12 February post about showing the Six Nations, I messaged and emailed to ask if we could arrive earlier, watch the matches, and stay for dinner. On Messenger, they acknowledged this and said the tables and chairs could be moved if needed. We got there just after 2 pm. After waiting, we were told there was no booking for the rugby or dinner. I explained that I’d booked by email, but was told, “I don’t work with ****, my colleague does, and she’ll be in at 5 pm.” When we asked where to sit to watch the match, we were shrugged off and directed to the bar. There, someone gestured to seats with no view of the game. When my husband said there’d clearly been a mistake, staff said it was “**** fault.” There was no apology, ownership, or effort to fix it. We cancelled both the afternoon plans and our Valentine’s dinner.