The Friendship Inn - Bury

We had our family Christmas dinner here today. The service was good, although had to wait a while for dessert but that suited us. The food was only ok, nothing outstanding. The roasties were from frozen. The yorkie was over done. Sprouts tasted like they’d been cooked from frozen. My husband was disgruntled we/he didn’t get a pig in blanket. There was a nice atmosphere in the pub, busy but not too busy.

Have been meaning to write a review for the Friendship Inn for a while now as visited the pub on 6th of August (bit of a celebration meal as it was 2 days before my 50th birthday). We were there on a Sunday and can absolutely say without reservation that the meal was one of the best we have had, so much so that we were planning to return again to try more items on the menu, however, my partner fell ill and ended up with an extended stay in hospital in the last couple of months. Fast forward to today and I open up a letter to find I have £170 car parking charge, no original letter received informing me of this and now as it has been passed to debt recovery, I have no chance of an appeal. There is a sign in the car park stating for patrons only so we assumed we were ok to park there, at no point did we see any signage stating you have to register your vehicle registration inside the building and after reading the other reviews and the response from the pub stating there is an iPad on the far side of the bar and that staff should inform you but can forget if it is busy is ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCEPTABLE! There is a table right inside the door that has Christmas booking information on it why is there no large sign there so people see it as they come in if your staff are going to “forget” maybe I should just “forget” to pay the fine, convenient isn’t it? NOT AN EXCUSE THAT SHOULD BE USED TO COVER UP APPALLING CUSTOMER SERVICE. As for the IPad, if so many people are being affected by this then you need to move it to the side of the bar nearest the door and have a sign placed above it stating something like “Parking? Register your vehicle here” how difficult would that be to do? This whole horrendous morning has completely sullied, what was a wonderful meal and memory, but has also soured my experience of The Friendship Inn, so much so, that I and my family will not be entering this establishment again and I will be sharing this review all over social media, there are so many more places to eat in Prestwich do yourself a favour and eat somewhere else that doesn’t have such a pricey sting in the tail.

Called in for a couple of pints (two hoots). Beer lively so said I would come back, on the way back beer being topped up with bitter instead. Use to visit regular for food, had a bad meal last time, so thought we would try again. Wont be back.

Scammed by their Car parking company for £60. Nothing mentioned by staff and was NOT busy. Now I know why. Never going back.

Had a bang average not great vfm meal here with a colleague after work. Hit with a £170 parking charge for the privilege. I'm not paying. Take me to court and I can prove that I ate there on that date. This is extortion, plain and simple.