‘I won't eat salad’ Customer FURY as Wetherspoons pull 'BAD QUALITY' steak from 900 pubs
WETHERSPOONS customers reacted with fury when all steaks were pulled on Tuesday after notices were put up at pubs stating that there were “quality issues” with the meat, it has been revealed.
James Jarvis, 27, “walked out” when he was told that he was unable to purchase his favourite meat at the Wetherspoons Tuesday Steak Club event.
He said: “When they told me they had it but could not sell it to me I just walked out.
“They told me they had an issue with the supplier. I told them I couldn’t give a f***. I just want something to eat. One of the suggestions was a quinoa salad with grilled halloumi.
“I came in for a hearty steak - do they think I want a poncy salad?!”
The “quality issues” meant that all rump, sirloin and gammon steaks were thrown off the menu.
The notices that were echoed by staff set off fear in customers that potential health issues had surfaced with the meat - fears were heightened by reports that the chain’s meat supplier, Russell Hume, had temporarily shut some of its distribution sites.
A Russell Hume spokesman attempted to calm fears by declaring that the move was only a “precautionary action”.
A spokesman said: “We fully support Wetherspoon’s. We are carrying out a product recall on some products across our client base.
“As stated in our recall letter to our clients this has been down to a mislabelling issue. We have no reason to believe that the product is unsafe to eat, however, we are undertaking this as a precautionary action as you would expect us to do.
“Whilst we address this - we have ceased supply from some of our sites. We are amending internal procedures to ensure that controls are in place to stop this re-occuring.”
Eddie Gershon, the spokesman for JD Wetherspoon, added: “We have had a supply issue with our pubs.
“Currently rump steak, sirloin steak and gammon steak are not available, but we hope to resolve this soon.
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“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The problem hit the company hard with all 900 Wetherspoon and Lloyds No1 pubs being forced to disappoint their customers.
The pub chain's Tuesday steak night sees about 90,000 steaks served across the country every week.
A manager at the Briar Rose pub in Birmingham disclosed that the chain’s head office had told him to “chuck” the meat out on Tuesday morning.
They explained: “We don’t have any steaks or gammon at the moment. Apparently there’s an issue with the supplier.
"We were told to chuck them this morning, but we have no idea why.
“Everything that was delivered had to go.
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“It’s going to cause a few problems because it is steak night tonight, but we won’t be able to serve people any. I can’t wait until we’re told to throw out curry on curry night!
“Everything else in the menu is still available. It’s the steak and the gammon we don’t have.”
Customers were keen to express their disappointment when they were denied their steak - Wetherspoons is thought to sell roughly 90,000 steaks on Tuesdays as part of their Steak Club event.
Bob Williams, 50, stated: “I come in most Tuesdays for the steak offer - it’s a bargain as they throw in a beer and you get a good side order of chips.
“I went for the chicken wrap in the end - it was ok but not as tasty as the steak. I’ll just have to wait until next Tuesday.”
Frances James, 29, added: “When I asked why he said they had found a problem - it’s a bit worrying really as if it’s a quality control health problem then customers should be told.”
Emma Marshall, 18, went on: “I’ve had to go for a burger instead.
“It’s a bit worrying that they’re not telling us what is wrong with the steaks.”
Meanwhile, Michael Rousell, 62, accused the company of not doing everything possible to ensure there was meat available.
He said: “I always like the steak at Wetherspoons because it is just great value for money.
“I can’t believe a multi-million pound organisation like Wetherspoons can’t sort this out - it beggars belief.
“Pubs offering food should be able to have a ready supply of steaks even if it means going round the corner to the local butchers.”