Customer brands a pub ‘callous’ after they charged his family £200 for cancelling a birthday lunch

A customer branded a pub ‘callous and cold’ after they charged his family £200 for cancelling a birthday lunch due to a serious medical emergency.

Jamie Kitching, 38, and his wife Amy, 33, booked a meal at The Black Horse in Little Weighton, Yorkshire, for her birthday. 

However, on the day of the booking, Amy received devastating news that a close family member, who was meant to be at the meal, had collapsed at home.

He was rushed to hospital where medics discovered he had fractured his skull and had a bleed on the brain.

Jamie emailed the pub early on the morning of their reservation to cancel the booking for eight people.

However the restaurant revealed they would charge £25 a head if the family didn’t show up.   

He told HullLive: ‘I made sure to get in touch early in the morning to give them as much notice as possible.

‘I received an email back shortly after telling me that we would be charged £25 a head if we didn’t show up.

‘While my wife was in the hospital, having just received the horrendous news, she received a notification that £200 had been taken from her account.’

Jamie admitted that £200 was more then they would of spent during the meal as Sunday lunches only cost £18 with a drink.

The Black Horse’s manager, Micaela Clegg, confirmed she received the email and was aware that Amy’s family member had been transported to hospital, but said she didn’t know the full ‘severity of his injuries’.

She said: ‘We take credit/debit card details to secure ourselves against late cancellations and the terms of this policy (which are the standard ones offered by the reservations system used by the majority of restaurants) are stated in the confirmation email sent to Amy when she made the booking.’

The family booked a meal at The Black Horse in Little Weighton, Yorkshire, for her birthday, however, on the day of the booking, Amy received devastating news that a close family member, who was meant to be at the meal, had collapsed at home

She claimed the food had been prepared and staff were booked to cater the large party.

In an email back to Jamie, she said the charge would only be cancelled if they could find a group for the table and they had already turned away customers due to their booking. 

Unfortunately for the family, this wasn’t possible and they were notified the amount had left their account.

Micaela made the point that if this ‘were theatre or concert tickets’ would the family still expect a refund.

The family have called out the restaurant on their ‘disgusting behaviour’ after they didn’t allow them to reschedule their plans,

The manager said she had thought about offering a credit against a future booking as a good will gesture, but decided against it when she was unhappy with the email Jamie sent. 

The Kitching family claim they had not pre-ordered any meals or paid a deposit and had just passed over their card details in the event of a late cancellation. 

They said the booking had been confirmed just the day before, prior to the family emergency.