Just back from a drink at the Royal Oak in Ulley Rotherham. My wife has parkinsons and has a ring tone on her phone as an alarm so knows when to take her next medication. It must have rang about six times as she struggled to get it out of her bag to switch it off..next thing the landlady is in my face showing a sign saying no mobiles in pub, I explained to her but she was having none of it the guy behind the bar said you could put it on silent obviously that defeats the object. Think customer service was based on S.O.Ps first initiated by the waffen SS....pub itself is exactly the same as before so there's a fews years dust and same curtains so wash your hands frequently if you're having food...been to karen's for food and had a laugh the people at the royal oak do it without a script...

Just seen the Joe Lycett video about this company that's doing the rounds on Facebook. I couldn't believe what I was watching, so came to the reviews to find out if it's true. What a dumb policy of treating customers like prisoners. There's always a nice atmosphere in Wetherspoons, and they don't have these stupid policies. It also appears that the owner of the company is getting his mates to write 5 star reviews, because I couldn't imagine anyone giving a genuine review above one star.

Its hard to support a brewery that has its values placed in the 1800s, we have moved on. I'm all for the no phones rule or some sort of incentive like 10% off for locking it away but this old dodger that runs this brand would give scrooge a run for his money. The beer is actually ok but, its not good enough to support this behaviour, there are so many other brands and breweries you can support. Humphrey, just so you know we shut most of the mines within the UK a while ago, maybe your carrier pigeon suffered an ill faith on its way to you, send a man to find it and don't spare the horses!

Nice beer, but Samuel Smiths pubs have a policy of always pouring 7% less than a full pint to increase their profits. Thought this was a bit of an urban legend, but after going to multiple Sam Smith's pubs I can confirm that its the case. Management are clearly taking the mick with this one.

Great beer!-i used to work in the old "manor brewery"-Sam-Smiths,Rochdale (1974)-no kids-no dogs-NO phones=great!!-but,no swearing,bars me !!

This beer gives you a hangover like nothing else, I suspect it's down to poor quality ingredients! There's more Sam's pubs closed than open these days and that's probably for the best!

Excellent beer, awesome that they have a no technology policy in the pub. For all those low rating people, get a life! If you can't live without your phone for an hour you have some serious problems. Zombies.

Best Beer Ever, amazing flavour without a huge hop bite more of a delightful nibble, hats off Samuel Smith well done and thank you all at the brewery for this delicious taste of summer

Superb quality and variety of beers. The pubs are run according to rules which appeal to a niche market, and if there are enough customers in the niche to make a profit -so what? Not everyone wants pubs with music, TV sport and electronic devices. The brewery doesn't have a monopoly in any town, so if you don't like it then go somewhere else. This is not any sort of reply to all the Humphrey Smith stories online, but only to the business as this customer experiences it!

Ruining great pubs which have so much potential. Treating managers of bars like rubbish. Treating staff just as bad. No rights as workers under Samuel Smith brewery bars. Just look online to see what people are going through. Absolutely the worst kind of people!!!!