A trio of pub quiz enthusiasts have been publicly shamed and banned after their cunning plan to cheat was uncovered by a frustrated publican in Greater Manchester.
The Unravelling of a Quiz Night Scandal
Concerns began to mount at The Barking Dog in Urmston when the owners noticed a worrying trend: regulars were starting to drift away from the popular local. The exodus was particularly noticeable on Wednesday evenings, the night of the weekly free quiz.
The situation escalated when a former customer directly contacted the pub to explain the reason for their departure. The caller alleged that one dominant team was systematically cheating. To circumvent the establishment's ban on mobile phones, the team was reportedly speaking into the smartwatches on their wrists to receive answers from the outside.
Confrontation and Consequences
Acting on these reports, the pub's management decided to investigate. Rob Hardie, a co-director of the pub, took matters into his own hands. He told the Daily Mail that he had personally monitored the team and found their behaviour to be 'quite blatant.'
'We had noticed there was a side who tended to get if not most but actually all questions correct,' Hardie stated. 'I let them continue for a while, to make sure it was correct – and then I approached them with the allegation.'
When confronted, the accused team behaved 'sheepishly,' apologised, and then left the premises. Following the incident, the pub took to Facebook to make a public statement.
Public Outcry and a Hopeful Future
In their Facebook post, the pub expressed its disappointment, stating: 'We are disappointed to say that there has been a team cheating in our quiz. There have been suspicions for a while but no concrete evidence. This unfortunately may have cost us some genuine custom.'
The post confirmed that the team had been caught red-handed and subsequently banned. The pub extended an olive branch, hoping that any 'genuine quizzers' they had lost would now feel comfortable returning.
The online reaction was swift and critical of the cheaters. One social media user commented, 'How desperate do you have to be to cheat in a fun pub quiz?' Another echoed a common sentiment, writing, 'It’s always the minority who spoil it for the rest.'
Rob Hardie summed up the feeling of many, calling it a 'real shame that people should try to taint things like this.' He added that the incident was a 'real kick in the teeth' for the community-oriented event.
