Half time refreshments

[stringjunior]

The problem stems with the clubs insisting on using outside catering company who are there to make as much money from us as they can, they even factor in losing their contracts because of the way they behave.
I’ve had the misfortune of working for these and other types of contractors and honestly I’m stunned legal action doesn’t follow, however here are my thoughts for what they’re worth.
1. Kick out contractors,the club already has most of the infrastructure to manage it themselves.
2. Introduce guest beer suppliers who will bend over to get as much of their stock sold in the shortest time frame as possible, they want your custom long term.
3. Design easy served food that’s actually nice to eat, cost effective and that customers will want .
4. Create loyalty by efficient service, prices that fans can get behind and will leave the pubs earlier for, driving up revenues and profit and this in turn keeps the prices down.
5. Appointment a management structure that actually cares about its staff and it’s customer base, who continually want to improve and have profit related bonuses to keep them motivated. The same applies to front of house staff, make sure they’re properly trained and motivated and well paid, this reduces costs by having less costs for recruitment, training, uniforms and mistakes.
5. I’m not convinced people only being able to pay by just card really helps, why cut out some of customer base, does it really speed up the process that much, again I’m not convinced it does if you have the right people working on the tills( I do except cash is a pain, dirty and costs to count and bank).

Bottom line do it in house!

Sorry to have bored you shitless with my ramblings

Shakespeare blade for president.

*Sorry SwissBlade

 

[S64 Blade]

Pretty crap on South Stand. One person having to deal with two queues at once. To be fair to the young lass, she did a great job handling it alone. I did feel sorry for her having to deal with both as people got increasingly pissed off.

 

[Karaoke Blade]

Get a voucher, they said... View attachment 121724

Who in their right mind pays £4.50 for a sausage roll?

 

[We're back!]

Mistimed my arrival at the ground yesterday and was in danger of seeing kick off. Luckily I got to the bottom of the kop steps and saw that the kiosks were still serving, only 3 people in front of me so not a big wait…. Wrong

15 mins later I ordered a hendos sausage roll and a Beavertown…. Need to change the barrel. Run out to sausage rolls. Only hotdogs and chicken balti pies left… that was pre match. I left it.

I wonder how they got on at half time, presumably they had more stocks. But it was pretty shambolic

Nope! Was still in the queue when second half kicked off but figured out I'd been there that long, I wasn't giving up now. Finally got to the front, asked for 2 pints of Amstel, only to be told they'd run out! FFS. Why not shout up and let people know? Gormy gits.

 

[SwissBlade]

Shakespeare blade for president.

*Sorry SwissBlade

Fickle bastard

 

[SwissBlade]

Nope! Was still in the queue when second half kicked off but figured out I'd been there that long, I wasn't giving up now. Finally got to the front, asked for 2 pints of Amstel, only to be told they'd run out! FFS. Why not shout up and let people know? Gormy gits.

When the club asked for patience this week then it has to come with the club and the catering company making small steps to improvement.

They can’t just hide behind supply chain issues, they can communicate on the day - What’s available, what’s not. A simple white board behind the counter with what they’ve got would do… then just wipe stuff off when it’s gone!

 

[We're back!]

When the club asked for patience this week then it has to come with the club and the catering company making small steps to improvement.

They can’t just hide behind supply chain issues, they can communicate on the day - What’s available, what’s not. A simple white board behind the counter with what they’ve got would do… then just wipe stuff off when it’s gone!

Absolutely. Sometimes the good old fashioned methods work best.

 

[Nelson1889]

Why don't we just get a few of these walking round the back of the kop/south stand? Have them going round in pairs, one pouring and one taking payments. Make them card only with the portable contact less machines and if nothing else it takes the pressure off the kiosks.

We've got however many students back in the city now, surely they can find a few dozen willing to do this once a fortnight for some beer money?

 

[JackSUFC]

It’s awful on the Kop. No point trying to get a drink at half-time. Swear it never used to be as bad as it is now so what’s changed?

Before kick-off, I watched one of the staff take about 5 minutes to pour the bloke in front of me the worst looking pint I’ve ever seen, then laugh about it and pour it away.

 

[metalblade]

They were again serving cider to people who had asked for lager obviously from their side they don't label the pumps to say which is which. All you get is a gormy look until you point to which handle they should pull, oh yes and it still takes three people to sell one pint, one to take the order another to pull the pint and another to take the payment.

 

[We're back!]

It’s awful on the Kop. No point trying to get a drink at half-time. Swear it never used to be as bad as it is now so what’s changed?

Before kick-off, I watched one of the staff take about 5 minutes to pour the bloke in front of me the worst looking pint I’ve ever seen, then laugh about it and pour it away.

Half of the staff behind the kop kiosks don't even look like they could tie their own shoe laces, let alone pour a pint!

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Compass are a big enough company that they should have the professionalism to easily sort this, but they are not bothered, they will never be bothered, vote with your feet and don’t use them, it will never change

If they cannot even sort out a voucher system that they themselves have implemented (and a system let's not forget that had been in place previously) then I'm done. It's shambolic. Even giving myself half hour before kick off and allowing plenty of time didn't help. The email last week explaining the issues was fine. But they're doing nothing to help themselves whatsoever. So I'm out. I shall be filling the tills of the numerous public houses instead.

 

[CrookesBlade]

View attachment 121760

Why don't we just get a few of these walking round the back of the kop/south stand? Have them going round in pairs, one pouring and one taking payments. Make them card only with the portable contact less machines and if nothing else it takes the pressure off the kiosks.

We've got however many students back in the city now, surely they can find a few dozen willing to do this once a fortnight for some beer money?

Last time I saw one of them in operation was at Rotherham in promotion season.

Barely got a foot out of the door of the kiosk before 40 odd people descended on him like thirsty hyenas. I can see why they don’t bother in fairness.

 

[tyke1889]

Asked for a pie and pint on Tuesday.
" £7.50 please"
"Its advertising it at £7.00"
"No it's £7.50, they haven't changed to prices yet"
,"Well you can stuff it then"
Hate that, if it says 7 quid, it should be 7 quid.

Had exactly the same experience, supervisor came and somehow managed to manually enter it at £11.50 for 2 pie and pint deals. Happy days apart from the being no neck oil

 

[Nelson1889]

Last time I saw one of them in operation was at Rotherham in promotion season.

Barely got a foot out of the door of the kiosk before 40 odd people descended on him like thirsty hyenas. I can see why they don’t bother in fairness.

That's why you'd need a few of them. You couldn't do it half arsed like we would and have one at the bottom of each side of the kop.

Seen them at the arena a few times for gigs over the years and they seem to manage fine.

 

[CrookesBlade]

Vouchers work perfectly fine when they have the queue open just for those who've bought them. They reintroduced vouchers and then put those shutters down, thus lumping everyone who'd bought them in the usual queue with everyone else and completely defeating the object.

My mate walked to the front and asked where he should redeem his voucher. The bar staff told him to join the back of the queue. He didn't because he just demanded what he'd paid for (rightly so, and luckily I caught him just in time so he could get mine too).

To make things even more absurd, those shutters opened about five minutes before the second half started, as if that was a great time to open that side up and ease the congestion on the bar.

It was chaos. The facilities, management and staff simply aren't fit for purpose and I don't think I'll bother trying to get a drink at HT again. I just can't fathom how it can be so badly run.

I’ve emailed and asked for a refund. No doubt that won’t be straightforward.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

If they cannot even sort out a voucher system that they themselves have implemented (and a system let's not forget that had been in place previously) then I'm done. It's shambolic. Even giving myself half hour before kick off and allowing plenty of time didn't help. The email last week explaining the issues was fine. But they're doing nothing to help themselves whatsoever. So I'm out. I shall be filling the tills of the numerous public houses instead.

Maybe its that person that replied to your email saying the voucher system would not work.
That person now sat looking at their reply to your email with a big grin on his face.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Introduce guest beer suppliers who will bend over to get as much of their stock sold in the shortest time frame as possible, they want your custom long term

We went to Wentworth festival the other week. They had Thornbridge doing the beer tent. Few people at the back pulling pints, put out ready on tables, server takes the order turns round, passes it to the customer. Next please. Fast service and good beer.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

View attachment 121760

Why don't we just get a few of these walking round the back of the kop/south stand? Have them going round in pairs, one pouring and one taking payments. Make them card only with the portable contact less machines and if nothing else it takes the pressure off the kiosks.

We've got however many students back in the city now, surely they can find a few dozen willing to do this once a fortnight for some beer money?

Or with bottled soft drinks, then the server can be under 18. They'd sell hundreds. Takes the pressure of the bar area too, making that quicker.

 

[robbiez666]

We went to Wentworth festival the other week. They had Thornbridge doing the beer tent. Few people at the back pulling pints, put out ready on tables, server takes the order turns round, passes it to the customer. Next please. Fast service and good beer.

It's quite simple. All they need to do is start pouring pints out on 30 minutes and then just hand them out when open. Not great for a warm day but we're not likely to have one of them for a while.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Maybe its that person that replied to your email saying the voucher system would not work.
That person now sat looking at their reply to your email with a big grin on his face.

Yeah I know, I kind of suggested as such. Deliberate action (keeping the voucher redeem kiosk closed) to prove himself right at the cost of custom. Cares more about being proven right than doing the right thing.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

View attachment 121760

Why don't we just get a few of these walking round the back of the kop/south stand? Have them going round in pairs, one pouring and one taking payments. Make them card only with the portable contact less machines and if nothing else it takes the pressure off the kiosks.

We've got however many students back in the city now, surely they can find a few dozen willing to do this once a fortnight for some beer money?

Students will happily stand on roundabouts with a dominoes pizza sandwich board on for a few hours for a few quid so I'm sure they'll find a few willing to pour ale for £30 a shift.

The remedy to these problems are so simple it's scary.

Say there are 10 kiosks. Why not have 6 serving food and 4 beer only? That way, the dopey staff can see the size of the queue, make the correct assumptions that they all want ale and just pour pour pour. They needn't even worry about wastage as many will have been pre-purchased with a voucher. Considering the options are so limited with regards to beer (lager cider and that neck oil stuff), how they manage to fuck it up so greatly defies belief.

They've now got a few weeks to get their arses in gear. No excuses any more.

 

[WhiteHawk]

Get a voucher, they said... View attachment 121724

£4.50 for a sausage roll?!

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

Having worked at the pig sty selling pies to the pigs a few years back I know how hard it is for the staff working on the tills majority of them probably students who aren’t paid enough to deal with some 40 year old bloke telling them to hurry up

It really ain’t that hard to solve just get a queue for bottle beer and serve that only one person opening bottles and one person taking money but what do I know

 

[CrookesBlade]

That's why you'd need a few of them. You couldn't do it half arsed like we would and have one at the bottom of each side of the kop.

Seen them at the arena a few times for gigs over the years and they seem to manage fine.

Yes. These people are supposed to be going round drumming up additional trade…..”oh yes a pint does sound great being as it’s a hot day and we are a couple of goals to the good.

Instead we’d end up with one 18 year old kid for the whole Kop who ends up with PTSD.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Having worked at the pig sty selling pies to the pigs a few years back I know how hard it is for the staff working on the tills majority of them probably students who aren’t paid enough to deal with some 40 year old bloke telling them to hurry up

It really ain’t that hard to solve just get a queue for bottle beer and serve that only one person opening bottles and one person taking money but what do I know

What do you know?

Want a job at compass?

 

[Vikkster]

My daughter went down 5-10 mins before half time on the kop yesterday to get some chips, came back 10-15 mins into second half with two packets of walkers cheese and onion crisps which cost 4 quid’ish because they only had crisps or chocolate left

 

[Upton_Blade]

Who in their right mind pays £4.50 for a sausage roll?

I did once just to see what they were like.

It's a damn fine sausage roll, it really is, but no way is it worth £4.50. Neither is the £5 Hot Dog I had to but my nephew at the P'Boro game.

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

What do you know?

Want a job at compass?

Can I get that in English Ainsley ?

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

Winter's coming so I'm launching Insulate the Kop protests. My followers and I will be sitting down with our newly crayoned signs blocking the routes to the food kiosks at the next home game.