We got to Crossbars at 12. Three of us had bottled beer no problems, but my mate wanted a pint of Anytime. He said they won't have used the pumps for a few months and won't have cleaned them so expect problems. Sure enough the tap spluttered and pumped out bilge water. He advised them to run 2 or 3 pints through it first. but they are all young and inexperienced and did a lot of running about, trying different taps with the same effect etc. Eventually they followed his advice and he got his pint. Took around 10 minutes. No big drama as it wasn't that busy. But its indicative of naivety, poor management and a total absence of planning
saw a video on facebook of a staff member chucking pre poured pints down the sink at the end of the half time.
what has always amazed me is the absolute clueless staff. some cant work a till, most if not all cant figure out how to hold a pint never mind pour one and all seem surprised and rather put out that people have turned up at 3.45 on a Saturday afternoon. These people must have never been to a pub in their lives.
If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
Day off today, orrible little oik was playing golf. 😉
If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
Day off today, orrible little oik was playing golf. 😉
Just the thought of him still being employed at The Valley puts me off going to games.
If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
Day off today, orrible little oik was playing golf. 😉
Just the thought of him still being employed at The Valley puts me off going to games.
I saw him 3 times on Saturday, fortunately someone said hello before I discussed in my own mind if to confront him, it could have the quickest ban ever. Before a ball was kicked. 😂 Horrible little individual.
End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters. At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself. And we missed the first equaliser.
The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience. I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.
Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
Would appear Cheltenham are clueless.
How about feeding the kids before the match starts next time.
How about reading the post properly before criticising? Yes, it would’ve solved the problem, but for a start, they’re not my kids, which you could’ve read in the post. We met them there, so there wasn’t an opportunity to feed them first. Anyway, regardless, sometimes we do things last minute. It can be awesome, but sometimes not. That’s part of it. I’ll own that.
The point wasn’t about whether I wanted to feed them there, it was about the service at Cheltenham which appears to be similar to Charlton and many other grounds. The British do it badly. Not just Cheltenham.
Read the post properly the first time , best you go to football on you own next time .
Suggestion: Change title of thread to "Half time - service issues"
Suggestion: invite somebody on new SMT to read
Suggestion: New SMT send out 10 "mystery shoppers" before/during half time at a game to collect feedback for them
I know the food and beverage provision is outsourced, but they should be aware. As a bare minimum so that they can consider the info gathered when it's time for contract renewal.
The club is losing a lot of revenue here. Personally since Roland days I spend absolutely nothing in the ground or club shop. I rock up 15 minutes before ko and leave dead on the final whistle.
All this necessity to miss 5-10 minutes of the first half to have over priced watered down beer and food is totally lost on me. Can you not wait another hour?
How many goals do you miss a season doing this? Madness imo.
We got to Crossbars at 12. Three of us had bottled beer no problems, but my mate wanted a pint of Anytime. He said they won't have used the pumps for a few months and won't have cleaned them so expect problems. Sure enough the tap spluttered and pumped out bilge water. He advised them to run 2 or 3 pints through it first. but they are all young and inexperienced and did a lot of running about, trying different taps with the same effect etc. Eventually they followed his advice and he got his pint. Took around 10 minutes. No big drama as it wasn't that busy. But its indicative of naivety, poor management and a total absence of planning
A massive management failure by the company who does our catering then .
And even during the season surely they don't just leave kegs there in between games untouched, without cleaning the lines, considering there might be 2 week gaps between home games?
We got to Crossbars at 12. Three of us had bottled beer no problems, but my mate wanted a pint of Anytime. He said they won't have used the pumps for a few months and won't have cleaned them so expect problems. Sure enough the tap spluttered and pumped out bilge water. He advised them to run 2 or 3 pints through it first. but they are all young and inexperienced and did a lot of running about, trying different taps with the same effect etc. Eventually they followed his advice and he got his pint. Took around 10 minutes. No big drama as it wasn't that busy. But its indicative of naivety, poor management and a total absence of planning
A massive management failure by the company who does our catering then .
And even during the season surely they don't just leave kegs there in between games untouched, without cleaning the lines, considering there might be 2 week gaps between home games?
Worked freelance bartending shifts in Chelsea's hospitality suites last season.
Can confirm if the kegs are still in date from the game before, then yes, they just run a couple of pints through initially and just carry on from there.
I don't know what company CAFC use but Chelsea use Compass-Levy UK.
I decided to go just before HT and missed the goal. I should have placed a bet there and then, as it was inevitable it would finish 1-0. The fella in front of me order 2 pints of lager and the girl handed him 2 pint glasses only half full. He said "no, 2 pints, not halves". She just looked at him like he was speaking Russian and didn't understand what he was complaining about.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
I decided to go just before HT and missed the goal. I should have placed a bet there and then, as it was inevitable it would finish 1-0. The fella in front of me order 2 pints of lager and the girl handed him 2 pint glasses only half full. He said "no, 2 pints, not halves". She just looked at him like he was speaking Russian and didn't understand what he was complaining about.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
Really efficient service in Newport's away end tonight. Several beers on offer, I think 3 people serving and no one seemed to wait more than 5 and a bit minutes at half time.
It is a rugby bar though. Maybe they have higher standards.
I decided to go just before HT and missed the goal. I should have placed a bet there and then, as it was inevitable it would finish 1-0. The fella in front of me order 2 pints of lager and the girl handed him 2 pint glasses only half full. He said "no, 2 pints, not halves". She just looked at him like he was speaking Russian and didn't understand what he was complaining about.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
Probably too young to legally drink in a pub?
Unless it's changed they can't serve alcoholoic drinks if you're underage. Least you couldn't when I worked behind the bar when I was underaged. Just did it as it was a local and police wouldn't of been interested back then.
I decided to go just before HT and missed the goal. I should have placed a bet there and then, as it was inevitable it would finish 1-0. The fella in front of me order 2 pints of lager and the girl handed him 2 pint glasses only half full. He said "no, 2 pints, not halves". She just looked at him like he was speaking Russian and didn't understand what he was complaining about.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
Probably too young to legally drink in a pub?
Unless it's changed they can't serve alcoholoic drinks if you're underage. Least you couldn't when I worked behind the bar when I was underaged. Just did it as it was a local and police wouldn't of been interested back then.
Working in a restaurant or bar under 18
You can serve alcohol in a restaurant if you’re 16 or 17 as long as the licence holder or bar manager has approved the sale.
You may be restricted to selling alcohol in sealed containers (such as cans or bottles) in some areas.
I decided to go just before HT and missed the goal. I should have placed a bet there and then, as it was inevitable it would finish 1-0. The fella in front of me order 2 pints of lager and the girl handed him 2 pint glasses only half full. He said "no, 2 pints, not halves". She just looked at him like he was speaking Russian and didn't understand what he was complaining about.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
Probably too young to legally drink in a pub?
Unless it's changed they can't serve alcoholoic drinks if you're underage. Least you couldn't when I worked behind the bar when I was underaged. Just did it as it was a local and police wouldn't of been interested back then.
Working in a restaurant or bar under 18
You can serve alcohol in a restaurant if you’re 16 or 17 as long as the licence holder or bar manager has approved the sale.
You may be restricted to selling alcohol in sealed containers (such as cans or bottles) in some areas.
Comments
what has always amazed me is the absolute clueless staff. some cant work a till, most if not all cant figure out how to hold a pint never mind pour one and all seem surprised and rather put out that people have turned up at 3.45 on a Saturday afternoon. These people must have never been to a pub in their lives.
Horrible little individual.
Suggestion: invite somebody on new SMT to read
Suggestion: New SMT send out 10 "mystery shoppers" before/during half time at a game to collect feedback for them
I know the food and beverage provision is outsourced, but they should be aware. As a bare minimum so that they can consider the info gathered when it's time for contract renewal.
And even during the season surely they don't just leave kegs there in between games untouched, without cleaning the lines, considering there might be 2 week gaps between home games?
Can confirm if the kegs are still in date from the game before, then yes, they just run a couple of pints through initially and just carry on from there.
I don't know what company CAFC use but Chelsea use Compass-Levy UK.
I do kind of feel sorry for the staff, as they're just kids that have never worked behind a bar in their life and have obviously not been given any training. Being the first game of the season I'd imagine that quite a few of them have never stepped foot in the stadium before Saturday
It is a rugby bar though. Maybe they have higher standards.
Working in a restaurant or bar under 18
You can serve alcohol in a restaurant if you’re 16 or 17 as long as the licence holder or bar manager has approved the sale.
You may be restricted to selling alcohol in sealed containers (such as cans or bottles) in some areas.
https://www.gov.uk/alcohol-young-people-law#:~
https://twitter.com/i/status/1777992919842181220