Tigers Catering Feedback.

[Bundy]

I went in to the Captains Bar as usual before kick off and had two pints with Her That Must be Obeyed with no problems at all. At half time, however, I daftly tried to get a pint from the Final Whistle in the Cat Stand but after waiting with others for over 15 minutes I just gave up - behind that bar it just seems a shambles. There was one woman who seemed to know vaguely what to do but surrounded by kids who obviously haven't got a clue - one of them, for example, either didn't know how to add up/work the till or wasn't allowed to as after every pint he served he had to stop and wait for the woman to finish what she was doing so she could add in his order on the till and do the money - you couldn't make it up!! It's hard to get too annoyed with kids who have been shoved behind a bar without a clue what they are doing as it's not their fault but those who put them there. Apart from the Club losing a lot of money by such a shambles (not just my few quid I assume!) it leaves a bad feeling for supporters - as one poster has said on here before, no service is better than bad service. I won't be repeating this half-time experience again needless to say!!

The solution is to have some form of a system for serving a rush of customers in quick time and some staff who have been trained to work behind a bar. It is so frustrating but it can be done - maybe get Lindleys to visit the Cabbage Patch in Twickenham on a match day to see how it's done?!!

[Bill W (2)]

It is clear from posts on here that the service in the CAT is falling short of that achieved in The Captains, ABC and Mark Bars.

Could this be due to priority in the CAT being given to "corporates"?

[Grannyman]

I went to the ABC before the Maori game, the pulled pork roll with stuffing was amazing! It really was great, good service too. Then after the game, the chicken curry pie at the Cat stand was also delicious. Again, no problems with service.
Guinness was good at both stands.
No complaints from me.

[Tiger_Dad]

Crikey Grannyman you really filled your boots. It's good to hear positive feedback on hear too.

[smileydaws]

I am new to this forum, but not new to Welford Raod, and have been season ticket holder for years, and always been in the Next/CAT stand.

As mentioned on here plenty of times, it is not the size of the que, its the speed effeciency if the staff, the poorr kids that are probably on minimum wage do not have clue, and are sooooo slow and clueless. At i really don't understand the systems process they are using, it just seems to slow things even more.

At the saints game i was not in my normal seat (Her indoors took mine!), and bought one in the cat upper, at half time i was greatly impressed to see a 'Beer only Express Lane', so joined that within a couple of minutes of half time whistle, with around 10 in front of me...........and missed the start of the second hall!!!!!!!! One person pouring, and one manning the till. I only bough one drink!

I really cant work it out........in the olden days (ahhhh Dustys!)i suspect the staff/beer pumps to fans ratio was much lower (i.e more staff/beer pumps per fan now) and service easy quick, efficient, and always served. Now i dread the final whistle bar......its a joke.

[thetigress]

I've just trawled through the whole of this post to see the same problems/complaints time after time. I'd like to add my twopenneth worth, not only do the kids have no bloomin idea at all (I had to repeat my last order 3 times before it was correct) but there were 3 people standing behind the bar just looking gormless.

Due to work I find it impossible to get to the ground any earlier than 20 mins before KO (assuming 3pm Sat ha) and the bar I use in the CAT stand will depend on which has a pie left. (By the by did they really have mushy pea and ale? or was the server taking the mickey as well as the p!) Last time not only did I have to wait 20 mins to be served I was also at the completely opposite end of the stand to my seat and missed the KO.

I have been a ST holder for over 16 years and it gets work every year. Tomorrow is your last chance, I will be earlier than usual and if I have any service issues then I'll be bringing a 4 pack of beer and a cob with me from now on.

Sorry for the length of my rant but I do feel better for getting it off my chest.

[speedski]

Ended up in the CAT stand for a few games at the beginning of the season with no lager available both games.

Fortunately now over in the H&B both the Maori and today's game with Irish had no problems whatsoever! Really quick and efficient (although clearly new staff today too, looking quite flustered to be honest!)

I will say I've given up trying to get to Domino's from any stand other than the CAT, simply not possible it seems!

[Tigerpete]

The queues in the CAT are as long as ever. I just don't even bother anymore. So the £20 that I would normally spend in the ground now goes to a pub.

I cannot comment on the service in the CAT since I do not go there.

Certainly the service in the Captains Bar has improved enormously.

Keep posting! Is it the bar queues? Or the food outlets? Or both that are unacceptable?

Apologies for not getting back as I haven't looked in this thread for a little while. The food queues in the middle of the upper CAT seem OK, the beer queues are just so slow and the new tea outlet which now does hotdogs now takes forever even to get a cup of tea.

[Tigerpete]

Hi Tigerpete - Thank you for your feedback. I'll make sure Jason Burns (Lindley's Stadium Manager) is made aware of this and feedback to you.

To enable Jason to look in to your complaint could I ask:
1). Where in the CAT you experienced the long queues?
2). The approximate time you queued for?
3). And at what time - i.e. 20 mins before KO or at half time?

I know, as a general rule, one of Lindleys objectives is to keep queuing times to 10 mins. As you will appreciate, at sell out games and at peak times, this may not always be possible.

Thanks again for the feedback

TD

P.S. Bill, I'm so glad your match day experience was to your liking. I bet the post match beer was even sweeter!!!

Again, apologies for not getting back. It is not so much that the queues are long, just so slow. I sit in the EU section of the upper CAT. The worst time appears to be half time, but to be honest even before the game it takes 10-15 minutes. I can go any pub and be served in 2 minutes.....

[Tigerpete]

As has been stated by quite a few on here, the problem appears to be with the quality and experience of the bar/counter staff. Never mind hacking off your customers, from a purely business perspective, having untrained or under experienced people may well save the odd couple of quid per hour in costs, but will certainly be losing the club thousands of pounds per hour in revenue by fans simply finding other non club outlets and solutions. No other business would allow sales opportunities from supportive customers to go unfulfilled.

As I've said before, and as others are also saying, I would rather spend my money in the ground but now drink in a pub and bring other food and drink with me. That's at least £300 per year (the price of another season ticket) that the club is losing. As Americans would say, do the math.....

[Northenlad]

Upper CAT - useless as ever! Queues unbelievable - no common sense - no sense of pride - no ability - no apparent care from Tigers!

SIMON COHEN - if you read this - stop paying lip service to the fans and start taking action!

[Tiger_Dad]

The upper CAT is unfortunately becoming a trouble area and I will speak with Jason and Laura too improve the service for the next match.

From what I could see v Bath
1). not enough staff
2). some of the staff struggled to organise themselves when busy
3). No on-site supervisor

On a plus the ABC and Captains were very well organised. I had the Madras curry which really hit the spot on a chilly autumn afternoon.

Great to see so many watch the All Blacks game after and what a game...

[GT1]

We were there in the ABC after the match watching the Eng v NZ but we really need to put bigger screens in there. It's ridiculous in 2012 that the so called best rugby club in England expects it's fans to stay & spend & watch tiny tv's so small you can't see the score. This side of the ground is being left behind in lots of ways & Tigers should get on with the reconstruction now!!

[LE18]

Shall I book you in at specsaves with me G?

[TigerScot]

I do wonder if any of the feedback is being listened to.
The whole food/drink situation is a joke. Pre-match drinks used to be a pleasure, now its just not worth the effort.

And who decided to have the new food stands on the opposite side so that now there is more even more queuing chaos.