Levels of bar service

[Tiger_Dad]

I'm certainly no alcoholic but have always enjoyed a beer before KO and at half time... it goes hand in hand… watching the game having a beer…

During last couple of seasons and currently with this one the time it takes to be served is completely unacceptable taking 15 to 20 mins at the ABC, Clubhouse or the outside Clubhouse bar.

This makes me late in getting back to my seat at halftime and disturb others in my aisle which I hate doing.

As far as I can tell this is a problem that happens at all the publicly run bars and at every game.

Surely the catering company know this and therefore can man/woman the bars accordingly with reasonably trained staff. One of the main contributing factors are guys serving are lacking in basic bar skills and obviously not trained in this area.

I sometimes see the mobile larger sellers which I always go to if I can but again they’re either not at every game or don’t operate around the clubhouse end of the crumbie.

Until someone at Tigers gets hold of the various catering companies and forces them to meet some minimum standards I don’t see the situation changing.

Perhaps someone could tell me whom I should address this to officially.

All this ranting has made me thirsty – I’m off for a beer…

[tommill]

Having spent a season working on the public bars whilst at uni I do have sopme sympathy for the bar staff. i agree that they should have some minimum requirement for working on the bars as they get rammed at half time and that is not the right time to be learning how to pull a pint.

[Tiger_Dad]

It's not the bar staff I'm having a go at as I too have great sympathy for them. It's their greedy bosses and the Tigers management that my beef is with.

[Spanker]

I have been to various stadia where the caterers operate a 'pre-pour' and basically get the ale stacked up prior to the whistle, by pouring 4 pints at a time. Surely they know how many pints they get through at half time and could 'pre-pour' say 75% of them beforehand. I know it might slightly impair the taste of the beer but I think it may be worth it instead of having to wait.

[BenWL]

It's not the bar staff I'm having a go at as I too have great sympathy for them. It's their greedy bosses and the Tigers management that my beef is with.

______________________________________________________

Please don't start me off again with your assumption that the bosses are "greedy". Dear or dear, here we go again. It has already been discussed at length.

http://www.leicestertigers.com/forum/vi ... mbles+bars


We have a ground that takes over 17,000 fans and facilities that really don't match. This is due to the success of the club in attracting new fans. I'm sure that when the new stand is built, with it's huge bar the capacity will be absorbed and the queues won't be that big.

[Tiger_Dad]

BenWL, thanks for pointing out the previous thread... Sorry I did a search before posting but found nothing..

Having read your post I agree with the mitigating circumstances you put forward, however once all is said and done the punters experience in the majority of bars is poor and frustrating.

It’s not as though it’s a new problem that has just arisen. Tigers and the caterers have known about the issue for years and what they got in place is clearly not working.

If I offered my clients that level of service they wouldn’t be saying ‘don’t worry we know you’re doing your best, we’ll just wait for the years of poor service to improve’.

Why do other clubs with fewer facilities seem to manage? I suggest it's because they have an environment that is both enjoyable to work in and pays accordingly, not just the minimum!!!

[tommill]

I have been to various stadia where the caterers operate a 'pre-pour' and basically get the ale stacked up prior to the whistle, by pouring 4 pints at a time. Surely they know how many pints they get through at half time and could 'pre-pour' say 75% of them beforehand. I know it might slightly impair the taste of the beer but I think it may be worth it instead of having to wait.

Pre-pouring did used to happen, cant say if it still does, but there is a limit of how many pints you can store behind the bar. Also we used to get people who would complain if they got a pre-poured drink.

[BenWL]

I understand your point about the past. I also doubt very much whether other clubs can afford to pay more than the imposed minimum wage. If they are agency staff the company is paying close to £10 an hour yet the employee will only get half of that once the agency has taken it's share.

In contract catering you generally have to use the facilities provided by the client(the club) and these are pretty tired. I would imagine that there may well be a possibility of the caterers investing in the new bar under the Cat Stand in return for a new contract. If that is the case then they will be dictating what equipment needs to go in and where which should speed up service significantly.

The closest attendance to ours is Northampton at 13,000 so I guess other clubs don't have to serve the same volumes in that small window of opportunity. I have also had to wait a long time at Twickenham which is allegedly state of the art.

[littlefeat]

You can always ask Shakey to keep an eye out for the Heineken man.

[Tiger_Dad]

Who is Shakey?

[littlefeat]

A friend of ours who can always sniff out a drink!

[BenWL]

Aahh...! Litttlefeat...!

As you know, Shakey would have to get an interim pint whilst sniffing him out and may forget what he was there for.

Sorry Tiger_Dad, an "in" joke.

[Tiger_Dad]

That's OK I still think it fairly amusing....

[wolverhampton_tiger]

Tiger_Dad you should send your comments direct to David Clayton ([email protected]) as he is always keen to know what supporters think of the facilities etc.

Beer and the lack of it is something that has been discussed at length at the supporters forum and I will raise it again at the next meeting.

For info Worcester have a bitter pull that can pour 6 pints at a time, and they pre pour for half time etc but still had trouble the other Saturday to cope with demand just before the game and at half time.

[Kinoulton]

If they want to sell as much beer as they can sell, they should staff up or shut up.

I've voted with my feet. Drink at pubs near the ground, arrive just in time for kick-off, and don't bother with the half-time melee.

So me and my mates spend about 40 quid on beer and Tigers get none of it. Their choice.