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South Stand Catering


Guest REDAs_biG_piECE

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On 11/08/2019 at 15:42, Chris_B_SWFC said:

 

Why does anyone buy that overpriced stuff anyway?

 

You can get better food a stones throw from the ground before or after the match, for probably half the price, and you don’t have to join a queue 15 deep to get it. 

 

All you have to do it not eat between 3pm and 5pm. 

 

Ive never understood that! Ok if you are in at 2pm and chilling. Id rather nip asda or beres and feed up then go in, cheaper, tastier, less hassle

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2 hours ago, Tank_owl said:

We all want the catering to be bang on in whichever stand we frequent. I go in the North lower half. If you get there before / around 2:30 the queues arent too bad 2-5mins wait max I would guess. Obviously half time is a different matter. Now they have contactless payment they must have an idea what they are selling, ie in terms of pints, bottle, pies etc.

 

When I went to Tramlines this year at some of the bar they had beers already pulled sat at the back of the bar, e.g. Thornbrige and in the VIP area. Now dont get me wrong Id rather have a fresh pint but if it saved 10-15mins in serving time Id be happy with that - provided the beer wasnt totally spoiled which is shouldnt be if they pull a few in the 10mins before half time.

 

The other aspect is the personnel behind the bars in the kiosks, all casual labour. I have noticed a few regulars but some will probably be there as one off. When you think about it, there are only 23+ days a year, hardly a career! One of my daughters did a few stints in the kiosks over a 3months and she said the 2nd time she went they made her a team leader. Now she is probably somebody that should be team leader but I think she was surprised that she was being asked to do that at only her second time there. She also mentioned how many different faces there were each time she went. So, it must be hard for the club and any caterer to manage people without that ongoing commitment. Sounds like excuses but I can see the difficulties the club faces.

It's as I said before you have young kids earning minimum wage so might get £15/20 plus some abuse from punters. As you rightly said hardly a career. Where's the incentive to make it a regular job.

 

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21 minutes ago, darra said:

It's as I said before you have young kids earning minimum wage so might get £15/20 plus some abuse from punters. As you rightly said hardly a career. Where's the incentive to make it a regular job.

 

I take your point however I presume it is an outside company/agency rather than SWFC providing the staff in which case they should be providing trained staff to the club and the club should insist on that as the customer.

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3 hours ago, Tank_owl said:

We all want the catering to be bang on in whichever stand we frequent. I go in the North lower half. If you get there before / around 2:30 the queues arent too bad 2-5mins wait max I would guess. Obviously half time is a different matter. Now they have contactless payment they must have an idea what they are selling, ie in terms of pints, bottle, pies etc.

 

When I went to Tramlines this year at some of the bar they had beers already pulled sat at the back of the bar, e.g. Thornbrige and in the VIP area. Now dont get me wrong Id rather have a fresh pint but if it saved 10-15mins in serving time Id be happy with that - provided the beer wasnt totally spoiled which is shouldnt be if they pull a few in the 10mins before half time.

 

The other aspect is the personnel behind the bars in the kiosks, all casual labour. I have noticed a few regulars but some will probably be there as one off. When you think about it, there are only 23+ days a year, hardly a career! One of my daughters did a few stints in the kiosks over a 3months and she said the 2nd time she went they made her a team leader. Now she is probably somebody that should be team leader but I think she was surprised that she was being asked to do that at only her second time there. She also mentioned how many different faces there were each time she went. So, it must be hard for the club and any caterer to manage people without that ongoing commitment. Sounds like excuses but I can see the difficulties the club faces.

 

On 12/08/2019 at 15:12, REDAs_biG_piECE said:

I feel like I need to give a more detailed example to get through to the Owlstalk experts that can't differentiate between blind criticism and constructive feedback to the club that I love.

 

I buy at least 1, and often 2, cups of tea for me and my pals every game. For the benefit of the Owlstalk experts I do this because I like tea, I'm fully aware I can buy tea cheaper elsewhere or choose to go thirsty for 2 hours but rest assured I'm sound of mind and as a fully grown adult enter into the transaction of my own free will and that is because I'm a supporter of this great club and wish to give them as much as I can. (Hope that's ok for the Owlstalk experts and condescending know it alls) 

 

Anyway moving onto the tea buying experience itself it usually goes something like this. After queuing for anything between 0 and 10 minutes where the maximum number of customers in front is only ever say 5 maximum this is how it usually goes...

 

Me: "2 teas and a coke please"

Staff: "What's that a coffee and a coke?"

Me: "No 2 teas and a coke please"

Staff: Struts off to the other end of the kiosk and comes back "we don't have any coke"

Me: "ok what have you got"

Staff:"err not sure"

Me: "can you have a look please"

Staff: Struts off to the other end of kiosk and comes back "Dr Pepper"

Me: "ok fine"

Staff: struts off to other end of kiosk and returns with Dr Pepper "is that it"

Me: "what about my 2 teas"

Staff: "oh yeah" rummages under counter and produces 2 cups then struts off down the other end of the kiosk to fill with hot water because the hot water filler directly in front of me is not working still (after being like that for at least 9 months) then returns with 2 cups full to the brim with hot water. "That's £7.50 anything else"

Me: "yes how am i supposed to pour my milk in the cup with the water full to the top?"

Staff: "errr" walks off to the sink and pours out half the water and returns with the cups now only 2/3rds full of water. "Is that all?"

Me: having lost the will to live after an average transaction time of 2/3 minutes "yes thanks" pay using my card and then hunt for some milk and a stirrer.

 

All in all a harrowing experience almost every time. This Saturday there were only 4 staff behind the kiosk whereas previously there were at least 6. They had also reduced the queuing points down from 3 to 2 which made matters worse.

 

I have been to grounds up and down the country and ours is by far and away the slowest most frustrating experience I have ever witnessed.

 

 

And don't get me started on chicken nuggets.... 

 

Does it really matter in the great schemes of things?  A very well fed man complaining about getting more food which he doesn't need in the first place.  

 

A sense of perspective

Edited by Mycroft
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26 minutes ago, farlego said:

I take your point however I presume it is an outside company/agency rather than SWFC providing the staff in which case they should be providing trained staff to the club and the club should insist on that as the customer.

Trouble with that is liable to be cost. To keep well trained staff the company would more than likely have to guarantee their staff a certain number of hours and possibly higher rate of pay. This would then have to be reflected in their prices.

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The way it seems to work in the Grandstand is this...

 

2 kids stand behind a till.

 

Kid A takes your money whilst kid B listens to what you want. ONCE YOU'VE PAID (!!!) Kid B goes to fetch your stuff. Kid A stands by the till waiting for Kid B to come back. Kid B returns and puts your stuff on the counter. Kid A says thanks and moves onto the next customer.

 

SLICK lol

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9 minutes ago, Hookowl said:

Trouble with that is liable to be cost. To keep well trained staff the company would more than likely have to guarantee their staff a certain number of hours and possibly higher rate of pay. This would then have to be reflected in their prices.

The counter argument to that is that if they are trained to be more efficient then more would be sold and profit increased.

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2 minutes ago, farlego said:

The counter argument to that is that if they are trained to be more efficient then more would be sold and profit increased.

Possibly correct, I suppose it depends on how the contract works between the club and the caterers.

I am presuming the catering is outsourced although may be incorrect on this.

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37 minutes ago, Hookowl said:

Possibly correct, I suppose it depends on how the contract works between the club and the caterers.

I am presuming the catering is outsourced although may be incorrect on this.

Better training= more efficiency= more people being served= more prrrrrofffit, Whoever provide the staff

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5 minutes ago, farlego said:

Better training= more efficiency= more people being served= more prrrrrofffit, Whoever provide the staff

Pretty sure that whoever provides the staff will have already looked into things like that when working out their profit margins.

If so it would appear that they don't believe that any possible additional sales would justify the extra outlay.

Just my opinion obviously.

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Just now, torres said:

 

Not really the point

 

I guess it's not, but you can have bad experiences anywhere. And we all know they get exaggerated to make the situation look worse. 

 

The catering company's inside grounds employ young kids who don't really care, they're not massively trained. It's cheap labour.

 

If you want good service, go outside the ground. Or just put up with it. 

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On 11/08/2019 at 15:41, @owlstalk said:


It wil have been the first time many of the staff will have worked 

Am sure it will get much better

 

Unlikely. Its all agency - changes week to week. No one is there more than two weeks. Would you want to go back to a job where you are getting min wage and have to serve angry football fans in a mass 20min rush? I sure as hell wouldn't

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On 16/08/2019 at 17:58, Last_Great_Hope said:

 

Unlikely. Its all agency - changes week to week. No one is there more than two weeks. Would you want to go back to a job where you are getting min wage and have to serve angry football fans in a mass 20min rush? I sure as hell wouldn't

Bet the majority of them get up on a matchday think flip it do I really want all that grief for £15 and get back under the duvet. As I've said my solution would be a big 50" screen above each kiosk or on the back wall showing the ifollow feed so people could get food and drink and still watch the game. This would hopefully reduce queues at half time

Edited by darra
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