"Abysmal Service " section at the Etihad Club yest

[plugger66]

Etihad stadium make all the profits at the moment from pourage and food rights so why would it matter to the AFL who has the rights. Matter of fact they have never got anything from those rights so they have no say on what company is picked by the stadium and can assure you they also have no say in who is picked at the G.

The AFL has recently been claiming that the contracts entitle the AFL to revenue from pourage but none has ever been received.

That is right so why would they have picked who gets the contract when they havent even seen a cent from the pourage rights. Why would the stadium even let them pick who gets the contract when they think the AFL isnt entilted to any money.

[saint66au]

The service at Livewire is no better than the Victory Room trust me

Its not just the amount of staff, its their inability to serve drinks even remotely quickly

Wander over to the Cricketers Arms, or the Corner rooftop or even across the road to Nixons, and watch their bar staff when its really busy before or after a game. They can pour a beer, take your money and be looking around for next orders all at the same time. They unuderstand that you need to do this when its very very busy. Compare that to the staff at Livewire who work like its a quiet Wednesday night at the Woop-Woop local. Serve one person then vanish to places unknown (as happened to me yesterday afternoon)

If you cant employ large numbers of staff at least get ones who can work quickly under pressure!!

[Iceman234]

Compare that to the staff at Livewire who work like its a quiet Wednesday night at the Woop-Woop local. Serve one person then vanish to places unknown (as happened to me yesterday afternoon)

And of course the one in Victory who HAD to take his mobile call....

[Solar]

That's absolute rubbish isn't it Trace. Do Spotless still have the rights to catering at Docklands?
Whichever mob it is, you can be assured that they don't give a flying F*** about service and customer satisfaction. Their one and only interest is how much money they can make out of it.

Spotless Services don't have the catering at Docklands - not anymore.
Delaware North Australia have the contract.
Delaware North is American owned.

Spotless Services still has the catering at the MCG.
Former chairman of the AFL commission Ron Evans was the managing director and a major shareholder in Spotless Services.

Spotless Services through its subsidiary company Nationwide Venue Management, was the original operator of Docklands Stadium.
The AFL clubs may not have had good deals at Docklands.
But Ron Evan's Nationwide Venue Management did.
Also got a good sale price too.
Former Essendon President Ron Evans ensured Essendon was guaranteed the best deal at Docklands.

The AFL clubs may not have had a good deal at the MCG .
But Ron Evan's Spotless Services did.

Surprising that only since Evan's death has the AFL recognised a problem with club contracts at the MCG and Docklands.
Surprising that only recently has the AFL realised they should be getting revenue from catering at Docklands.

Now current chairman Mike Fitzpatrick is 50% owner of the Homebush Olympic Stadium (ANZ Stadium) in Sydney.

No conflicts of interest, and no corruption in the AFL eh Plugger66.

Etihad stadium make all the profits at the moment from pourage and food rights so why would it matter to the AFL who has the rights. Matter of fact they have never got anything from those rights so they have no say on what company is picked by the stadium and can assure you they also have no say in who is picked at the G.

anything to back up the notion that the clubs have any say in the number of bar staff? As Iread it the club has a contract for a certain crowd number and access to certain rooms. Delaware north has the contract for the catering and pourage which a percent goes to the stadium. Delaware and the stadium set the prices, the staff level etc. From my reading the AFL and the AFL clubs get nothing from the pourage. So not sure how having more bar staff effect the club unless they offer to pay for these extra staff.

Just like most large hopsitality companies they try to get by with the lowest amount of staff as possible. If people had to wait as long at the cafe I work at as we wait at the bar then we would haven no customers in the end!

[plugger66]

That's absolute rubbish isn't it Trace. Do Spotless still have the rights to catering at Docklands?
Whichever mob it is, you can be assured that they don't give a flying F*** about service and customer satisfaction. Their one and only interest is how much money they can make out of it.

Spotless Services don't have the catering at Docklands - not anymore.
Delaware North Australia have the contract.
Delaware North is American owned.

Spotless Services still has the catering at the MCG.
Former chairman of the AFL commission Ron Evans was the managing director and a major shareholder in Spotless Services.

Spotless Services through its subsidiary company Nationwide Venue Management, was the original operator of Docklands Stadium.
The AFL clubs may not have had good deals at Docklands.
But Ron Evan's Nationwide Venue Management did.
Also got a good sale price too.
Former Essendon President Ron Evans ensured Essendon was guaranteed the best deal at Docklands.

The AFL clubs may not have had a good deal at the MCG .
But Ron Evan's Spotless Services did.

Surprising that only since Evan's death has the AFL recognised a problem with club contracts at the MCG and Docklands.
Surprising that only recently has the AFL realised they should be getting revenue from catering at Docklands.

Now current chairman Mike Fitzpatrick is 50% owner of the Homebush Olympic Stadium (ANZ Stadium) in Sydney.

No conflicts of interest, and no corruption in the AFL eh Plugger66.

Etihad stadium make all the profits at the moment from pourage and food rights so why would it matter to the AFL who has the rights. Matter of fact they have never got anything from those rights so they have no say on what company is picked by the stadium and can assure you they also have no say in who is picked at the G.

anything to back up the notion that the clubs have any say in the number of bar staff? As Iread it the club has a contract for a certain crowd number and access to certain rooms. Delaware north has the contract for the catering and pourage which a percent goes to the stadium. Delaware and the stadium set the prices, the staff level etc. From my reading the AFL and the AFL clubs get nothing from the pourage. So not sure how having more bar staff effect the club unless they offer to pay for these extra staff.

Just like most large hopsitality companies they try to get by with the lowest amount of staff as possible. If people had to wait as long at the cafe I work at as we wait at the bar then we would haven no customers in the end!

That is what I was saying about staff. People on here want more and if we get more we then pay. Delaware get crowd expectations and then have the number of staff for the crowd expected. If we want more we would have to pay so I agree with what you say and you obviosly agree with what i have been saying.

[saint66au]

As I said earlier...less staff would be OK if the ones they do have didnt work like they are moving through treacle

[ausfatcat]

As I said earlier...less staff would be OK if the ones they do have didnt work like they are moving through treacle

Thats part of it too, they don't pay well so can't keep/attract the decent staff if they started paying a extra 10% they would have better staff but we would have to pay a extra 10% as well.

[Mr Magic]

As I said earlier...less staff would be OK if the ones they do have didnt work like they are moving through treacle

Thats part of it too, they don't pay well so can't keep/attract the decent staff if they started paying a extra 10% they would have better staff but we would have to pay a extra 10% as well.

Sorry never been involved in hospitality, but why would we have to pay 10% more for our food/drinks if the staff were paid 10% more?

Surely there is a thing called productivity in the hospitality/catering industry?

If better staff can actually sell/deliver more drinks/meals then they could actually save on expenses by using them?

If as has been mentioned in this thread the service is so bad patrons cannot get served, then having better staff taking and delivering orders would result in more sales of food and/or drink?
Therefore more takings and therefore more profit.

Afterall isn't that the whole philosophy behind paying above award wages to get better staff? To improve the productivity.

[matrix]

if they are paid award wages then no wonder u got poor service

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Stadium economics dictate that all food and beverage will be low quality and overpriced, and presented with the minimum of service. Too many fingers in the pie (euphemistically and literally) because the kicker is that it's a bloody big pie.

In the case of Victory Room, Livewire etc.

Docklands aren't hoteliers or publicans, they're possessors of real estate, which typically gets used by people who want beer (and wine spirits etc, blah blah blah). There's a huge potential market, so they can charge a high price.

Those who take up the contract at that kind of price aren't the same folks who want to run a place like the Cricketers Arms etc... they're the people who can pay the rent, and the model is to churn out booze. They then need to hire staff who will work variable times over the weekend a maximum of 3 times with variable starts and finishes... that bumps up the price of labour before you're even looking at the qualifications.

High turnover, poorly trained casuals become your likely staffers - there are certainly exceptions, I know a pretty good bartender who worked at Livewire years ago (and for those irregular shifts, he made an excellent wage), but when your mandate is to fulfil the pregame, postgame and midmatch break rushes, the only concern the business has re: qualifications is people getting fed up and walking away, and whether enough of that occurs to justify further staff.

The thing for us patrons to remember is that the staff themselves didn't create this scenario. They're stressed, because the rush comes (and they know they don't do a great job), their customer get surly, and they're the coalface who feel the brunt. Occasionally (like in the OP), their efforts to stand up for themselves can push one over the edge a bit, but I generally think when this occurs it's because they're trying to demand respect in a position inherently devoid of it.

Long story short, when buying food and bev at a stadium, you're gonna get screwed - but it's usually not the person across the counter from you screwing you.

[mordi]

Stadium Management ( or whatever they are called) will spend the minimum they can.

Take the light above our seats (aisle 31 row J) , thing has been blinking for 3 years , I often wonder if they will ever fix it............

[mcadam05]

I'm not sure this post belongs in the Saintsational Fan Forum but no doubt someone will correct me.

This post is for my fellow Sainter who yesterday stood at the bar in the Victory Room and our conversation began along the line of the "abysmal service" offered by Ethihad Stadium staff at the bar.

It was a general conversation between two Sainters discussing the bar service and my observation that someone could always ring Collo and point out that as we are paying ES $125k could they provide more staff and my other observation was that if they had the same staffing levels for next weeks game then it will be hard to get any kind of drink.

Neither of us could decipher the hissed comment made at the other Sainter by the blonde barmaid but I can assure my fellow Sainter I copped her wrath

She refused to serve me as "you've been rude, mate" and she wasn't going to serve me. Er, since when do two people (customers)having a general conversation, minus foul or abusive or threatening language, constitute a refusal of service which in the end reinforced my opinion of the customer service offered by ES?

Thankfully I managed to stand my ground and got my diet coke in a bottle which I requested be "served with a smile, as all customer service should........" and the justification for her refusal of service was that I'd never worked behind a bar. No, I haven't worked behind a bar, but I've 25 years of customer service with customers that certainly know how to use abusive language with a capital A.

So if anyone from Ethihad Stadium reads this post, a small reminder re customer service might be of value to some of your staff. You have the pourage rates as disclosed by the Supreme Court, so how about the pourage rates be accompanied by a) sufficient staff in the bars and b) bar staff who recognise the value of customer service.

OMG i think it was me you were chating with surly there couldnt be more then one chat about the service , I do work in a bar one big thing that has too be done is hire ppl like me if you like who do this work full time not some uni student who does it for one day a week and your right have no idea about anything

if the club ran the Victory room I would offer my services for free too work the bar

heres a tip for the Whitten bar GET BAR MATS or get a coth in your hand and wipe it! really isnt that hard to do

[Hurricane]

The same thing has happened to me more than once, many a half time ive stood at the front of the bar as people who just walked up have been served and ive been passed over.

The final straw was when I missed the first 10 minutes of the second half a couple of years ago because the staff behind the bar couldnt serve me even after id spent 25 minutes waiting.

The service is was and always has been garbage at the Livewire bar so I dont bother anymore.

And I HAVE worked behind a bar before.

BANG BANG

[Nattens]

As I mentioned in another thread. Before Saints vs Tiges on the weekend I was at the pre-match proceedings and got totally ignored for service dispite leaning on the bar with money in hand. And I was the only person waiting to be served. They all just magically disappear in Livewire. If my boss saw me walking off on customers I wouldn't be in the job for very long I can tell you that.

One of the other times I was drinking and the Whitten Bar I had to clear the table and return the glasses to the bar because the slack bastards wouldn't do a glass run.

It's not like it gets ridiculously busy in Livewire, it's a pretty steady stream of people and not hard to keep control of with the staff they had. It's just that they are always so flowering slack.

[therabbitinthehat]

Etihad (or whoever runs their bars) pay award wages and require no formal training to work behind the bars. The reason I know this is because I have in the past attempted to hire former 'employees' of those bars for my own bar when I am short-staffed, only to find them utterly incapable of doing the job required.

The reason you get bad service at those bars is not necessarily because they pay them too little or are understaffed, they are just under skilled for the job and anyone who does bar work at any level of competency has either moved on to a job where they are appreciated (tips, better pay) or finished their uni degree.

Also keep in mind that while management may have staffed to a level they think is appropriate for the crowd, unforeseen factors (like people getting the flu) means they may be short staffed on the day without any replacement as generally the barstaff won't bother about finding a replacement if they don't care about the company hiring them in the first place.

[plugger66]

After all this complaining I dont find the service any worse than any bar at the G including the MCC and AFL. All bars afet a game have terrible servise because it impossible to have enough staff straight afet the game. 15 minuyes after the game at any bar at any ground and the service is fine.

[Mr Magic]

After all this complaining I dont find the service any worse than any bar at the G including the MCC and AFL. All bars afet a game have terrible servise because it impossible to have enough staff straight afet the game. 15 minuyes after the game at any bar at any ground and the service is fine.

With due respect plugger, Theatres and Live Music Venues seem to be able to cope during intervals/intermissions when they have a finite time span (10-15 minutes) to handle every person in the venue's requests.
They seem to be able to cope and provide a better 'service' that what is being described here.

Maybe instead of accepting the mediocrity of the current situation those in charge might actually be able to satisfy their customers and make more money if they investigated how to handle it better?

I understand that would mean actually accepting the 'nonsensical premise' that they're not operating at optimal levels at the moment, but why not just consider it?

Afterall, even you have just stated that the service at that point in time (straight after the game) is 'terrible'.

Why should us patrons just accept that it is 'terrible' and that nothing can be done about it, when that is patently not true?

[plugger66]

After all this complaining I dont find the service any worse than any bar at the G including the MCC and AFL. All bars afet a game have terrible servise because it impossible to have enough staff straight afet the game. 15 minuyes after the game at any bar at any ground and the service is fine.

With due respect plugger, Theatres and Live Music Venues seem to be able to cope during intervals/intermissions when they have a finite time span (10-15 minutes) to handle every person in the venue's requests.
They seem to be able to cope and provide a better 'service' that what is being described here.

Maybe instead of accepting the mediocrity of the current situation those in charge might actually be able to satisfy their customers and make more money if they investigated how to handle it better?

I understand that would mean actually accepting the 'nonsensical premise' that they're not operating at optimal levels at the moment, but why not just consider it?

Afterall, even you have just stated that the service at that point in time (straight after the game) is 'terrible'.

Why should us patrons just accept that it is 'terrible' and that nothing can be done about it, when that is patently not true?

So you want them to cater by having many more staff for 10 minutes and then they would have nothing to do after that. Those situations are impossible to cater for. They wouldnt even have enough taps. I have a simple solution for people who dont like it. Find somewhere else to drink or drink there and stop friggin whinging.

[Mr Magic]

After all this complaining I dont find the service any worse than any bar at the G including the MCC and AFL. All bars afet a game have terrible servise because it impossible to have enough staff straight afet the game. 15 minuyes after the game at any bar at any ground and the service is fine.

With due respect plugger, Theatres and Live Music Venues seem to be able to cope during intervals/intermissions when they have a finite time span (10-15 minutes) to handle every person in the venue's requests.
They seem to be able to cope and provide a better 'service' that what is being described here.

Maybe instead of accepting the mediocrity of the current situation those in charge might actually be able to satisfy their customers and make more money if they investigated how to handle it better?

I understand that would mean actually accepting the 'nonsensical premise' that they're not operating at optimal levels at the moment, but why not just consider it?

Afterall, even you have just stated that the service at that point in time (straight after the game) is 'terrible'.

Why should us patrons just accept that it is 'terrible' and that nothing can be done about it, when that is patently not true?

So you want them to cater by having many more staff for 10 minutes and then they would have nothing to do after that. Those situations are impossible to cater for. They wouldnt even have enough taps. I have a simple solution for people who dont like it. Find somewhere else to drink or drink there and stop friggin whinging.

Jeez, Plugger, you must give great customer service in your own business?

Why is it if someone wants better service in a place you consider to to give 'terrible' sservice it's 'whinging'?

Why does it seem impossible for you to accept that something to do with the AFL/Stadiums cannot be improved?

As to your reply to my post - I didn't suggest hiring more staff - you just stated that I did.
All I suggested was that there are venues all over town who seem to be able to cope with huge numbers (relatively) all wanting service in a short space of time and that maybe the AFL/Stadiums might learn something by talking to their operators.

Why is that so challenging an idea?

[yipper]

Plugger is coming across as someone who simply not, ever, under any circumstance, lose his temper or becomes annoyed. Gets himself ripped off? - no problems I'll just go somewhere else in future!! His car breaks down on the freeway - oh well, that happens!! His dog gets run over while he is waiting for his car to get fixed - oh, that's a shame, guess I need another dog!! The bank loses all his money - gee, I guess that is just bad luck!! An honest mistake, no worries!!

Plugger is really Simon the likeable!! He loves everyone and everything!! Even the AFL and the umpires and now the caterers at the Dome!!!

[plugger66]

After all this complaining I dont find the service any worse than any bar at the G including the MCC and AFL. All bars afet a game have terrible servise because it impossible to have enough staff straight afet the game. 15 minuyes after the game at any bar at any ground and the service is fine.

With due respect plugger, Theatres and Live Music Venues seem to be able to cope during intervals/intermissions when they have a finite time span (10-15 minutes) to handle every person in the venue's requests.
They seem to be able to cope and provide a better 'service' that what is being described here.

Maybe instead of accepting the mediocrity of the current situation those in charge might actually be able to satisfy their customers and make more money if they investigated how to handle it better?

I understand that would mean actually accepting the 'nonsensical premise' that they're not operating at optimal levels at the moment, but why not just consider it?

Afterall, even you have just stated that the service at that point in time (straight after the game) is 'terrible'.

Why should us patrons just accept that it is 'terrible' and that nothing can be done about it, when that is patently not true?

So you want them to cater by having many more staff for 10 minutes and then they would have nothing to do after that. Those situations are impossible to cater for. They wouldnt even have enough taps. I have a simple solution for people who dont like it. Find somewhere else to drink or drink there and stop friggin whinging.

Jeez, Plugger, you must give great customer service in your own business?

Why is it if someone wants better service in a place you consider to to give 'terrible' sservice it's 'whinging'?

Why does it seem impossible for you to accept that something to do with the AFL/Stadiums cannot be improved?

As to your reply to my post - I didn't suggest hiring more staff - you just stated that I did.
All I suggested was that there are venues all over town who seem to be able to cope with huge numbers (relatively) all wanting service in a short space of time and that maybe the AFL/Stadiums might learn something by talking to their operators.

Why is that so challenging an idea?

I dont understand why me not whinging about 10 minutes of poor service means I giver poor customer service in my business. This has nothing to do with me liking the AFL or stadiums its more to do with people who whinge about anything just like when people ring up about what is on TV but still watch the show. I cannot understand people who whinge when there are other options if you dont like it. In this case there are many options. I would love to know how you could solve the problem of a huge rush of people for 10 minutes without employing extra staff.

This is how I see the service at all bars i have been to at the G and Etihad. Before the game, good, during the game, good Half Time, average and for 10 minutes after a game, terrible and after that it is good. So maybe I am just more easy going then most people but being annoyed for 10 minutes doesnt worry me after all we do live on average 525,000 minutes in our life.

[Mr Magic]

Just one quick question plugger.

Will you ever criticize anything the AFL/Stadiums ever do?

[plugger66]

Just one quick question plugger.

Will you ever criticize anything the AFL/Stadiums ever do?

And that has what to do with this? I criticised the AFL and or the stadiums for not moving the game this week is that ok. I find it funny I sometimes get labelled a whinger because I dont whinge about the AFL or clubs we are playing or not hating opposition players or not thinking everything our players do is 100% correct.

Back to this issue anyway I suggest if people dont like the service at Livewire they go to the Nixon afer the game as it is directly over the road.

[Mr Magic]

Just one quick question plugger.

Will you ever criticize anything the AFL/Stadiums ever do?

And that has what to do with this? I criticised the AFL and or the stadiums for not moving the game this week is that ok. I find it funny I sometimes get labelled a whinger because I dont whinge about the AFL or clubs we are playing or not hating opposition players or not thinking everything our players do is 100% correct.

Back to this issue anyway I suggest if people dont like the service at Livewire they go to the Nixon afer the game as it is directly over the road.

No the point is , which you conveniently avoid or twist to suit your own argument, that paying customers were unhappy with the level of service they received at a bar at EataTurd Stadium.

In your twisted convoluted logic you choose to label them as 'whingers' becasue they are unhappy with the service, which you yourself claim is 'terrible'. Others offfer advice as to how possibly to improve that 'terrible' service and you choose to blame the paying customer for expecting anything other than 'terrible' service.

I might humbly suggest that is not an appropriate response in any 'Customer Service Manual' I've ever seen.

[plugger66]

Just one quick question plugger.

Will you ever criticize anything the AFL/Stadiums ever do?

And that has what to do with this? I criticised the AFL and or the stadiums for not moving the game this week is that ok. I find it funny I sometimes get labelled a whinger because I dont whinge about the AFL or clubs we are playing or not hating opposition players or not thinking everything our players do is 100% correct.

Back to this issue anyway I suggest if people dont like the service at Livewire they go to the Nixon afer the game as it is directly over the road.

No the point is , which you conveniently avoid or twist to suit your own argument, that paying customers were unhappy with the level of service they received at a bar at EataTurd Stadium.

In your twisted convoluted logic you choose to label them as 'whingers' becasue they are unhappy with the service, which you yourself claim is 'terrible'. Others offfer advice as to how possibly to improve that 'terrible' service and you choose to blame the paying customer for expecting anything other than 'terrible' service.

I might humbly suggest that is not an appropriate response in any 'Customer Service Manual' I've ever seen.

They are unhappy so they leave. I must be a bit strange but if I am unhappy about something I would choose not to go there again. As for fixing it there hasnt been to many ideas apart from getting more staff which has been explained would cost the clubs more money. You go on and on but it doesnt help, does it. By the way i have never blamed anyone just stated a fact they are whinging over something that is very hard to fix because it happens 10 minutes a game. Finally does that 10 minutes out of 800,000 really hurt you.