Beer and a bovril

[donnyplant]

Not going to moan about the poor football tonight because I'm bored with talking about it, we go again next week.

What I do want to raise concerns about is the poor kiosk staff with shit service and losing money left right and centre tonight.

I attend each and every game with my good friend and his brother who is a wheelchair user. I get the beers in beforehand, and then at half time he returns the favour - also purchasing a bovril for his brother (whilst I look after him).

Anyway at half time today after queuing for the beers my friend was told 'sorry you need to que again for the hot drinks we only serve alcohol on this que.' to which point she was politely asked why? ( as there was no one behind him) and she said new rules. As observed as the next person got the same response and then the next person who purchased a pie wanted a coffee with it only to be told he had to re-que.

This is an absolute joke I watched as people just shrugged their shoulders and said well that's 2.50 you just missed from me then. Must have lost £25 in 5 mins at one station.

Did we not get told the service was improving? Is it really right to have to que twice for 2 different drinks?

Rant over!

[RoversAlias]

Got to say that is silly. Having to queue twice to be served two different types of drink surely doesn't happen anywhere. Who implemented this policy?

[donnyplant]

Love to know! Same kiosk as well, and the ones serving the beer were stood playing with their hair doing nothing while someone was struggling serving a que 20 ppl long for 'hot drinks' but the 3 women behind the alcohol tills were bored stiff.

[MrFrost]

Same here. Queued for a beer and asked for a chocolate bar at the same time, to be told to queue again.

[Dagenham Rover]

Same here. Queued for a beer and asked for a chocolate bar at the same time, to be told to queue again.

That is totally and utterly ridiculous  and wants sorting as soon as

[MrFrost]

Same here. Queued for a beer and asked for a chocolate bar at the same time, to be told to queue again.

That is totally and utterly ridiculous  and wants sorting as soon as

The reason I was given was seperate queue's for drinks and food, even though there only seemed to be on queue in operation. Also - when are the kiosks being refurbished?!

[donnyplant]

In Rovers We Trust -     

[grayx]

Same here. Queued for a beer and asked for a chocolate bar at the same time, to be told to queue again.

Complete madness. Someone get it sorted for fcuk sake.

[silent majority]

We hear you!

The club have been concerned for sometime about the quality of the service and the speed of the refurbishments which seem to have taken forever. Again I spoke at length with Gavin this morning about what can be done to resolve some of the very basic things which need fixing. For instance, the speed of service should take precedence over the refurbishment in my opinion, but even that has taken much longer than it should.
The senior management inside the catering organisation seems to have changed at some point which has delayed some of the things the club wanted to do.

I know these all sound like excuses, but I can relay to you that Gavin and his team take all of this extremely seriously and that given a bit more time these problems will be resolved for all our benefits. Now the stadium is ours the shareholders of DRFC wish this stadium to become renowned for the quality of its food and service and not to be lumped in with all other football clubs who literally don't care what they serve up.

Yes, its not good enough at the moment, but some changes can take longer to get through than some of the other issues we've tackled under IRWT. This one is proving difficult to crack, but there is a resolution which will be implemented asap.

I hope that helps.

[hoolahoop]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

[Filo]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

Should n`t it be the other way around?

[hoolahoop]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

Should n`t it be the other way around?

You would have thought so Filo but no it's when you go out........I'm puzzled. Do they count you out in case there's a fire or summat and don't have to account for those killing themselves outside presumably.

[Standanista]

It does seem madness.  Are this mob in the snack bars on some kind of work to rule on instructions from the franchise holders?

In Rovers' defence, a group of us did the hospitality package on Saturday for the first time ever (the one where you recline in the carpeted comfort of the Sponsor's Lounge supping Château de Chazelet while laughing at the East Stand Wannabe Thrup'ny Millionaires eating their 99p Asda prawn sarnies out of greaseproof paper in driving sleet on the other side of the glass), and the service and professionalism was second to none from all concerned, with a special thumbs up for Danny in Commercial.

[Filo]

I must say these people serving in the snack bars look like they want to be anywhere else than there and the same people every game look like they`ve never seen a till before!

[silent majority]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

I have no idea! I would suggest that it's meant to be checked both in and out, stops you passing on your ticket to someone else. We, the VSC, always suggested one of those stamp things on your hand would suffice.

[hoolahoop]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

I have no idea! I would suggest that it's meant to be checked both in and out, stops you passing on your ticket to someone else. We, the VSC, always suggested one of those stamp things on your hand would suffice.

No only checked on the way out, I'm just wondering how they think you might have sneaked in in the first place. They are not interested on the way in , perhaps the message has got lost in communication here.

[Mr1Croft]

I must say these people serving in the snack bars look like they want to be anywhere else than there and the same people every game look like they`ve never seen a till before!

I once tried to pay for my meal which was £5.10 with a £20 note and they looked at it as if I had handed them a stomach bag.

[Mr1Croft]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

I have no idea! I would suggest that it's meant to be checked both in and out, stops you passing on your ticket to someone else. We, the VSC, always suggested one of those stamp things on your hand would suffice.

No only checked on the way out, I'm just wondering how they think you might have sneaked in in the first place. They are not interested on the way in , perhaps the message has got lost in communication here.

The steward I asked about it said they were only told to check on the way out. Although I heard off someone else that this was to stop under 16's going out for a Cig, not sure if there is any element of truth here as in the England U19 game there were children running around the smoking area...

[hoolahoop]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

I have no idea! I would suggest that it's meant to be checked both in and out, stops you passing on your ticket to someone else. We, the VSC, always suggested one of those stamp things on your hand would suffice.

No only checked on the way out, I'm just wondering how they think you might have sneaked in in the first place. They are not interested on the way in , perhaps the message has got lost in communication here.

The steward I asked about it said they were only told to check on the way out. Although I heard off someone else that this was to stop under 16's going out for a Cig, not sure if there is any element of truth here as in the England U19 game there were children running around the smoking area...

Jeez can't they leave grown-ups to police this and concentrate on what they should be doing..........the world is going mad!!

[RoversAlias]

Makes sense to check on the way out as well as in because what if, for whatever reason, you don't have your ticket on you when you go out? You might not be let back in then!

[Mr1Croft]

Just a quick thing martin , do you know why the stewards insist on you rooting out your ticket when going out for a smoke at half time but aren't bothered when you come back in ??

I have no idea! I would suggest that it's meant to be checked both in and out, stops you passing on your ticket to someone else. We, the VSC, always suggested one of those stamp things on your hand would suffice.

No only checked on the way out, I'm just wondering how they think you might have sneaked in in the first place. They are not interested on the way in , perhaps the message has got lost in communication here.

The steward I asked about it said they were only told to check on the way out. Although I heard off someone else that this was to stop under 16's going out for a Cig, not sure if there is any element of truth here as in the England U19 game there were children running around the smoking area...

Jeez can't they leave grown-ups to police this and concentrate on what they should be doing..........the world is going mad!!

As I said Hoola, the Under 16's thing was from a fan and not the steward, who didn't seem to know the definitive answer either...

[Filo]

I must say these people serving in the snack bars look like they want to be anywhere else than there and the same people every game look like they`ve never seen a till before!

I once tried to pay for my meal which was £5.10 with a £20 note and they looked at it as if I had handed them a stomach bag.

Lee, our Colin did the same sort of thing last season, he bought something that cost £5.10 so he gave the lad a £20 note and a 10p piece, the lad looked at it as though he`d never seen money before, he went and got his mate to help him and it still took them a while to work it out, our Colin was saying just give me £15 change!

[Nudga]

When I bought a couple of beers I spied some choccy bars so asked the lass if I could have a Boost. She looked at me as though i'd asked her to suck my balls, so I had to point at the choccy bar that was right next to her. Dumb as fook but I would have actually let her suck my balls.

[jonnydog]

The speed of service does actually seem to be getting slower than last season. The queue at halftime in the west went all the way back to the outer wall which was proving a nightmare for people to get through on their way to the toilets which proved difficult for one elderly gent.

I appreciate serving 'x' amount of hundreds of people in 15 minutes might not be easy, and it's not all the staff, as there's one lass who we counted as serving 3 customers to two other staffs 1 customer. Which just shows that with the majority there appears to be no urgency or need for speed.

[donnyplant]

Martin - so in a question I put to you is "Will I now be able to buy a Bovril with my 2 beers? Or will we have to que twice?)"


On a side note one hilarious thing I witnessed was the guy pulling the pints stood with the oven doors WIDE open warming his hands on the hot air blowing from it, one of his co workers asked him what he was doing and he said he had cold hands from holding the beer and was warming them for 10 minutes.  It seems the stadiums electricity bill is due to rise! 

[silent majority]

Just to update.

I've spoken to the club again and hopefully we'll have some answers very shortly, not only on the Bovril and beers question but the smoking checks need clarifying too.

[Barmby Rover]

We hear you!

The club have been concerned for sometime about the quality of the service and the speed of the refurbishments which seem to have taken forever. Again I spoke at length with Gavin this morning about what can be done to resolve some of the very basic things which need fixing. For instance, the speed of service should take precedence over the refurbishment in my opinion, but even that has taken much longer than it should.
The senior management inside the catering organisation seems to have changed at some point which has delayed some of the things the club wanted to do.

I know these all sound like excuses, but I can relay to you that Gavin and his team take all of this extremely seriously and that given a bit more time these problems will be resolved for all our benefits. Now the stadium is ours the shareholders of DRFC wish this stadium to become renowned for the quality of its food and service and not to be lumped in with all other football clubs who literally don't care what they serve up.

Yes, its not good enough at the moment, but some changes can take longer to get through than some of the other issues we've tackled under IRWT. This one is proving difficult to crack, but there is a resolution which will be implemented asap.

I hope that helps.

Not really, I will still not purchase a single crumb or drop of liquid from the keepmoat while ever the prices are ridiculous, buying in a caterer is a stupid thing to do. It should have been split up and allowed LOCAL businesses to run each stall as a business. Variety is the spice of life and competition brings prices down, so long as they don't try to rip the vendors off with rents!

[Snods Shinpad 2]

When I bought a couple of beers I spied some choccy bars so asked the lass if I could have a Boost. She looked at me as though i'd asked her to suck my balls, so I had to point at the choccy bar that was right next to her. Dumb as fook but I would have actually let her suck my balls.

Funny that, as I actually asked a kiosk lass to suck my balls and she looked at me like I had asked for a choccy bar.

[hoolahoop]

When I bought a couple of beers I spied some choccy bars so asked the lass if I could have a Boost. She looked at me as though i'd asked her to suck my balls, so I had to point at the choccy bar that was right next to her. Dumb as fook but I would have actually let her suck my balls.

Funny that, as I actually asked a kiosk lass to suck my balls and she looked at me like I had asked for a choccy bar.

Ah she was still full having sorted me out.........better luck next time. You need to get there earlier.

[silent majority]

Donnyplant,

The answer from the club is that nothing has changed and that you should be able to buy beer and bovril from the same outlet. The club are speaking with staff again to address this issue. No changes to the service had been instructed or authorised and the club are pleased that you brought it to their attention