Who ate all the pies?

[skifreak]

To early to really comment on the new catering set up, but staff travelling up from Edinburgh could have it's own issues.

However I've thought for a while a better way might be to franchise some of the outlets individually. This way more will always be open and there would be some variety and a bit of competition might improve the offerings and speed of service?

[TopSix]

To early to really comment on the new catering set up, but staff travelling up from Edinburgh could have it's own issues.

However I've thought for a while a better way might be to franchise some of the outlets individually. This way more will always be open and there would be some variety and a bit of competition might improve the offerings and speed of service?

McDonalds!! In fact, why not have a drive - thru to generate more cash for the club?

[Iain]

Very rarely get food at games, and will never even attempt again. Went in at the start of half-time about 6 rows back and with two minutes to go until the game re-started I had moved forward 3 steps. The staff they had on were in no hurry what so ever and you'd have thought they'd never dealt with water.

[old caley girl]

Very rarely get food at games, and will never even attempt again. Went in at the start of half-time about 6 rows back and with two minutes to go until the game re-started I had moved forward 3 steps. The staff they had on were in no hurry what so ever and you'd have thought they'd never dealt with water.

Have to agree it was dead slow stop actually was going to complain to the club about it but havent got round to it yet. Only wanted a coffee and gave up in the end - got that from the burger van eventually service seemed to be much quicker. Even the stewards were moaning about the queue at the usual bit. West stand not open either. At the last few matches the hatches seemed be supervised but not last saturday at all.

[RiG]

In fairness the North Stand stalls were closed so customers from the North Stand were joining up with folk from the MS to get their food.

[CaleyD]

I'm actually quite upset to hear that things aren't improving, and perhaps getting worse. As someone who thought the club had made a good move with the catering and going to bat for them by asking fans to give them a chance to find their feet and doing what I could to relay information between here and the club to aid that process...then I feel as if I'm now left with a little egg on my face.

I honestly thought this was not going to be another case of empty promises, but I perhaps have to put my hands up and say I got this one wrong.

[TopSix]

We had a fair 'ol rammy over this CaleyD.

[CaleyD]

I like my humble pie hot, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream....thanks.

[Scotty]

just dont wait for it at the serveries, the ice cream will have melted :001:

[old caley girl]

I'm actually quite upset to hear that things aren't improving, and perhaps getting worse. As someone who thought the club had made a good move with the catering and going to bat for them by asking fans to give them a chance to find their feet and doing what I could to relay information between here and the club to aid that process...then I feel as if I'm now left with a little egg on my face.

I honestly thought this was not going to be another case of empty promises, but I perhaps have to put my hands up and say I got this one wrong.

sorry Don. Have to say that on Saturday I was wishing the old lot were back. Really we're paying more for worse service. At the Partick game my sons friend paid for a pie. The young girl serving told him it would be a minute so he moved over in the queue slightly. After 5 mins no pie. When he asked her again she refused to believe he had paid for a pie and wouldnt give him his pie.

I too was supportive of the new crowd. Despite the price increases I thought it would be worth it for better service. What folk want is quck service so not to miss a lot of the game. Have given it a fair go now and very disappointed. As stated earlier have really considered complaining to the club as its just not good enough especially after the fanfare this lot were given.

Maybe its just me. If others are happy feel free to disagree.

Edited March 3, 2010 by old caley girl

[Charles Bannerman]

[the burger van

The ultimate oxymoron - Gourmet Burgers!!! :D

[TopSix]

I was apprehensive about them from the start. I had a burger out of a bag at dens during the 2-2 game for ?3.20. Wouldn't have another. For those of you going to dens on Saturday it's the the same company. The grub is the same as at tcs, as are the prices. Tbh I just won't buy any food or bovril at the stadium from now on - or at least until they can boil a kettle an dole up a hot bovril instead of a lukewarm one. I'm guessing others will be the same. It's a shame as the club will lose out on revenue.

Edited March 4, 2010 by Top Six Next Year

[Heilandee]

I was apprehensive about them from the start. I had a burger out of a bag at dens during the 2-2 game for ?3.20. Wouldn't have another. For those of you going to dens on Saturday it's the the same company. The grub is the same as at tcs, as are the prices. Tbh I just won't buy any food or bovril at the stadium from now on - or at least until they can boil a kettle an dole up a hot bovril instead of a lukewarm one. I'm guessing others will be the same. It's a shame as the club will lose out on revenue.

Yer correct TSNY,Dens catering is a disgrace and despite long and vociferous moaning from supporters,astonishgly the board opted for an EXTENSION on the current set up,much to the disgust of all concerned.I voiced my concerns to CaleyD when ICT jumped into bed with Lindleys,but apparently there's a get oot clause for ICT if their no happy. I wouldnae give a brass ha'penny to the current catering which can be a pain in the current freezing spell when a wee bovril would go doon a treat but carry in's are the way ahead for me :D

[donald]

Have to agree with previous comments - took my daughter and a nephew to the Ayr game and bought a bovril, two cokes and two kit kats at the North end of the main Stand and got a few coppers change from a tenner after waiting ages to get served - and that was around 2.35. Went for a coffee about 10 minutes into the second half (no point going during half time because of the queues) and although the staff were still there, they told me that the hot water was off so there were no hot drinks. FFS it was baltic, does nobody there realise that people may just want something hot to warm them up?

Thank goodness for the burger van - at least they were still serving hot coffee.

What happened to the old caterers - I don't remember the queues being anywhere near so bad the last three years.

[TopSix]

Profts above all else appears to be the situation here. Duff food at a game - home or away - I can deal with. In fact it's no big deal at all. Not being able to get a hot drink on a freezing day is poor show. Taking a flask in may appear to be the only way to get a hot drink. Think it's against the rules / law though?

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

To me this is just another example of what the club thinks of the fans .

[gordyfromsneck]

Profts above all else appears to be the situation here. Duff food at a game - home or away - I can deal with. In fact it's no big deal at all. Not being able to get a hot drink on a freezing day is poor show. Taking a flask in may appear to be the only way to get a hot drink. Think it's against the rules / law though?

I would think you will be instook for that, TSNY, in case you throw it as Esson, Sanchez or whoever we have decided is the current scapegoat.

Besides, if it was a good idea, you don't think they wouldn't have banned it, do you?

btw Tesco used to sell, or may still sell, wee self heating cups of black coffee, but they are small, quite expensive, and have an effect similar to Viking beserker juice. Two sips and you would be over the fence for a brawl with Esson, Sanchez etc etc

I'm taking my Kelley Kettle.

[Scotty]

Thank goodness for the burger van - at least they were still serving hot coffee.

Maybe that is the answer ??? competing vendors who need to serve at least half decent food so that customers choose to buy their product over a rival ..... there must be enough burger vans or catering type folks around to be able to support this?

Thinking a little outside the box, I dont see how ICT cant just close off stadium road between the two car park entrances (home/away) between say 2-30pm and 4-30pm and have the vendors on the firth side of the street. Allow fans to come out and make a purchase and then go back in. This would also allow those fans who smoke to have a quick puff.

If the vans are there at 2:30, its no big deal as you make home cars come in via the route they are forced to leave by at the end of match days (under the bridge) and away cars come in as normal from the other side.

Alternatively, as this new crowd clearly do not seem to be raising the quality or experience, quite the contrary in fact, you could have 2 or 3 vans located at each end of the main stand inside the ground and use the open spaces there ?

[DALNEIGHCALEY]

But the club wont make any money from the vans Scotty .

[TopSix]

A highly sensible idea Scotty. What's the set up at Toronto FC? Take it they do something similar?

[Scotty]

But the club wont make any money from the vans Scotty .

Why not ? If they play it right, each matchday can be classified as an "event" and they can choose which vendors they will allow to have (pay for) a "stall" at this event !

Even if they didnt make a profit from the vans, they would potentially be enhancing the fan experience and happy fans buy more programs, merchandise, raffles etc etc etc ...... so the indirect benefits make them some money too !

A highly sensible idea Scotty. What's the set up at Toronto FC? Take it they do something similar?

TFC have various serveries around the stadium. These are pretty similar to what you see in bigger grounds like Celtic Park ... a large area with multiple queues serving the usual fare - hot dogs, pizza, chips, nachos, soft drinks etc (not much need for coffee at BMO field in the summer). On top of that, there are also numerous "specialty" carts dotted around the stadium concourse serving beer or other types of food - Souvlaki, Pitas all sorts of things. There are also burger and Ice Cream vans outside the ground and this year a new venture that will be the dogs dangly bits will be a "Smokes Poutinerie" outlet which I believe will be outside the ground too. You also have runners coming up and down the aisles with beer, popcorn, pizza etc .......

All TFC tickets are barcoded (whether you use your original ticket or a printout from ticketmaster) and to enter or leave the ground you just have one of the bods at the gate scan your ticket. At half-time there is always a major exodus of smokers (Ontario law prevents smoking inside buildings or stadiums) and they just go outside have their smoke (and maybe go to a burger or ice cream van) and then come back inside .... it works well for the 20,000+ fans at every game.

Obviously ICT cant do it to this scale, a crowd of 2-3000 just wouldnt support the cost or logistics of this but if TFC can manage an exodus of smokers at half-time that is probably equivalent to the entire ICT crowd then it shows it can be done. Incidentally, the road outside BMO field is way busier than Stadium road and there are no issues with traffic which is not diverted during a game !

[12th Man]

Darren is a great people person and that shines through at the hospitality but I would like him to spare a thought for the rest of us.

What I would really like him to do is to come down to the eating area at half time and assess things,

can you walk from one side to the other safely,

what is the average time it takes to serve a customer,

where do you que,

why is there such a gridlock,

do you think a small child would be put in danger standing/passing through the bottleneck at half time.

Why does the burger van have such a fast turnover and the pie shop so slow,

why is the access to the burger van directly opposite the congestion for the pie shop,

Can the burger van be moved closer to the main entrance and use another door to stagger the ques,

can an external cordoned off walkway be created between fire exit doors to improve access.

[TopSix]

Good points there 12th man. Has Darren made any comment on the issue of catering arrangements btw?

[donald]

Darren is a great people person and that shines through at the hospitality but I would like him to spare a thought for the rest of us.

What I would really like him to do is to come down to the eating area at half time and assess things,

can you walk from one side to the other safely,

what is the average time it takes to serve a customer,

where do you que,

why is there such a gridlock,

do you think a small child would be put in danger standing/passing through the bottleneck at half time.

Why does the burger van have such a fast turnover and the pie shop so slow,

why is the access to the burger van directly opposite the congestion for the pie shop,

Can the burger van be moved closer to the main entrance and use another door to stagger the ques,

can an external cordoned off walkway be created between fire exit doors to improve access.

I totally agree it is a nightmare trying to get to the toilet as well as you have to force a path through the huge queues at the pie stall.

Last season there was a stall selling hot dogs just at the end of the main stand - why can't the burger van be sited there? Other option would be to get rid of the new caterers and bring back the old ones as there was nowhere near such big queues in the last three seasons.

[Scotty]

Good points there 12th man. Has Darren made any comment on the issue of catering arrangements btw?

Darren has asked us to conduct a poll on the catering and we have added a new thread here: http://community.caleythistleonline.com/in...showtopic=17226

I am going to close this one now - as the club are now seeking to take some action - but will leave a link in the new one.