Lack of urgency from East Stand bar staff means club are losing massive amounts of revenue at half-time simply because customers can't get served
How hard is it to pour a pint? Clearly, it's very hard if you work in any of the food & drink outlets in the East Stand of the Liberty Stadium. Now, I mention the East Stand because I honestly don't know what service is like in the North, South or West Stands (feedback on this is thoroughly appreciated if you fancy getting in touch), but if you're basing it on service in the Riverside Bar or any of the burger/hot dog/can of Carling outlets then the overriding sensation won't be one of swift, professional service.
I'd point out that I've never worked in a bar. I speak as someone who dislikes bad organisation, and it's simply painful to watch people queuing up for drinks, only to give up because service is so painfully slow they'll end up missing some of the football they paid a good price to watch. This simply isn't acceptable to me, and if whoever is currently in charge isn't able to organise his/her bars and their staff something needs to give. Soon.
Earlier this season, fans got the opportunity to put questions to the board, manager and players and I did get the opportunity to ask about the catering facilities, and why it took so long to get served. I pointed out that I was far from alone in having given up on trying to get served, and as such the club were literally throwing away money in terms of lost revenue at half time. I've since adopted a mad-sprint-to-the-Riverside policy since I found out they've got Doombar on tap, but even the sweet caramel tones of a fine ale can't dampen my disappointment with how the Riverside, and it's smaller concourse cousins, are currently being run.
Against Villa the Riverside - which I suppose is the "proper" bar in the East Stand - managed to set a personal best by running out of pint glasses at half-time. "How does a bar in a stadium run out of glasses at half time?!" I hear you say? Well, your guess is as good as mine, but the lack of foresight involved in allowing that to happen is simply spectacular. That, coupled with the bar's refusal to pre-pour pints, meant you had a bar that was, as is the norm, about five or six deep with thirsty customers desperate to give the club their money, who were left waiting while beleaguered agency bar staff sprinted to nearby concourse bars to get enough glasses to see them through to the second half.
It seems miraculous to me that if you've got a fifteen minute window to serve booze in, you aren't trying to maximise this opportunity. Surely you should look at how many pints you pour of your main sellers - say, Carling, Strongbow and Worthington, and if you pour on average 200, 150 and 100 pints respectively you can easily pre-pour half of each total in the five minutes before half time, and the immediate rush for drinks is almost completely negated.
That would go a long way in abating what is currently a fairly dire situation, as I'll admit to having left a few minutes before half time in the last few home matches to try and get a pint. By the time I've queued, been served and drunk my pint, however, I'm inevitably scrambling up the steps in a bid to not miss the start of the second half. Should it really take that long? When I asked about this issue at the aforementioned forum, the club explained they had asked the catering company that runs the bars to look into pre-pouring pints, but they'd for some reason rejected the idea.
The situation is further compounded by the level and manner of the staff. You can't blame the individuals behind the bar - they're clearly inexperienced so for them to be thrown into the fifteen minutes of madness which is half time is nothing short of cruel. Before now I've seen staff who were unable to use the till, staff who couldn't use the credit card machine, and what's more the lack of urgency behind the bar is what makes the whole thing so depressing. Surely there should be a buzz behind the bar, as workers look to get things done as quickly as possible? I can't say that appears to be the case, and there's clearly no-one driving them to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
This is a pretty damning indictment, but if the situation wasn't so easy to improve it wouldn't be so damn frustrating. There is a small drinks collection point in the corner of the Riverside (which I think most people are unaware of), but I do still think that pre-pouring pints, and instilling a fast-paced professional atmosphere, would go a long way in solving what has become a pretty frustrating experience for anyone queuing for a drink.
Still, at least they've got Doombar on tap, eh.