The Catering Longside

[Boss Hogg]

An absolute sh*t show today. Chaos. Huge queues, no food even when pre-ordered, refunds they couldn’t process, people waiting for 30 mins for orders they couldn’t fill. Supervisors/ Managers who could deal with it.

Whoever is responsible for running this and putting this new system in needs firing. It’s the worst it’s ever been.

[Carwin261]

Got a pint in the Bob Lord ,flat as a fluke ,looked like it had been poured for 20 mins.

[Marney neyMar]

Was the director of fan experience there to see it?
Or was he sitting in the chairman’s lounge?

[Goody1975]

First of all the prices have risen considerably.

No white coffee, you have to add the milk yourself (City game they ran out of milk before the game!!). Just supply pre whitened coffee like you've always done as standard.

When I ordered my coffee (1.50pm) the guy next to me asked for a pie to be told they "had just been put in and would be ready in ten minutes", he said just give me a water and was told they'd run out.

[claretgimmer]

Didn`t get my usual Bene`hot against City as service was so slow so came on a little earlier today and no real problem but then decided to have a cheeky cheese`n onion pie, £4.20, will definitely not be bothering with food again even the Bene had gone up over 10%

[CoolClaret]

Was the director of fan experience there to see it?
Or was he sitting in the chairman’s lounge?

Think he was too busy heralding himself as genius for ‘introducing hot dogs to the people of Burnley’

(See the turfcast podcast for reference)

[deanothedino]

Think he was too busy heralding himself as genius for ‘introducing hot dogs to the people of Burnley’

(See the turfcast podcast for reference)

Wow. We’ve had hot dogs on the Turf for decades

[JoeAM89]

It’s a complete shambles. The guy in front of me in the queue at half time asked for a Wainwrights and got served an actual pint of froth. I’m not even exaggerating. It was just pure froth. Obviously he didn’t accept it.

[up_the_clarets_1989]

While I was getting my beer, after about 3 days queuing, a bloke sent his pie back because it was frozen in the middle

[Bowclaret]

Simply bring back Chris Gibson !!!! Along with Brownhill

[mikeS]

The Alex Elder in the Bob Lord was similar.
No sugar, milk in tubes to add yourself. No stirrers only forks. I managed to get a Half cups of Bovril.
Not many pies left to sell at half time.
Big queues. Only half the terminals staffed. Pretty poor service really.

[jdrobbo]

The Alex Elder in the Bob Lord was similar.
No sugar, milk in tubes to add yourself. No stirrers only forks. I managed to get a Half cups of Bovril.
Not many pies left to sell at half time.
Big queues. Only half the terminals staffed. Pretty poor service really.

And like I’ve said on another thread, we’re paying more for that this year…it’s an inferior product.

[wilks_bfc]

Simply bring back Chris Gibson !!!! Along with Brownhill

He’s “liked” my comment I’ve put on Twitter about the shambles it’s become so I doubt he’d want to return to it in its current state

[Leon_C]

Jimmy Mac Upper.
A shambles. Bars closed before the match, after getting on early.
Ridiculous queues, worse than usual.
No hot food. They just don’t bother putting any in.

The Fanzone was actually worse, despite being efficient last season.
4 staff stood looking at the servers for minutes, as if they were all waiting for some special order. Whilst most of the hundreds of people queuing would be waiting for the products already poured.
They literally don’t have a clue. Pisstake.

[wilks_bfc]

Jimmy Mac Upper.
A shambles. Bars closed before the match, after getting on early.
Ridiculous queues, worse than usual.
No hot food. They just don’t bother putting any in.

The Fanzone was actually worse, despite being efficient last season.
4 staff stood looking at the servers for minutes, as if they were all waiting for some special order. Whilst most of the hundreds of people queuing would be waiting for the products already poured.
They literally don’t have a clue. Pisstake.

I’ve never understood why they can’t serve the next person in the queue until the person they have just served has received their order

[CrosspoolClarets]

Haffners pie and peas with gravy in the Fanzone was tasty but barely luke warm and the pea serving was minuscule and my paper fork snapped.

10 minute queue outside for a pint of IPA or Wainwright - told me they had neither, just lager and cider, the guy looked at me blankly like I had come from planet Mars when I said the two beers were on their pricing noticeboard next to him. I walked away. Then got a pint inside the fanzone and brought it outside - tolerable but my pint of porter in the New Brew’m was 40% of the price and 300% better. That will be my future pit stop as it has been before.

I don’t expect too much at event catering but shambles is really an understatement. Russell Ball - you talk a good game, and say you want us to be number one, you need to sort out who is doing this new catering because the menu is terrible, the staff are useless, the value is shocking and the actual product is often unavailable. Saying it is only game 2 would be insulting, please don’t, just sort it please or get a new company in.

[ChristheViking]

I still cannot understand why people are complaining about prices.
Are the prices not visible and it’s then a complete shock as to what the cost is?
Or is the pricing visible, fans are still choosing to pay it and then complaining to everyone about the choice they’ve made?

There’s a simple economic angle to this.

If you don’t like the prices - you don’t have to pay them. Once the Club sees no-one is buying the food/drink they might review the pricing. Keep buying it and the price probably isn’t going to move.

[bfccrazy]

Side note - how gourmet have Haffners got to charge £7 for a cheese pie in the fanzone - grew up around the corner from them and remember them being a lot cheaper than that haha

[oswyclaret]

Noticed that the burger van ,which is usually opposite the club shop, wasnt there today!

I for one wont miss it, after what they charged me last time!!

[Chester Perry]

Side note - how gourmet have Haffners got to charge £7 for a cheese pie in the fanzone - grew up around the corner from them and remember them being a lot cheaper than that haha

Prices in the fanzone/stands probably reflect the the cost the club charge to the concessions that are operating within it, and that may include the club being involved in the pricing itself - nothing too unusual in that in the modern world - you see it at train stations and at festivals - it should be noted that in American sports the mark-ups are even greater - if you look at the food/drink prices for NFL games at White Hart Lane they are at least 30% up on the Premier League games. That is because the NFL set the pricing.

[jrgbfc]

I still cannot understand why people are complaining about prices.
Are the prices not visible and it’s then a complete shock as to what the cost is?
Or is the pricing visible, fans are still choosing to pay it and then complaining to everyone about the choice they’ve made?

There’s a simple economic angle to this.

If you don’t like the prices - you don’t have to pay them. Once the Club sees no-one is buying the food/drink they might review the pricing. Keep buying it and the price probably isn’t going to move.

Agree completely, same with ticket prices. Also don't really understand people getting on the ground/fanzone early and paying over the odds for a crap beer in a plastic cup when there's so many pubs close by.

[bfccrazy]

Agree completely, same with ticket prices. Also don't really understand people getting on the ground/fanzone early and paying over the odds for a crap beer in a plastic cup when there's so many pubs close by.

Tbf, with Haffners they didn’t have any prices on show for their food in the fanzone.

[bfccrazy]

Prices in the fanzone/stands probably reflect the the cost the club charge to the concessions that are operating within it, and that may include the club being involved in the pricing itself - nothing too unusual in that in the modern world - you see it at train stations and at festivals - it should be noted that in American sports the mark-ups are even greater - if you look at the food/drink prices for NFL games at White Hart Lane they are at least 30% up on the Premier League games. That is because the NFL set the pricing.

I understand that - just find it mental pricing for a cheese pie…. Same with airports etc when you’re paying more to grab a bite (more so when returning from somewhere and waiting in departures of some foreign country).

[TsarBomba]

Haffners pie and peas with gravy in the Fanzone was tasty but barely luke warm and the pea serving was minuscule and my paper fork snapped.

10 minute queue outside for a pint of IPA or Wainwright - told me they had neither, just lager and cider, the guy looked at me blankly like I had come from planet Mars when I said the two beers were on their pricing noticeboard next to him. I walked away. Then got a pint inside the fanzone and brought it outside - tolerable but my pint of porter in the New Brew’m was 40% of the price and 300% better. That will be my future pit stop as it has been before.

I don’t expect too much at event catering but shambles is really an understatement. Russell Ball - you talk a good game, and say you want us to be number one, you need to sort out who is doing this new catering because the menu is terrible, the staff are useless, the value is shocking and the actual product is often unavailable. Saying it is only game 2 would be insulting, please don’t, just sort it please or get a new company in.

Yes, but all the hospitality lounges have been given a makeover and the Chairman’s Lounge has had umpteen facelifts in the past 10 years.

Us mere peasants should just be grateful for our meagre offerings of a seat and shelter from the elements.

What more do you want?

[clarethomer]

Haffners - Here is some feedback if you read this.

- Pies are very nice but why not put your prices visible on your boards so the queue can see what these are.
- What are the options for the pies - is it just meat and potato? Is it Gravy, Peas or is there more choice?
- Why are you using a microwave and serving them cold still?

Will try them again but need to learn from today - volumes and speed of the queue could be far better if people can clearly see what the options are and you have a system in place where you have things ready to serve and can keep them warm without a microwave. Especially at £6.50 for pie,peas and gravy.

[BobHaidong]

Noticed last game that the prices in JHU were displayed as £3.00 for pint and &6.00 for a half.

Clearly an error but pretty basic and assumed somebody would notice and put it right this week. Big nope. Still £3.00 a pint and £6.00 for half.

On the other hand something which was not clearly an error and therefore in breach of the laws around pricing. Bene and hot sign up for £2.50 last match, but charged £2.75.

Also tried to ask for a meal deal today as there were signs up saying inform staff when you order.

I was told they don’t do meal deals anymore. The signs were just stuck with blu tac, so I took them down and handed to the sever as even after asking, he clearly didn’t have an ounce of initiative in him to do it himself.

Really basic stuff when you’re involved in retail and they can’t even get this right, never mind all of the other issues about speed of service or lack of availability of products.

[CrosspoolClarets]

I still cannot understand why people are complaining about prices.
Are the prices not visible and it’s then a complete shock as to what the cost is?
Or is the pricing visible, fans are still choosing to pay it and then complaining to everyone about the choice they’ve made?

There’s a simple economic angle to this.

If you don’t like the prices - you don’t have to pay them. Once the Club sees no-one is buying the food/drink they might review the pricing. Keep buying it and the price probably isn’t going to move.

I tend to prefer to talk about value rather than price as I did above, i.e. value being the blend of quality and price. As others have pointed out, the price going up and the quality going down isn’t what was promised, and we don’t want to wait a season for it to wash through the profit and loss account for the low takings to lead to some decision making - we want action now.

It feels a little bit like whenever Levy (if it is Levy responsible) win a new contract they have to recruit a whole new batch of staff who may have no experience, and this leads to obvious problems.

[Transpennine]

2.27pm. CFS. No cider. No pies.

[Dodobdobodobo]

10 minutes queue to use the ordering board then 10 minutes for the beer. 3 pies and 2 San Miguel £25. Overcooked pies and flat as a witches ..t beer!! One server walking up and down the serving area asking “anyone ordered a sausage role?” total shambles, never again!!!!!

[daveisaclaret]

I still cannot understand why people are complaining about prices.
Are the prices not visible and it’s then a complete shock as to what the cost is?
Or is the pricing visible, fans are still choosing to pay it and then complaining to everyone about the choice they’ve made?

There’s a simple economic angle to this.

If you don’t like the prices - you don’t have to pay them. Once the Club sees no-one is buying the food/drink they might review the pricing. Keep buying it and the price probably isn’t going to move.

People are complaining about the prices because they are too high

[CrosspoolClarets]

Yes, but all the hospitality lounges have been given a makeover and the Chairman’s Lounge has had umpteen facelifts in the past 10 years.

Us mere peasants should just be grateful for our meagre offerings of a seat and shelter from the elements.

What more do you want?

Therein, wise poster, lies the danger.

If they are naive enough to allow that to become the long-term narrative, it will be a big handicap to getting the fans on their side. It would be a huge mistake. Cater for the majority, both literally and metaphorically, that’s the way to run any business.

[ChristheViking]

People are complaining about the prices because they are too high

Then as I said earlier there’s a simple economic solution to this.

Don’t pay the high prices. It’s not rocket science.

If fans are complaining the prices are too high……and still paying it then I’m not sure there’s much hope for them.

How do they manage basic financial decisions outside the football stadium?

[Bordeauxclaret]

Dress it up whatever way you want. It’s an absolute shambles.

[bfccrazy]

Then as I said earlier there’s a simple economic solution to this.

Don’t pay the high prices. It’s not rocket science.

If fans are complaining the prices are too high……and still paying it then I’m not sure there’s much hope for them.

How do they manage basic financial decisions outside the football stadium?

As I stated and someone else above did also - I usually make basic financial decisions by knowing how much something costs - not having to ask the person at the kiosk what they actually have on offer to sell and then not even know what I’m paying for it til it’s been “tilled up”

[wilks_bfc]

Yes, but all the hospitality lounges have been given a makeover and the Chairman’s Lounge has had umpteen facelifts in the past 10 years.

Us mere peasants should just be grateful for our meagre offerings of a seat and shelter from the elements.

What more do you want?

There are as a piece in todays programme about the new JM hospitality lounge

The cost is £900 for the season, or £60 for a one off game and the match ticket isn’t included in that and neither are drinks

We did consider using it but as there’s 5 of us in our group, including 2 kids it’s a hell of a lot of money for what’s basically a bar snack

[deanothedino]

Prices in the fanzone/stands probably reflect the the cost the club charge to the concessions that are operating within it, and that may include the club being involved in the pricing itself - nothing too unusual in that in the modern world - you see it at train stations and at festivals - it should be noted that in American sports the mark-ups are even greater - if you look at the food/drink prices for NFL games at White Hart Lane they are at least 30% up on the Premier League games. That is because the NFL set the pricing.

The food at American sports venues is significantly better than the stuff being served up at the Turf.

[NewClaret]

I’ve been hugely complimentary about the new ownership. Some of the changes they’ve made are beyond my comprehension and I never moan about prices… but to take what in my opinion was already the ****est bit about our Matchday experience and make it worse is quite some feat. I didn’t think it was possible. Come back Chris Gibson, all is forgiven.

I’d like to say it’s as simple as getting some decent beers instead of the different flavours of terrible lager and some pint pourers so the staff don’t have to do each by hand, but by the sounds of things they’ve also managed to make things worse by scrimping on water in brews, running out of milk, screwing up the self ordering, running out of most things before kick off and not even bothering to open some bars.

Seriously, everybody should just boycott this rubbish until it gets sorted. I am.

[jdrobbo]

People are complaining about the prices because they are too high

No issues with prices if my product is as good, or better than last season. The problem is increased prices and poorer products. No doubt, a decline in quality and service.

[Acting Claret]

Have your lunch before you go to the match and have your tea when you get home. Why are you eating at 3pm?

[morpheus2]

Still no meal deals, so for me an my kid - 2 pies, 1 bovril, 1 coke and 1 twix - not even two full meal deals - £15.25 - a bargain!

[Steddyman]

Noticed that the burger van ,which is usually opposite the club shop, wasnt there today!

I for one wont miss it, after what they charged me last time!!

I'll miss it a lot. Hot dogs were a lot better and cheaper than the crap I got in JMU today.

I wonder if they have refused granting them a license to try and control what food choices are available to fans.

Something needs to change. It was shocking today. I also saw someone served an half frozen pie.

[NewClaret]

I'll miss it a lot. Hot dogs were a lot better and cheaper than the crap I got in JMU today.

I wonder if they have refused granting them a license to try and control what food choices are available to fans.

Something needs to change. It was shocking today. I also saw someone served an half frozen pie.

Well someone on here said they’d complained about the price hikes and the staff said they also disagreed and referred them
to complain to the club. Maybe the club weren’t too happy about that or there’s been some falling out.

Re: the half frozen pie, that’s terrible. Some absolutely shocking experiences being rolled out here tonight.

[4midable]

I still cannot understand why people are complaining about prices.
Are the prices not visible and it’s then a complete shock as to what the cost is?
Or is the pricing visible, fans are still choosing to pay it and then complaining to everyone about the choice they’ve made?

There’s a simple economic angle to this.

If you don’t like the prices - you don’t have to pay them. Once the Club sees no-one is buying the food/drink they might review the pricing. Keep buying it and the price probably isn’t going to move.

And theyl pay em again next game
And order the same thing

[TsarBomba]

Have your lunch before you go to the match and have your tea when you get home. Why are you eating at 3pm?

I’m afraid we don’t all work 9-5 jobs, Monday to Friday, eat 3 square meals a day and live within walking distance of the ground to be home for tea.

[BillyHamilton9]

I understand Russell Ball is getting slated for the shambles due to him being in charge of 'fan experience', but the clubs Director of Operations is Doug Metcalfe.. is this fella totally unaccountable? What exactly is his highly paid role at the club?

[Burnleyareback2]

Can anyone let me know - has a donner sausage roll been sold yet, if so is it as good as my dreams?

Sold out by 45mins in the grand stand today, none available 1 hr before kick off at the city game- it’s becoming more of a legend than the 30 goal a season Vydra.

[Ightenhill_Claret]

Given the fact we were told that this new firm were coming in and that it would enhance the experience, I have to say it’s actually worse than last season.

The doner sausage roll aside it’s the same old crap but inflated prices. And there’s still the queues because staff aren’t properly trained to serve people.

Dreadful experience.

[AlargeClaret]

£20 for 2 pints and 2 Hollands pies is a bit steep but having to collect the pies from a different bar from the beers with 100’s of others( we abandoned the food queue ) was farcical .
They were serving COLD bene at Harold Mather bar at HT and one of the staff hoisted a hot water urn onto the bar which didn’t pacify the mob . Sh1tshow doesn’t even come close and as for the pourers of the bitter …it was like a Python sketch .

[NewClaret]

Given the fact we were told that this new firm were coming in and that it would enhance the experience, I have to say it’s actually worse than last season.

The doner sausage roll aside it’s the same old crap but inflated prices. And there’s still the queues because staff aren’t properly trained to serve people.

Dreadful experience.

Hard to believe a supposedly experienced outfit could make it worse, isn’t it?

The clubs survey on in ground catering asked if you’d be prepared to pay more for better quality products. I replied yes. But it’s the same beer & Hollands pies. Pay more for the same products and queue longer for the privilege - no thanks!

[steve1264b]

Ive emailed doug metcalfe three times about a minor issue and he has never responded.

I sit in the JMU and i would say my fan experience for all our years in the premier league has not changed.

I hate the etihad but they have free wifi and ive always been served straight away.