Do you spend as much on catering at the Amex as you would like?

Gazwag · Aug 29, 2014

We arrive in the NS at roughly 2pm on a weekend game and get what we want in under 5 minutes, evening games we tend to get there a bit earlier and there are no queues and plenty of food.

So yes we get what we want when we want

However, on a cold winter match we often fancy a warm drink at half time but know one of us will miss the first 5 minutes of the second half if we went to get one so don't bother, so in that case we would spend an extra £7.50 or so at about 10 matches a season between the 3 of us - £75 (£25 a person) isn't a massive amount but I suppose multiply that by say 15,000 that's £375k less turnover a season.

So with this in mind I think I will have to vote NO

Gazwag · Aug 29, 2014

ropey9 said:
No - the queues put me off. Change the kiosk queue mechanism to a single snake barrier so you go to the next available server, rather then stuck behind the 10 minute I want a full pint no head. Need to make the process behind the counter more production line, one person one function.

It works well in the club shop so its not completely alien to the club

marshy68 · Aug 29, 2014

I would buy more if the service was faster. I think the major issue is the Albion dont care as the catering is contracted out - so the Albion have the cash already.
Pre pour pints 10 mins before half time and full time?
Dedicated Beer only q's?
I dunno not rocket science.

dazzer6666 · Aug 29, 2014

ropey9 said:
No - the queues put me off. Change the kiosk queue mechanism to a single snake barrier so you go to the next available server, rather then stuck behind the 10 minute I want a full pint no head. Need to make the process behind the counter more production line, one person one function.

Good shout. This would also stop the 'let's all get in a different queue and whoever gets to the front first gets 'em' brigade. Probably doesn't make too much difference but annoys me......

jcdenton08 · Aug 29, 2014

Maybe I'm on my own in thinking this, but it raises an interesting topic.

I find the notion of "giving the club money" absolutely bizarre. If I get a few pints, it's because I want a few pints, not because I'm thinking to myself what a favour I'm doing my beloved Albion. Same if I buy a replica shirt, it's because I want the shirt, not because I'm thinking what a great favour I'm doing for the shareholders by putting money in the coffers.

Yes, the service should be better and quicker and yes, the club will make more money from the catering that way.

But the days of us lowly supporters having a whip round to buy Rod Thomas are over; the people at the top, the players, the staff are all extremely well off and well paid and FFP is irrelevant to us, the fans, so don't go thinking what a favour you're doing by having an average pie; nobody cares. Have a pie if you need to eat, not as your preconceived idea of a "good turn for the club"

The Oldman · Aug 29, 2014

TWOCHOICEStom said:
The trick would be to get Paul Barber to sit in the North Stand for a whole season. Get him to buy something pre-match, half time and full time at every match. Watch how long it takes before something changes then.

Never seen any of the Albion management team in the concourses apart from when they rush through to go onto the pitch. Instead of appearing on half time tele saying how wonderful they are 'cos they have cycled to Paris or are raising money by having water poured over them, they might be better off trying WHAM...walk about management where they see what is going on and talk to the customers.

I do see suits from the catering company but there role seems to be talking on their walkie talkies and rushing from one end of the concourse to the other with clipboard to hand.

Makes you nostalgic for Withdean where queues were never long and the service was slick and the food better.

Puppet Master · Aug 29, 2014

Do the stewards actually allow you to bring a flask then?

dazzer6666 · Aug 29, 2014

jcdenton08 said:
Maybe I'm on my own in thinking this, but it raises an interesting topic.

I find the notion of "giving the club money" absolutely bizarre. If I get a few pints, it's because I want a few pints, not because I'm thinking to myself what a favour I'm doing my beloved Albion. Same if I buy a replica shirt, it's because I want the shirt, not because I'm thinking what a great favour I'm doing for the shareholders by putting money in the coffers.

Yes, the service should be better and quicker and yes, the club will make more money from the catering that way.

But the days of us lowly supporters having a whip round to buy Rod Thomas are over; the people at the top, the players, the staff are all extremely well off and well paid and FFP is irrelevant to us, the fans, so don't go thinking what a favour you're doing by having an average pie; nobody cares. Have a pie if you need to eat, not as your preconceived idea of a "good turn for the club"

Agree with this. I think the sentiments though are more about what the club is missing out on in terms of turnover by the pisspoor management of the outlets (although if the arrangement is that they've sold/leased the franchise to the caterers, maybe they're not bothered, I don't know). The issue for me is about customer service, not where the money goes. I want a cup of tea and I want it NOW, and I don't want to miss any of the game......

Bozza · Aug 29, 2014

jcdenton08 said:
Maybe I'm on my own in thinking this, but it raises an interesting topic.

I find the notion of "giving the club money" absolutely bizarre. If I get a few pints, it's because I want a few pints, not because I'm thinking to myself what a favour I'm doing my beloved Albion. Same if I buy a replica shirt, it's because I want the shirt, not because I'm thinking what a great favour I'm doing for the shareholders by putting money in the coffers.

Yes, the service should be better and quicker and yes, the club will make more money from the catering that way.

But the days of us lowly supporters having a whip round to buy Rod Thomas are over; the people at the top, the players, the staff are all extremely well off and well paid and FFP is irrelevant to us, the fans, so don't go thinking what a favour you're doing by having an average pie; nobody cares. Have a pie if you need to eat, not as your preconceived idea of a "good turn for the club"

Fair enough.

But on a Saturday out at the football with friends, I will buy beer and some food. I'd rather give a decent share of my spend to the club but I find it frustrating that often I am unable to do so, particularly because of the "spend your money with us so we can help Sami on the pitch" mantra we have been fed. You may or may not believe that actually happens, but I'm a trusting soul and believe that if I spend money with the club it's certainly not going to hurt our prospects.

Official Old Man · Aug 29, 2014

Match day is, to me anyway, more than just going and watching men kick a ball about. Firstly, we are not a small back street lower league club. We play top class opposition every game, whether or not the oppo are good doesn't matter, even Yeovil last year was entertaining. We have a holy grail of a ground. I would like to compare it to the O2 where I went to see Monty Python. That was an evening out with tickets at £150 for two, parking £21, lovely meal £50, glass wine and pint £11 (repeated at break) and we had a wonderful evening. Now I'm not looking to spend that much money but I'm happy to say I can afford to spend maybe £30 for two of us on a match day experience. Pie & a pint is a must but less queuing please. More tables to lean on a must, I've not learnt to juggle a pie and a pint yet after all these years. Don't ask me what to put up for sale but if there was something other than a sweet stall would people browse and buy, I believe so if it was something the fans wanted. A seagulls T shirt stall for example. Nothing but T's and new ones every home game. But cheap, not £30 but £9.99 or throwaway guaranteed to last till next match at £5. I'm a retailer and 50% of my job is getting people into my shop (Amex has done that) the next 50% is making them spend money. Give us something we want and yes I'd spend a bit more.
PS last game I was late (work) and got to the kiosk just as she stopped selling ale so returned at half time and had to queue for too long to down a pint in 30 seconds.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Aug 29, 2014

Bozza said:
Fair enough.

But on a Saturday out at the football with friends, I will buy beer and some food. I'd rather give a decent share of my spend to the club but I find it frustrating that often I am unable to do so, particularly because of the "spend your money with us so we can help Sami on the pitch" mantra we have been fed. You may or may not believe that actually happens, but I'm a trusting soul and believe that if I spend money with the club it's certainly not going to hurt our prospects.

Would be grand if you could nudge somebody at the club in the direction of this thread. Might just give them a kick up the bottom line.

Rich Suvner · Aug 29, 2014

System at the ground is poor. I have given up leaving my seat at half time, when I'd like a drink. And my friends and I also now find alternatives to arriving early, as frankly it's a waste of time standing in a queue.

Rich Suvner · Aug 29, 2014

dazzer6666 said:
Agree with this. I think the sentiments though are more about what the club is missing out on in terms of turnover by the pisspoor management of the outlets (although if the arrangement is that they've sold/leased the franchise to the caterers, maybe they're not bothered, I don't know). The issue for me is about customer service, not where the money goes. I want a cup of tea and I want it NOW, and I don't want to miss any of the game......

Nail on head.

The club are missing out on revenue for whatever reasons. I really don't see they're gaining much in the way of expertise that you'd expect when you sub-contract out provision to a specialist. Poor systems, poor kiosk management, staff that any of us could employ (ie inexperienced)

Prince Monolulu · Aug 29, 2014

Creaky said:
I'd love to be able to get a hot Bovril at half time on a freezing winter day - just not practical if you don't want to miss the football.

Mmmmm...Bovril

NS Herald · Aug 29, 2014

The stats on spend per customer (fan) per game should make interesting reading since we moved in and the club must have that data. It should also be easy to break it down per product etc. and I wouldn't be surprised that taking into account price rises, average spend is probably down? Would also be interested to see trend for people pre-loading and using their smart cards and again it's probably down.

If that is the case, wouldn't the club want to find out why?

Either everything is all hunky doory from a catering perspective as far as the club is concerned or it isn't. Of course if it were the latter they would obviously have obtained some fan / customer feedback just like all the issues regarding transport ......... oh maybe not!!

Barrel of Fun · Aug 29, 2014

I'd spend money if they had a decent cider. Not interested in eating unless caught short.

Official Old Man · Aug 29, 2014

Just a thought. Do we have any supermarket supremos on the board or there must be someone in 1901. Or put Aldi in charge of concourse.

matski_98 · Aug 29, 2014

Stat Brother said:
Peoples expectations are unrealistic.
A high percentage of 25,000+ people all want the same thing at the same time, in a confined area.

Thats true but it could be much smoother with a bit of organisation and planning. Its not like they're not expecting that many people!

My problem is that they seem to employ a lot of students/ casual staff, none of which seem to know what they're doing as they've not had any training. Last week they had a bloke working on the old beer only till in the North Stand (which seems to have been binned off). He had absolutely no clue what he was doing or how to use the till. Talk about learning on the job, he looked like he'd never served a pint or used a till in his life.

The pies are ok (I personally don't get what the fuss is about them) but the burgers and hot dogs are stale and dry so that leaves crisps and mars bars. I'm not expecting a gourmet selection but a bit of variety and quality wouldn't go amiss.

I'm ok with the prices generally, its just the long queues and poor food choices which let it down and mean quite often I don't bother.

thbjenkins · Aug 29, 2014

Bozza said:
Firstly, this thread is not for the following:

- Those who think the pies and pints are too expensive
- Those who don't understand why people can't go to football without getting something to eat or drink

If the catering at the Amex has little interest to you for any reason, move on. There are other threads for you.

This thread is for those who are happy to buy food and drink at the Amex when they're there.

To this latter group of people I ask: do you spend as much at the Amex as you feel you could or may want to?

I don't. I'm happy to spend money at the Amex but I find I am repeatedly thwarted:

- Food being out of stock at key times
- Queues being too long (particularly at half-time. If you leave your seat when the first half ends, and not before, you're not getting a drink.)
- No 'quick service' drinks options. I'm told there are still uber-expensive Fosters bottle stalls, but I've not seen one in the WSU, and there used to be beer backpack dudes, but they've long since gone.

We hear that more people at the Amex buy food and drink than at other grounds and we also spend more than most/all other fans. There seems to be back-slapping galore at this, complacency even. I would spend more if the club made it possible for me to do so. How about you?

It seems the crux of most people's problems is the speed of service. Up until last year I worked in a well known fast food chain, every home game I stand in a slow moving queue and spot numerous simple changes they could make to improve it.

For a start (and this is an assumption) but the workers are all ad hoc temporary staff/students so the training/desire to work hard/fast appears non existent as they're only there to get beer money for the weekends.

It seems disorganised, you never see a "supervisor" instructing the staff, trying to make them faster/more efficient.
As a fan (customer) it feels like they literally don't care about the experience they are giving. I'm not sure how it works but is the catering company paid a fee by the club and the club keep the profits from sales? That would explain why there's no desire to go faster/take more money as it makes no difference to them.

sully · Aug 29, 2014

Lethargic said:
Queues at halftime are a complete put off the only reason we get a pint at ht is as others say we leave on the 40th minute and there are 4 of us taking turns if I for any reason am on my own I don't bother.

The other point I used to use the beer kiosk in ESL but now with the price increase I only buy with my season ticket as the discount makes it viable and the beer kiosk for some ridiculous reason are incapable of paying with eCard.

Agree that the quality of the pies has dropped greatly and are now more convenience food than a treat.

You don't get discount at half time anyway. Assuming your two paragraphs were connected.

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Do you spend as much on catering at the Amex as you would like?

Do you spend as much at the Amex as you would like to?

Yes - I get what I want when I want it

No - I could spend more but the catering set-up doesn't allow me to

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