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This Argus letter writer doesn't rate the Amex catering too highly
- Thread starter carlzeiss
- Start date
KingstonSeagull
New member
Well La-Di-Dah!
To be honest I don't reckon they play very good football at my local restaurant, so I do get a little surprised when people think they are going to get high quality food at a football stadium
I know that is a bit flippant but I reckon there is a point in there somewhere and to me the constant moaning about this does start to grate.
It's a fair point to a degree. I also accept that I am not going to get the same quality and or value as I would for a comparable price in a restaurant. In this respect I'm happy to pay a premium ... so taking bangers and mash example I can get that in my pub for £6.50 and it's bloody good too. At the Amex I might think £8.5-£9.00 is OK but it will be crap Brake Bros frozen rubbish (acknowledge it has little alternative) ... even then I'm not moaning ... but slap a £14 price on it and frankly it deserves a moan.
It's degrees of ... I don't begrudge the club trying to make a margin, of course it has to, but there are numerous ways they can build their revenues rather than just stiff the "customer" with higher prices whilst simultaneously reducing the quality
That's my view as a lifelong commercial fella anyway!
Agree 100% with the criticisms. The quality / price ratio is not working and the problem is when you have tumbleweed blowing through the lounge that once was full it sets a trend for people to not go there - a trend that is very hard to reverse. The easiest customer to get is the one you already have - mess up your existing customer base and that is very bad business.
On food - I would be happy to pay say £20 for a buffet (one that is a buffet not one where you are just given stuff) - especially if it had starters and pud as well - may even pay more than that. But it needs to be an enjoyable experience and not one where you feel ripped off.
Going home from a win at the Amex last season the discussion in the car wasn't about how well we played, it was a bout how bad the food and service had been, that should not be what you leave the game thinking about!
All 1901 members have cards and therefore access to a fixed 10% e-cash cash back in the lounges, irrespective of when they use it (unlike the rest of the STH who have the sliding scale 0-15% system). I don't know why everyone in 1901 wouldn't use it. The range of options (after the cash back) is:
Pie at £3.51
1 course meal at £10.80
1 course meal at £12.60
2 course meal at £17.10
plus the two all singing, all dancing options at ~£55 and ~£81.
I don't think this level of choice or absolute price is too bad at all, given the environment and the facilities.
However, the quality has to justify the various prices and, according to nearly all customers/potential customers/previous customers, it doesn't.
So, to me, the issue is simply one of ensuring that the quality is good enough. To take my own experience, if a burger and chips is GBK-like in price, it should be approximately GBK-like in quality, give or take....
Pie at £3.51
1 course meal at £10.80
1 course meal at £12.60
2 course meal at £17.10
plus the two all singing, all dancing options at ~£55 and ~£81.
I don't think this level of choice or absolute price is too bad at all, given the environment and the facilities.
However, the quality has to justify the various prices and, according to nearly all customers/potential customers/previous customers, it doesn't.
So, to me, the issue is simply one of ensuring that the quality is good enough. To take my own experience, if a burger and chips is GBK-like in price, it should be approximately GBK-like in quality, give or take....
shoreham seagull 1973
New member
Sorry if i am missing something here, but what is your point? I don't understand what the reference to a New York 3*eatery has to do with The Amex catering
The point is that its a complete rip off
Superphil
Dismember
The full, unedited by the Argus version of the letter:
I am sure I am not going to be the only person to make comments about Mr Barber's programme notes for the Burnley game. He talks about NO MORE PONCHOS! Oh, how the 4 or 5 front rows could have done with those on Saturday in our £100 million pound stadium, or was it £80 million? I find his remarks about Withdean quite insulting. He talks about the running track, the food at £58 per head (not all the time I went) he talks about 170 staff, (but all capable of doing their jobs) as apposed to 1200 now, some of them " inexperienced locals and from our cities universities", says Mr Barber, which I would suggest is not what you would expect from fine dining .
He also writes " That in recent weeks, I've heard talk of some supporters choosing to eat outside of our stadium. To be honest, I'm not sure why" Mr Barber, if you don't know why, then this job isn't for you. Two seasons, 2 league matches, 3 award winning catering companies later and now up to £94. 80 for fine dining, it is still far and away above what the average fan is prepared to pay. Two weeks into the season and already the choice has changed. Referring back to Withdean, we did not go there by choice but of necessity, we got wet, we sat a long way from the pitch, we ate meals at sensible prices including half a bottle of wine in our portacabins all looking forward to our new life in a new stadium whether it be £80 or 100 million depending on whose side your on. No one can dispute we have a fantastic stadium, what I don't like is Mr Barbers inference that if we don't spend our money in the ground on inflated food prices we don't deserve to get the players to progress to the next level. He has got to realize what this club is all about and genuinely sit down with the supporters of this club and take notice of what they have to say.
I would imagine that Mr Barber never went to the Withdean, but had he gone he would realize what a fan base is! I sent an email to the club at the beginning of last season and also attended a meeting with other members of the 1901 club, I have had no response to the email and despite being told that there were to be regular meetings, I am not aware of anything on a regular basis, only when they inform us of their decisions and another new caterer!
We were the harmonious unfortunates at Withdean but we were united in our common aim, but now all you hear around the ground is constant hum of dissatisfaction about issues that the club do not want to address. What a shame we don't have that unity now! As we saw at the Burnley game you could count on 2 hands the people dining, and at full time the place was nearly empty after 15 minutes. The club has serious problems with their catering ideas and if they can't see it then they should employ someone who can. Once fans realize they can eat and drink elsewhere for a fraction of the price of the Amex it will be difficult to entice them back. I would suggest Mr Barber swallow his ego for a short time and listen to the fans.
Until such times as the club get their catering act together I shall not eat at the Amex and I will choose to drink where I like.
I am sure I am not going to be the only person to make comments about Mr Barber's programme notes for the Burnley game. He talks about NO MORE PONCHOS! Oh, how the 4 or 5 front rows could have done with those on Saturday in our £100 million pound stadium, or was it £80 million? I find his remarks about Withdean quite insulting. He talks about the running track, the food at £58 per head (not all the time I went) he talks about 170 staff, (but all capable of doing their jobs) as apposed to 1200 now, some of them " inexperienced locals and from our cities universities", says Mr Barber, which I would suggest is not what you would expect from fine dining .
He also writes " That in recent weeks, I've heard talk of some supporters choosing to eat outside of our stadium. To be honest, I'm not sure why" Mr Barber, if you don't know why, then this job isn't for you. Two seasons, 2 league matches, 3 award winning catering companies later and now up to £94. 80 for fine dining, it is still far and away above what the average fan is prepared to pay. Two weeks into the season and already the choice has changed. Referring back to Withdean, we did not go there by choice but of necessity, we got wet, we sat a long way from the pitch, we ate meals at sensible prices including half a bottle of wine in our portacabins all looking forward to our new life in a new stadium whether it be £80 or 100 million depending on whose side your on. No one can dispute we have a fantastic stadium, what I don't like is Mr Barbers inference that if we don't spend our money in the ground on inflated food prices we don't deserve to get the players to progress to the next level. He has got to realize what this club is all about and genuinely sit down with the supporters of this club and take notice of what they have to say.
I would imagine that Mr Barber never went to the Withdean, but had he gone he would realize what a fan base is! I sent an email to the club at the beginning of last season and also attended a meeting with other members of the 1901 club, I have had no response to the email and despite being told that there were to be regular meetings, I am not aware of anything on a regular basis, only when they inform us of their decisions and another new caterer!
We were the harmonious unfortunates at Withdean but we were united in our common aim, but now all you hear around the ground is constant hum of dissatisfaction about issues that the club do not want to address. What a shame we don't have that unity now! As we saw at the Burnley game you could count on 2 hands the people dining, and at full time the place was nearly empty after 15 minutes. The club has serious problems with their catering ideas and if they can't see it then they should employ someone who can. Once fans realize they can eat and drink elsewhere for a fraction of the price of the Amex it will be difficult to entice them back. I would suggest Mr Barber swallow his ego for a short time and listen to the fans.
Until such times as the club get their catering act together I shall not eat at the Amex and I will choose to drink where I like.
South Stand Rebel
New member
- Sep 6, 2012
- 169
I think it's all a matter of choice. If you want to support the club and eat and drink at the stadium, then fine, the extra cost is going towards the club. If you want to eat and drink elsewhere that's also fine, but it doesn't contribute anything to the club. Personally, I find it quite difficult paying those prices for food and drink. I do buy a lot of merchandise from the club shop during the season, and that way as I feel I'm getting better value (even if I'm not). Also, I don't normally eat at 3 o clock in the afternoon.
South Stand Rebel
New member
- Sep 6, 2012
- 169
"Once fans realise they can eat and drink elsewhere..." Blimey, is this guy a rocket scientist? Newsflash: Brighton fans don't have to eat or drink at the stadium!! 
rdigs24
Southampton seagull
Or a Referee
SittingbourneSeagull
Well-known member
Yes and the burgers are always either overcooked or the rolls are as hard as a rock. Not value for money IMHO. The catering at Withdean was pretty horrendous but at least you could get chips. Still like everything else you can choose to eat at the Amex or not, and as Mr Barber wants to treat us as customers he will realise that this is one part of the Amex experience we can choose to do or not.
One Opinion
50p pence paid to the makers for each pie.
No wonder the pie I ate was mostly hollow inside and minced up grizzle with sugar and definitely tasted of lamb which is what what was ordered lamb hotpot pie. Tea is awful, cheapest tea bags imaginable. I don't think much of the Harvey's beer either. Harvey's is usually OK but it seems watered down?
Pie wasn't really edible cause the pastry was indigestible. Late last season. Service was with a smile at first but that seems to have disappeared.
I would not mind a hot soup on a cold evening. How can they go wrong with that?
50p pence paid to the makers for each pie.
No wonder the pie I ate was mostly hollow inside and minced up grizzle with sugar and definitely tasted of lamb which is what what was ordered lamb hotpot pie. Tea is awful, cheapest tea bags imaginable. I don't think much of the Harvey's beer either. Harvey's is usually OK but it seems watered down?
Pie wasn't really edible cause the pastry was indigestible. Late last season. Service was with a smile at first but that seems to have disappeared.
I would not mind a hot soup on a cold evening. How can they go wrong with that?
Last edited:
Excellent letter and so sad you felt the need to write it
Superphil
Dismember
mejonaNO12 aka riskit
Well-known member
Mellor 3 Ward 4
Well-known member
Barber has already said that it was not him who made the final decision with regards to the Catrering Contract.
Passing the buck, or giving himself leeway to sack the current lot and start all over again?
It's such a shame, as there is clearly so much goodwill towards the club fro the fans, and people are prepared to pay a bit more, but quite rightly, fans won't be taken as mugs.
Passing the buck, or giving himself leeway to sack the current lot and start all over again?
It's such a shame, as there is clearly so much goodwill towards the club fro the fans, and people are prepared to pay a bit more, but quite rightly, fans won't be taken as mugs.