Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

loyatemu · 02-02-2015 10:58am

coylemj wrote: »

Unless the tablets were attached to the staff by sturdy chains, they would probably go 'missing' before long plus you have the issue of how to handle the cash - they'd all need cash (float) bags and credit card machines.

other restaurants manage this fine, who do you think would steal the tablets?; Wetherspoons are trying to re-invent the wheel. If it resulted in better service, fine, but it doesn't.

After queueing to order the food, I had to go back and queue again (for 20 minutes) to order coffee and cake. I got the coffee straight away, the cake arrived 25 minutes later... While I was queuing others were going straight to the bar and then getting into arguments with the people in the queue, then other queues would form at a different parts of the bar. This is not a good system.

BMJD · 02-02-2015 2:13pm

I don't get the point of their ordering system - it doesn't appear to be necessary as part of their low-cost model (what I mean by that is that it doesn't seem to save them money), as a lot of people have already said it is very inefficient and time consuming for the customer. How come I was able to go into the Brew Dock over the weekend, have a member of staff come over and take my order, and hey presto 10 minutes later my food was in front of me? I paid when I was finished - simple, straightforward! How is JDW making this so complicated??

irish_goat · 02-02-2015 2:18pm

Waiting staff are inefficient, mainly because customers are rubbish at ordering and waste staff time. If you make them decide at the table and then order at the bar it speeds up the whole process . It also prevents people leaving without paying and means they can see what drinks are available at the bar rather asking the waiter to rhyme off what's on cask etc. There's a reason this model works across the board for lots of business, not just for Wetherspoons but McDonalds, Starbucks etc. There's plenty of local pubs that don't do table service too.

To me, it sounds like the Dublin Wetherspoons need to get their staff trained up much more than they currently are.

coylemj · 02-02-2015 6:00pm

loyatemu wrote: »

other restaurants manage this fine, who do you think would steal the tablets?; Wetherspoons are trying to re-invent the wheel. If it resulted in better service, fine, but it doesn't.

Any restaurant or pub I've been to where the waiters have handheld gadgets do not ask for payment upfront. Most places want you to leave open the option of ordering dessert and/or coffee so it makes commercial sense to leave the paying to the end of the meal.

loyatemu wrote: »

After queueing to order the food, I had to go back and queue again (for 20 minutes) to order coffee and cake. I got the coffee straight away, the cake arrived 25 minutes later... While I was queuing others were going straight to the bar and then getting into arguments with the people in the queue, then other queues would form at a different parts of the bar. This is not a good system.

Agree that it leads to messy situations as you described. I can just about handle queuing in McDonalds but at least there are usually separate queues so you know where you stand - in JDW there seems to be no order to the queuing and the staff don't seem to care if the people who were there first get served first.

coylemj · 02-02-2015 10:21pm

dregin wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/jd-wetherspoon-and-the-battle-of-the-beer-prices-1.2085542

Dregin posted the above link with no comment and like me, a lot of you probably ignored it but I found it on Twitter and it's worth checking out. It's a 2m 41s movie report where Conor Pope checks out the TTT. You will need sound and it's safe to view at work.

A few things to note....

1. It's clearly made with the co-operation of the pub as there are shots from behind the counter.

2. It's not long enough to cover every aspect of the business so topics that have been widely discussed here like queuing and the quality of the staff isn't touched.

3. IMHO it's a fair and balanced report

L1011 · 02-02-2015 10:52pm

That article feels mostly like a sop to counteract Una Mullaly's rather deranged rant against JDW a few months ago in the same paper.

cruasder777 · 02-02-2015 10:54pm

BMJD wrote: »

I don't get the point of their ordering system - it doesn't appear to be necessary as part of their low-cost model (what I mean by that is that it doesn't seem to save them money), as a lot of people have already said it is very inefficient and time consuming for the customer. How come I was able to go into the Brew Dock over the weekend, have a member of staff come over and take my order, and hey presto 10 minutes later my food was in front of me? I paid when I was finished - simple, straightforward! How is JDW making this so complicated??

They need a ticketing system. The bars are very long, the staff cant tell whos next. On a Friday evening its manic.

Saying that for 20 quid on Sunday eve, I had dinner, dessert, coffee and quite a few bottles of brew dog. So I'm not complaining.

They were doing a full roast dinner inc a pint for £5.80 !

Last time I was back home in my local town, for lunch I had a pint and a baguette, which was served with salad and crisps on the side it cost me 18 euro.

irish_goat · 02-02-2015 11:05pm

cruasder777 wrote: »

They need a ticketing system. The bars are very long, the staff cant tell whos next. On a Friday evening its manic..

How would a ticketing system work? The staff just need to get used to busy nights and learn how to keep an eye on what order people approached the bar.

[Deleted User] · 02-02-2015 11:09pm

irish_goat wrote: »

How would a ticketing system work? The staff just need to get used to busy nights and learn how to keep an eye on what order people approached the bar.

If they could take more than one order, that would be great.

cruasder777 · 02-02-2015 11:15pm

irish_goat wrote: »

How would a ticketing system work? The staff just need to get used to busy nights and learn how to keep an eye on what order people approached the bar.

Some of their bars are 30m meters long. It can take 15 mins to get served.

Take a ticket with a number, a number flashes , hand your ticket to the staff, when its your turn, get served. Stops queue jumpers.

irish_goat · 02-02-2015 11:21pm

cruasder777 wrote: »

Some of their bars are 30m meters long. It can take 15 mins to get served.

Take a ticket with a number, a number flashes , hand your ticket to the staff, when its your turn, get served. Stops queue jumpers.

That would never work in a bar. First off, it would be messy, tickets would be all over the place. Secondly, people would approach the bar and take a load of tickets and pass them to their mates when they arrive a minute or two later. It also relies on drunk people having the wherewithal to understand it (which they wouldn't). No bar manager would introduce that system here.

It doesn't matter how long the bar is as long as there's enough staff on.

cruasder777 · 02-02-2015 11:52pm

irish_goat wrote: »

That would never work in a bar. First off, it would be messy, tickets would be all over the place. Secondly, people would approach the bar and take a load of tickets and pass them to their mates when they arrive a minute or two later. It also relies on drunk people having the wherewithal to understand it (which they wouldn't). No bar manager would introduce that system here.

It doesn't matter how long the bar is as long as there's enough staff on.

EPoS ticket terminals are already in some pubs in Cardiff. If people abuse it, they get warned, if they continue, they get barred. Simple.

Much better then people queue jumping.

If someone is so drunk they cant understand a basic ticketing system, they should not be served another drink.

Wetherspoons are a professional stock market listed company, they dont want drunks in their pubs. I have never seen anyone paralytic in their pubs, they are more places to have a quiet drink and food.

Sofiztikated · 03-02-2015 12:38am

Isn't it said that the English love a. good queue?

Irish people, not so much.

dregin · 03-02-2015 10:31am

coylemj wrote: »

Dregin posted the above link with no comment and like me, a lot of you probably ignored it but I found it on Twitter and it's worth checking out. It's a 2m 41s movie report where Conor Pope checks out the TTT. You will need sound and it's safe to view at work.

A few things to note....

1. It's clearly made with the co-operation of the pub as there are shots from behind the counter.

2. It's not long enough to cover every aspect of the business so topics that have been widely discussed here like queuing and the quality of the staff isn't touched.

3. IMHO it's a fair and balanced report

Sorry, I see links like that in passing during work and just drop and run without actually reading, thinking that someone else may find them interesting.

coylemj · 03-02-2015 2:40pm

dregin wrote: »

Sorry, I see links like that in passing during work and just drop and run without actually reading, thinking that someone else may find them interesting.

A link with no comment can be a dangerous thing to click on. The text that you see ('www.irishtimes......') doesn't always equate to where the link will take you as happens with the spam e-mails which claim to be from your bank.

A quick one-liner will reassure people that it's a post to a bona fide website.

out da lough · 04-02-2015 11:18am

I noticed that one of the parties welcoming the proposed introduction of "Minimum unit pricing" for alcohol last night on TV was a representative of the vintners association.

BeerNut · 04-02-2015 11:23am

They still believe that supermarket pricing will one day reach a level where people will choose to drink in the pub instead of at home. It's nuts.

ThisRegard · 04-02-2015 11:29am

out da lough wrote: »

I noticed that one of the parties welcoming the proposed introduction of "Minimum unit pricing" for alcohol last night on TV was a representative of the vintners association.

Lady from the off licence association on Sean O'Rourke at the moment also in favour.

From a moral point of view I'm against this, why should those of us who can manage alcohol sensibly be punished because of those that can't ? Why not a minimum price on burgers, chips etc ?

Having said that, the minimum price per unit that's being mooted doesn't seem likely to have any affect on what I buy anyway. Unless it's Christmas, and for other people, I never buy slabs etc of beer and the likes for which these measures seem targeted at.

L1011 · 04-02-2015 12:36pm

The newspaper claims of "9 euro minimum bottle of wine" and "double the price of a can of beer" don't actually make any sense, no matter what calculation is being used.

I don't see any of 'spoons prices being affected, or realistically much other than the €13 bottles of 37.5% spirits in supermarkets and €20-for-24 cans of 4.3% beer.

oblivious · 04-02-2015 12:43pm

L1011 wrote: »

The newspaper claims of "9 euro minimum bottle of wine" .

12% by 750ml/1000 gives 9 unites of alcohol, multiply that by 0.6-1 (the range thats suggested) euro per unite of alcohol, gives a upper cost of 9 euro

L1011 wrote: »

I don't see any of 'spoons prices being affected, .

Their 1.95 sale could be as a pint of 4.2% would bring a upper min price of 2.10.

But it all depend on what price per unite of alcohol they go for

bucketybuck · 04-02-2015 2:20pm

ThisRegard wrote: »

Having said that, the minimum price per unit that's being mooted doesn't seem likely to have any affect on what I buy anyway. Unless it's Christmas, and for other people, I never buy slabs etc of beer and the likes for which these measures seem targeted at.

Prices will increase for all drinks as a consequence, not just for the cheap swill,. Its inevitable I'm afraid.

ThisRegard · 04-02-2015 2:29pm

But it surely depends on what the price per unit will be ? If I'm buying a beer that currently costs €4 (standard abv), that's not necessarily going to be affected ?

BaZmO* · 04-02-2015 2:39pm

bucketybuck wrote: »

Prices will increase for all drinks as a consequence, not just for the cheap swill,. Its inevitable I'm afraid.

Nope, it's a minimum price increase not a blanket price increase for all alcohol.

Sofiztikated · 04-02-2015 2:56pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

Nope, it's a minimum price increase not a blanket price increase for all alcohol.

Is what people say now.

Lets see when this come in, and 6 tins of Tuborg are €15, and 6 tins of Heineken are €15.

BaZmO* · 04-02-2015 3:15pm

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Is what people say now.

Lets see when this come in, and 6 tins of Tuborg are €15, and 6 tins of Heineken are €15.

Yeah but that's macro beers. You could make the case for the likes of Heineken increasing the cost of their beers to reflect their "premium" image, but that would just bring the cost closer to craft beers so it could end up being an own goal.

Bigcheeze · 04-02-2015 3:15pm

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Is what people say now.

Lets see when this come in, and 6 tins of Tuborg are €15, and 6 tins of Heineken are €15.

Exactly. If the "cheap piss" is now €2 per can, the "premium" piss will be a good bit more for branding reasons.

oblivious · 04-02-2015 3:55pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

Yeah but that's macro beers. You could make the case for the likes of Heineken increasing the cost of their beers to reflect their "premium" image, but that would just bring the cost closer to craft beers so it could end up being an own goal.

But the poor responsible consumer looses out by have to pay higher prices across the board

out da lough · 04-02-2015 4:17pm

We are being penalised for living on an island. I'll be indulging in "booze cruises" to France from now on. But why should I have to rent a van with two buddies and pay for a ferry trip to France just so that I can access quality wine at a reasonable price?

This nanny state scenario is gone over the top. I've never drunk spirits (apart from the odd Irish cofffee) and I enjoy some of the beers in Aldi that cost €7.29 for six 50 cl bottles. The Lidl equivalent was selling for €2 for a six pack in Spain earlier this year. From a regime of schoolteachers who gauge the market value of a used car from abroad for the purposes of VRT from the local Irish dealers, this is another example of the regime caving in to the lobbying of vested interests.

We already pay some of the highest prices in Europe for supermarket beers.

I'mm off to buy a homebrew kit online.

L1011 · 04-02-2015 5:14pm

oblivious wrote: »

12% by 750ml/1000 gives 9 unites of alcohol, multiply that by 0.6-1 (the range thats suggested) euro per unite of alcohol, gives a upper cost of 9 euro

I can't see €1 per unit being justifiable at all - and seeing as the VFFI aren't in power right now, it can't be that likely either.

The other term being used in the spin currently is "banning below cost selling" which would imply that it'll be something not far off the duty+VAT cost, but that is of course different for beer, craft beer, wine and spirits respectively.

oblivious · 04-02-2015 5:43pm

L1011 wrote: »

I can't see €1 per unit being justifiable at all - and seeing as the VFFI aren't in power right now, it can't be that likely either.

The euro suggestion was the was the upper limit, but it may not be that unthinkable as its a sizeable gap been pub and shop prices. The other law of unintended consequences is it could see a price hike across the board to protect "premium" brands. The issue with spoons and "premium" brands is some we should be wary of .

L1011 wrote: »

The other term being used in the spin currently is "banning below cost selling" which would imply that it'll be something not far off the duty+VAT cost, but that is of course different for beer, craft beer, wine and spirits respectively.

Another is that the hit is take by the distributors and the switch from banning below cost selling to a price per unite

Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

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