Bouncers in pubs/clubs

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Well in all fairness i did say that from my experiences with bouncers that they are power hungry assholes. I understand the other lads coming in and saying otherwise. I'm not trying to convince people of one opinion or other.

I'm just stating from interactions through previous jobs and going out, that this is generally what i have experienced from them.

Well then there must be something seriously wrong with you. Considering the vast majority of people will only suffer at the hands of an over-zealous bouncer once in a while, the fact that it seems to plague you suggests to me that there's a reason that they're treating you like crap. Sorry, but either you're lying or you're being singled out for a reason.

Having worked on the door myself for quite a few years, I can safely say that there are a higher ratio of scumbags in the drinking public than there are working on the door. I think Irish people forget that they are a disgusting, sniveling, aggressive, embarrassing and surly bunch of filth with enough drink on them. And God knows, we seem to love to drink an awful lot. Bouncers are paid to put up with your crap, but don't expect them to do it with a smile on their faces.

And another point - if we rid the country of bouncers, see how long it takes before the rest of you have to stop going out for a drink because of how dangerous your favourite trendy bar has become overnight. That's right - although you think that bouncers are out to get you, they're really there to protect you. Whatever about not getting any praise for the (often difficult and dangerous) job they do, they seem to get abuse! It's quite hilarious really.

The ID issue hardly holds any weight. A bouncer asking you for ID doesn't make him an asshole; it just means he's doing his job. If you're lucky enough to look under 40, carry some ID. Bouncers have every right to ask you to prove your age regardless of how old you are. If you get refused because you don't have ID - tough. Saying "but I never get asked for ID" just makes you sound like an idiot. Bring your ID out with you or run the risk of getting refused. Simple as that.

If you get refused from somewhere and you feel that it's unfair, have a discussion with your solicitor and ask him/her that, if it happens in the same place again, would he/she come down as a witness to this discrimination and you can take the establishment to the cleaners in court (and believe me, you can do this very easily under equal status and provision of services acts).

My point is basically this - stop whining like a bunch of little underage twits and deal with it like adults. If you're old enough to get into a pub, you should be intelligent enough to 1) ensure that you get in or 2) prosecute the pub if you're refused entry unfairly. Grow up and stop whining about bouncers basically.

Kids these days. :rolleyes:

lpool2k05 wrote: »

I relise that they dont know me or my friends but none of us gave any grief so maybe its the way we dress!!any fashion tips??Its a sad day that people have to dress in a way thats acceptable to bouncers!!By the way my friends and myself dont dress extravacant!!We dress very well!

Okay, i'm going to break this down in a simple and honest way.

Most of your posts lead me to believe you have a **** attitude, and if there is one thing you quickly learn to pic up on when you are doing door work it is someone's attitude.

It's a sad day when you have to dress in a way thats acceptable to bouncers? First off, bouncers rarely if ever give a fiddlers **** about what way someone is dressed. The majority of rules for door stopages come from House Rules which are drawn up by the owner or manager.

The very act of operating under a licence to sell or to allow public dancing means that pubs/cubs can operate under largely any rules they like once they are not flat out discriminating.

Believe it or not, if a pub wants to put a rule in place that on Thursday nights everyone must wear pink and you show up wearing white then the doormen can happily stop you once a copy of the house rules are on display around the front door.

At the end of the day the guy on the door is the guy who decides if you get in or not. It would help if, in the very least, you thought of him as some person doing a job.....you might get a bit further with them.

Boggles wrote: »

Works both ways mate, the doorman also has to consider it is this punter who is effectively paying their wages.

Sadly when drink is involved the level of mutual respect deteriorates.

While i understand where you are coming from the whole "the punter pays your wages" argument has never really washed with me in any job i have been in.

I have a job. I do it well. Customers either accept that or they don't, regardless of the place/position i am working in and it has very, very little to do with my wages.

I have made perfectly fine stoppages in the passed based either on the obvious level or drink/drug abuse by the people i was stopping, because they were dressed incorrectly ( i don't really agree with dress codes but hey, i'm paid to do a job ) or simply because they were trouble. The majority of these times people will always mention "It's people like me who pay your wages" ( this is actually right up with "Do you know who i am?" as a reply to stopping someone ).

This i feel is part of the problem, people put a little bit too much weight behind the value of their cash. Most pubs don't really care about punters as individuals.... your just somebody there to pay a lot of money for something that shouldn't cost as much as it does.

Don't get confused that just because it's where you have good times and have some rosey feelings about pubs in general that they are anything other than a business.

It's just the way it is. If you get stopped at a door, for any reason, there is always another person or group of people behind you looking to get in.

So , in short, saying that the customer pays my wages is the same skewed argument that the only reason anyone ever gets to have a good time in a pub is because of doorstaff.

It's vaguely related, but simply untrue.

Boggles wrote: »

Did't mention you personally, I have no idea what profession you have worked in or currently work in, but if any people I have employed had your attitude they would be gone.

I think i may not have made the point that i was trying to make correctly.

What i was trying to get across was the people will do their job how they do it and customers will interpret that as they like.

In my time i have seen people who have been very, very bad at customer facing jobs in all kinds of environments but their customers love them despite all the **** ups, the delays and the constant mistakes because they have a way of getting on with people.

Then i have seen people do everything absolutely perfectly, providing swift and efficent service but their customers would make constant complaints about them, not because of the job itself, but because they simply didn't like them.

Any customer facing role is always going to be very awkward at times as personalities clash, hence me saying i simply do my job well and customers will interpret that as they see fit.

It would be foolish to not apply to this to the front door of any pubs and clubs. I have seen door men turn people away very rudely with nothing happening and seen doormen make perfect and polite stoppages only to have the customer explode over it.

As you said, introduce alchohol into things and it will get even worse. I wasn't saying the customer is not important in a general sense......but it is still a prevailing attitude in the booze business sadly.

The whole idea of "the customer being everything" is always a nice idea, but i have yet to encounter a single business that turns away new customers for fear of it affecting the level of service to existing ones.