Matt S Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Ok so it was sold out in advance, so EVERYBODY (2300 people coming in) had to queue, we opened at 9.30 so if you turned up at what, after 11? It's no real surprise you had to queue?!? We were admitting approx 60 people per minute at peak time and we do have to check ID and level of drunkeness especially on NYE to ensure people have a good time. Yes the bars and cloakroom closed from 11.45 to 12.15, with a member of security present on each bar to provide water if necessary, apologies for wanting our staff who are working while you party to have a little time to celebrate, the bars reopened until 3.30am and if you had arrived earlier you would have seen that this closure had been advertised via signs inside the venue on every bar. It was a tenner to get in which is less than most pubs were charging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 Get real Matt, who's going to get there at 9:30 on New Years Eve? Like any club night people go to bars and friends houses before moving on to the club. It's ridiculous to close a cloakroom at any stage of the night before everyone is in the venue, especially on the coldest night of the Winter. More lost revenue there. If you work in a nightclub, expect to work unsocialble hours. Just how much money do you think your employers lost in that half an hour with 2300 people in there at around £3 a drink? Many people were baffled and furious with the way the night was run and rightly so. I hear Academy have offered free entry to everyone who went on NYE for the next 2 Fridays, presume it has something to do with the poor service and admission of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 Again you think revenue is more important than staff? You had half an hour where you couldn't buy a drink... People who got here between 9.30 and 11 got in without queueing, that's all i'm saying, if you choose to come at the busiest time then you have to expect to queue... As for the free entry we were always offering free entry for two weeks, these posters were also in the venue on the night. Between 11.30pm and 1.30am only approx 60 people left the venue, therefore it would seem not as many people as you imply were upset by the bar closure. As for cloakrooms, both were full by 11.10pm, a member of security was on each cloakroom during the break for if people wanted to take a coat out, but even if the staff had been there by the time you arrived you wouldn't have been able to put your coat in. Don't get me wrong I appreciate complaints I just don't appreciate implications that 'heads would roll if carling knew' and that the management don't care anymore etc etc. This to me was a perfectly reasonable course of action on NYE, as closing ten bars and coordinating the necessary security takes approx 10 minutes to secure the bar and 10 minutes to re-set up, so in essence the staff had approx 10 minutes to celebrate. As for queueing, do the maths on 2000 people trying to get in a building in an hour and a half? Again sorry you had to queue but we did have everybody in the venue by 11.40, most of whom queued for less than 15 minutes. Happy new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 There are other ways to reward staff and treat staff well without compromising on customer service though Matt. I don't mind queueing to get in but the queue was excessive and surely you know from any club night that the majority of people arrive after 11pm and thus plan this. Most people would rather drink at home than get there at 9:30, especially at over £3 a drink (not having a pop there, I can understand it on NYE). As for the cloakroom issue, the cloakroom should be able to hold coats for nearing maximum capacity. It was absurd, you saw girls who had made maximum effort for the night in nice dresses carting their coats around tucked around their handbags etc. Back to the bar issue, surely you could have closed it for just 10 minutes between 5 to and 5 past? Like I've already said, nobody would be at the bar at midnight anyway, everyone would be back with their friends celebrating. I still maintain that Carling's management would not be happy, 2300 people in there at £3 a drink, assume people have at least a drink every half an hour you're looking at a loss of about £6k just so the staff could celebrate new year? If I ran my department like that at work, I'd be lucky to survive were management to find out. There is simply no justification for closing all 10 bars in a venue with 2300 people in for 30 minutes I'm sure you've had a few complaints, the only problem is, a lot of people don't bother complaining about clubs as they rarely listen and see it pointless after the event. However, clubs still have a duty to provide excellent customer service like any service provider. The cost of the entry fee is irrelevant, if I'd paid £1 to get in I'd still like somewhere for my friends to put their coats and be able to buy a drink within 45 minutes of getting in the venue. I just hope Academy take comments like this onboard and use them to improve next year and for future club nights rather than going on the defensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I don't mind queueing to get in but the queue was excessive and surely you know from any club night that the majority of people arrive after 11pm and thus plan this. How long did you queue for? Your initial post implies less than 20 minutes As for the cloakroom issue, the cloakroom should be able to hold coats for nearing maximum capacity. This I apologise for but the building is only a certain size and therefore we only have space for a certain amount of coats. Back to the bar issue, surely you could have closed it for just 10 minutes between 5 to and 5 past? Like I've already said, nobody would be at the bar at midnight anyway, everyone would be back with their friends celebrating. I still maintain that Carling's management would not be happy, 2300 people in there at £3 a drink, assume people have at least a drink every half an hour you're looking at a loss of about £6k just so the staff could celebrate new year? If I ran my department like that at work, I'd be lucky to survive were management to find out. There is simply no justification for closing all 10 bars in a venue with 2300 people in for 30 minutes There is justification as I put in the previous post which you have ignored, to secure the spirits and fridges on each bar takes approx 10 minute and then to re setup takes approx ten minutes, we have bottles on optix, tills etc etc, therefore most staff left the actual bars at around 11.55 and were asked to return by ten past at the latest. Also, you have just pulled figues for bar spend out of the air there boss, you ever worked in a bar/club? I'm guessing not, also if you think no-one would have been at the bars around midnight then technically we lost out on less than 30 minutes as 'everyone would have been with their friends' etc. The managment at the venue have a cumulative experience of running more than half the major venues in the city as well as over a dozen large venues nationally, so why you seem to think that 'Carling would be annoyed' is beyond me, what you're saying is you think the operating of the venue should be dictated by someone in an office down south who's probably never been to the venue, doesn't know any of the staff and has never actually run a club? I just hope Academy take comments like this onboard and use them to improve next year and for future club nights rather than going on the defensive. This is a public forum and I'm replying as a person, I got defensive when you told me to 'get real', if you'd like to submit a formal complaint please email the venue, as posting comments on this forum just gets people who were not even at the event contributing and making it look worse than it actually was, in essence your complaint is that queues were too large, the cloakrooms aren't big enough and you weren't happy with the bar closing, however if you read your initial post it comes across as far worse than this as though it has something to do with national sponsorship deals and mismanagment, neither of which is the case. Again this is a public forum and you're getting a personal response, not my professional one and I am honestly really sorry you didn't have a good time, just there's ways and means of complaining and coming onto the most negative forum on the whole internet isn't the way to do it, especially when you're assuming things that aren't true and then saying that the time I've spent making sure we can give away free entries for the next few weeks is some kind of admission of guilt, rather than the simple act of offering a free night out to people who come regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 The whole point of this section of the forum is to report on venues to other residents of Sheffield, good or bad. I am a regular at Pet Sounds but I simply believe the management at Academy made some very poor decisions on the night and in the build up to the night with a lack of planning which severely compromised customer service. A club has a duty to provide good customer service like anywhere else, shop, restaurant, airline etc. The maths of how many people would have gone to the bar and how many drinks they would have bought are irrelevant, the venue definitely lost considerable amounts of money in that half an hour, that is undeniable. As for the management having experience, I don't dispute that but it doesn't mean they won't make mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisnobles Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 well I had fun anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyranna Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Not sure if anyone went to Academy (formerly Carling, now O2) OMG! ownership of some of these venues is changing so quick these days... Wonder when Gatecrasher will get its turn there lol... Re. shutting of bars around midnight; I remember as far back as the 1980's it had been commonplace, but many clubs (especially the larger ones) keep going right through midnight, well at least over here in Ireland they do now-; often the managers themselves are happy to man the tills while their staff might join with customers on the floor for the couple of minutes that the NYE celebrations take... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdnaKrabappe Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I didn't go to Pet Sounds on NYE (went to Offbeat where you just had to chuck your coat on a pile! ) but I think you've said your bit Gamla now. The Shakespeare stopped serving for a bit, infact any pub i've ever been in at New Year has done this. I think if you've got any further complaints you should go through the proper channels as expecting Matt to answer on a public forum is a bit unneccessary but also as he's a poster you can't expect him to just read stuff and not answer you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I don't expect him to respond but I am within my rights to respond to his reasons for the poor decisions made on the night. I would think readers of the forum would like to be aware of good and bad experiences like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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