GamlaStan Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 NYE is the busiest night in town, so expect queues, and to be honest we got 1650 people in between 11.10 and 11.40 which is in my opinion a pretty 'good system' of queuing. You said the venue had 2300 people in yet 1650 people arrived between 11:10 and 11:40. Somewhat of a contradiction then given you've accused both me and ellielambert of arriving "late", no it looks like thats when the majority of people arrive. The Academy has plenty of doors and you could've planned for this surge based on previous Pet Sounds events. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on the Bar issue, I think there are other ways of rewarding staff without compromising on customer service, paying for a staff night out, buying them a bottle of wine/champagne each etc etc. without the need to close the bar for 30 minutes with 2300 people in. I would strongly suggest getting a second or larger cloakroom as it obviously can't handle the numbers that enter the venue. The amount I've paid for a service is irrelevant, Ryanair sell flights for £5 but you'd still complain if they were 4 hours late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkD77 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 You said the venue had 2300 people in yet 1650 people arrived between 11:10 and 11:40. Somewhat of a contradiction then given you've accused both me and ellielambert of arriving "late", no it looks like thats when the majority of people arrive. The Academy has plenty of doors and you could've planned for this surge based on previous Pet Sounds events. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on the Bar issue, I think there are other ways of rewarding staff without compromising on customer service, paying for a staff night out, buying them a bottle of wine/champagne each etc etc. without the need to close the bar for 30 minutes with 2300 people in. I would strongly suggest getting a second or larger cloakroom as it obviously can't handle the numbers that enter the venue. The amount I've paid for a service is irrelevant, Ryanair sell flights for £5 but you'd still complain if they were 4 hours late. You've just hit the nail on the head there. Everyone seems to want everything for nothing these days. Don't you realise you get what you pay for? If you want to go out on NYE and have the perfect night, book yourself into a top quality restaurant which is small and intimate, that way you are gauranteed to be waited on hand and foot. If you go to a nightclub on NYE then expect it to be busy. I don't know of a venue anywhere in the UK where you are gauranteed a cloakroom space. Nor do I know of a venue the size of the academy that can get over 1000 people in between 11:20pm and 12:00am. You can't just rock up at 11:20pm on NYE and expect everything to work out your way, it's the busiest night of the year! Next year Gamlastan I suggest you plan your night a little more carefully then you won't have to come on here slinging wild accusations around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've not slung any wild accusations around, I've stated facts. The venue lost money due to closing the bar and the venue compromised on customer service to reward staff. If I'd paid £30 to get in I still wouldn't have got a drink, had somewhere to put my coat and would have had to queue. Do you honestly believe that had the admission been higher these issues wouldn't have been present? I've been to plenty of clubs for New Year and not had problems like this in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkD77 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I've not slung any wild accusations around, I've stated facts. The venue lost money due to closing the bar and the venue compromised on customer service to reward staff. If I'd paid £30 to get in I still wouldn't have got a drink, had somewhere to put my coat and would have had to queue. Do you honestly believe that had the admission been higher these issues wouldn't have been present? I've been to plenty of clubs for New Year and not had problems like this in the past. Sorry, you have stated facts, but then made some rather tenuous links to these facts. Like I said before, if you go to a big club on NYE service won't be as good on that night as it's the busiest night of the year and one where the majority will turn up at once as many have been at a local pub or house party etc. It's nothing to do with entrance fee but your choice of venue. If you wanted top class service you should have gone somewhere small and intimate where it is easier for them to cope with the increased demand (and they will also charge you for it). I have also never had to cope with the 'problems' you describe (other than the bar staff one which is common practice) but I've always made sure I turned up well before 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnsleylad Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 GamlaStan - may I say my comment is not ridiculous; if you wanted a faultless service with no queues, somewhere to hang you're coat and a bar that doesnt close for half an hour either side of midnight (which is a standard on NYE by the way) then you ought to have gone somewhere a little quieter. Come on mate, you paid a tenner on NYE, a performance was included and most pubs in town were charging at least that. Fair enough, you're complaints would be more valid on an average night but this was New Years Eve. Perhaps the night was a victim of its own success - but to be fair GamlaStan you said you had a good night in the end and enjoyed the music. Try and forget about the queue, you're coat and the 30 mins out of the 300 or so you couldn't purchase a drink and remember the laugh that you had. Life is too short isn't it. This is not a dig GamlaStan at all, to be honest I had a right old night and I was a little surprised you didn't expect chaos on a very popular night on New Years Eve. Anyhow feel free to create another post if you go to a normal night at the Academy and face problems; I may just agree with you next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchcoll Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 its always been normal practice to close the bar at midnight on NYE at every club ive been to. i went to sanctuary (which was a great night incidentally) admittedly they only closed the bar for 10 mins either side of midnight (so 20mins) but they put a call out in plenty of time, as i guess academy did. so i think academy did well to only spend half an hour securing and then reopening all their bars in that time as sanctuary only has one. as for the staff, they are still human beings, they dont become corporate robots when they enter the building, they are entitled to at least 10 mins to celebrate the biggest moment of the night with everyone else who is there to do just that. so my reply is stuff the money lost over that half an hour, cos they would have lost a lot more if the managers hadnt treated their staff like people, not robots, and let them celebrate as well as they would have had less staff so less people serving all night. they didnt compromise customer service to reward staff, they treated their staff with respect to ensure good customer service from them. i think some people need to show some appreciation for the people that worked that night so you could have fun. did you buy any of them a drink? i did at sanctuary. im sure there were some areas that suffered, it was the busiest night of the year, and all the planning in the world will never cater for what actually happens. i think people should realise some responsibility for their own night as well, they should have arrived earlier, i went past in a taxi at 10.30 and the queue was down the street then, but i bet those people got plenty to drink before midnight and a coat hanger? who arrives at a HUGE club that holds that many people and expects not to have to queue at any time for a start, and then thinks that they can turn up at 40 minutes to 2009 at such a huge venue and expect to be in and dancing/drinking within seconds? that doesnt happen on a normal night in any club, never mind NYE. as for the cloakrooms, i kinda sympathise with the academy. what can they do? knock a bar out so you can hang your coat, but spend longer queuing for a drink? they cant make the place bigger. but then if you'd arrived in plenty of time then you would have hung your coat, how do you think all the other coats got in there? first come first served, thats the principle of fair customer service isnt it? like that trains, if your there sooner you get a seat, otherwise you are left standing, but you dont shout at the conductor no matter how much the ticket we live in a consumer society, talk with your feet, and leave the people that tried their best to get on with it. im sure they have done a "plan, do, review" on the night anyway and know what to change. personally i would put a warning on the tickets that if you turn up at a silly time you should expect to queue, not get a coat hanger, and the bar will close. then you cant rant about it cos you knew about it and didnt plan for it yourself, and ruined your own night. next time go somewhere else, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 Barnsleylad, I never said your comment was ridiculous, another poster did if you read it again. The night I attend is irrelevant, I expect more people but I expect the venue to have forecast for this and to react accordingly to increased demand. I myself didn't have a coat as I live in town anyway but plenty of girls did, didn't look good with them in their nice dresses after making an effort for the night with them lumping a Winter coat round the venue with them. I didn't arrive at a ridiculous time, Matt has said himself the majority of people arrived between 11:10 and 11:40. Matt said the queue problem was after 11 but watchcoll went past at 10:30 in a taxi and they were queuing down the street? Also as another poster pointed out, the Academy seems to have a stench when it's empty! As I've said, reward staff for their hard work but there's no need to compromise on customer service and profit margins to such an extent. I can't be bothered debate this anymore, people seem to think clubs are exempt from providing basic customer service and that's fair enough, I just disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchcoll Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 [quote= I can't be bothered debate this anymore, people seem to think clubs are exempt from providing basic customer service and that's fair enough, I just disagree. basic customer service is allowing you in and serving you the drink that you requested playing music and letting you dance. a cloakroom is an added service, (some clubs do not even have one) as is everything beyond that. you seem to have a very grand and convoluted vision of what you think should have been provided for you (bearing in mind 1600 other people were there also most of whom probably didnt get so worked up), a ticket is not a VIP pass meaning you should be held above and beyond everyone else, who has the same ticket. it just gets you in there.... when you eventually turn up and by matt saying the queue 'problem' was after 11pm, it was probably a problem because the people queuing started to panic because they hadnt arrived in time and saw the queue the people queuing before that werent a problem because they new theyd be in in time and no need to panic? the problem here was time, not amount of people, whos fault is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushup Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 You can't really plan for when people are going to turn up. I'm a club promoter myself and we generally expect the main bulk of people to arrive 11:30 - 12:30, but you can never really accurately plan for when they will arrive as their are so many factors to take into account. It's highly annoying having to queue to get in places but I don't think 20 minutes, particularly on NYE, is an unreasonable amount of time to wait. I've had to endure queues of well over an hour (sometimes over two hours) before at certain venues on NYE, as I'm sure plenty of other people have. I appreciate you may want to go to other pubs first but the venue opened at 9:30, whether you want to attend at that time or not is entirely your decision. Arrive early and walk straight in, putting your coat in the cloak room along the way to the dancefloor/bar. Arrive later and expect to queue, also running the risk of a full cloak room. Academy is a hugely popular venue and cloak room space is not unlimited. I don't believe it is fair to blame the venue for your stint in the cold, or the cloak room situation either. It isn't unusual for venues to close the bar for a short period on NYE. I've worked in many bars and clubs, and put events on at various clubs in Sheffield, trust me, this is standard practice. Academy/Carling/venue management or whoever is in charge will have planned for this break and any drop in profits will have been taken into account long before the event. Given that the event reached capacity, a 30 minute break in sales wont hit them too hard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 ok, having worked in clubs of various shapes and sizes over the last 15 years i can see that gamlastan and the other usual haters don't really have a clue about what they're talking about for the following reasons: clubs generally close the bar for at least 15 min on nye a venue of 2300 capacity will have big queues if everyone buys tickets - nothing you can do about this short of having 3 or 4 entrances a cloakroom will fill up more quickly when it is particularly cold (don't need a genius to work this one out) you can moan and groan all you like but it won't change things next year or the year after that - just get there early and make sure you have a drink in your hand way before midnight boring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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