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Half time.

How bad is that concourse to get a drink or something to eat at half time ? 30 minutes to get a portion of chips and drink for my daughter.

You have one young kid serving two rows, it’s not rocket science is it? The more staff you javelin the more food/ beer you serve, more money you generate rather than people walking away 
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Comments

  • Wheresmeticket
    Wheresmeticket Posts: 17,304
    edited August 2023
    How bad is that concourse to get a drink or something to eat at half time ? 30 minutes to get a portion of chips and drink for my daughter.

    You have one young kid serving two rows, it’s not rocket science is it? The more staff you javelin the more food/ beer you serve, more money you generate rather than people walking away 
    Always like this.

    In Plymouth you get a pint of decent beer in 2 minutes. The Valley you need to leave your seat before the half time whistle and drink your piss quickly to see the second half kick off.
  • AFKABartram
    AFKABartram Posts: 57,825
    edited August 2023
    How bad is that concourse to get a drink or something to eat at half time ? 30 minutes to get a portion of chips and drink for my daughter.

    You have one young kid serving two rows, it’s not rocket science is it? The more staff you javelin the more food/ beer you serve, more money you generate rather than people walking away 
    In the East I went out at HT and saw someone I knew queuing for a beer. Walked about with my lad and as we were going back into the stand 15 mins later as the game was starting the bloke was still about 6th in his queue. 

    The East was less than a half full as well, so the queues were no different to normal. Always goes back to the wall and blocks the walkway. Imagine West Lower is the same 
  • carly burn
    carly burn Posts: 19,459

  • DA9
    DA9 Posts: 11,091
    Left my seat in F block covered end, 7-8 minutes before HT due to previous experience with the waiting time.
    20 minutes in the queue to be told I would have to wait another 5 minutes for a bhaji burger, so told him just to give me anything that was already cooked, by the time I got back to my seat we had kicked off again.
    Not enough staff and the ones that were there were not exactly proactive.
    Everytime somebody ordered chips you had the ridiculous situation of one woman at the back making them to order, which is never going to work with the numbers to serve queuing, seems they don’t want to have food pre prepared for fear of wastage, which I get to a certain degree but it needs more thought and Gather & Gather need a better strategy.
    Even more ridiculously, the server stopped dead waiting for chips rather than trying to serve anybody else, hence even longer waits.
    The whole thing is completely amateur and needs an overhaul, I for one won’t be queuing again and will eat before going into the ground, more lost revenue for the club.
    Not enough staff, and badly trained and supervised ones that are there.
  • charlton4ever
    charlton4ever Posts: 1,716
    It was awful in lower covered end

  • ButtleJR
    ButtleJR Posts: 1,586
    edited August 2023
    Genuinely think they should have a cart going up and down the concourse selling bottles to alleviate the queues a bit. Doubt they'll get more staff as catering is outsourced so not really down to the club.  
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,844
    How bad is that concourse to get a drink or something to eat at half time ? 30 minutes to get a portion of chips and drink for my daughter.

    You have one young kid serving two rows, it’s not rocket science is it? The more staff you javelin the more food/ beer you serve, more money you generate rather than people walking away 
    If they javelin staff, no wonder there aren't enough left to serve the customers!
  • The food and drink offering and staffing is woeful - from now on I will stay in the Oak until 15 mins before kick off - never getting a beer inside the ground again - no disrespect, as they are mainly kids, but most of them don’t know how to pour a beer properly - bought my mate a beer, and the head on it looked like it belonged in an old fashioned barbers shop when they are about to shave you using a cut throat razor !!!
  • guinnessaddick
    guinnessaddick Posts: 28,617

    A bit OTT, bloke only asked for 3000 pints of Guinness.
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  • lordromford
    lordromford Posts: 7,783
    End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters.
    At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself.
    And we missed the first equaliser.

    The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience.
    I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.

    Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
  • shine166
    shine166 Posts: 13,917
    edited August 2023
    End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters.
    At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself.
    And we missed the first equaliser.

    The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience.
    I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.

    Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
    Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
  • stevexreeve
    stevexreeve Posts: 1,386
    shine166 said:
    End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters.
    At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself.
    And we missed the first equaliser.

    The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience.
    I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.

    Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
    Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
    And true spectators get fed up with streams of people constantly pushing past carrying trays of drinks while the game goes on. Baseball in particular is trying to be more "intense" so that people actually sit and watch it! 

    Surely anyone can last two hours  without needing some chips!


  • CharltonKerry
    CharltonKerry Posts: 2,958
    My son who went out early at half time in the west lower stand to get a coke and a black coffee (over £6 which is incidentally a ridiculous price), got served fairly quickly, but would have been served much quicker but had to wait until a server that had been trained to use hot water was available. 
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 23,314
    Just do what I do and go to the Old Cottage Shop cafe in Charlton Park before the game. Cheaper, nicer, much friendlier
  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448
    Leuth said:
    Just do what I do and go to the Old Cottage Shop cafe in Charlton Park before the game. Cheaper, nicer, much friendlier
    Yeah. I used to go there, recommended.
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 23,314
    I mean, don't ALL go there, I'll never get a seat
  • Lewis Coaches
    Lewis Coaches Posts: 5,408
    End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters.
    At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself.
    And we missed the first equaliser.

    The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience.
    I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.

    Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
    Would appear Cheltenham are clueless. 
    How about feeding the kids before the match starts next time.
  • shine166
    shine166 Posts: 13,917
    shine166 said:
    End of last season I went to the game at Cheltenham and was in the home end as I was with family. Bear in mind, this is a smaller ground with less punters.
    At halftime, my nephews wanted a bite to eat. There were two kiosks for the whole stand. There was a sign on the first one saying “NO CHIPS use other kiosk” with an arrow. We went to the other kiosk where there was an enormous queue that was barely moving. By the time we got within about twenty people from the front, people who had been served were telling us they’d run out of food. Some brave soul called out “Have you got any food left?” and was greeted with apologetic shrugs. The queue dispersed and on closer inspection, they had a squashed sausage roll and a couple of mystery items. And no chips. And no drinks. We returned to the other kiosk (second half had kicked off, but nephews (and us too) were hungry and it’d become a bit of a mission) there was a shorter queue now, but the options were very limited. I think we had some sort of sausage roll or pie - can’t remember, but there wasn’t much choice left - and 4 cups of tea. The food was ok but a bit meh. The teas were the temperature of the surface of the sun. You genuinely couldn’t hold the polystyrene cup for longer than 10 seconds, the tea was so hot. Burnt my lips. Twice. (I’m an idiot). One of the nephews had his lid pop off so spilled it all over himself, fortunately managed to lean forward so he didn’t burn himself.
    And we missed the first equaliser.

    The whole experience brought home to me why I generally don’t visit the kiosks when I go to live football. It’s invariably a disappointing and frustrating experience.
    I expect the lack of chips (and sufficient other options) on this occasion was a decision not to overstock as the season was nearly over, but still, you’d expect them to have enough to cater for an expected crowd right? But the lack of choice, clueless staff and bizarre overheating of tea reminded me that it’s not just Charlton.

    Compare it to watching live sport in the US, it’s a different animal. There’s variety and choice and loads of places to get food quickly. Yes it’s still pricey, but those yanks sure know how to take your money. The British are clueless.
    Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
    And true spectators get fed up with streams of people constantly pushing past carrying trays of drinks while the game goes on. Baseball in particular is trying to be more "intense" so that people actually sit and watch it! 

    Surely anyone can last two hours  without needing some chips!


    I've been twice and am pretty sure that baseball was invented to sell hotdogs. 
  • Lewis Coaches
    Lewis Coaches Posts: 5,408
    My son who went out early at half time in the west lower stand to get a coke and a black coffee (over £6 which is incidentally a ridiculous price), got served fairly quickly, but would have been served much quicker but had to wait until a server that had been trained to use hot water was available. 
    How do these prices compare to lower west?
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  • CharltonKerry
    CharltonKerry Posts: 2,958
    My son who went out early at half time in the west lower stand to get a coke and a black coffee (over £6 which is incidentally a ridiculous price), got served fairly quickly, but would have been served much quicker but had to wait until a server that had been trained to use hot water was available. 
    How do these prices compare to lower west?
    Cheaper, looking at prices a coffee and a Pepsi would be £5.50 there where I believe he paid £6.15, pre game in the west lower I brought a water and coke which was £5.85 where as there it would have been £5.25p
  • guinnessaddick
    guinnessaddick Posts: 28,617
    Leuth said:
    Just do what I do and go to the Old Cottage Shop cafe in Charlton Park before the game. Cheaper, nicer, much friendlier
    Probably quicker to go up there at HT and get back for the second half.
  • shine166 said:

    Huge difference, is that sports in the US are glorified food and merch selling events spread out over many hours
    It’s eye-wateringly expensive though. I was at a MLB game in LA 3 weeks ago and cheapest beer was USD18; that’s  over 14 quid for a 700ml can.
  • oohaahmortimer
    oohaahmortimer Posts: 34,145
    So anyone who left for anything just before ht missed the goal 
    I don’t care how hungry thirsty I am , the feeling of a Charlton goal trumps all .

    fuck queuing for that shit paying over the top and being near aggy people , no fucking way 

    good crossbar challenge yesterday as well , decent effort a little over .
  • oohaahmortimer
    oohaahmortimer Posts: 34,145
    When the kids were younger and admittedly it was the Roland era and i was spending nothing at the club , I would bring a rucksack with food/drink for them , the way the system is now I’d prolly do the same , queuing and missing the footy , no thanks 
  • Perhaps referees should add on stoppage time for half time when a beer pump runs out or a new batch of chips are needed. I think the staff at The Valley are deliberately time wasting and it needs to be stamped out.
  • fadgadget
    fadgadget Posts: 1,391
    Cant see why they dont do what a lot of the big open air venues do . seems like a small outlay for equipment .
     
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,022
    Queued before the game yesterday. After best part of 10 mins, the queue hadn't moved at all and we were still blocking the concourse and standing uncomfortably close to the ladies loos. Gave up at that point and might not bother again. 

    It's a poor service anyway. As someone else has said they don't know how to pour a pint. I've long since given up telling them to get their grubby hands off my rim. It's a lesson never learnt, their fingers seem drawn to it.

    If only Burger Boy hadn't been so ridiculously over-promoted he could have been sorting this out rather than swanning round like the great I am outside The West Stand in his poorly fitting shiny suit.
  • redman
    redman Posts: 5,285
    Reminds me why I always take a flask and chocolate bars!