Fixing Villa Park - All the small things

[Risso]

9 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

One thing about villa was that the stadium was always immaculate- John Gregory said as much in one of his podcast interviews - we were a Club with class and, even though things might be bad on the pitch we usually got it right off the pitch (usually).

It does, increasingly, feel ad though we have finally cracked the football side of the operation and are getting that right but have taken our eye off the ball with the off the pitch stuff. The pricing, even for retro gear, is ridiculous, and thread after thread here shows issues at Villa Park that they don't seem to be addressing.

Maybe certain things are on hold until the redevelopment starts? Either way, they need to improve.

Football operations are ludicously simple and predictable though, and they should be able to deal with more than one item at a time. They've got a season that runs between August and May, and they can predict pretty much to the penny what the turnover is.

[villarule123]

If you can get to the Villa when you've had a piss before, and eating before the game, you'll have a good experience as at least the games are fun to watch. The rest of the facilities around the ground are a disgrace. 

I make sure my kids are fed before and they have a bottle of water with them now just so we don't have to risk missing any of the game to get hold of either. 

Edited September 17, 2023 by villarule123

[maqroll]

2 hours ago, Kingman said:

The cash bar in lower holte at half time was a joke yesterday, 2/3 people serving and took over 20 minutes to get served. 

They have also put Guinness on draft that takes up valuable half time serving minutes and then Amstel runs out. 

To maximise the half time cash bar for service and efficiency either get more resources or just sell cans. 

Do they sell better beer than Amstel?

[Kingman]

59 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Do they sell better beer than Amstel?

Not sure on all the draft options as I had cans of purity ale 

[rodders0223]

Place is an absolute **** shithole and it's been long enough and clear enough the owners don't give a ****.

 

...but Emery. So you can't complain about anything.

The whole experience is an embarrassment.  Even tight Doug would be rolling in his grave.

[Follyfoot]

Half-time at the lower Holt, they had no pies and only two portions of chips and a bowl of empty curry sauce. More chips did arrive but walked out before then as did not want chips 

[sharkyvilla]

18 hours ago, Milfner said:

Was pissing into an almost overflowing urinal in the Upper Holte today. And then the hot tap didn't work. Dust still everywhere too 

I can't speak of VP but I swear there isn't a public toilet in the country that doesn't at least smell of clogged up piss these days, if it's not already overflowing.  Normally if there is hot water it's so hot you could make a cup of coffee from it.

[wilko154]

Same as the Everton game, piss overflowing from the urinals in the Upper Holte End; and ridiculously congested at half time due to limited toilet facilities in the stand now.

Chances of getting a pint at half time, practically none.

Chances of having a piss and getting a pint at half time, more chance of landing on the moon.

[Hank Scorpio]

8 hours ago, Risso said:

Football operations are ludicously simple and predictable though, and they should be able to deal with more than one item at a time. They've got a season that runs between August and May, and they can predict pretty much to the penny what the turnover is.

They can do all the PPM that can't be done during the season then as well.

 There's no excuse really it's evident from me just walking around the stadium for half an hour that things are not being managed correctly. 

[Stephen_Evans]

12 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

They can do all the PPM that can't be done during the season then as well.

 There's no excuse really it's evident from me just walking around the stadium for half an hour that things are not being managed correctly. 

There’s been a piece of insulation (or something that looks like it) protruding above the entrance to McGregor’s on the inside for years and years (the entrance where the trinity goes over the road).   It does make you wonder if the facilities and estate people ever leave their offices!

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, Stephen_Evans said:

There’s been a piece of insulation (or something that looks like it) protruding above the entrance to McGregor’s on the inside for years and years (the entrance where the trinity goes over the road).   It does make you wonder if the facilities and estate people ever leave their offices!

There's so much stuff I see week after week. It drives me insane. Its all quick fixes that are not expensive.

Cleaning the urinal traps and pipework really should be a given. It's not hard. Rivers of piss are easily avoided but they simply are not managing the estate the own.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Hank Scorpio

[sidcow]

On the Upper Holte food and drink issues yesterday I saw all 3 people in one of the lower Holte collection points just standing there waiting for someone to come to them with a drinks ticket. This was 20 minutes before kick off. 

The pre pay kiosks really do make an enormous difference.  The absolutely should have done this in The Upper Holte when making changes. 

I'm also amazed they haven't regardless.  I'm sure they must make more money.  My lad almost always has a pint before the game now.  Absolutely no way he would do that when it was 20 deep at the bar. 

[blunther]

7 hours ago, sidcow said:

On the Upper Holte food and drink issues yesterday I saw all 3 people in one of the lower Holte collection points just standing there waiting for someone to come to them with a drinks ticket. This was 20 minutes before kick off. 

The pre pay kiosks really do make an enormous difference.  The absolutely should have done this in The Upper Holte when making changes. 

I'm also amazed they haven't regardless.  I'm sure they must make more money.  My lad almost always has a pint before the game now.  Absolutely no way he would do that when it was 20 deep at the bar. 

The lower Holte options have improved the chances of getting a drink, but two annoyances from Saturday. First, my old man pre-ordered a pint and the machine said there was a printer error. He called over help who got him to order again when fixed. He said he's already paid for it, but there's a printer error. The staff insisted he won't have been charged. Guess what, charged twice. 

I went the other way to the self-service thing which worked great, except it seems that it charges you a quid just for entry! I know it's only a quid, but again it's just an extra bit of taking the piss. Makes a pint £6.80 or something. 

[The Fun Factory]

Thing is these large amounts of little things are rapidly becoming a big problem.  Especially when they are charging high prices and making the standard free facilities worse.

Edited September 18, 2023 by The Fun Factory

[rjw63]

Binnedunne yet?

[Risso]

Are the minutes from the advisory board meeting not available yet? Surely one of the conditions fromthe point of view of fans attending (who I'm grateful to by the way for sparing their time) should be that what's spoken about can be reported freely?  Or otherwise, what's the point?

[andycv]

I was in the Trinity at the weekend - and everything work fine there.  Is this just a Holte/Witton Lane issue?

[Villatillidie95]

Definitely not just a Holte/Witton Lane issue, North stand facilities are appaling. Another new thing the serving staff seem to be doing is leaving half pints of beer lined up at the front of the bar, however there is no method to the madness, the beer is sitting there going flat, then they poor another half in and serve it to you. What needs to happen is some common sense applied, with one person taking payment and another handing out full pints out rather than 1 que dealing with things....honestly it won't take much to improve the service but no one wants to get a grip on it it seems. Then there is the queing issue before games meaning you need to be there at least 30 mins before if you are at the back of the que

[tomav84]

47 minutes ago, Risso said:

Are the minutes from the advisory board meeting not available yet? Surely one of the conditions fromthe point of view of fans attending (who I'm grateful to by the way for sparing their time) should be that what's spoken about can be reported freely?  Or otherwise, what's the point?

imagine they need to make sure what's being reported is accurate and complete, and not being 'spun' in some way so expect someone will need to sign off on their release

[andycv]

14 minutes ago, Villatillidie95 said:

Definitely not just a Holte/Witton Lane issue, North stand facilities are appaling. Another new thing the serving staff seem to be doing is leaving half pints of beer lined up at the front of the bar, however there is no method to the madness, the beer is sitting there going flat, then they poor another half in and serve it to you. What needs to happen is some common sense applied, with one person taking payment and another handing out full pints out rather than 1 que dealing with things....honestly it won't take much to improve the service but no one wants to get a grip on it it seems. Then there is the queing issue before games meaning you need to be there at least 30 mins before if you are at the back of the que

I made assumptions the North is a bit rubbish as they're demolishing and rebuilding it!