"We’re failing if we’re not satisfying the customers" - Nino Raisys, Area Manager, Stadiums, Lindley Catering
The debate about service on match days at the Open Forum on Thursday 28 February lasted for about an hour, 50 minutes of this was spent discussing the quality of the food and service provided by Lindley’s on match days, principally from the kiosks.
The quote above wasn’t an admission of guilt it was a statement of fact, one that both Deborah Pincham and Nino Raisys have assured us they will seek to rectify immediately. They pointed out hat it will take time but assured us of their commitment to getting it right. I honestly believe they were surprised by the strength of feeling about the quality of service and the food.
There was much discussion about why Lindley’s can’t or won’t open the bar for open forums and fundraising events .
It transpired that Lindley’s contract with the club is for match days only and that overheads for events such as open forums and fund raisers would be too high, although we do intend to discuss this further with Deborah and Nino.
There were many among us who we very cynical about the bar being open for this particular forum, however Lindley’s assured the assembled fans that it was a goodwill gesture. They had 3 members of staff with them and provided a selection of snacks (same food as on match days) for people to try. The consensus of opinion was that it tasted much better on Thursday than it ever has in the ground on match days.
It also became clear that there aren’t the facilities at Sixfields to provide a greater variety. All of the food served in the kiosks is precooked and reheated prior to being served from the kiosks. They have explored options to increase the variety but are hampered by not being able to use ‘gas’ on site because of restrictions due to the methane bubbling under and around the ground and any griddles or fryers would be subject to scrutiny from the fire service and at this point probably not cost effective.
It is hoped that this can be addressed if and when the club get the go ahead to redevelop the ground. Tony Platt pushed for Lindleys to take this forward and Deborah agreed she would.
There were also a lot of complaints about the service on match days, long queues, poor service and overcooked pies, a lack of soup no healthy eating options and general dissatisfaction about the poor customer service from the kiosk staff upstairs in the West Stand.
So, what can you now expect on Matchdays?
More staff, better customer service and staff wearing name badges. Lindley’s want you to give them your feedback, had they known about these problems they would have tried to rectify them sooner.
Contact details will be put up in the kiosks for the catering manger. Abusive calls will not be tolerated but constructive criticism will be listened too. You can also let Paula Kane know if you experience poor service anywhere at the club and she will forward your comments to the relevant people or you can visit us at the Kiosk on Matchdays, or use the suggestion box in the ticket office.
Also present were Bob Jobes, Director of Vandanel and Paula Kane, Customer Services Manager at the club.
Bob has undertaken to trial late night opening on Thursdays to see if there is a genuine need for it; hopefully matching the box office hours, and he will monitor it’s cost effectiveness.
In response to comments about fans preferences for the North stand to be ‘pay on the day’ or have unreserved seating, Paula was able to confirm that the club will trial unreserved seating next season. Any season tickets holders seats will be marked up as reserved but fans will be free to sit anywhere else. If there are complaints form season ticket holders that fans are abusing this, it will be withdrawn. Paula confirmed that it would not be cost effective to do this in the West Stand.
Anthony Collett will take back to the board the question about why fans are no longer able to put forward designs or vote on the players kit.
NTFC Supporters Ltd would like to thank representatives of Lindleys Catering, Vandanel and NTFC for attending the Open Forum and also thank the fans who attended for helping to highlight the various issues.
