The Coronation pub in Bristol has announced that it is introducing an unusual scheme under which customers will receive a discount for ordering their drinks from the table using a QR code rather than at the bar.
Customers who insist on ordering at the bar of the Bristol boozer will now pay up to 30p a pint more than those who order via the online menu. It means a pint of Southville Session house lager costs customers £3.50 at the bar – but only £3.20 if they order through the QR code.I would have thought carrying drinks to tables creates more work for the staff than dispensing them at the bar, so it seems counter-intuitive that table service should be cheaper. It’s illegal to impose a surcharge for paying by card rather than cash, so by the same token surely the reverse should be true as well. The report goes on to say:A pint of Korev lager is £4.20 at the bar or £4 at the table, while Guinness is £5 at the bar or £4.80 at the table. A pint of Proper Job, the Cornish ale, will be £3.50 when ordered online, instead of £3.80 at the bar.
‘The app gives the pub a nice atmosphere, there's no queuing at the bar, no hassle at the bar, and you don't have to interrupt your drink to go up and order’, Mr Cheshire said. He said engaging with customers could be ‘mentally draining’ over the course of an eight-hour shift, and the digital system made things easier for himself and his staff.Oh, the poor things! If he thinks interacting with staff in a pub is “mentally draining” it sounds like he’s in the wrong business. The interaction between staff and customers, and between customers at the bar, is a crucial part of the atmosphere of pubs. Much of that is lost if people are just sitting at tables and tappingat a phone to get their drinks brought to them.
Hearteningly, the report states that 90% of the pub’s clientele are continuing to order at the bar, so obviously they’re not impressed with the scheme. If I lived locally I’d certainly think long and hard before going there. It is worth noting, though, that the beer prices do seem pretty good value for anywhere, let alone Bristol.
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no one that actively avoids interaction with customers should be working in a pub, let alone running one!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, but I suspect many of the younger generations will disagree. We seem to be raising a generation who avoid human interaction at all costs.
DeleteWhat you and Jonathan said! Guy is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteIf he offered an app as well as bar ordering, so what? Spoons do. But the discount is a pointless gimmick that needlessly winds people up.
DeleteTandleman,
DeleteAn idiot, except that he knows customers are less likely to ask for a short "pint" to be topped up at their table than if it had been bought at the bar counter.
Love this story. A man with a business cutting his own path and not following a well trod one. Where will it lead? Failure or Success? We can all guess.
ReplyDeleteEither way, he did it his way !
What if tho, lads? This is the canary in the coal mine. We've seen queueing in pubs, now a move to table service. A cultural change is underway to remove the bar scrum. To add a bit of service considering what you're expected to pay.
ReplyDeleteBringing civilisation to the pub. Hurray!
DeleteI hate it when it is my round. Not merely because I have to put my hand in my pocket. But because I have to leave an interesting conversation and go and try to persuade indifferent bar staff to stop looking at their phone and sell me some beer
Pubs sometime seem to be the hardest places in town to get a drink. We call one of our locals "The Temperance Bar" because it is so difficult to get a pint
Nonsense, the bar scrum has returned with a vengeance since the end of lockdowns. Spoons and those food court places are pretty much the only places where app ordering is the norm.
DeleteOnce table service ceased being compulsory after Covid, one of pubs near me declared they were keeping it. You like table service, they said. We like table service, they said. Table service is staying, they said. Can still go to the bar though, if you want, but you all like table service, so...
ReplyDeleteFour years on, next to no one orders via table service and most people go straight to the bar. Turns out most people weren't that fussed about table service. The novelty wore off.