Today, probably for the only time possible in my lifetime, I got to see the Olympic torch pass near where I live in South London. Below are two videos I took as the torch went by on Acre Lane, in-between Brixton and Clapham.
Build-up to the torch-bearer arriving:
The torch-bearer goes by:
by Jake McMillan
This is starting to become a bad habit, but just to satisfy the increasing number of folk who stumble upon this site looking for Amy Childs, here are a few hot photos:
Related Posts:
Okay, Some Nicole Scherzinger Photos
The Ultimate Male Fantasy
Top 10 Bond Girls
If Only More Music Videos Were Like This (NikitA)
by Jake McMillan
My ever so slightly sarcastic complaint to Coal Grill and Bar in Wimbledon triggered 2 responses from them.
The first response, later that day, was a polite but generic response from the Wimbledon branch of Coal:
They did misspell my name, but it was a quick response and I appreciated the acknowledgement of my complaint. However, there was no effort to get my custom back again?
The following day, 9th September 2011, I got an email from John Gater the Founder and CEO of the Coal Grill and Bar Group:
I was actually quite impressed that I got a personal email from the CEO stating that they were looking into it and would get back to me in a few days. I thought fair enough, every company dips in service now and again, has a bad day and/or makes a mistake. They deserve the chance to rectify it and show that it was not their normal standard.
John Gater
Over 3 weeks later, however, and I have heard nothing from John Gater or the rest of his staff. Coal staff in the restaurant were slow to actually respond but once they did, they actually did something. Whereas John was quick to respond but has been slow to do something.
I found this article written by John Gater in December 2007 regarding the difference in service between USA and the UK following a recent visit to the US:
‘It’s a bit frustrating on returning to the UK to find that the word “service” in the hospitality business here doesn’t seem to have the same meaning. …
Perhaps the answer is to ship loyal crews to the USA to give them first-hand experience in the art of meaningful service. If it weren’t for the cost, we’d probably start tomorrow.
On second thoughts, maybe the cost would be justified after all. I’ll see you at the airport.‘
Fast forward four years and perhaps John should take his own advice?
I get the feeling that John genuinely does care about good quality service for Coal customers and for whatever reason this is not being carried out well at the Wimbledon outlet. If things are improved or I just happened to go on bad nights, then I would be very happy to hear back from him.
Related Stories:
My England Manager (Football) Application
Complaint to Hampshire Council about ‘New’ Forest
Complaint about Vagisil Name
by Jake McMillan
I wrote a letter of complaint to the Coal Grill and Bar in Wimbledon (below). Unlike the silly letters to the FA about applying to be England Manager, complaining to Hampshire Council that the New Forest is not new, asking for Vagisil to change its name, this complaint is a genuine one.
I wasn’t trying to be funny, however I was going for a hint of sarcasm but I am not sure I managed it? Read the below and see how you think I did? The email had the Subject Line of ‘Congratulations on Your Service’.
I am writing to congratulate you on your truly unique standard of service.
-In these difficult economic times most bars and restaurants are only too eager to encourage customers on their premises to eat and drink, whereas you stand apart in letting thirsty and hungry patrons sit gloriously unattended.
I really do admire your lack of greed and desire for profitability to let potential sales of drinks and food go amiss and let willing customers sit and chat assured in the knowledge they are not in any danger of being served anytime soon. It is a refreshing approach to want customers to spend less as well as helping with their diet and health by letting them drink and eat as little as possible.
Some naive restaurateurs would use your proximity to the Odeon Cinema and the footfall of customers this must bring as an opportunity to maximise sales, but no, you expertly have created an environment where you only serve customers if they really do demand it. Why have staff running around asking customers if they want a drink or to order some food when they can just stand around doing nothing.
I have had the pleasure of your unique service on several occasions this year, before I ventured into the cinema, and I really must commend you on the diligence of your staff to stand inside looking out at willing and ready to be served customers and refusing to be drawn in to the trap of taking their order.
I waited 40mins earlier this week sat outside in your area of 12 tables waiting to be attended to. Normally I have to wait sometime to be served, but this day was special in the fact I was sat at a completely empty table hoping to order a drink and a member of staff did come out eventually but cunningly avoided my attempts to get his attention or notice that there were no drinks or food on my table.
As a user of the FourSquare social networking tool, I was able to see that other customers of yours have had a similar experiences to my own and applaud you on your consistent level of service.
Once your staff have been accosted or tricked into actually serving, they are amazingly average in politeness and proficiency.
When I got the bill earlier this week I also had to admire how you have cleverly managed to minimise the 20% discount offered (either from showing Odeon tickets or VoucherCloud code) by applying the discount to the total including the amusingly named ‘optional’ service charge (10%) which I was forced to pay. It was very astute of you to realise I now did not have the time to dispute this as I had to rush off to see the film I had booked tickets for.
Well done on choosing an alternative approach to service and having the bravery to implement it so deftly.
Yours
Jake McMillan
I couldn’t find any director level contacts, so sent this to the Manager of Coal at Wimbledon and their Marketing person. It triggered a general response that day but the following day I got an email from John Gater, the Founder and CEO of the Coal Bar and Grill Group.
COAL RESPOND to my complaint: Click here >>>
Related Stories:
My England Manager (Football) Application
Complaint to Hampshire Council about ‘New’ Forest
Complaint about Vagisil Name
All too often now we are hearing messages on buses and on the London Underground that we are being held here “to regulate the service”. We are told that regulating the service is so that people do not have to wait at train stations and bus stops longer than necessary. This is all sounds logical, but does not take into consideration the psychology of passengers.
None of us like to wait and we don’t want to wait any longer than we have to. However, psychologically we are used to and expect to wait on station platforms and at bus stops. We are not used to having to wait on buses and trains that are deliberately not moving.
Once we have waited for and got onto a mode of transport, we don’t want it stop and wait, we want and demand that it gets to our destination as soon as possible! We would actually rather wait longer at the bus top or on the platform than to have to wait arbitrarily to regulate the service. We already did our waiting at the bus stop, why do we need to more?
I often have to catch a bus to get to a nearby station, Clapham Junction (South London), and usually there is a specific train I am trying to catch. If you’ve had to wait a while at the bus stop for it to arrive and you know it is going to be close as to whether you will make the train, the last thing you want is the bus stopping to regulate the service. You know full well the bus ‘could’ be moving but the bus operator has decided you have to wait. So now I am worrying I am going to miss my train and it won’t be because of traffic or because I left too little time to catch the bus. It will be because of regulating the effing service! This does not sit well and only goes to aggravate passengers.
So please transport regulators out there, remember us passengers will always moan about waiting, but psychologically we are okay with waiting on platforms and at bus stops. Once we are on the transport, we want it to keep moving!
h
