AMF If can't Provide Get It From Somewhere Else.

[KnuckleHead]

OK i work at forest hill bowl and it has on the front door u can't bring in outside food and drinks. Now if the AMF canteen can't provide what u wan't like a Smoothie should u be able to bring it from with in the center cause AMF can't provide it so just wondering what every bodies opinion is and from other centers. Now this happend just recently aswell. so wanna know what everyone says this includes privatly owend centers aswell.
Chris

 

[Luke D]

From a marketing point of view, it is a smart regulation to have. By not allowing the customers to bring in outside food or drinks, the customer is forced to either wait til they've finished bowling and go elsewhere, or to choose something from the cafe to satisfy their hunger/thirst. AMF (or any other bowl as it's certainly not just an AMF made rule) gain extra revenue from the public through the cafe takings.

 

[BrenH]

AMF can't provide everything and since the companies policy is no outside food or drink to be brought into the centre its my opinion that as a staff member you should respect the company policy.

If customers see you in uniform bringing in food from another place many are likely to see this behaviour as acceptable and simply ignore the policy, making it harder for you or someone else on shift to try enforcing it.
Easier to just leave non-AMF food outside the centre and have it somewhere else in the complex, an easy option considering the centre you work at.

This won't affect a lot of centres but can be seen as a big issue for staff at the centres where many alternative options for food or drink are close by.

Well thats my opinion.
Peace.
Brendan

 

[Cam S]

this also happens at some sporting stadiums

Totally understand why from a business sense but i think it would be much fairer to ban commerically bought food coming in to their centres . our sport is pretty expensive and sometimes a family who bowl league or who have paid to enter a tournament may not be able to afford bowling centre food for that reason sandwiches brought in and water bottles shouldnt be an issue. but if managed a bowl and people were bringing maccas and kfc into my centre i would have a problem with that.

 

[Tiger]

Been around for awhile now this issue.

I can see AMF's point of view in many ways, it's just like how the cinemas don't allow outside food to be brought in either, and other establishments are pretty much the same.

Back in the 90's a lot of the elderly ladies that played in the morning ladies leagues and the Wednesday night league used to bring in their thermos', cups, teabags, to make cups of tea and bring in cakes, biscuits, sandwiches etc for their team members and fellow players to tuck into, sort of an old tradition in those ladies leagues as much as a protest at cafe prices - which are obscene in my opinion.

It caused quite a stir when they were told that they were no longer allowed to do that and some of them got very angry about it, some told them to stick it, and others thumbed thier noses at it completely.

Not sure how strongly they enforce the policy now, but there are signs on the doors now.

 

[Blues Forever]

If and when AMF centres provide reasonably priced quality food I would be more than happy to purchase from them.

At this point AMF's pricing policies reflects the consideration they have for regular customers (bowlers) who spend considerable amounts each week in their centres.

I acknowlege that most staff try to provide service, as you would reasonably expect, but at some centres, it is obvious that either local or overall policies prohibit any real customer service or consideration.

One could only imagine if some real innovative ideas and a team oriented management style were implemented what it would do for bowling overall - 'no wonder some businesses fail'

I will no longer purchase anything from AMF in protest and hope, if more do the same, it will force a change.

(p.s - cant speak for all centres, just some I have experienced - would be interesting to rate your centre on key components 1. customer service 2. pricing 3. leadership (manager) 4. bowler support 5. conditions 6. staff loyalty 7. technical expertise)

 

[Easy Tiger]

(p.s - cant speak for all centres, just some I have experienced - would be interesting to rate your centre on key components 1. customer service 2. pricing 3. leadership (manager) 4. bowler support 5. conditions 6. staff loyalty 7. technical expertise)

Wouldn't that be an interesting proposition. I guess point 3 can't apply if a centre doesn't have a manager or assistant manager currently (so the story goes, not mentioning names). Well I guess this has an effect on point 6 (if it existed anyway, I could baffle you with some turnover figures). That just might have an effect on point 1. Which then puts point 4 out of the question. I'm not going to even touch point 5, because this relates to both points 7, 4, 3 and 1. That leaves one other - point 2. No comment. But bowling is in such great shape in every aspect, why would any of this matter? Call me the village idiot if you will, but surely anyone can see that this example acts as a compass for the rest of bowling in general. But still the cycle continues on its merry way, seemingly unstopable. It's amazing, but nothing ever changes. The moral of this story? Hire good managers who are qualified in a business related disipline with a knowledge of the bowling industry, and give them at least some kind of autonomy over their centres. Allow them to build some kind of decent organisational culture, and lo-and-behold bowling might start to turn around in Australia. They seem like pretty simple principles don't they? I'm not one to go by the textbook, but even the textbook sitting on the shelf to my right says the same thing. Perhaps the principle works!

With regards to food and drink being brought into bowling centres, its the same deal. Do you want bowling to be appealing to families or not?? I do not know of many families that are willing to come in with 4 kids and buy from the Cafe. Sure I can see a problem with hot food and so forth from Maccas or Subway, but anything else, just let them bring it in. In essence - any signage saying "any commercial hot food is not permitted in this centre. Thankyou" would be quite sufficient. Sandwiches, packet chips, etc should all be allowed.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Blues Forever]

Here Here......................

 

[daniel]

The policy is in place at most centres, AMF and independant to assist in cafe revenue, as stated. The same goes for most other entertainment values.

However.. as having worked for AMF for 3 years I do know that the prices there are ridiculous, as Blues Forever says. I got to a point where I could not justify charging the prices that they charged ($2.80 for a bucket of chips that costs 45c to produce!) and hence went independent - where we only charge $2 for the same size.

There is no point in not buying from an AMF cafe in protest hoping for a change. A change will not come - however you will save money, which is a decent reason to not purchase!

The way the mindset will work is, cafe sales down = bad manager, cafe sales down = bad pricing structure. The business mind, unfortunately, does not work that way..

Oh and back to the main point, if customers can't bring it in then my staff can't either.. makes sense everywhere

Cheers
Daniel
good luck and high scoring!

 

[janey]

As a parent who has supported 2 children - now both adults - on the circuit and living in the country - therefore travelling and needing accommodation to attend all tournaments except our own I can only agree that the food in most cafes is very expensive. There is also the difficulty of providing a nutritious snack. Even at tournaments one is unlikely to see a fruit option available. Water prices seem to be very high and the sport drinks are just cost prohibitive.

For the sake of the sport we need to actively encourage junior bowlers, this inevitably means appealing to parents at a number of levels and the hip pocket is a significant factor in the equation.

Additionally the need to provide for special diets can be difficult at a café. Don’t get me wrong my husband and I support our local bowl and café with the family bowling 5 leagues a week and purchasing 5 dinners per week – but there is a lack of variety and never any vegetables other than salad. We do need to exercise some muscle if we want it to be different. Try talking to the café supremo – I did and it made a difference.

Janey

 

[Tiger]

However.. as having worked for AMF for 3 years I do know that the prices there are ridiculous, as Blues Forever says. I got to a point where I could not justify charging the prices that they charged ($2.80 for a bucket of chips that costs 45c to produce!) and hence went independent - where we only charge $2 for the same size.

LOL I had 4 egg & bacon rolls with tomato sauce for tea at the bowl last Sunday night - $14.40 ($3.60 each)

Got one at the local shop during the week, and four there would add up to about $8.40 ($2.10 each)
Pretty fair ol' discrepancy there.

 

[bon316]

I dont go to restaurants to bowl, and I dont go bowling for their food.

Just a thought though - if the food was good and reasonably priced the cafes could probably attract customers who come by choice.

 

[Blues Forever]

Some more food for thought........
At our last league night, during league introductions, we were castigated like little children and told chapter and verse about the perils of cosuming food not purchased at the centre.

This dictatorial method ruined the night for many people by taking from the family oriented atmosphere the league has woked hard at forming. One team, regularly used to bring in home made treats for the team members and they were singled out and told the practise was to cease.

Is this a way of promoting leagues and encouraging people to participate and enjoy league bowling ? or is it a narrow minded, penny pinching, money grabbing feature of customer service we are now being forced to accept by being told " if you dont like it leave "

You only have to look at the lineage and the number of leagues struggling for teams to come to the conclusion - they are leaving


Signed very very very dissappointed bowler

 

[jason_doust]

Having a look at what is on offer in most bowling centre cafe's, I am inclined to think that forcing staff to eat from them could well be a) a restrictive trade practice as well as b) a long term health and safety issue!

 

[Sydpies]

The thing about the the discussion regarding food brought into the centre, do you think that AMF will actually ban their league bowlers if they brought food into the centre.........I dont think so........not only would they lose dollars on food/ drinks but no bowling dollars for games either. Most centres are doing it hard with declining league bowlers for all sort of reasons,but I can not see AMF actually telling current league bowlers "you are banned". This would put their weekly budget into hyperdrive........

 

[Finchy]

We have teams in our Wednesday night league that constantly bring in their own drinks, especially water or soft drink as the prices at the AMF cafe are exhorbitant (? spelling). About $3.60 for a Powerade and around $3.00 for a bottle of water is ridiculous when you can get them heaps cheaper from the supermarket.

On the tournament bowling front, I would not go and bowl in a tournament without several large bottles of water (1.5 litre) and a few bananas, carrot sticks, maybe a couple of chocolate bars and the like. I could easily drink 2-3 large bottles of water when bowling in a tournament as my body's tendancy to overheat is huge, as can be attested by those people who have seen how red in the face I become. The only wayto lower your body's core temperature is to have a heap of cold water, and I'll be damned if I am going to fork out over $20 just for bottles of water from the bowl. As regards to the food, you need this type of quick energy fix when you are bowling 10 - 12 games and there are definitely no centres that sell cut up fruit and vegies...

If centres allow competing teams to bring in their own food for tournaments like Dunn Shield and Emerson Shield, how can they disallow league bowlers doing the same thing?

You can police it all you want, but you will never completely get rid of it.

Just my opinion.

 

[Finchy]

Just one more thought came to mind after I had submitted my last post.

Surely the centres make enough of a margin on their social bowlers, functions and kids' parties food purchases that they don't need to force their pricing onto the league bowlers as well.

We are spending enough money coming there week in week out during the year that we are fully justified in bringing our own food/snacks/drinks from home.

 

[slatergirl]

You are not going to stop the practice of people bringing in their own food, and as everyone has stated on this post if prices were more reasonable maybe the turnover for the cafes would be better and we would all be happy.
I also agree with Finchy - it's a disgrace as a league bowler we shouldn't have to pay ridiculous prices from the AMF Cafes.
You are not going to stop this from happening - I personally will continue with bringing in my own food from home as i prefer to eat my own food instead of buying from the cafe.

 

[M[E]L[i]s[S]a]

I also agree with Finchy - it's a disgrace as a league bowler we shouldn't have to pay ridiculous prices from the AMF Cafes

no one is forcing you to buy food from the cafes whether you're a league bowler or not...isn't the point that you choose to bowl every week, no body forces you to do that either, therefore why should "league bowlers" be considered any different to anyone else.
surely you see the point that to bowl league each and every week is your choice, no body makes you bowl, nobody makes you eat the cafe food and perhaps we should just enjoy bowling for what it is.

 

[patrick]

no one is forcing you to buy food from the cafes whether you're a league bowler or not...isn't the point that you choose to bowl every week, no body forces you to do that either, therefore why should "league bowlers" be considered any different to anyone else.
surely you see the point that to bowl league each and every week is your choice, no body makes you bowl, nobody makes you eat the cafe food and perhaps we should just enjoy bowling for what it is.

that kind of attitude is exactly why bowling has gone nowhere but down the s h i tter in the past 15 years!

NOBODY IS FORCING YOU TO BE HERE!
remember when your teacher used to say that to you? what did you do? you LEFT!


bloody-oath league bowlers should be treated differently! they should be treated with the kind of respect and grattitude that loyal, returning customers deserve!
they aren't just "walk-in's" - they are something a manager can budget on - garunteed money!
they take time out of their lives to bowl each week, they might take time out of their working schedules, family's, educations, etc etc, to bowl.

why does any respectable big business have a rewards program of some description? because they understand that it's more than THREE times cheaper to keep a customer than it is to attract a new customer!! they'll fight to keep a loyal customer before they'll fight to get a new one.


"nobody forces you to do xxxx"

sure, nobody is forcing me to, but they definitely aren't (or at least dont seem to be) trying to persuade me to keep doing it, or to do it in the first place, are they!?

people joke about having to take out mortgages to pay for petrol. clearly those people haven't been bowling recently!
I took some friends bowling a while back, and we ended up going to the cinemas instead because it was cheaper!


why would anyone pay to eat or drink at a bowling centre when they can go to maccas on the way to the bowl or on the way home, get the same crappy quality food, and pay half the price?