all i wanted was a burger

[BELFAST_BLUE_BOY]

Dear fans,

As CEO of Manchester City I regularly check this forum to gauge the opinion of the fans and, where possible, intervene to ensure Manchester City provides an excellent matchday service for you, the fans.

It bothers me to read of the upset our recent price increases have caused you and I feel you are deserving of an explanation and, essentially, a negotiation.

Sheikh Mansour insisted that this year our manager, Roberto Mancini, would be given an open chequebook to sign whichever players he felt would make our squad capable of challenging for major honours this season, whatever the price. He did, however, state that as a minor compensation to his personal outlay he would request price increases on all food and drink and, to a lesser extent, matchday tickets.

As a contributor to the planning and implementation of the price changes I can honestly say that neither me, nor any of the other team members, thought a price change of this scale would cause such uproar amongst our supporters; the best in the land.

I feel personally responsible for assuming that you, the fans, would recognise the need for small increases in price and therefore have set into motion a strategy that will see the prices return to that of last season, as agreed with Sheikh Mansour.

After long negotiations with europe's top clubs, we have agreed preliminary outgoing transfer agreements for Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Emmanuel Adebayor, Yaya Toure, Joleon Lescott, Yaya Toure and have agreed with Lazio to take Javier Garrido back in exchange for Aleksandr Kolarov. We also have preliminary contracts on the table to bring Jihai Sun, Joey Barton, Claudio Reyna, Trevor Sinclair and Emile Mpenza back to the club.

The Sheikh has reluctantly agreed to sign off on these transfers so that your matchday beverages and tickets can return to that of last season and, if you should wish, further transfers of this nature can be negotiated to ensure your food and drink are the cheapest in the league, ney the world.

I hope this effort is appreciated and you can continue to enjoy coming to watch Manchester City and eating/drinking with a smile on your face.

Yours sincerely,

Garry Cook.

well said

Thank God....cheers Mr Cooke....

 

[Garry.Cook]

Puts things into perspective though right?

 

[JuniorBlue]

.

 

[BTH]

As great as this thread is there are, it appears, numerous people who are prepared to spend a king's ransom on gourmet prices for seemingly second rate fodder (and are somehow surprised by the fare!?) while on another thread there are numerous people who are not prepared to first rate ticket prices for what should be a first class game of football against Liverpool.

 

[Corky]

As great as this thread is there are, it appears, numerous people who are prepared to spend a king's ransom on gourmet prices for seemingly second rate fodder (and are somehow surprised by the fare!?) while on another thread there are numerous people who are not prepared to first rate ticket prices for what should be a first class game of football against Liverpool.

City v Liverpool at home is not an attractive fixture. More of a 0-0 bore job.

 

[MCFCinUSA]

Re: all i wanted was a bloody burger

Because you're saying that not one, but two members of staff in the catering team didn't understand the word "burger", one of 10 things they sell. They're not the best, but come on!

Perhaps you have some sort of massive speach impediment, in which case I apologise wholeheartedly.

i asked for a burger meal and seriously both of the guys were a joke. i even pointed to the board and showed them a number 3 meal. i dont think they had any prepared if i'm honest which is fine but they were totally lost as to what to do or say. i dont have any speach impediment at all and i have no reason to lie.
i also saw another guy asking for a fork and these incompetent fools just stood there clueless. in the end he asked for his money back.

I don't think I'm going to go the full 16 or 18 pages of this thread but I wanted to ask if the guy you mention above was Italian and if he was asking for "a fork on the table" ?

anyone else know about the Italian guy who went to Malta?

;o)

 

[JohnMaddocksAxe]

Puts things into perspective though right?

The only thing that it puts into perspective is to clarify that you are a) under the foolish misapprehension that the footballing spending at the club is in anyway related to the matchday revenue/prices charged to fans.

Well, that's not strictly true.

It also confirms that we have another member of the "I'm alright, Jack. I can afford the prices" bandwagon and an apologist for the two faced ramblings of certain people at the club claiming to be 'fan's men.'

Face it, last season someone at the club, possibly your name sake, sat down and decided that they could, in their opinion, squeeze an awful lot more money out of Manchester City fans.

Therefore they decided to increase the prices of season tickets, normal tickets, corporate tickets, food , drink, parking, etc almost across the board.

This was not an attempt to allow the club to compete in the transfer market. It was not an attempt to raise funds to attract players. It was not an attempt, no matter what innumerate clowns tell you, to meet pie in the sky UEFA rules.

It was purely an attempt by someone to show what a super businessman they are and how they can squeeze the fans for an awful lot more than they previously were.

Now, if that isn't a problem to you and you view MCFC as purely a business, designed to get money from customers, then fair enough. I don't share that view, but it is a valid one.

However, FFS, if the club hold that view, then please spare me the bullshit rhetoric that certain people have come out with over the last two years about how they personally respect and love the fans so much.

 

[fulabeer]

Had a interesting chat today with MCFC. Won't name names as the guy was completely straight with me, no BS etc.
Don't shoot or question me on this, this is what was said.
If in doubt contact MCFC yourself.
Straight from the horses mouth --->

"City signed a ten year catering contract in 2003"
"The catering company paid a large fee upfront"
"City get a percentage of all food/drink sales"

"City agree the standards are crap"
"City agree the prices do not represent value or quality"
"City will review the catering in 2013"

Reasons...
"It is extremely hard for catering companies to attract/train quality staff for minimum/low wage who will work and be available every two weeks for 4 hours.
It is more viable for a company to charge double for food, and sell half as much. The profit margin is nearly the same/higher.
However overheads are lower due to less effort required to cook/transport/refrigerate etc.
The company has no reason to want or offer any kind of customer service/experience. Profit is king."

They have tried to improve the facilities, but ultimately it is down to the catering company how they run things. City have NO say.

Well there it is. "all i wanted was a burger" will Have to wait until 2013! LOL...

 

[jrb]

Had a interesting chat today with MCFC. Won't name names as the guy was completely straight with me, no BS etc.
Don't shoot or question me on this, this is what was said.
If in doubt contact MCFC yourself.
Straight from the horses mouth --->

"City signed a ten year catering contract in 2003"
"The catering company paid a large fee upfront"
"City get a percentage of all food/drink sales"

"City agree the standards are crap"
"City agree the prices do not represent value or quality"
"City will review the catering in 2013"

Reasons...
"It is extremely hard for catering companies to attract/train quality staff for minimum/low wage who will work and be available every two weeks for 4 hours.
It is more viable for a company to charge double for food, and sell half as much. The profit margin is nearly the same/higher.
However overheads are lower due to less effort required to cook/transport/refrigerate etc.
The company has no reason to want or offer any kind of customer service/experience. Profit is king."

They have tried to improve the facilities, but ultimately it is down to the catering company how they run things. City have NO say.

Well there it is. "all i wanted was a burger" will Have to wait until 2013! LOL...

Thant is correct.

I've also been told this by somebody(no names) pretty high up at City. The clubs hands are tied until the contract expires. The club have however put pressure on the catering company to improve their food, the staff and the training they give their staff.

 

[Garry.Cook]

Puts things into perspective though right?

The only thing that it puts into perspective is to clarify that you are a) under the foolish misapprehension that the footballing spending at the club is in anyway related to the matchday revenue/prices charged to fans.

Well, that's not strictly true.

It also confirms that we have another member of the "I'm alright, Jack. I can afford the prices" bandwagon and an apologist for the two faced ramblings of certain people at the club claiming to be 'fan's men.'

Face it, last season someone at the club, possibly your name sake, sat down and decided that they could, in their opinion, squeeze an awful lot more money out of Manchester City fans.

Therefore they decided to increase the prices of season tickets, normal tickets, corporate tickets, food , drink, parking, etc almost across the board.

This was not an attempt to allow the club to compete in the transfer market. It was not an attempt to raise funds to attract players. It was not an attempt, no matter what innumerate clowns tell you, to meet pie in the sky UEFA rules.

It was purely an attempt by someone to show what a super businessman they are and how they can squeeze the fans for an awful lot more than they previously were.

Now, if that isn't a problem to you and you view MCFC as purely a business, designed to get money from customers, then fair enough. I don't share that view, but it is a valid one.

However, FFS, if the club hold that view, then please spare me the bullshit rhetoric that certain people have come out with over the last two years about how they personally respect and love the fans so much.

Sorry if I touched a nerve John but all am suggesting is that, in my opinion, it's a bit disrespectful for the fans to expect a price-freeze when our owners are ploughing so much money into the club in all areas.

I am NOT an "alright Jack, I can afford the prices" chap, I saved hard for my ticket and I expected it to be more expensive than last year because of how the club is progressing, just as I would expect it to be cheaper if we got relegated.

Times are hard, some people won't be able to renew their tickets and some will probably blame the owners but the simple fact of the matter is generosity only gets you so far, there was no way in hell the Sheikh was going to throw money at City and not expect ANYTHING back.

If you really detest paying the prices then get the cheapest season ticket you can find and eat a sandwich before you go to the game, but you can't have the best of both worlds and expect prices to stay the same whilst the club is having a facelift of this magnitude!<br /><br />-- Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:19 am --<br /><br />

Had a interesting chat today with MCFC. Won't name names as the guy was completely straight with me, no BS etc.
Don't shoot or question me on this, this is what was said.
If in doubt contact MCFC yourself.
Straight from the horses mouth --->

"City signed a ten year catering contract in 2003"
"The catering company paid a large fee upfront"
"City get a percentage of all food/drink sales"

"City agree the standards are crap"
"City agree the prices do not represent value or quality"
"City will review the catering in 2013"

Reasons...
"It is extremely hard for catering companies to attract/train quality staff for minimum/low wage who will work and be available every two weeks for 4 hours.
It is more viable for a company to charge double for food, and sell half as much. The profit margin is nearly the same/higher.
However overheads are lower due to less effort required to cook/transport/refrigerate etc.
The company has no reason to want or offer any kind of customer service/experience. Profit is king."

They have tried to improve the facilities, but ultimately it is down to the catering company how they run things. City have NO say.

Well there it is. "all i wanted was a burger" will Have to wait until 2013! LOL...

Thats a bit crap. Why can't our Sheikh pay off the rest of the contract, pay for a couple of Wetherspoons to be built inside and set-up some Subway's and Burger Kings. He's a selfish git!