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Food & Beverage 2015
- Thread starter kydog1299
- Start date
Dave
TS Founding Member
I don't disagree, but then again big companies do sometimes bugger up.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I'm not buying the 'error' excuse. A management decision was clearly made; that is why at least two different departments (social media and F&B) were informing guests that discount was being phased out on alcohol. As I said earlier, chances are it never got signed off by senior management (i.e. Crabbe or other relevant director) and once senior management did find out they reversed it.
It's back tracking still, just a slightly different variation of it. It also demonstrates further how communication at Towers is poor.
Dave
TS Founding Member
The issue with the "U-turn in face of a backlash" theory is...
... There was barely any backlash, a topic on a few forums and a handful of tweets. It's hardly something that had an impact on their PR machine.
In your version of events @Rob you suggest someone made a decision that they didn't get permission to make, that's called an "error". Backtracking is an organisation having an intention then reversing it due to pressure.
Nearly all organisational errors are caused by someone making a decision outside the scope of their role.
But we will never know
... There was barely any backlash, a topic on a few forums and a handful of tweets. It's hardly something that had an impact on their PR machine.
In your version of events @Rob you suggest someone made a decision that they didn't get permission to make, that's called an "error". Backtracking is an organisation having an intention then reversing it due to pressure.
Nearly all organisational errors are caused by someone making a decision outside the scope of their role.
But we will never know
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
My guess is that a group of people made a decision over a period of time, and then relayed that decision down to various teams. Senior management found out and reversed that decision. Someone in a management position clearly had an intention of scrapping the discount across the whole resort!
A further guess would be that someone thought they could be clever and get in senior managements good books by initiating a cost saving measure and also following what other Merlin parks have done. Turns out said person was not so clever!
Alas we will never know the truth. Sums up a lot of what I think about Alton Towers management though. I actually think the directors mean well and try their very best. I'm not so convinced about 'middle' management at Towers though.
A further guess would be that someone thought they could be clever and get in senior managements good books by initiating a cost saving measure and also following what other Merlin parks have done. Turns out said person was not so clever!
Alas we will never know the truth. Sums up a lot of what I think about Alton Towers management though. I actually think the directors mean well and try their very best. I'm not so convinced about 'middle' management at Towers though.
I think a decision was made by management as it was cascaded down through the theme park as well as the hotels which makes it a bit difficult to say it was an error. If it were just one place saying it then fair enough, but it seemed to be a consistent message.
Anyway, thats good that it has not been removed. It would have bothered me more from the hotel point of view rather than the theme park.
Anyway, thats good that it has not been removed. It would have bothered me more from the hotel point of view rather than the theme park.
Dave
TS Founding Member
But why U-turn if it was management
1) Merlin won't have put their foot down as other parks restrict it.
2) There was no PR issue to force a u-turn.
I'm hardly Towers biggest fan at the moment but I also like to look at things in a balanced way and I genuinely have much reason to believe this was error, with one of Robs scenarios the most likely, it just seems logical.
Unlike Blade or ride openings which are fully in the control of senior management and any u-turns very obvious.
Graeme
TS Member
I appreciate this is an Alton forum and people will defend the park, but it appears more than an error, simply because it was implemented, judging by posts on here and the discount refused!
That's not someone on the social media team getting the wrong end of the stick, that's something that has been passed to several members!
The only error is an error of judgment by Towers thinking it was a good idea!
That's not someone on the social media team getting the wrong end of the stick, that's something that has been passed to several members!
The only error is an error of judgment by Towers thinking it was a good idea!
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James
TS Founding Member
If this was a decision made by someone lower down (middle management, for example) and they passed this around to various departments to implement, without realising it's something that need to be signed off/approved by senior management before coming into force, then technically yes, that is an error, a big one. I'm just guessing though.
I'm surprised there's nearly two pages of people debating whether it was an error or a cover up. We'll never know what happened, the discount is still there and will remain there for the foreseeable future. I don't see any problem here apart from those who were refused the discount on its short removal (even so you're talking of a difference in pennies, not the end of the world).
I'm surprised there's nearly two pages of people debating whether it was an error or a cover up. We'll never know what happened, the discount is still there and will remain there for the foreseeable future. I don't see any problem here apart from those who were refused the discount on its short removal (even so you're talking of a difference in pennies, not the end of the world).
Yet again it pure greed, they will be making a very tidy profit even with the discounts an every item. I for one still don't get why free refill cups got removed, Carbonated drinks have some of the greatest mark ups of all foods and drinks, with each glass costing little over 10p. Same with hot drinks, you can get tea bags and coffee that cost less than 4p a cup from a supermarket. Removing these perks remove a lot of value to the pass, for very little reward.
Dave
TS Founding Member
I really don't think you can accuse this forum of fanboyism. Everyone here is deeply frustrated with the park at the moment. The facts just don't fit the idea of a u-turn.
It's just too easy sometimes to jump on the "greedy park/ cuts" bandwagon because they have had to u-turn so many times in the last few seasons. But sometimes things will just be a mistake, there is no good reason for a u-turn in this case so it seems to me to be a classic lack of communication error we get so much at Towers.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
It's very similar to the Fanta sponsorship of Oblivion, just on a different scale. Someone lower down in the Merlin hierarchy made a decision to plaster bright orange posters all over Oblivion to make more money. Once someone more senior found out (for Fanta this just so happened to be the most sernior person at Merlin, Nick Varney) the decision was reversed.
Was the Fanta sponsorship a backtrack or an error? Well both really. Same as this.
Was the Fanta sponsorship a backtrack or an error? Well both really. Same as this.
Dave
TS Founding Member
It's very similar to the Fanta sponsorship of Oblivion, just on a different scale. Someone lower down in the Merlin hierarchy made a decision to plaster bright orange posters all over Oblivion to make more money. Once someone more senior found out (for Fanta this just so happened to be the most sernior person at Merlin, Nick Varney) the decision was reversed.
Was the Fanta sponsorship a backtrack or an error? Well both really. Same as this.
Fanta was a decision made by the parks most senior manager, this wasnt. This was a decision made by someone who didn't have the authority to make it.
Slugjc
TS Member
as someone who doesn't own a MAP, this doesn't bother me in then slightest. What does annoy me is...........
That this happened in the first place. Im from Yorkshire and enjoy a discount. I can see why people have got on to their high horses about a little saving that they have paid for.
However, im not entirely convinced that the scrap was anything but a mistake, im not sure people on a board of multi-million pound corporation, that makes millions in profit a year actually sat down and thought hmmmmmmm, the small percentage of guest with a annual pass that aren't paying full whack for their alcohol, lets make sure that the slight amount of profit we will get from these people, can be made bigger. I just cant see this happening. Not even at merlin.
They'll be some dickwod, brown noser, with a memo that has brought this in. Trying to be clever and bringing in something that he/she/it thought was irrelevant and not what people are bothered with. When actually all we want in this country is a bar/pub/off licence selling cheap alcohol without somebody in the government or an office, fleecing us for every hard earned penny we have to purchase it.
That this happened in the first place. Im from Yorkshire and enjoy a discount. I can see why people have got on to their high horses about a little saving that they have paid for.
However, im not entirely convinced that the scrap was anything but a mistake, im not sure people on a board of multi-million pound corporation, that makes millions in profit a year actually sat down and thought hmmmmmmm, the small percentage of guest with a annual pass that aren't paying full whack for their alcohol, lets make sure that the slight amount of profit we will get from these people, can be made bigger. I just cant see this happening. Not even at merlin.
They'll be some dickwod, brown noser, with a memo that has brought this in. Trying to be clever and bringing in something that he/she/it thought was irrelevant and not what people are bothered with. When actually all we want in this country is a bar/pub/off licence selling cheap alcohol without somebody in the government or an office, fleecing us for every hard earned penny we have to purchase it.
Graeme
TS Member
Please don't get me wrong, I'm not implying there is fanboyism, just that on a towers based forum, people may be more likely to stick up for the park.
It's far from a band wagon, it's based on past issues as well as this one.
Is communication really THAT bad at the park? Just find it really hard to believe that they get to the stage that the idea is actually implemented and then say "it's an error".
Anyway, it's back and I'm pleased.