Originally Posted by c.thomson

As the friend that arrived at 1280 with Holowatyj yesterday, I share the same frustration. These are my experiences at 1280 thus far:

Welcome Week Rep Kickoff, last Thursday night:
-super fun evening, good music, could have used an extra bartender, overall good impression of the bar

Monday September 7th (lunch time)
-my friends (with whom I was on my way to join up with) went to 1280 to get us a table. The staff weren't responding and they weren't being served. They left.

WHY WHY WHY WHY are people showing up to a restaurant to be ignored?!?! This is why quarters was running a deficit.

Monday September 7th (dinner time)
-despite our annoyances from the occurrence earlier that day, we thought we would give it another shot
-we arrived at the restaurant, walked all the way in, smiled at 4 servers and proceeded to sit down until one of the servers walked over an informed us that they were actually shutting down for Monday Night Social

They needed to close, fine, but why did 4 people all watch us walk all the way down the hallway and sit down before informing us that they were closing. Why the doors were open, and no signs were posted are beyond me.

Wednesday September 9th (dinner time)
-this is when the occurrence that Holowatyj described went down
-the overall atmosphere of the bar was good, the decoration was good, great lighting, love the layout, I love the wall the separates the dance floor during the day
-service was just F*CKING BRUTAL, if you thought that it couldn't possibly be worse than quarters, think again.
----there were no free tables when we arrived, however there was one table that we would have been happy to take if a server would come over a clear it from the last people
----30 minutes for a greeting from our server??? Not acceptable.
----I heard that it was the kitchen staff that was behind, but this does not excuse the poor service from our server
----It took another 30 minutes AFTER we FINISHED eating to get the bill, we had to play a game of "ask every other server to find our server" for 30 minutes.
----I had to go chasing around for a container to put my food in to go, and by the time I got back to my table with the container, my food had been cleared.
----As I looked around the bar, all I saw was that these F*CKING DUMB*SS AIRHEADS that were supposed to be waitressing were just standing around either talking or with their fingers in their bum

It's a real shame that they didn't change the management because that we the only real problem before. The interior of the new bar is better, and the food is better (amazing actually), but the food and interior of the old bar was still satisfactory.

Overall, I thought that the renovations were great, and the menu is great too, but the real problems have still not been solved.

You gave a restaurant 3 chances to test out? Geez, I have one bad experience and I make a mental note to NEVER return. XD

I don't think some establishments understand the important of good Customer Service... I won't return to the Bean Bar because of the lousy employees, but the food tasted like Gordon Ramsey cooked it himself. >_<

Originally Posted by lawleypop

You gave a restaurant 3 chances to test out? Geez, I have one bad experience and I make a mental note to NEVER return. XD

I don't think some establishments understand the important of good Customer Service... I won't return to the Bean Bar because of the lousy employees, but the food tasted like Gordon Ramsey cooked it himself. >_<

Bean Bar failed a City Health Inspection once (according to an announcement I read in the Spec after it'd happened), and though they've obviously cleaned up to have passed a re-inspection, once is enough for me. To be fair though, I stopped going there after I paid not too far under $15 for a piece of pita bread with some melted cheese on it and an iced tea.

Originally Posted by ghjkghkghkgh

Bean Bar failed a City Health Inspection once (according to an announcement I read in the Spec after it'd happened), and though they've obviously cleaned up to have passed a re-inspection, once is enough for me. To be fair though, I stopped going there after I paid not too far under $15 for a piece of pita bread with some melted cheese on it and an iced tea.

Wow, ew.

And LMFAO WUT @ the price. >___________<

Originally Posted by lawleypop

Wow, ew.

And LMFAO WUT @ the price. >___________<

You'd be surprised at how disgusting some places can get before they're finally caught. It's a small wonder more people don't get sick, honestly. If simple regulations like hair nets and no seeping blemishes for food-handling employees are completely ignored nowadays, who knows what goes on back where patrons can't go in some of the seedier places the city has to offer.

Originally Posted by ghjkghkghkgh

Thank makes it more understandable, though one would hope for a bit better training out of the gate. Do you know about how many of the staff and managers are brand new as compared to the numbers of those returning?

ghjkghkghkgh - the loss wasn't from the 2008-2009 year, it was from the 2007-2008 year, which was two years ago.

My bad, sorry about that. I'd imagine though that the management would have known about some portion of the loss, even without the Deloitte report. Was there a statement released as to what was done to improve last year?

I actually don't know how many staff Quarters has. All I know is that they have more staff than the other services because of their hours of operation.

Trust me...you can train people but that still doesn't mean a) they will be remember b) they won't screw up. I've trained university-age staff a few different settings (both in the MSU and outside of it) and sometimes things just don't stick. Just because someone performs well in an interview doesn't mean they are a good staff member.

As to improvements for last year, I couldn't tell you specifically, no. I know they introduced some theme nights in second term and didn't have Saturdays as a club night, but other than that I never saw a year plan, so I can't really comment.

Your best bet would be to contact the MSU VP Finance, as they are the BoD member who oversees 1280/Quarters.

[quote=lorend;93308]

Originally Posted by ghjkghkghkgh

Thank makes it more understandable, though one would hope for a bit better training out of the gate. Do you know about how many of the staff and managers are brand new as compared to the numbers of those returning?



I actually don't know how many staff Quarters has. All I know is that they have more staff than the other services because of their hours of operation.

Trust me...you can train people but that still doesn't mean a) they will be remember b) they won't screw up. I've trained university-age staff a few different settings (both in the MSU and outside of it) and sometimes things just don't stick. Just because someone performs well in an interview doesn't mean they are a good staff member.

As to improvements for last year, I couldn't tell you specifically, no. I know they introduced some theme nights in second term and didn't have Saturdays as a club night, but other than that I never saw a year plan, so I can't really comment.

Your best bet would be to contact the MSU VP Finance, as they are the BoD member who oversees 1280/Quarters.

Well I guess it is reasonable to experience some teething with a new place (or an updated place). Let's hope that this is all it is and that the complaints raised here and elsewhere will work with time, the SRA, and the MSU to make 1280 a success.

I went to 1280 today and I thought I'd post something on MacInsiders about it.

PROS
- The atmosphere is really nice
- The food tastes great and there are A LOT of options
- The food is priced fair. Some of the stuff is a little more expensive, but I got a chicken fajita wrap with fries and it was $6. Not bad
- The renovations are great. There is more seating and a lot more natural light
- There are a lot of different types of alcohol at the bar. I don't drink, but my boyfriend said the bar at 1280 is much better than the bar at Quarters

CONS
- There were not enough servers. The wait times were very long. We ended up only ordering one sandwich and splitting it because we were worried about the time. We went in at 12:15pm and barely made it out by 1:20pm.
- Pop is no longer free refills. I got a glass of pop, as did my boyfriend, and he got one refill. On the bill, it came out as "3 Diet Pepsi", which was $4.50. I've never been to a restaurant that didn't have free refills on fountain pop.
- The debit machine broke down. I understand this probably only happened today, but it still sucks. My boyfriend didn't have his wallet so we had no other way to pay. The ATM machines in the student centre were out of money, except the CIBC one that I couldn't use. After I panicked for a little bit about how I was going to pay, the debit started working again.
- The bathrooms are still very dark and creepy
- The staff was not very nice. I'm sorry!! I used to be a waitress and I know what a pain it can be to work at busy times. But all of the servers (except the one who directly served us) were very unpleasant :/

CONFUSIONS
- Why does the menu say "128Q"?
- Why do the drinks come in empty jam jars?


I will probably go back because the atmosphere is nice, the food is great and the prices are decent. I think I'll wait a month or two though, because the service is really bad. I hope someone hears these complaints and does something about it.

Originally Posted by Holowacj

Yesterday I and a couple of friends went to check out the new 1280 in between Clubsfest and the PJ Parade... here's just a little overview of our experience...

4:00 - One of my friends and I arrived at 1280... already we could identify that they needed to have more staff on the job...the place was pretty busy...we waited for 10 minutes to get a table, to which we had to move ourselves...

4:15 - Our 2nd friend arrives to make a party of 3

4:30 - We get fed up and flag over a server to at least get some service she gets us water (at this time I'm thinking, they didn't cut down their beverage menu did they?)

4:35 - Finally a server comes to take our order (we've already been here for 1/2 an hour!) - she also gets 1 of my friends and I real drinks... (every one likes a little diversity in their menu, right?) - we also happen to look across the dining area, and come to the realization that, apparently some servers, at a very busy time of the day, happen to have nothing to do... interesting.

5:00 - After another 25 minutes of just drinking water and pop, I have to use the Men's room... Let's just say that not much has improved about the washrooms...

5:05 - When I get back, the nachos that one of my friends ordered has arrived... a Mediocre dish... not too spectacular at all...

5:10 - We FINALLY get our food! (And the server got 1 of my friends and I's orders messed up - I got a peppercorn Burger, when I ordered the MSU Lumberjack Burger...)

5:25 - We now have to leave this lengthy experience, because the 3 of us are performing along the PJ Parade route... wait... where's our server? Oh, that's right... nowhere in sight...

5:30 - We start searching for our server, and try and track down a take-out tray for 1 of my friends to pack up her Lattice Fries... we REALLY need to go...

5:35 - a Manager goes to track down our server so we can get our bills, pay and leave the restaurant...

5:40 - We finally get a take-out tray, and our bills... but one of those really-not-busy servers had already decided to clear the table, including the food my friend was going to pack up to take with her.

At this time we had to leave otherwise we would be late... So we didn't force it.

---For a restaurant that definitely needs some revival, that experience definitely deterred me from returning. You'd think that they would try to present the best possible experience around this time of year, especially when there have been many welcome week reps bringing their new kids to the restaurant - ones that didn't have the opportunity to experience the poor standards of the former Quarters. I guess they're working on a different financial plan - one that doesn't plan on making any money for 1280...

To be honest, I think you're not giving them a fair chance. I thought the service was not the fastest, yet, keep in mind that they were JUST hired. It took me a goood solid month to learn the menu and how to serve. They're just going through the learning curve. If the problem persists throughout October then complain until then RELAX and stop overreacting to everything.

I don't know why everyone keeps saying "They are brand new staff, they were just hired". I recognized one waitress and one bartender from when it was Quarters. They aren't all new.

Surprisingly enough, it still smells awkward down there. I was hoping it would go away ~_~

I went before the football game, and I found the service slow. The people were nice though.

But it wasn't crowded at all, so our service should have been pretty snappy.

I sat at the bar with a friend and the bartender served us. Our food came like 20 minutes later. It only took him a few minutes to ask us what we were ordering. My experience wasn't bad. but I did hear a lot of people say the service was slow. It was kind of true because when we left, people who were before us were still waiting on they food.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I don't know why everyone keeps saying "They are brand new staff, they were just hired". I recognized one waitress and one bartender from when it was Quarters. They aren't all new.

They aren't all returning either. Turn over for student jobs is pretty high.

Originally Posted by ferreinm

To be honest, I think you're not giving them a fair chance. I thought the service was not the fastest, yet, keep in mind that they were JUST hired. It took me a goood solid month to learn the menu and how to serve. They're just going through the learning curve. If the problem persists throughout October then complain until then RELAX and stop overreacting to everything.

Hmm, apparently you haven't read the entire thread because he said that on another occasion he went and nobody acknowledged his existence!!! It doesn't take a month to learn how to greet someone and offer them service. Also, he was with me on the evening that they continued business as normal even though they were not serving that evening, and didn't bother to put up a sign, shut their doors, or even tell people before they proceed to sit down that they are closed.

I understand that some of the staff are new but we saw people standing around doing nothing, and when we wanted our bill, none of the staff could find our server for like 15 minutes. Also, it shouldn't take over 20 minutes for someone to come to our table, if you're super busy than you should atleast let the people know that you'll be right with them.

Nobody is hating on the atmosphere or the food, and with the service, it's not just about the speed, it's about the copious levels of ignorance amongst the staff.

Originally Posted by c.thomson

Nobody is hating on the atmosphere or the food, and with the service, it's not just about the speed, it's about the copious levels of ignorance amongst the staff.

It's a learning curve thing. The servers have shift supervisors, and I'm sure they're trying to figure stuff out too.

Just because you're trained once doesn't mean you will pick up everything right away.

That doesn't necessarily excuse the behaviour (I agree that's appalling) but that's why (at least in part) it happens.