Personally, I want good quality food, even if this means paying more for a meal. The trouble is that many establishments buy the absolute cheapest quality catering packs of things such as sausages and they are vile.
Speedy, friendly service- many people working in cafes act as though they are doing it as some kind of court-imposed community service.
Hard standing for the parking area.
Cleanliness.
There’s a few to be getting on with…
Well Dave the Bosses ■■■■■ posted at 11.28 and not an explanation, apology or acknowledgement from Dave the Boss yet!
Wheel Nut:
Well Dave the Bosses ■■■■■ posted at 11.28 and not an explanation, apology or acknowledgement from Dave the Boss yet!
LOL the ■■■■■!!! pmsl 
Trucker Turner is right on the money with his description of yer German Autohof.
HERE is a link to the Maxi Autohof web site.
Compare and contrast, guys.
And all the girls in Germany look like those pictured on their web site 
It’s the law
[/quote]
Yep I totally agree and all I can say is the blonde bird in the shoppen bit WILL hopefully appear in my dreams Tonight 
I now HOPE to visit this establishment imminently 
Wheel Nut:
Well Dave the Bosses ■■■■■ posted at 11.28 and not an explanation, apology or acknowledgement from Dave the Boss yet!
Come on be fair, his ■■■■■ did say he was trawling through all the posts after printing them off and there are now 3 pages, thats a lorra lorra reading as Cilla would say 
J26 will never be able to be a proper truckstop, it’s a small building in the middle of a relatively small piece of land, it doesn’t have the room for hotels, truckwashes, gyms, laundrys, blah blah blah, but it could level the parking out & get friendly people serving decent food at a reasonable price & that would make it a much better place to stop.
newmercman:
J26 will never be able to be a proper truckstop, it’s a small building in the middle of a relatively small piece of land, it doesn’t have the room for hotels, truckwashes, gyms, laundrys, blah blah blah, but it could level the parking out & get friendly people serving decent food at a reasonable price & that would make it a much better place to stop.
100% agree.
Like Ecclefechan truck stop, just off the A74(M). Decent cafe in Portacabin, small truck wash (although not needed), good and clean shower and toilets - all that you need.
Mad dan:
Trucker Turner is right on the money with his description of yer German Autohof.
HERE is a link to the Maxi Autohof web site.
Compare and contrast, guys.And all the girls in Germany look like those pictured on their web site
It’s the law
Yep I totally agree and all I can say is the blonde bird in the shoppen bit WILL hopefully appear in my dreams Tonight I now HOPE to visit this establishment imminently
[/quote]
same here. will be heading that way in may, look out for a ratty looking black and white mini, most likely to be found with the bonnet up on the side of the road
newmercman:
Well as the truckstop man is taking note of our responses I reckon now would be a good time to tell him what YOU want from his establishment.
After giving that place several chances I’ve come to the conclusion that it is indeed true, you cannot polish a turd. I just avoid it now.
Coffeeholic:
newmercman:
Well as the truckstop man is taking note of our responses I reckon now would be a good time to tell him what YOU want from his establishment.After giving that place several chances I’ve come to the conclusion that is indeed true, you cannot polish a turd. I just avoid it now.
Well it seems as though yer man isn’t going to reply anytime soon, unless he is a very slow reader. Mrs. Mothertrucker started this thread in 2006, and almost 4 years later the same complaints about the attitude of staff, the hygiene, parking and the food.
Maybe she wasn’t so far away when she called it a Turkstop 
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18044&start
It is a pity things didn’t improve after the drivers on here and the other site signed his petition
Wheel Nut:
Coffeeholic:
newmercman:
Well as the truckstop man is taking note of our responses I reckon now would be a good time to tell him what YOU want from his establishment.After giving that place several chances I’ve come to the conclusion that is indeed true, you cannot polish a turd. I just avoid it now.
Well it seems as though yer man isn’t going to reply anytime soon, unless he is a very slow reader. Mrs. Mothertrucker started this thread in 2006, and almost 4 years later the same complaints about the attitude of staff, the hygiene, parking and the food.
Maybe she wasn’t so far away when she called it a Turkstopviewtopic.php?f=2&t=18044&start
It is a pity things didn’t improve after the drivers on here and the other site signed his petition
That’s what I mean, if they can’t sort it in getting on for 4 years I can’t see they will ever change.
Wheel Nut:
Well it seems as though yer man isn’t going to reply anytime soon,
How quickly can you expect somebody to respond to a complaint of slow service?
Wheel Nut:
Well Dave the Bosses ■■■■■ posted at 11.28 and not an explanation, apology or acknowledgement from Dave the Boss yet!
Call me physcic but am I the only person who gets the feeling that now he has got what he wanted with the petition it’s a case of stuff you drivers.
I get the feeling that the next time we hear off him will be the next time HE wants something.
Then the owners or persons who run that place
are being small minded , and irresponsible which
also means childish : Why,because no one can exist
with out a regular income to pay the bills they are
incurring daily , unless they are multi millionaires,
------------
Its is really a shame that no one try s doing it the
European way , as they would get profit, yes pay
for parking but incorporate a meal ticket , weither
one likes it or not secure parking areas are here to
stay even over here across the water,
I’m dissapointed to say the least to read the reports about J26 Truckstop. The PDA provided support for them in their original attempt to get a liquor licence which was refused.
Early this year I was contacted by their Solicitors and as a result, I appeared as a witness at Harlow Magistrates Court in February to plead the case for lorry drivers being allowed access to a ‘normal’ life in their time off. I was questioned at length about what a driver had to lose, should he not treat alcohol responsibly, and the Magistrates granted the licence ( not just due to me I might add!)
In the course of that day I met both Roger and Dave and both seemed to genuinely want to give lorry drivers what they want, so I shall be interested to see how this pans out.
Have they got a bar yet, does anyone know?
Pat
bloodoodle:
‘…Have they got a bar yet, does anyone know?..’
Pat
Possibly: Although a search no longer reveals it on here, a thread re ‘…Free beer at J26…’ 3-4 weeks ago seems to have been pulled.
Although I often hurtle (or limp) past it (depending on going anti or clockwise) I’ve never used it, but my sympathies go to you camping/tramping bods
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner I was serving a customer.
Thought I would make a reply to the issues your members have raised. Before I start we accept we will never please every customer that comes to this truckstop, but we still will try our best.
As with everything in life it costs money, the four year battle with EFDC cost a bundle of money, but it gave the go ahead for the truckstop to start its improvements these improvements take time and money. The main entrance was paid for by us as well as the main road out the front, this was obviously very expensive especially when the council wanted the total cost of the job paid for up front as well as the same amount again as a holding deposit. The holding deposit we have not had returned. This was part of the planning conditions, the funds used for this were going to be used for the resurface of the site but the planning was the priority.
We are planning to commence with the resurface works this summer hopefully if they release our cash, but until then we have had to make do. Even temporary repairs did not work due to the bad weather we have had.
As for the food we are regularly looking at any better products that become available.
As for poor food quality and staff attitudes considering we only advertise in truckstop news, we don’t even have a sign at the entrance probably 80% of our trade is return trade which does not add up if we are providing poor quality food and service.
Obviously we have a bad day every so often ( over 5 years its been every time ROB K AND COFFEEHOLIC come in for something to eat), apparently we are to expensive. 2 bacon 1 sausage beans 1egg 2 toast/bread & butter 1tea/coffee £3.95.
Lamb shank (large) roast potatoes veg gravy £5.95
Tea 70p coffee 80p
Overnight parking £20.00 includes any meal 2 teas showers.
Day light robbery (NOT)
As for ROB K’s comment on getting a plot of land and creaming £20.00 of the trucking scum (his words not mine), I would like to point out that you can’t just get a plot of land you have to buy it, once its bought you have to get planning permission, while owning the site you pay rates (£35.000.00 per annum), the £20.00 we charge includes a meal so your provided with a building you can sit and eat and it can be cooked in by staff, all costing money. So if you sit and do the maths its not as cut and dry as Rob K thinks (obviously you don’t need any qualifications to be a senior member).
No one mentioned the new building, fully tiled wet room showers and toilets.
The bar upstairs (opening in a week or two), the new wider entrance.
Like I said in the past all to willing to slag things off but never give praise.
If there is a problem with the food say so there and then so it can be dealt with.
I cannot understand why you would pay for something your not happy with and say nothing then spend time and effort hiding behind your computer slating it (ITS NOT BIG AND ITS NOT CLEVER) and sets a bad image for the big burly lorry driver. Bet you can’t even eat a whole yorkie bar!!
Message to Bloodoodle - Thanks for all your help, just to let you know we did get the drinks licence in the end.
If I had been answering those complaints then I would simply assure the clients that all was being done that could be done at this present moment with out going into details because to me, that looks like excuses, whether they be valid or not.
I would have also recognised that complaints are always going to out number compliments as not many give compliments.
No matter whether those complaints come from someone who has visited the establishment and then complained by letter, e-mail or an internet forum or whether they complained in person, all those complaints should be given the same merit.
I certainly would not make any comment about a complainer.
Higlighting any improvements on the site or mentioning upcoming improvements is a good idea as it shows that the provider is listening and trying.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I think the reply could have been handled much better 
I don’t know ROG, he was answering specific points, let’s hope they’re addressed
Dave,
IMO the first two things you’ve GOT to get right is the food and the customer service. I also think they should be the easiest aspects of the business to sort out.
I’ve stopped at a few different café’s, burger vans etc in times past. Not all of them have been in perfect surroundings, hell, I’ve even stood in the rain eating my egg banjo because the van that serves it does a real good job, not forgetting I was having some good banter with the big bloke behind the counter!! The layby that the van was located in was something of a litter strewn mud bath; his old 4x4 that towed the van looked ‘worrying’ in its condition BUT the interior of the van looked spotless, the food was good and the service was also good. I’ve been back there a few times; I’ve only been to your the once and don’t fancy taking the ‘risk’ again.
When you mention prices, I’m sure you’ll understand when I say I’d rather pay £4.50 for a quality gut-busting breakfast than £3.50 for a poorer standard. Mate, you need to find something to cheer-up those ‘serving ladies’ that were sulking around the place when I visited!!
BTW, Coffeeholic already explained the reason many wouldn’t complain if they weren’t happy with their food - we don’t want a replacement meal/butty with some added ‘throat-mayo’!! As for the ‘repeat trade’, that’s already been covered above; we know (and you know) that there’s a lack of any standard of parking, good or bad, however that shouldn’t stop you from striving to provide the best service/quality you can.
In the interests of balance and praise where it’s due; you did well to get the whole thing up and running, especially with the planning difficulties. The way they are squeezing money out of you is not good and you’ve done well to keep the whole thing going . . . . . . however, sort out the simple things and don’t let down those that supported you when you asked for it.