Davey Driver:
dave cordell:
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner I was serving a customer.Unfortunately I don’t think Humorous Comments go anyway near apologising to customers when it comes to a “Public Slagging Off of your business”
Perhaps a Genuine apology would of meant so much more.
dave cordell:
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.Sadly that always has and always will be a problem, but never forget, the customer is always right even when they are wrong
dave cordell:
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.And obviously to ensure it is worthwhile investing in a business, you should be ensuring you keep the existing passing trade along with attracting new passing trade as well, sadly with threads like this on public forums aimed at your main customers it does not do you any favours, yet going by your reply you seem to have forgotten this?
dave cordell:
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.Like all businesses, you need working capital, if you don’t have the capital to get you started then your doomed to fail from the onset.
dave cordell:
The holding deposit we have not had returned.And a good lawyer would of ensured that the council were made to pay interest on the funds whilst the council held the money, in fact I would go as far to say a good lawyer would of ensured that only the money for the works should be paid in full before work commenced, it’s called public works, the council gives a total amount it will cost for their labour and materials etc and invoice you for it, you pay then they do the work, its public tender, once they have given you a price they are contracted to accept that as the final price they cannot later decide to add a couple of grand because their public works officer forgot something.
Get your solicitor to notify the council that you want interest on the money they are holding
dave cordell:
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.So are there no Road Laying companies in Essex? You know the ones where they use the Road Planer to lift old tarmac, you’ll find they are always looking for someone to take the chippings for the cost of fuel when working in your area, it saves them having to pay the landfill tax, hire a JCB for a day and get the chippings spread out. Simples
dave cordell:
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 I said above, use proper materials and you’ll be surprised at what can be done cheaply.
dave cordell:
As for the food we are regularly looking at any better products that become available.It’s quite simple, to obtain decent food to sell, use decent suppliers who offer quality bacon, sausage etc etc etc instead of low quality low price stuff.
dave cordell:
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.I gave up driving distance 10 years ago, I was a regular around Epping area, I agreed that there was insufficient parking other than Loughton Lorry park which has long gone, it’s no good patting yourself on the back saying oh well we cant be that bad because most of our business is repeat trade, you have to take into account how many of your repeat customers have no option but to use your facilities therefore really they are left with no choice.
dave cordell:
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 80pAnd be fair, The profit Margin is what? 150%
As for Tea 70p that’s a prime example 1p for the Tea Bag 3p for milk and 64p for Hot Water ?
Obviously a profit needs to be made but, if the staff cannot be sociable, cannot serve a breakfast in 10 minutes and cannot adhere to the simplest of Hygiene it says a lot for the business.
dave cordell:
Overnight parking £20.00 includes any meal 2 teas showers.
Day light robbery (NOT)Actually I would say it is over priced, Bearing in mind the meal & teas would cost less than a Tenner and the shower less than £1.00
But hey, as I’ve said, I’m pleased I don’t drive for a living now.
dave cordell:
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).But Dave you have not addressed the problems that have generated the biggest complaints, the length of time it takes for a meal to be served, the fact that the staff are miserable and the fact that the food is not that good (Probably because of the time spent serving it up)
dave cordell:
No one mentioned the new building, fully tiled wet room showers and toilets.Ahh well there you go then, see, truck drivers don’t whinge about everything contrary to popular beliefs
dave cordell:
The bar upstairs (opening in a week or two), the new wider entrance.But whats the point of a bar if the cafe closes at 8.30pm and the staff are not even prepared to sell a Mars Bar? are you expecting drivers to drink alcohol on an empty stomache
If you plan on having the cafe open later you have missed a great opportunity of publicising it
dave cordell:
Like I said in the past all to willing to slag things off but never give praise.Sorry mate but thats a fact of live you need to learn to live with, however, bear in mind that 1 driver visiting your place can go to another cafe and tell another driver of his experiences at Jct 26 then those 2 drivers go to a different cafe, there’s now 4 drivers telling the tale, then the next cafe its 8 drivers etc etc etc, you’ll find it works for both good and bad
dave cordell:
If there is a problem with the food say so there and then so it can be dealt with.quote=“dave cordell”]
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!!
Probably because left with no option you have to eat it, after all, calling in at a chippy aint that easy unless you go into Epping itself (The first one on the left heading to Harlow was always my favourite)
Dave Cordell would do well,in his own interest ,to study Davey Driver,s well constructed post.( I did not just quote bits of D.D,s post, as it was all relevant to Dave Cordell,s own post; and is in my personal opinion, for what it is worth, the Top Post on this thread.
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