26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombWell, I think you'll find he won't open if we don't pay something up front, but he did say he was negotiable so perhaps we could get him down on th eprice. If this is going ahead in a serious way, I'm prepared to lump in a large part of the fee and then get refunded on the night by the rest of you. If it's 30 of us, that's only £10 so it should be fairly feasable. If he'll open up without the hire cost, cool, but I'd be surprised.
Thinking about it, i don't see why the hell we should pay anything up front. Fine, if this place is closed on saturday, it's their loss! There are a thousand or more places that'd bend over backwards to get 30 odd people through the door, we can find somewhere better. The fact that they have chess supplies is nice, but we could always just bring a few boards and concentrate on knocking back more booze!! Who's with me?
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by jimslyp69Yeh, it's not as if they've got that much to offer. The boards and clocks are a nice touch but not essential. We can just knock back more booze instead!!
I agree entirely. I don't undestand why such a large deposit is required. And I am completely flumaxed as to why the amount of beer that is quaffed is linked to us getting the deposit back. I understand that London is an expensive place, but this is turning into a second mortgage job.
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombI vote you call up the landlord tomorrow and find out why he needs a deposit. Then when he explains wrangle with him and get it down as low as possible. Be nice to him and explain that it is a confirmed event and because everyone is meeting for the first time it will be tres difficile to stump up the money up front.
Thinking about it, i don't see why the hell we should pay anything up front. Fine, if this place is closed on saturday, it's their loss! There are a thousand or more places that'd bend over backwards to get 30 odd people through the door, we can find somewhere better. The fact that they have chess supplies is nice, but we could always just bring a few boards and concentrate on knocking back more booze!! Who's with me?
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by StarrmanThat's £10 each if 30 people turn up. Worst case senario, 4 people turn up, what do you do then? You have to drink enouph booze to make the refund, either way your out of pocket in a big way. I'm unemployed, i've got little bits of money coming in here and there, but i just can't risk that kind of out lay. As it stands, i think we'll get at least 20 people, but there is no way we could collect the money before the night, which means someone has to take a financial risk. Pewrsonally i don't want to do that, and i'm not comfortable to have someone else take that risk for me either. My housemate suggested i could set up a paypal account and take deposits from people before hand, but that just doesn't feel right. I don't want to be responsible for other peoples money unless it's absolutely necissary. I want to do this to make friends, not enemies!
Well, I think you'll find he won't open if we don't pay something up front, but he did say he was negotiable so perhaps we could get him down on th eprice. If this is going ahead in a serious way, I'm prepared to lump in a large part of the fee and then get refunded on the night by the rest of you. If it's 30 of us, that's only £10 so it should be fairly feasable. If he'll open up without the hire cost, cool, but I'd be surprised.
26 Sep 05
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Originally posted by PaulieYes, possibly. I would like to chat to this guy first to see what the deposit is really for. If it's for his peace of mind, ie, he doesn't want to have to pay his staff to cover an event that barely happens, that's fair enouph. I'm sure i'll be able to work something out. But if it's to encourage us to drink more than we want, then he can take a hike...
Back to convent garden then eh? Where`s Rag, maybe he can secure a corner for us at O`Niells
As i understand it, he is trying to set his pub up as a games pub. Well i'm about to decend on his pub with an entire website of gamers!! That should be incentive enouph i feel!
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombYou do have a point there. Before we do anything we need to finish off this vote and see which date we are going to go with. Then find out who cannot go. Then we know who will be coming and we can make an estimate from that.
That's £10 each if 30 people turn up. Worst case senario, 4 people turn up, what do you do then? You have to drink enouph booze to make the refund, either way your out of pocket in a big way. I'm unemployed, i've got little bits of money coming in here and there, but i just can't risk that kind of out lay. As it stands, i think we'll get at ...[text shortened]... money unless it's [b]absolutely necissary. I want to do this to make friends, not enemies![/b]
26 Sep 05
Fair enough, though I for one am against Covent Garden. O'Neils will be rammed to the rooftops on Saturday and as much as I'm up for a party, I don't wanna be standing up allnight holding my drink because there's no room to sit down.
I suggest we see what the landlord at this place has to say first.
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombI told him what the occasion was, and he was quite happy with it.
Pubs in the City always close on weekends because the only people who drink there live in the suburbs at the week ends.
[b]D'Olivier thank you so much for doing that!! What were your impressions of the landlord? Was he asking for a deposit just in case no-one showed up or was it more a finacial incentive? I can't afford to pay the £300 deposit, ...[text shortened]... y are really.
Again, thank you so much for doing a recon, it's much appretiated! 😀
James~>[/b]
I think he was asking for the deposit in case no one showed up, or if the expected drink take is less than expected. I've been involved in organizing a reunion where 60 people said, yes they'd come, but only 27 showed up (less than the 30 minimum for the venue) so the organizers had to make up the difference.
I don't know whether this is offset by the drinks that all of would consume. This is another thing to ask him.
Having done one or two get-togethers like this before, I'd expect x number of people to say that they're coming and about 35-40% of x will actually bother to show up. It's human nature. The best way to get some people to show up is to ask for cash up front (for £300, if you want 30 people, charge £10 to cover the cost of the pub). If people pay for the event, it's pretty certain that they'll attend. And if they don't they lose the cash. (Make the cover non-refundable - you're protecting yourself that way in case you get a shortfall of people).
Let me know if you need any advice when you call the landlord up. It was no problem doing reconaissance for everyone here, but just be wary of what you're getting into.
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombOf course then you have to find out who uses Paypal.
That's £10 each if 30 people turn up. Worst case senario, 4 people turn up, what do you do then? You have to drink enouph booze to make the refund, either way your out of pocket in a big way. I'm unemployed, i've got little bits of money coming in here and there, but i just can't risk that kind of out lay. As it stands, i think we'll get at ...[text shortened]... money unless it's [b]absolutely necissary. I want to do this to make friends, not enemies![/b]
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by PaulieThat's not a bad call. Bear in mind guys, so far the highest voted day has only got 15 votes! This is not a company, we're just a group of friends meeting up for a drink. I am not convinced we'll spend enouph money in this place to justify him opening it specially. For that to work we'd have to have a much, much greater pool of interest, period!
Alternatively, does anyone know any good hotel bars that we might use?
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by DOlivier2004My point exactly! We should give the vote a day or two more (for the people who don't log on everyday) but after that it's time to take decisions...
I told him what the occasion was, and he was quite happy with it.
I think he was asking for the deposit in case no one showed up, or if the expected drink take is less than expected. I've been involved in organizing a reunion where 60 people said, yes they'd come, but only 27 showed up (less than the 30 minimum for the venue) so the organizers had ...[text shortened]... no problem doing reconaissance for everyone here, but just be wary of what you're getting into.
26 Sep 05
Originally posted by marinakatombI think this place is definitely off the list. There's no way we'll have enough people. All we need is somewhere big and relatively quiet so we can move about freely and talk to each other. Come on Londoners, you must know somewhere!
That's not a bad call. Bear in mind guys, so far the highest voted day has only got 15 votes! This is not a company, we're just a group of friends meeting up for a drink. I am not convinced we'll spend enouph money in this place to justify him opening it specially. For that to work we'd have to have a much, much greater pool of interest, period!