View Full Version : Watch out Conrad, new kid on the block for pub reviews
Looks like pub reviewing has just become very commercial
"From tomorrow, the details of every pub in mainland Britain will also be on useyourlocal. com. Customers will be able to rate their local for quality of food and drink, service and whether it has a beer garden or hosts a pub quiz, for instance.
The site is backed by drinks companies Diageo - which owns Guinness, Smirnoff and Gordon's gin - Heineken UK and Coca-Cola, which will receive feedback on drink purchases".
from
http://www.lcplc.co.uk/thirdparties/thisismoney/life/
web site here
http://www.useyourlocal.com/
Oh Oh, looks like the PuG cards are also about to have big competition
"100 million beermats hit pubs
Thursday 18th November 2010
As part of our plan to get more people scoring pubs and their drinks the first of 100 million beermats are now printed and hitting pubs. Our friends at John Smith's have been the first our of the stalls to let their drinkers know about the new service - which we guess is what you'd expect from the Grand National sponsor!
I note also from article that internet deliveries are about to made to local pub, which for many will be a very useful service
Yep, commercially slick, but not a great deal different to other commercial pub listing sites. And as mentioned, clearly not independant..
Of course you have to be fully aware of the competition but with Carling, Fosters and John Smiths extra Smooth in the top four drinks choices i don't think I'm in the target demographic..
And for many, PuG and dare i say, the Dark side, will always be a better alternative to seeing a series of statements on how marvelously cold the Fosters is served in certain establishments...
I have now had a perv around the new site, I think you can rest easy for while Conrad, for my immediate area 1 mile radius, 9 pubs listed, it shows one non existent pub , plus two closed pubs, plus a members only social club
So 4/9 errors just one mile radius from my location
When I widen the search to 2 miles it is similar errors, more closed pubs, plus a snooker club
I also wonder just how they, being backed by big pubco, will take to honest reviews? "[I]Beer was flat, steak was tough & cold, when I complained staff told me if I did not like it I could go somewhere else"
Just checked my local five mile radius, and their list has many duplicates, members clubs, restaurants, and sadly some long-closed pubs. So it looks like several databases have been combined, including a rather old one containing all premises with an on-sales licence.
This site is hilarious. Tried a search for pubs within 1 mile of my house. Results were in order...
The Salutation - has been closed for at least 10 years - now offices.
The Windmill - Closed 6 months ago.
Dartford Social Club - Not a pub.
Glentworth ex-Services Club - Not a pub.
DA1 - Night club - closed for at least 3 years.
Two Brewers - first sucessful open pub albeit probably next in line for closure.
Walnut Tree - closed 3 years ago.
Litten Tree - Was converted to the Flying Boat Wetherspoons 18 months ago.
Dartford Conservative Club - Not a pub.
There are then 4 pubs that are genuinely open followed by (and it gets better)....
Twin Noodle Bar - er, hello!
Bar Mondo - fair enough
Dartford PO Sports & social Club - Not a pub
Fox & Hounds - OK
and then, best of all... Central Park, presumably to cater for the meths drinkers on the benches.
I don't think I will even dignify this site by adding to favourites!
Rex_Rattus
21-11-2010, 14:54
It definitely has a long, long, way to go before it gets up to the level of PuG. Maldenman will be interested to see that among the many long closed pubs included, it does have The Nags Head in Morden Rd, with Streetview showing the block of flats where I believe it used to be.
Maldenman
21-11-2010, 15:23
It definitely has a long, long, way to go before it gets up to the level of PuG. Maldenman will be interested to see that among the many long closed pubs included, it does have The Nags Head in Morden Rd, with Streetview showing the block of flats where I believe it used to be.
It is clearly a conspiracy. No such pub ever existed.
I am fairly sure that the end-on pub and pub sign photo of the nearby Prince of Wales is actually mine!
If Carlsberg did Pub Review websites...
oldboots
21-11-2010, 16:04
Yes, same story wherever I looked, duplications, closed pubs, WMCs, and even an upmarket chippy in Harrogate :D Not much in the way of reviews of any sort either.
Total drivel, just a lazy trawling of the Yellow Pages etc I think.
Wittenden
21-11-2010, 16:24
What a wonderful site! Knowing that I live 2 1/4 miles from the nearest pub, I typed in 1 mile, and up came the Bowl at Charing-an excellent pub, but at least 9 miles from home, and up a steep hill-snow for 11 months of the year.I suppose its there because it seems to be the only pub to have signed up locally. Apart from this, all the usual golf clubs, cafe ruoges and closed pubs you could imagine.
Oggwyn Trench
21-11-2010, 16:26
The Shrewsbury listing are really accurate , out of 76 listed
8 closed (some for over 10 years)
3 members clubs
2 Resturants
1 Private Hotel
2 Nightclubs (1 of which is closed)
2 Wrong Name
Been having a further play whist killing some time waiting for the Rugby Premiership highlights to start on C4.
Thought I'd have a play with the search functions.
Selected North London and then searched on pubs providing real ale..
Came up with............. 2.
Didn't realise I lived in such a desert.....:glass:
gillhalfpint
21-11-2010, 18:10
Reckon Old Boots chippy must have beer battered fish!
Off to have a mosey round my area.
gillhalfpint
21-11-2010, 18:55
They have 19 in the 1 mile area for me. 1 is a sports club, 1 is a gym, 1 was closed about 5 years and is now a block of flats. 1 is British Legion I am a member of but don't get to as there is no real ale, about 3 WMC's, couple of private members clubs. Know of about 5 that I know of as pubs still although one has changed it's name on becoming a carvery.
Suprised it didn't include the one that became a drive through MacDonald.s.
No worries about competition I reckon.
I did a bit of digging in the ½-mile area around my workplace and it came up with somewhere I never knew existed, whether or not it was actually a restaurant rather than a pub. A bit of Googling seems to suggest that there really is a (gastro)pub there, albeit with a completely different name (and obviously not listed either here or you-know-where). I am now suffering from a slight degree of shock from discovering my ignorance and will have to undertake a reconnaissance mission as soon as time allows (but it's only five minutes walk from the office, for goodness sake!).
RG1 = Utter fail. So out of date it's unreal, first page has 7 pubs that no longer exist.
And as for Aberystwyth - well my site won't have much to worry about (http://aberpubs.blogspot.com/2007/10/welcome.html)! :lol::muppet:
Strongers
21-11-2010, 21:32
I just did my old manor in North London
5 open pubs
1 Indian restaurant with an error in the name
1 British Legion
1 closed club
1 Conservative club
1 pub that is now a Gurdwara
And several places I've never heard of so they must have closed years ago.
LOL, check this bad boy out!433
Since when has Aber been near Shrewsbury? (like, different countries...). Oh yeah, and it's Aberystwyth University...and who the fcuk is "Mr Daniels"????!???
As stated earlier...lazy!
Alesonly
22-11-2010, 00:47
Just checked my area and it has a few non existing Pubs Two places that are Members clubs only & Two that are Tee Total :eek: I Know there not even licenced too sell alcohol.
ROBCamra
22-11-2010, 07:07
Just checked within 1 mile of where we live.
Out of the first 10 listed
3 are closed
2 are incorrectly spelt
1 is a members club
1 is a dance school
Not bad eh! 3 correct out of the first 10. :muppet::muppet::muppet:
I gave up after that.
gillhalfpint
22-11-2010, 07:57
It's the places I have not heard of on the list that gets me. Only been here 28 years so thought I knew everywhere in the mile radius.
Believe it was said that Cola was one of the site supporters which may explain chippy or tea total type places, though why enter on a pub site is beyond me. Forget it!
aleandhearty
22-11-2010, 09:51
The site is backed by drinks companies Diageo - which owns Guinness, Smirnoff and Gordon's gin - Heineken UK and Coca-Cola, which will receive feedback on drink purchasesThursday 18th November 2010
Diageo aren't doing this out the kindness of their heart. It strikes me as thinly disguised market research. On the 'score your local' section of the site it states:
We love pubs. And we'd like to knowwhat you think and the pubs and drinks you enjoy, or not.
Like everyone else, I checked out my local area and the listings are woefully inaccurate. Mind you it's early days and with the amount of money being thrown at the site I wouldn't write it off just yet.
NickDavies
22-11-2010, 10:11
My guess is a lot of the names came out of reps' notebooks - that would explain incorrect spellings, incorrect names even, wrongly formatted phone numbers (0208 etc) and even mobile numbers.
Strangely they don't seem to cover the station bars - I was going to contribute a glowing review of the renowned Boadicea (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/68187/) - a fine example of an Olde English hostelry, buxom serving wenches, foaming tankards, a must see for all visitors to our green and pleasant land - but sadly my hopes were dashed.
Interesting stuff, I have only had a quick glance at it. I look forward to hearing Dave's opinion, he is far better at reading these things than me.
IMO, the listings can be rubbish, it is not a problem as long as they are willing to take feedback and correct them. I don't think the feedback system was particularly good for that though from my brief glance.
Their publican offering is good, it pretty much matches exactly with the sort of thing I had in mind in the future for PuG.
Clearly got some sensible backing though, and some nice ideas as well.
and some nice ideas as well.
Is that code for a rip off "Homage" being done on PuG ;)
Sorry I missed this bit of the first post:
Oh Oh, looks like the PuG cards are also about to have big competition
"100 million beermats hit pubs
Thursday 18th November 2010
As part of our plan to get more people scoring pubs and their drinks the first of 100 million beermats are now printed and hitting pubs. Our friends at John Smith's have been the first our of the stalls to let their drinkers know about the new service - which we guess is what you'd expect from the Grand National sponsor!
Well we reckon there are in the order of 50,000 pubs in the UK, so that is 2,000 beermats for each pub. They have a gift for creative numbering across their site as far as I can tell. That sort of thing does irritate me.
I note also from article that internet deliveries are about to made to local pub, which for many will be a very useful service
That has been around for a while and I think they have lost that game, I suspect over the next few years Collect+ (http://www.collectplus.co.uk/) may stitch that up, I have used them and it is a good idea, not sure if they are in pubs yet though.
Is that code for a rip off "Homage" being done on PuG ;)
I didn't say new ideas :). It has re-iterated to me that facilities would be something we should add soonish though.
I've been keeping an eye on the site since it first launched in a blaze of publicity about 2 years ago. I have to admit that I did like the original concept of using pubs for parcel deliveries and thought it would probably do quite well - particularly with the backing it has from Scottish & Newcastle (Heineken basically!). A pub fairly near to me signed up quite early on and I kept it in the back of my mind in case I ever needed to use it.
About 6 months ago I caught a news item saying that they now had 1,000 pubs signed up so I took another look because that sounded impressive. It turned out that I could find no new ones offering parcel delivery in my area and the one I knew about had stopped taking them! What was more noticable even then was that they had become more of a review site and had shifted away from the original concept.
As Conrad was saying it looks as if they may possibly have lost the parcel marketplace to Collect+. Having just done a few searches of the entire BS postcode area (1,022 pubs) I found that they only have 2 accepting parcels.
It is frustrating to see how much publicity they get for a service that barely exists, but as things are they are raising the profile of pub reviewing and hopefully that should lead a few more people to PuG too! I will of course be continuing to keep an eye on their progress.
Well we reckon there are in the order of 50,000 pubs in the UK, so that is 2,000 beermats for each pub. They have a gift for creative numbering across their site as far as I can tell. That sort of thing does irritate me.
I like the quote in the press release "Being able to reach over 100 million people, at the precise moment they’re having a drink, is a fantastic way to get everyone scoring". So it would seem the plan is that beer mats are being rationed at one per person and that the adult population of the UK has suddenly doubled. If anyone is curious about their beermats you can see samples of them here (http://yfrog.com/jyuhfrj).
If anyone is curious about their beermats you can see samples of them here (http://yfrog.com/jyuhfrj).
Oh man, those are really tasteless.
My initial take on looking at the second image was to wonder what decade they were from. If an individual makes a comment about the barmaid (or indeed the barman) flirting with them, then fairplay. But to base an advertising campaign on it for beermats, it just seems to be asking for trouble. I decided to ask my wife what she made of them to see what her instant response was, "Who is that aimed at" (although clearly John Smith's drinkers on reflection ;))
Al 10000
22-11-2010, 17:01
I have just checked the site and of the 20 listed within 1 mile of my house
There are 3 clubs and one of these closed 15 years ago
1 pub knocked down houses on site 1 pub closed for about 3 years and 1 pub on list twice.
Not very good:muppet::muppet::muppet:
Evil Gazebo
22-11-2010, 17:13
Joining in on the fun, I put in my postcode. The only notable thing (in amongst all the closed down and renamed pubs as found by everyone else), was one pub which has a picture by its name. The photo must have been submitted in the last few months, due to alterations to the front, so at least one licensee must be taking the site seriously.
Oggwyn Trench
22-11-2010, 17:42
After working out how to get to my postcode(sticking Telford in search dont work)
54 Pubs listed
7 Closed(2 Burnt Down , 1 netto , 1 flats , 1 Pizza shop)
5 Private Clubs (2 closed , 1 burnt down)
1 Village Hall
1 Golf Club
1 Indian Takeaway
1 University Campus
1 Snooker Club (now a pole dancing club)
1 never heard of (only lived here 44 years)
1 New Inn (last called this around 1986, though still open)
It would seem that Telford has been built using particularly combustible material! :eek:
1 mile radius gave 26 results of which : 7 closed pubs
: 3 bars in a sports stadium
: 1 closed hotel
Thuck Phat
23-11-2010, 09:45
Purely out of interest, within 2 miles, 7 listed of which 1 now closed and and 1 new and not listed.
It doesn't look as pretty as PuG either but that may just be my own technophobe tendencies struggling with something new.
I have to admit that I did like the original concept of using pubs for parcel deliveries and thought it would probably do quite well
I was actually a bit intrigued by this parcel delivery bit and wondered what it was all about. Thanks for explaining it.
I have to say, with some of the less salubrious North London establishments in mind I had the image of this being a service to take delivery of untraceable brown paper parcels whose contents to the untrained eye may resemble baking powder....
Thanks for putting me right....
arwkrite
23-11-2010, 11:39
The Bromyard entry of 8 names includes two closed and one wrongly named. I wonder if the call center is in India ?
Anyway it is far to corporate for my tastes.
Yeah, this one's been around for a while. I checked my email archives and it was apparently in August 2009 that I used their feedback form to let them know the pub they had listed as the closest to my house had closed. They did take action and reply in less than 12 hours though (at 8:30am on a Saturday morning!)
I did a bit of digging in the ½-mile area around my workplace and it came up with somewhere I never knew existed, whether or not it was actually a restaurant rather than a pub. A bit of Googling seems to suggest that there really is a (gastro)pub there, albeit with a completely different name (and obviously not listed either here or you-know-where). I am now suffering from a slight degree of shock from discovering my ignorance and will have to undertake a reconnaissance mission as soon as time allows (but it's only five minutes walk from the office, for goodness sake!).
It (The Jam Tree) really does exist - five minutes walk from the office and I never knew it was there...
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