Talk:J D Wetherspoon/Archive 1

Archive 1

Very POV

The prices of ales are up to half that of comparable pub brands, and the pre-mixed binge-drinker-friendly drinks up to a third. Indeed, with large-scale binge-drinking in its hey-day, Wetherspoons pricing structure, although welcome for most moderate-drinking people, does not give the Police headache-free evenings.

This may be ostensibly true, but it reads as very POV, not to mention cynical! I'm going to try and clean it up - Coyote 14:34, 30 June 2005 (UTC)

Lunar theme

I'm too lazy to do so myself right now, but does somebody want to put something in about many JDW pubs having names with a lunar theme? This is because of the name George Orwell gave his ideal pub in his essay 'The Moon Underwater'? I think there is some info on the JDW website about the matter. Matthew 19:57, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

POV?

Some of this is reading a little POV, for example

The £3.99 'Beer and Burger' offer (a burger, accompanied by potato chips and a drink selected from a prescribed list of options) is indicative of the chain's good-value

And there's little/no criticisms of the chain. Might have a look at doing some minor editing. MikeyF 23:35, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Little/no criticisms?! Well now it's more like the opposite. What about cutting the opinionation out altogether? 138.38.32.84 17:59, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I've added the POV tag, as there is a great deal of highly partisan commentary that needs to be at least reworded and sourced if not outright removed. Currently the article is in pretty poor shape. Gwernol 15:00, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Have been trying to achieve a balance, or at least revert to basic facts. Still needs more work. MikeyF 00:49, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I removed some of the more egregious POV statements remaining. Still more work needed. One idea would be to include a separate "Criticisms of Wetherspoons" section. Many articles do this and its a good way to fairly treat both "sides". There are valid criticisms of Wetherspoons and they should be included in the article; they will need sources and to be phrased in a neutral way though. Gwernol 01:10, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I think that needs to be done. It could be quite hard to find sources for criticisms like that though, I suppose pub guides could be a place to look. MikeyF 18:30, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Spoons

I'd just like to point out that certainly where i am the name JD Wetherspoons or even Wetherspoons is rarely if ever used to denote the pub chain. Instead it is referred to simply as 'Spoons' by everybody under the age of 28, and therefore i think that it should perhaps be mentioned somewhere in the article, even if it was as a reference to slang and dialect of this countries youth. whaat do you all think? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.40.131.66 (talk • contribs) 14:19, 22 May 2006

It already is, in the introductory sentence. --Achmelvic 15:02, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm very familiar with the chain, and under 28, and I've never heard it refered to as 'Spoons'. This seems to me to be just a local slang that doesn't need to be in the article. Coyote-37 15:38, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

I often hear it referred to as 'Spoonies' --MartinUK 18:40, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I live in North Wales, go to university in Stafford (west midlands) and have friends in London among other places, all of whom are familiar with the name Spoons. Dav 20:26, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Just so everyone knows, the offical name of the pub is J D Wetherspoon (i.e. spaces between the 'J' and the 'D', and no 's' on the end of Wetherspoon. Also, calling the chain 'spoons' would be simply a personal choice. I have never heard anyone where I live (North London), nor anyone at their head-office in Watford call specific pubs or the brand in general by the name of 'Spoons'. --Andyshan 15:47, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Cumon guys - you KNOW it's 'spoons don't deny it! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.31.70.102 (talk • contribs) 23:12, 7 June 2006

Never heard it called spoons, round here it's always Wetherspoons, no matter what the "real" name of the pub actually is!!Greenpeas 19:42, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

The POV issues

I've tried to remove all personal opinion, irrelevant facts and pointless advertising from the article. I hope I've done a good job. I'm against a 'criticisms' section as it will almost certainly become swamped with pet peeves about users' local Wetherspoons that don't apply to the chain as a whole. However, I do agree with the above user that if the criticism has to stay in the article, that's the place to store it. Coyote-37 15:35, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Have removed the particular phrase and tried to replace it with something more neutral (sp) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.70.64.102 (talk • contribs) 10:22, 30 May 2006

The Moon Under Water

At odds with this aim however, many of the pubs in the chain are very large compared to other non-chain pubs, and in fact the Moon Under The Water in Manchester was once the largest pub in the world.

I've removed this sentence, as Orwell's original essay mentioned nothing about the size of his ideal pub. Conversely, Orwell did stipulate "motherly barmaids", whereas most Wetherspoons pubs seem to have young people behind the bar... AdorableRuffian 09:21, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Full Pint

What's this bit about the "Full Pint Controversy" then? Is it relevant? It is completely out of place without some kind of context to back it up and really doesn't seem to belong in the article. would appreciate any feedback. 87.74.98.129 18:08, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

You're right, its completely unsoruced, so is unverifiable. I've removed the section. If another editor can source it, it can be added in with appropriate citations Gwernol 18:42, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I well remember the "full pint" business, being heavily promoted by Wetherspoons including their free magazine. I was quite amazed when they reverted back to the old styles glasses, which must have cost a fair bit. I think they explained it in the magazine as people "preferring" the old type (something I've never believed), and always suspected that because other pub chains didn't follow their lead, they quietly dropped it. Same way as the non-smoking commitment was watered down. Never did hear a proper official reason.Greenpeas 19:26, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Food pricing

Haven't altered it, but the phrase "very cheap" food seems a bit POV.

They do have some good bargains (and I've eaten there plenty of times), in the "two for £5.99" or theme night offers, but other chains are offering similar deals, and the £5-£7 stand alone meals can be matched by other town centre pubs.

Didn't know whether to add a comment about whereas the menu is standard, the prices can vary from town to town; and that some of the pubs are now offering seperate specials boards?Greenpeas 19:40, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Criticisms

In regards to "citation needed" on the criticisms section. The comment about understaffing is qualified by me an ex employee! 90.197.194.104 22:10, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, yes, exactly. That can't be how this project works, I'm afraid. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.5.241.98 (talk • contribs) 22:09, 12 May 2007

I understand. For the record I am not a disgruntled ex employee I actually enjoyed my time with the company, but at the same time I didn’t want the article to be a some kind promotion for wetherspoons so I felt a little balance was needed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.206.145 (talk • contribs) 22:55, 7 March 2008

Formation?

This needs more information on the formation of the chain - when, why etc... --Macca7174 11:35, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Tim Martin was a failing law student so he decided he would drop out and buy a pub instead. He bought his first pub in Muswell Hill an 1979. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.159.61.63 (talk • contribs) 17:19, 26 April 2007

Writing

This page had some of the worst writing on Wikipedia. Is it because most of the editors are drunk when they contribute? I tried to fix it, but there's one sentence I couldn't figure out:

Wetherspoons offers 30 minutes of Wi-Fi with every drink, although at some venues (such as the Lord Rosebery in Scarborough) do not advertise or have give out vouchers to it's customers.

Does this mean they give out vouchers on request and otherwise do not provide Wi-Fi, or that they don't give out vouchers as other venues do, or something completely different?

Also, what the hell is CQSMA? --76.203.74.26 12:23, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

CQSMA is the companies bonus scheme for employees. It stands for Cleanliness, Quality, Service, Maintenice and Atmosphere. Mystery shoppers looks for these 5 things when doing a customer call. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.99.10.39 (talk • contribs) 12:42, 17 May 2007

Non Smoking

Not that this is particularly useful or relevant anymore, seeing that smoking is being banned imminently... But the page is claiming Wetherspoons upholds a complete smoking ban. This must be a lie as my local most definitely allows smoking, it even has a smoking area. I'm tempted to bin this. In fact, I will. Giveitallforcheese 18:02, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Food

The comment on the steaks being made partly of Zebu beef is it really relevant, the fact that they use a cattle which is from a tropical climate is it not just a negative spin on an issue that is under debate at the moment, as it is stated in wetherpoons that all beef is from an EU approved source, Including this comment in which it states zebu beef is:

notorious for its tough and poor eating quality

while cited in the zebu article is a very POV statement from the FUW or the Farmers Union of Wales which is in direct competition to foreign farmers, I think that considering the beef is considered good enough to be imported into this country and sold in many pubs and chains. should this comment be included. thoughts anyone? Holowugz 21:22, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

"zebu-cross cattle"?

A study by ITV television show Undercover Mothers found that a third of Wetherspoon pubs studied served steaks from zebu-cross cattle.

er... and?

Zebu-cross cattle

as opposed to what? Huh?

The article doesn't even state whether "Undercover Mothers" (whatever that is!) felt that this was supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing, let alone why. AdorableRuffian (talk) 02:18, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

I am an employee of the chain in a Midlands Pub. It is a highly popular chain however when the programme was on itv the company did send a letter to the staff at all pubs. The programme did suggest that the company was lying to customers over the content of its steaks. However this is false. The menu does in fact not state that the meat is 100% British neither does it state that it is 100% beef. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.228.146 (talk) 03:56, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Here's a story about it from the Daily Mail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-476612/Zebu-chips-sir-Why-pub-steak-beefy-think.html - I think their main problem is that Zebu meat, as opposed to meat from cattle, is lower quality and much tougher. 82.5.97.136 (talk) 10:14, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Wetherspoon Lodges

This section reads like it was written by the company's PR rep. If someone more familiar with the exact wiki rules regarding entries could clean this up I think it'd be a good idea to do so! Stonegate101 (talk) 21:42, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Naming consistency

I've changed "Wetherspoon", "J D Wetherspoon", "JDW", "JD Wetherspoon plc" etc all to "Wetherspoons", except of course in quotes and specific things like the lead-in section. I don't have any preference for which is chosen, but it should be consistent through the article-- at least it's a simple find/replace job if consensus is to something other than "Wetherspoons". I think it's fine to treat Wetherspoons as singular and as modifier (e.g. "a Wetherspoons pub", "Wetherspoons prefers" instead of "Wetherspoons prefer", etc). SimonTrew (talk) 02:25, 10 April 2009 (UTC)