Chuck E.s Place: What gets you miffed? Vent here!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Alright folks...time for another thread everyone can have a say in!

I know there are a LOT of things both Fans and Employees would like to get off there chest regarding the current state of things in the Company, so let it all out here!

This thread is NOT meant to be overly negative...or meant to start up trouble...or to toss mud on the Corporate Machine. It is simply a good place to release some of the stress and frustration many out there, from both a sideline fan perspective, and a frontline CM/MGR perspective, can have a good cleansing rant in.

Remember, it's always better to vent here then in front of the Guests!

So let it all out...and let's hear what things currently irratate the crap outta you regarding the concept!

[ChuckEZone]

I really don't think the company is all that bad. As long as you find a way to make magic with what you're given, the guests will be happy. The only problem I've encountered lately is with the allowance of labor. It's hard to run a proper shift when you're trying to run back and forth between several areas.

[Aaron]

Oh boy, here we go...


This thread is NOT meant to be overly negative...or meant to start up trouble...or to toss mud on the Corporate Machine.
It's a really good attempt.
This is like walking into Pizza Hut and saying who prefers Domino's.
Must this subject appear once a month?

It humors me sometimes. Threads like this come up, then we wonder why we get little to no respect from the company.

For what its worth, I'm on the same page as Brian for this round.

Aaron

[pizzacam]

This thread is NOT meant to be overly negative...or meant to start up trouble...or to toss mud on the Corporate Machine.

Damn Jenn, then why make it? It's really hard to find good with the CEC that exists today...:rolleyes

Also...respect from the company? Hmm we were denied a tour as a whole to CV3...but it's funny how several individuals got tours during that time...I think you guys are just assuming things. Also why kiss soo much ass when they've totally taken away what us long time loyal fans loved about the place? No more curtains, barely work on the show, cutbacks left and right and all to the show? I don't get how everyone's still so loyal to them? :|

[cec080]

CUTBACKS! LACK OF INTREST ON MAINTAINING THE SHOW NOT THE CONTENT! THE FOOD PRICES! LACK OF MAGIC! LOYALTY!:rollin :hat


the only thing i can say is like it used to be is the cleanliness! No I'm not just saying this because my dad's a maintence worker. CEC still has the cleanest facillities compared to the Major Magic's I've been to as well as the Ceasarlands and Jeepers i've been in. That's the only best thing i can truly vouch for..

[Lilredridinghood]

The show.

On the plus side, I have to admit that I really like their pizza! I had a black olive pizza in Burlington once that I will never forget....

[puppetmaster29]

:rolleyes Geez, here we go agian. Can someone tell me what round this?

Jenn, is there something you maybe wanna get off your chest here?

[MatHat13]

Yeah you know every thread I am reading these days is 'CEC sucks' I feel like its every thread now...:rolleyes

[cec080]

Mat Hat and puppettmaster seem to be on to something why do we all feel that cec sucks when in hence it's the same place we've been patronizing for years. I have to retract what I said above i'm sorry i have to go with what Mat and Michael said... Mod's can you retract my previous post thanks!:D

[MMBBfan327]

I don't really think CEC sucks, I mean I adore those seldom times I get to go, but it's the early '90s CEC I will forever cherish.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Nothing to get off my chest guys...and sorry if this topic is "old, tired, and already been done to death"!

I actually did not notice the overly-negative tone of previous threads on a similar subject matter. This was ment to be a place where folks could come and let off some steam...but apparently none is needed! Like i had said, this is not designed to be a "Corporate bashing zone"....it is instead ment to be a place where people can vent and others can offer some solution to the problem, or at least theorize about it. Perhaps get some ideas as to how some folks would remedy some of the issues?

Never mind...guess it's not needed....we have enough drama on the Board as it is.


Carry on then.......

[MatHat13]

I'm just wondering why focus on corperate so much anyway, focus on what were all here for on the message board, lousy or not, THE SHOW!:rolleyes

[RAFE CEC Guy]

Because This Is About Corporate Ruining The Concept and the Show, Which Of Course Involves The Show.

[chuckrules]

The thing i don't get is why do some cec stores have to service Alacholic Beverages at a kids place? It's really not necessary at all. Luckily no stores in MA that was at nor my home store serves alacholic beverages.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Um..actually Nevin both our Lowell and Methuen locations here in MA serve beer and wine!

Alcohol at CEC harkens back to the days of PTT actually....as back in those days the concept was geared for young adults. Pizza n' beer go together like popcorn and movies for many folks...so naturally the resturant wanted in on a high profit maker.

Yeah, i know for a while i was thinking the same thing: Why offer it in what is now a Toddler Play Land? It's there for those that want it....there but not advertised really. Those that know about it can have it. It does not bother me as much as it did a while back....but i still hated to pour it as i could never do it right! Argh!

I think CEC could do a little more in the menu department. It's time for some other options for the parents, the subs have gotten old hat. How about introducing those long rumored chicken fingers or a fish sandwich of some sort? What about a meal pack for the kids? I know back during the Super Chuck promo they offered the "Super Chuck Meal" which i thought was a good experiment. Why not continue to offer something along these lines?

I think CEC could offer better pay to it's current employees. For starting CM's, the pay in some locations is pretty poor and does nothing to attract the talent that a type of concept like CEC really needs to have serving it's Guests. I suppose this is the bane of all large business'...from Wal-Mart to McDonalds....but i would think they would want to offer a little more to attract better quality hires?

I won't get into the show, as that has been overdone already. I think CEC is missing out by not upgrading/ expanding it's entertainment spectrum, let alone advertise/play up the 'free shows" in it's advertisments. I feel a great market for this is being looked over and missed out on. There seems to be no real interest.

I strongly feel though that it's the individual stores that make the difference. So even if things are bad and people are miserable, some Stores and some CM's carry on and do there job regardless...and you can only admire that when the odds are stacked against you. It's like someone here once said a while back, it's not the Company really that gives the great Guest Expereince, it's the PEOPLE who care IN THE STORES. Those GM's/AM's/Tech's/ and CM's who give a hoot and make that difference. So i salute those of you out there ( you know who you are!) who do this. You are the ones keeping the sinking ship from going under for good...you bring the Magic to the Guests and keep the spirit of the original concept alive for the new generation.

Okay...anything i have forgotten ......

Well if so i will no doubt be back!

[chuckrules]

I'm glad that not every store has it Jenn. and as for the show? And actually I love there sub's. so technically Jenn I wouldn't want to see those being totally eleminated from the ordering menu. I loved when they had to offer brownies, or those town home super huge cookies. I know I tried there hot wings once. I didn't like them a bit. they could offer a hot roast beef, turkey, pork, selections, cough i was gonna menition chicken sandwitch, but with helen henny being my favorite character. I won't go there lol:lol Just had to add a little humor there.:lol

[No Slugs Back]

Store managers is being beaten about the head and shoulders by their DMs about profit-and-loss and labor hours is always the first thing cut.
I can't count how many times I walked into the store in the morning to a filthy gameroom I had seen because the GM had sent the GRA home early to save hours. The GRA was always the first person sent home, so I couldn't get any good ones because they needed the hours.

If you serve the customers, the bottom line will take care of itself.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yeah, cutting the GRA's and other "unessesary" labor can bite. It's a double edged sword really...how can you have a clean store to standard if you have to be so tight with the payroll at times?

Where there is a will, there is a way yes.....but at some point that is not going to help in some situations.

[Rapid T Rabbit]

You know, during its franchise days, Union NJ never served alcohol (nor soft-serve ice cream for that matter). I don't know if that changed since corp. conversion. I wonder if that had to do with our store management being a Muslim (Jordanian) family operation?

I had only heard during my tenure at U-NJ that occaisionally cast members were sent home early to save labor costs. But I do personally know that never happened to anybody who wanted to be Chuck for an entire shift or all day as I was. My mangement couldn't get enough of me. And changes to the scheduling of my TV show would have allowed me to add days to my monthly gig but sadly my "cozy place" within the franchise had ended by that time.

Why doesn't corporate hire dedicated costume characters for every store for every day like theme parks do (aside from the obvious economic reasons)?

[pasqually82]

As we all know, CEC is no longer what it used to be. Growing up going to CECPTT has left me with an image of what CEC should be and what it is now. But, as with everything in life, things change for better or worse. When I walk into a CEC today, I don't get that same feeling that I did when I used to walk into a PTT. Now, that could be because I am older or because the atmosphere has changed. There are some things that I would like to see changed, but I have learned to accept the changes CEC has made and go with it.

I have nothing to really vent about CEC today, besides the show. However, it's still providing that magic to kids that we felt back in the day. It's a place where every kid still wants to spend their birthday or just visit. We have to remember that CEC is targeting todays generation. And from personal observation, it's not the show. The games and rides are what attract the kids and CEC knows that.

I still love the place, no matter what may happen. CEC will always be a special place to me from what I hold in my memories.

This was a good thread, Jenn. Sometimes we do need to vent about some stuff, even though things will not change to what we would like to see them, but it allows us to talk about it with our fellow fans/followers and have someone understand some of our frustrations that people outside our world would never understand.

So, frustrated with the way CEC operates today? Maybe a little. But as I said, I will always love the place and continue to frequent it.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well thanks Pasqually82....nice to see at least one person understood what this thread was supposed to be!

[chuckrules]

Yes I have to agree that this is a perfect spot to vent out our thoughts and feeling on the CEC things that we have or had experience in the years of having been to or been to a CEC.:D

[PuroMax]

CEC in theory and CEC in practice are seeming to become two very different things. In a perfect, ideal world you've got a place full of smiling, hard-working people that love what they do and guests that are there to show their kids a great time.

In real life a store that runs well will have, maybe four of the above mentioned people as part of the cast, as they are just so very hard to find. And there are many a guest who are "the wrong kind of people", but since everyone's money is green, as a business, the store must deal with these flaws in the system and carry on. I would love to be able to go back in time to where my biggest concern was if every guest saw Chuck E. or that the Salad was prepped by 10:00. Now I'm hanging out with a different crowd, and they have different motives and intentions.

Some people were brought to the dance by money, growth potential, necessity, and that form of personal satisfaction. They are businessmen, they view restaurants and games on paper. And it even states in the company's culture that the primary measure of our performance is sales.
Ultimately that will turn you evil. An addict of the business will do anything to get those sales, make those profits, and the only magic they make is getting money to appear in their pockets. The higher up the pyramid you go people have more greed, more necessities, more lavish lifestyles. And the people below them are the ones that provide that. The pressure is meant to trickle down on those beneath you. The top of a crumbling building hits the ground last, but it falls the longest so it has more time to try and save itself, and more cushion below it.

The other school is people who are completely selfless and will do whatever it takes to make the lives of others better. They will subject themselves to endless abuse because they can handle it, and someone else's day will be better because of it. Their values are built on loyalty, and dedication instead of status and prestige. They need only to have "enough" and "enough" never changes. These people are the foundation of something that stands very tall.

But it's a colorful world with all kinds of different people, and it's one big lottery of who you work for and who you work with. Sometimes it's not so much the job itself but the environment of it all. I don't know, I'm just long-winded.

[Billy Bob Brockali]

Great post, PuroMax

I've tried to give similar analogies to some of the diehard CEC employees on this board who feel that CEC is invincible. If something horrible were ever to happen, do you think it's the local store employees that would know about it?

Nope, the high-ups would make sure thier golden parachutes were strapped on nice and tight before letting the bad news slip. There are more than enough examples of this nastier side to corporate culture, and I doubt CEC Inc. is immune to these problems that plauge most American coprorations these days. Way too many "managers" and not enough people actually getting things done.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

I have to say that i STRONGLY agree with PuroMax and Billy Bob here.....EXCELLENT posts!!

PuroMax my friend, what you wrote is probably one of THE best posts i have ever read on here while i have been a part of the Forum. You said exactly when needed to be said, in totally honest words that were not bias in anyway, just openly HONEST of what is really going on out there in the field.

THANK YOU for taking the time to post that. It has made my night.

Billy Bob, i agree .....CEC has all the problems of any business monopoly, but naturally pretend everything is fine and dandy. When that building eventually crashes, it will be interesting to see what crawls out from underneath the rubble, if you catch my drift.......

[macrossmaster]

Good points all – if CEC were to go under, it's the last of its kind and business model. There's no Showbiz to run off to anymore. :( I hope CEC stays around just because the Pizza Joint/Dinner Theatre thing isn't going on anywhere else.

[pasqually82]

I am in total agreement here as well. It's sad in a way that CEC has become this kind of company. Unfortunatley, there are no other pizza places with the same concept as CEC. So, as said before, there is no real competition for CEC to out-do. So, we are subject to whatever CEC decides to do with its company.

The infortunate thing about this is that money is important to them and if they can cut cost regardless if it is to the show (animitronics) or labor, then they will do that.

I believe there is so much more that can be done with CEC and the concept that could attract both children of all ages and parents. If the company really wanted to make money, then they would expand their customer attraction. It just seems to me that they are happy with what they've done, making their money, and nothing will ever change.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

And that is pretty much what is going on in a nutshell, Pasqually82!

:(