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Mooch Mystery Diner Report Written and Complied by Sophie Fox, January 2017

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Contents Sign-Ups .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Demographics ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Visit Details ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Number of Staff Present ..................................................................................................................... 5

Number of Customers Present ........................................................................................................... 5

Food Ordered ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Bar Staff ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Waiting Staff ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Staff ....................................................................................................................................................... 10

Appearance ....................................................................................................................................... 10

Service ............................................................................................................................................... 12

Front of House .................................................................................................................................. 13

Overall Staff Efficiency ...................................................................................................................... 14

Bar Staff ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Waiting Staff ................................................................................................................................. 14

Bar Management .................................................................................................................................. 15

Observations ......................................................................................................................................... 16

Environment ..................................................................................................................................... 16

General Appearance ..................................................................................................................... 16

Music Levels .................................................................................................................................. 16

Lighting Levels ............................................................................................................................... 16

General Atmosphere ..................................................................................................................... 17

Appealing Feel ............................................................................................................................... 17

Overall Cleanliness ........................................................................................................................ 17

Tables ................................................................................................................................................ 17

Food and Drink Service ..................................................................................................................... 20

Staff Conducts ................................................................................................................................... 22

Food and Drink ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Food .................................................................................................................................................. 24

Drinks ................................................................................................................................................ 25

Toilet Facilities ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Satisfaction ............................................................................................................................................ 27

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Sign-Ups When signing up to the Mystery Diner programme, customers are asked if they have ever visited

Mooch before, of those who signed up for the chance to be a mystery diner 1/5 had never visited

before. The graph below shows what the remaining 80% of people thought about Mooch based on

their previous experiences.

On average customers scored food and drink and overall satisfaction with Mooch as 3.9/5, which can

be taken as ‘good’. Staff and general atmosphere were rated at 3.8/8, which can also be taken as

‘good’.

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Demographics Of those who were selected and emailed days and time to visit, 16 people visited Mooch to take part

in the Mystery Shopper programme, over a period of time from 15th October 2016 to 13th December

2016. A third of those customers visited Mooch on a weekend day and two thirds visited during the

week.

Visit Details The graph below displays the distribution of the mystery diners across the weeks, with most

customers visiting on a Monday or Saturday, and no one visiting Mooch on a Sunday.

The two tables below demonstrate the spread of customers over the week based on the time that

they entered Mooch, these have been split into weekday and weekend customers. Weekday

customers tend to favour an early evening time, with the latest customer first visiting Mooch at

7.20pm, whereas weekend customers are visiting early to mid-afternoon.

Weekday Customers

Day of Visit Time of Visit

17:00 – 17:30 17:31 – 18:00 18:01 – 18:30 18:31 – 19:00 19:01 – 19:30

Monday 2 1 1 1 1

Tuesday 0 0 0 0 1

Wednesday 0 0 1 0 0

Thursday 0 0 0 0 1

Friday 1 0 0 0 0

Weekend Customers

Day of Visit Time of Visit

12:00 – 14:00 14:01 – 16:00 16:01 – 18:00

Saturday 2 2 1

Sunday 0 0 0

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The average duration of the customer’s visit to Mooch was 64 minutes long.

Number of Staff Present The average number of staff present during the mystery diner programme was 6 members of staff, an

increase of 1 staff member on average from the last report. The lowest number of staff members

present was 4 and the highest was 7.

Number of Customers Present The average number of customers present during the mystery diner programme was 40, a decrease

of 3 customers on average from the last report. The lowest number of customers observed by the

diners was 20 and the highest was 60.

Food Ordered Customers were asked to comment on their exact orders. These are listed below:

Harlem Shake burger, Pash n Shoot Smoothie

Harlem Shake burger, chips, coleslaw, coca-cola pint

Stand by Meat burger, sweet potato fries, garlic bread, diet coke

Meat the Parents burger, sweet chilli dip, big 5 smoothie

Stand by Meat burger with extra bacon, Daim bar milkshake

Meat the Parents burger, sweet potato friend, detox zing smoothie

Stand by Meat burger, orange cordial

Stand by Meat burger, pint of coke

Sweet dreams are made of cheese, chips, hummus, onion rings, passion fruit smoothie

How I met your Mushroom (vegan), sweet potato fries, halloumi, hummus, detox zing

Despicable Meat Burger, Harlem Shake burger, Detox Zing smoothie, Cookie and Cream shake

Stand by Meat burger, chips, Children on the popcorn freakshke, half pint of cranberry juice

Mushroom with a view burger, giant wedges, Coca-Cola pint

Lord of the onion rings burger without coleslaw, tortilla chips, chips, pint of Coca-Cola

Sweet Chilli Alabama burger with Monterey jack cheese and chips, pint of Coca-Cola

The amount customers spend ranged from £7.30 - £11.25, with the average spend by customers doing

the mystery diner programme being £9.65; the maximum they could claim back being £10.00.

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Bar Staff The diners were asked to rate the bar staff on a number of different aspects, which can be seen in the

charts below. For the scale, 1 meant ‘very poor’ and 5 meant ‘very good’, so the closer to 5 the more

positive the rating.

The chart demonstrates how customers rated the politeness of the bar staff that they spoke to. The

first member scored an average of 5, meaning that they were very polite, the second member scored

an average of 4/5 for politeness, meaning that the interaction was rated as polite.

The chart demonstrates the ratings of the appearances of the bar staff that customers spoke to. Both

scored a weighted average of 4 out of 5 meaning they were of good appearance to the customer.

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The chart demonstrates the average ratings of the helpfulness of bar staff that customers spoke to.

One member of staff scored a 4/5 for helpfulness, and another scored 5/5, meaning that it was rated

as good and very good.

Examining the comments that were surrounding this question, customers commented on how quick

the service was given how busy it was and that the staff were nice and very friendly. Customers with

queries said that these were answered with as much detail as needed. It was commented that the

sheet with the list of dietary requirements had omitted the vegetarian sign with things assumed to be

vegetarian and that staff then had to go to the kitchen to check.

“Elliot was really friendly as was Beth”

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Waiting Staff The diners were asked to rate the waiting staff on a number of different aspects, which can be seen

in the charts below. For the scale, 1 meant ‘very poor’ and 5 meant ‘very good’, so the closer to 5 the

more positive the rating.

The chart demonstrates how customers averagely rated the politeness of the waiting staff that they

spoke to. Each member scored a 4/5 for politeness, meaning that it was rated as good and staff were

polite.

The chart demonstrates the average ratings of the waiting staff that customers spoke to. Two

members scored 4/5 for appearance, meaning that their appearance was rated as good, another

member scored 3, meaning that their appearance was average.

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The chart demonstrates the ratings of the waiting staff that customers spoke to. All three members

scored an average 4/5 for helpfulness, meaning that it was rated as good and that they were helpful.

Considering the comments from this section, customers commented that whilst they could not

complain about efficiency, the uniform was untidy. With regards to the disposition of the waiting staff,

there were mixed comments, some customers felt that the staff were friendly and pleasant whilst

others noted that some were stand-offish and didn’t say much and came across as unfriendly. It was

noted that some were not wearing name badges. One customer commented that the smoothie that

they had ordered was no longer available, however Emma was very patient and sorted it for the

customer – she also was walking round tables clearing up and helping numerous people.

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Staff

Appearance

62.5% of the customers surveyed said that all of the staff that they saw were free from jewellery, a

4.5% increase from the last mystery diner report. The table below shows the percentage of customers

who answered ‘yes’ to this question over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

100% 93% 82% 58% 63%

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This has shown a 9% decrease from the last report, and only half of the staff interacted with by

customers during their visit were seen to be wearing name badges. The table below shows the

percentage of customers who answered ‘yes’ to this question over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

50% 43% 17% 59% 50%

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Service

Over 93% of the customers who took part in the mystery diner programme thought that there were

served promptly, a 20% increase from the last mystery diner programme. Only 6% of the customers

felt that they were not served promptly, which was mentioned in the comments as being due to the

fact that it took a member of staff a long time to see whether a certain drink was in stock.

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Front of House

There was a 16% increase from the previous report, with 100% of the customers stating that the front

of house areas and all of its staff were well organised and efficient. Examining the comments,

customers stated that the bar staff were coordinating the queue sufficiently and that when it was not

busy staff were able to converse amongst themselves whilst still providing adequate customer service.

It was commented that the water jug was empty and efficiency could be improved by making sure it

is refilled when needed. The table below shows the percentage of customers who answered ‘yes’ to

this question over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

86% 79% 67% 84%. 100%

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Overall Staff Efficiency

Both bar staff and waiting staff amassed 100% ‘yes’ when it came to whether they were working

efficiently. For waiting staff, this is the same as the last report, for bar staff this is a 25% increase.

Customers were asked to comment on the bar staff and waiting staff individually in relation to their

scores, these are listed separately below.

Bar Staff Comments showed that the customers thought that the bar staff were quick to take orders and were

precise with orders and that the queue moved quickly. Customers felt that the bar staff dealt with

customers in a fair manner, making sure they served who had come to the bar first and in order. It

was commented that the bar staff may not be able to be as efficient with a larger queue.

Waiting Staff Comments showed that customers thought that the waiting staff were very fast and food was

delivered very quickly, although this could be taken negatively as it was commented that they ‘didn’t

hang around’ and that some staff members were not customer-friendly but still did their job. It was

noted that some of the tables were not cleared when the customer had been there for an hour but

another commented that the staff efficiently cleared tables – these comments were both from visitors

at similar times on a weekend day, however they visited on different weekends.

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Bar Management

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

No complaints. Mainly no complaints, but any complaints were dealt with well.

Mainly no complaints, but any complaints were dealt with well.

No complaints. Mainly no complaints, but any complaints were dealt with well.

It was commented that the customer had not complained negatively particularly, but the staff were

helpful when they realised they had not been given a receipt.

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Observations

Environment Customers were asked to rate the atmospherics of Mooch on a rating scale of 1 = Very Poor to 5 =

Very Good.

From the last mystery diner, only general appearance and overall cleanliness have improved from 4

to 5, all other aspects have stayed the same scoring 4 out of 5. Overall the atmospherics scored ‘good’

and ‘very good’. Customers left comments below each section of the atmospherics, these have been

summarised below.

General Appearance Customers noticed that a one or two tables had not been clear away after people had been eating,

but generally the comments were that Mooch was clean and was cleaner than people had seen in

previous visits to the bar.

Music Levels Comments around this were varied, some commenters felt that the music was too loud – this was

specified by being in regards to evenings. The majority felt that the music levels were just right as you

could still easily talk but enjoy the music and a few customers felt that the music could be louder.

Lighting Levels All customers felt that the lighting was too dim, but as one customer mentioned this may be attributed

to where you sit as the middle has little lighting compared to the outside perimeters of the bar.

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General Atmosphere Customers commented that Mooch has a great atmosphere, is vibrant and friendly and can feel not

dissimilar to a pub. One commenter felt that the layout of Mooch does not lend itself to a good

atmosphere.

Appealing Feel It was noted that this can be varied dependent on what time you visit, as when it’s quieter and people

are more dispersed there is a lack of atmosphere.

Overall Cleanliness Customers noted that Mooch was clean but not sparkling and that tables generally were clean.

Tables

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These graphs show the cleaning and efficiency behaviours of the staff at Mooch. On average, there

were a similar number of customers when people entered Mooch as there was when they left

respectively. Roughly the same amount of tables were empty and had been reset on arrival and exit

of Mooch, with an average of 7 not being reset when customers arrived and 5 not being reset when

they left.

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67% of customers did see staff resetting tables during their visit, which is the same score as the last

mystery diner report. However, whilst not declining, 1/3 of staff in Mooch are still not resetting tables

– or doing so visibly to customers.

This showed a 12% increase on whether tables were cleared once the customer’s meal was finished

or before they had left Mooch, showing a good increase. However almost a third of customers

reported that their table had not been cleared once they had finished or before they left, and

considering that the average duration of the customers visit was over an hour this is a long time. The

table below shows the number of people who answered ‘yes’ to this question.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014 Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015 March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

43% 64% 59% 54% 68%

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Food and Drink Service

All of the customers who visited Mooch on the mystery diner programme had their food within 15

minutes, which is the same as the last report. The table below shows the percentage of customers

who answered ‘yes’ to this question over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

N/A N/A 92% 100% 100%

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The range of waiting times stated by customers was between 5 and 15 minutes. The average score

was ‘2’ which meant 6 – 10 minutes waiting. The longest any customer had to wait was 11 – 15

minutes, similar to the last report.

Over 18% of customers stated that their food was incorrect, a 10% increase from the last mystery

diner report. The table below shows the percentage of customers who answered ‘yes’ to this question

over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

100% 100% 92% 92% 82%

Comments mentioned that food appeared to have been made without much care and that an order

had arrived without pulled pork despite being stated on the menu.

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Staff Conducts

57% of customers were invited to enjoy their food by staff, this has shown a 9% decreased from the

last report. The table below shows the percentage of customers who answered ‘yes’ to this question

over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

43% 86% 34% 66% 57%

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88% of customers were offered condiments or already had them available, a 4% increase from the

last mystery diner report. The table below shows the percentage of customers who answered ‘yes’

to this question over time.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014 Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015 March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

29% 71% 91% 84% 88%

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Food and Drink Customers were asked to rate different aspects of the food and drinks from Mooch out of 5, where 1

is Very Poor and 5 is Very Good.

Food

Customers rated all aspects of the food as good and the taste as very good; the last report saw every

aspect gain a 4 out of 5.

Customers were asked to comment on their ratings, a number of customers mentioned that the

burgers seemed smaller than their previous visits, which was emphasised by the portion of chips with

the burger which made it look smaller; it was also commented that the bun was tough and chewy.

Whilst overall presentation was good, it was noted that having food served in a basket can make it

challenging to eat the meal, the food was not very warm and that one meal was missing pulled pork

as stated on the menu. Other customers said that they would recommend to family and friends that

the food was lovely.

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Drinks

Customers rated all aspects of the drinks as good and the taste and presentation as very good; the

last report saw every aspect gain a 4 out of 5 and temperature gaining 5 out of 5.

Customers were asked to comment on their ratings, customs commented that the freak shakes were

well presented and that the smoothies tasted great. It was noted that the glass the drink was served

in was fine but on a previous visit a customer had noticed the glass being dirty. The customer who

could not get the drink they wanted due to lack of stock commented that whilst this was not an issue,

they have since been back and the drink was still not available – the specific drink is not listed.

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Toilet Facilities

Of the toilet facilities that were checked, 88% of customers said that the facilities were in good working

order. Those who said they were not said that the lock was sticky and only one flush button worked,

and that they smelt, were out of soap and tissue and in need of an urgent fix; both customers who

said ‘no’ checked the female toilets.

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Satisfaction

The average rating was 9.06, showing a good increase from the last mystery diner report. Scores

ranged from 6 to 10. This shows that the customers said they are very likely to return. The table below

shows customers’ average scores across time on whether they would return to Mooch.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

7.5 7.79 8.6 7.91 9.06

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The average rating was 8.94 a good increase from the last mystery diner report. Scores ranged from 4

to 10. This shows that the customers said they are very likely to recommend Mooch. The table below

shows customers’ average score across time as to whether they would recommend Mooch.

Oct 2014 – Dec 2014

Feb 2015 – March 2015

Oct 2015 – Dec 2015

March 2016 – May 2016

Oct 2016 – Dec 2016

7.5 7.64 8.3 8 8.94

Customers were asked to explain their ratings to these questions. One customer stated that whilst the

atmosphere is something customers would come back for, the food is average and appears overpriced

for a student restaurant. In contrast, it was noted that the food was delicious and the service was

good, and that a drawback was the atmosphere – this is as the customer felt that it was unnecessary

to have a DJ on Tuesday evening for no special event.

“Mooch is probably the best student bar on campus. The atmosphere in the evenings is good and the

food is great at a cheap price too”

Overall, the general opinion was that the customers felt that the food was a good price and good

value, they enjoy the food they had and the experience and that they would definitely return to Mooch

based on the experience they had on that day. Customer who had complaints or things wrong with

their visit said that this would not detract them from coming again.

Customers noted improvements that could be made would be to the toilets, which could be improved

by regular cleaning and inspections and to improve the portions. It was further commented that there

is a lack of cutlery as it is not provided or obvious as to where it is.