Pirate Studios -- a warning

[tvickey]

28 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I'd definitely dob them in to the fire service and the environmental health department of the relevant local authority.

Thanks!  Now reported for environmental noise with EPS Sheffield.  Fire service already contacted.

[Burns-bass]

56 minutes ago, tvickey said:

Thanks!  Now reported for environmental noise with EPS Sheffield.  Fire service already contacted.

If the place was on fire, that’s have a huge tragedy on their hands, so you’ve done the right thing. If it gets them to reflect on their policies it’s a good thing.

[cybertect]

5 hours ago, TimR said:

Somewhat of an overreaction.

 

Resetting the fire alarm won't result in any liability. It shouldn't allow you to reset it if a break glass or smoke head has been activated. 

Legal liability aside, I would not feel comfortable with the moral responsibility if it did indeed turn out to be a genuine alarm and someone was injured after I disabled the alarm.

 

With my fire warden hat on from work, I’m appalled. A key rule is never to re-enter a building in a state of alarm until all clear is given. That is the responsibility of a Fire Marshal or Incident Controller; the person should be familiar with the premises and be fully aware of all the potential hazards therein.

 

A company cannot simply outsource the role of Incident Controller / Fire Marshal that does this to its customers and visitors to its premises.
 

On the evidence available it’s hard to see how Pirate can demonstrate that they have an effective emergency action plan is as required by law; clearly if they have one, it is not working.

 

E2A: where the premises are routinely unstaffed, then that just means the emergency action plan must be more robust and actionable.

Edited 8 hours ago by cybertect

[Count Bassy]

Isn't the clue in the name. i.e "Pirate"?

[prowla]

4 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

My point being, they could probably see if there was a fire or smoke. They could probably see in to every room, which is more than you could. 

I think the alarms are supposed to catch things before it turns into a blazing inferno.

The could be a fire in the plenum, embedded wiring, or wherever.

Carbon Monoxide can kill you without you even being aware of it.

It'd be a bad thing to have folks cart their gear in, only to find the walls getting hot and they have to leg it out and leave the kit behind.

And imagine the insurance or legal implications of "Oh, the bloke on the phone told me to just go in and switch off the alarm and we'd be alright.".

[Wombat]

You’ve taken two of your favourite basses in but the inferno starts up!

Which one do you save?!?

[Al Krow]

We use Pirate a lot and have happily done so over a number of years. Yes it's automated/unmanned locally; the flip side is it's decent value, certainly compared to other London studios we've used. Also they have many studios per site which means you can usually get a booking and a very flexible cancellation policy.

 

The aircon wasn't working on a recent booking and a hot day! They couldn't fix it remotely in time and so offered us 25% off our next booking. All good.

[tvickey]

Okay, I apologized to the AI chatbot too... 

[Dan Dare]

6 hours ago, chrisba said:

I disagree. Most companies, quite rightly,  have policies in place with regards to customers using agressive or abusive language towards their staff. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the situation ( and I agree that Pirate have reacted badly here and need to fix some stuff ) , I think a ban is entirely appropriate.

A carefully worded and sincere apology might rescue the situation, and allow you to have a sensible dialogue with them about the issues that you faced, and how you move forward.

I've used a Pirate facility once, was impressed by the setup, but had no need to interact with them beyond the booking.

 

Had the OP shouted/sworn at an actual person, that might be fair comment, but all he did was type the word "f***ing" in a text to a chatbot. That can hardly be interpreted as being "aggressive or abusive" to a human being, unless you are possessed of a particularly delicate nature or an extraordinarily thin skin. Or perhaps if you know you did something wrong and wish to recover the initiative/justify yourself, of course...

 

So you "think a ban is entirely appropriate" and suggest he should offer the company a "carefully worded and sincere apology"? I sincerely hope he doesn't and finds another rehearsal facility.

[Beedster]

23 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Had the OP shouted/sworn at an actual person, that might be fair comment, but all he did was type the word "f***ing" in a text to a chatbot. That can hardly be interpreted as being "aggressive or abusive" to a human being, unless you are possessed of a particularly delicate nature or an extraordinarily thin skin. Or perhaps if you know you did something wrong and wish to recover the initiative/justify yourself, of course...

 

So you "think a ban is entirely appropriate" and suggest he should offer the company a "carefully worded and sincere apology"? I sincerely hope he doesn't and finds another rehearsal facility.

 

Absolutely this ^

[Beedster]

7 hours ago, chrisba said:

A carefully worded and sincere apology might rescue the situation, and allow you to have a sensible dialogue with them about the issues that you faced, and how you move forward.

 

I assume that was tongue in cheek 👍

[Iheartreverb]

6 hours ago, kwmlondon said:

and... it's cheap.

Is it? The one near me is nearly £50 for a 3hr practice in the room big enough for 2x guitar players along with band.

 

Theres staffed practice rooms at nearly half that with better gear and you don’t have to compete with the band in the next room either 

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Wombat said:

You’ve taken two of your favourite basses in but the inferno starts up!

Which one do you save?!?

 

I have two hands, I save both.

[tauzero]

47 minutes ago, Iheartreverb said:

Is it? The one near me is nearly £50 for a 3hr practice in the room big enough for 2x guitar players along with band.

 

Theres staffed practice rooms at nearly half that with better gear and you don’t have to compete with the band in the next room either 

 

Don't know how much it is for the Birmingham one but it's inside the CAZ which affects a couple of us. So we rehearse at one which is 200m outside the CAZ.

[Norris]

I would imagine their public liability insurance would be void in that situation if they allowed any members of the public in the building, even to reset the alarm

[Gank Bass]

Sorry to hear your bad experience OP! We used to use pirate when they first started (Nottingham location) and for a while it seemed great - very clean, decent gear, plenty of availability - but it went downhill very quick. Their reliance on gimmicky ai customer service is incredibly frustrating and they don't seem to want to maintain their equipment. Take your business elsewhere!

 

If anyone needs rehearsal space in Nottingham check out Stave Rooms 🤟

[tvickey]

We used to use Practice Sheffield, until that place closed down due to development.

 

Honestly, my favorite rehearsal space is Playing Aloud in Lincoln.  If we rehearse late in the evening on a weekday, we will go there every time.  However, for half of us it is a bit of a drive... for our drummer it is perfect, as he lives in Lincoln and can pop in there to meet us immediately after finishing work.  It is staffed by some really amazing humans.  No AI bs.

[jezzaboy]

We used the Pirate studio in Kinning park Glasgow once. When we went in the smell of cannabis was overpowering and we later heard that some folk rent a room for hours, take in dj equipment and get off their heads. Never again!

[ambient]

They sound like a right bunch of pirates.

[tvickey]

4 minutes ago, ambient said:

They sound like a right bunch of pirates.

Well then they really shouldn't be offended by my sailor mouth!

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, Iheartreverb said:

Is it? The one near me is nearly £50 for a 3hr practice in the room big enough for 2x guitar players along with band.

 

Theres staffed practice rooms at nearly half that with better gear and you don’t have to compete with the band in the next room either 

I can only speak for the ones in London and they work out to be a lot cheaper than other options and their booking system is really easy. 

[Burns-bass]

Just now, kwmlondon said:

I can only speak for the ones in London and they work out to be a lot cheaper than other options and their booking system is really easy. 

Bristol is the same, too. (Pirate started here and the head office is literally 100m from me right now).

 

The business model is to keep costs as low as possible and it seems this involves cutting corners.

 

I once did a practice there and one of the guys was locked in a room with the lights and all power cut off. Thankfully we got him out in the end!

 

In my experience, it’s worth spending a few more quid for somewhere decent.

[kwmlondon]

Just now, Burns-bass said:

Bristol is the same, too. (Pirate started here and the head office is literally 100m from me right now).

 

The business model is to keep costs as low as possible and it seems this involves cutting corners.

 

I once did a practice there and one of the guys was locked in a room with the lights and all power cut off. Thankfully we got him out in the end!

 

In my experience, it’s worth spending a few more quid for somewhere decent.

It’s not just the price it’s the booking system. Being able to see availability for different locations and times is critical when I’m coordinating a practise. I don’t have time to phone around different rehearsal spaces, then check with band members, then phone around again, then message on Whasapp… pirate has invested in a really good booking system and with a large range of locations and rooms it’s meant I can live a life, work a full time job AND organise band rehearsals. 

[Stub Mandrel]

13 hours ago, tvickey said:

Just need to vent about our recent (really bad) experience with Pirate Studios (a collection of 24/7 non-staffed rehearsal spaces peppered about the UK).

 

My band moved to using Pirate Studios for rehearsals after our usual space was shut down (the landlord there didn't renew the owner's lease).  We used Pirate on a number of occasions in the past, and until yesterday our only other hiccup there was a last-minute booking cancellation 'due to unforeseen circumstances'.

 

We booked a four hour slot at Pirate in Sheffield for Sunday morning, and I arrived about 10-15 minutes in advance of our slot.  Our guitarist was already there when I arrived, and we could both hear the fire alarm blaring when we each pulled up.  No one else appeared to be at the site, and we have no idea how long the fire alarm was already sounding (could have been 5 minutes, could have been hours).  There were no visible signs of a fire (but okay, the property is at least two floors, and is also quite deep).  We popped our heads in the front door, and there was no hint of any smoke.

 

We try to hail them on WhatsApp (per their instructions), but there is just an automated AI bot responding.  Not useful at all.  We tried to phone them and get an recorded canned response that leads us into a labyrinth of options.  Not useful at all.

 

More folks start pulling up for their own rehearsal sessions.  We're all camped outside for more than 30 minutes... I decide to give Pirate a call on the phone again.  I get lucky with selecting the correct sequence of options and manage to reach a human.  I tell them that their Sheffield site might be on fire as the alarm is sounding.  The guy on the phone proceeds to tell me that he can give me the instructions to shut it off.  WAIT A MINUTE!  (1) How does he know there isn't a genuine fire / alarm?  (2) I don't work there.  (3) IF there is a real fire, and I shut the alarm off leading to the death of 1+ people, who is liable?  I tell the guy on the phone that I'm not comfortable doing that and end the call.  He tells me that he'll have security come and investigate.

 

We wait another 30 minutes... the fire alarm has now been sounding for over an hour.  No one from security ever arrives.  Frustrated, I hail the AI chatbot again and tell it that the alarm is sounding at the Sheffield site and that 'your f*-ing studio might be on fire, do you care?'.  Frustrated and stressed, I send a series of additional colorful metaphors to the AI chatbot... but unknown to me, and unannounced, a human being connected to the chat and was less than happy to see my messages.  They reply that I am now banned from Pirate Studios for using abusive language.

 

Someone from another band also hails them on WhatsApp, and decides he is okay with rolling the dice for the liability and follows their instructions to deactivate the alarm.  There was NO investigation into the cause.  There is NO STAFF on site.  NO SECURITY ever showed up.

 

We go into our rehearsal room for our session, now more than an hour late.  We jam for a bit more than an hour and suddenly, unannounced, the power cuts off.   The session that I booked was suddenly cancelled by Pirate due to 'abusive language'.  Nice one.

 

I am genuinely concerned about the type of operation they are running at Pirate Studios.  Please be aware that there is no 24/7 support.  If all goes well, it's a great space.  But if something goes wrong, there won't be anyone coming to help you (ever!).

 

 

Surely the sensible thing to do would be to ring 999 and let them decide what to do?

[Burns-bass]

8 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

It’s not just the price it’s the booking system. Being able to see availability for different locations and times is critical when I’m coordinating a practise. I don’t have time to phone around different rehearsal spaces, then check with band members, then phone around again, then message on Whasapp… pirate has invested in a really good booking system and with a large range of locations and rooms it’s meant I can live a life, work a full time job AND organise band rehearsals. 

Yes I get that. In Bristol most of the rehearsal rooms have similar systems.

 

The convenience of Pirate is great, but we’ve stopped using the place as it’s just pretty horrid. Equipment is junk and it’s just a poor experience.

 

I did a jazz session in a rehearsal room Saturday and it was about £5 more expensive but light years better in terms of quality.