Death Threats

[DJJEG 0]

Whilst working in a local pub function room doing a 18th Birthday you receive the usual club/ R n B & chart requests, the dancefloor was full eveyone was happy Except the landlord!!!!

He said if you dont stop playing this bang bang bang & :cense: ( sorry if this offends) music he would break my legs

I said the guests have requested this music what would you like me to play?

Anything but this :cense:

He then stormed off, so i put some 80s on which cleared the dancefloor

The birthday boy then asked what the hell are you doing

I said the landlord does not like the music you have chosen, he then went off to complain

The landlord soon returned even madder, shouting "your dead" at me

Do i stop the disco & go home and destroy my reputation

Or continue playing 80s for the next 3 hours & be known as the D.j who dosent take requests?

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THE CUSTOMER PAYS THE PUB, WHO THEN PAYS ME

The following Monday i confronted the landlord & told him i would no longer work in his pub ( where i had several future bookings) he went nuts & told me to go away ( BUT NOT SO NICELY)

By the Friday evening the same landlord contacted me and asked where was i?

By then a rival bar had taken me on, when i told him i where i was now working....well that was it...ive heard some swearing in my time but all of them at once..... Never

I quickly switched my phone to speaker and placed it on the mic....being a small town where everyone knows everyone the punters soon realised who it was with the torrent of abuse and started cheering

He suddeny hung up

This all happened over a year ago, i have since been offered by the landlord to come back...i have declined

 

If you have had anything like this happen to you let me know

[Mattaious 0]

I quickly switched my phone to speaker and placed it on the mic....being a small town where everyone knows everyone the punters soon realised who it was with the torrent of abuse and started cheering

 

I know it was a year ago, but IMHO i dont believe that was the good thing to do.

 

Personally i would stay clear of the venue. Theres plenty of other work out there.

 

In comment to how this all happened, I wouldnt of turned the music off. If and i say IF the client had requested the music then the landlord should of realised and or been informed , if he had a problem he should speak to the client themselves.

 

Just my views

 

:cense: Please keep this thread inline with the forum rules - No mentioning of names etc :cense:

[jamminroadshow 0]

Hmm i have never had that fell out with a landlord once but nothing on this scale

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Im the same as Jamin, had the odd fall out with landlords and venue managers but never anything on that scale.

 

Isnt threatening behavior a criminal offence still, I would have thought this landlord has commited threatening behavior 100%, would an option not have been to go to the police......Im sure they would like to know that the landlord of the pub is threatening to break peoples legs etc.........

In all honesty though I dont know what I would have done in that situation, its very tough on the DJ to receive grief off somebody that really should know better, I often have to play music I dont like much (E.G. Drum & Bass) but its all part of the job, and the landlord of this place should have understood that the music wasnt to his taste, but its not about what music he likes it about the customer and what music they like.

 

The bigest fall out I had with a venue owner was when I had a function finish at 11:30....was packing away.....and the owner come up at 11.50 and says "how long are you gonna be, I said "about another 30 mins" (the venue was upstairs too).......he then turned nasty and threatened to lock me in if I was still in their in 10 minutes time........I told him we would be as quick as we could sorry for causing you any inconvienience etc but my contract states I get 1 hour to pack away.......he continued to be abusive and we very nearly came to blows over it coz he was seriously winding me up, coz all the time he was having a go at me was time wasted that I wasnt packing away.....which I also tried to explain....

Completely irelevant really, just thought I would share with you my biggest row with venue managment LOL

Edited September 30, 2007 by NRG Roadshow

[DJJEG 0]

I would like to add when i did go in on Monday the customer refused to pay the pub so in turn the pub did not pay me

The landlord said it was my problem, when i asked for the customers details he refused to give them to me

Despite all the work this pub gave me, leavin them was the best thing i ever done

 

I would like to thank you all for your feedback on this one and keep it coming

[djweeble 0]

......he then turned nasty and threatened to lock me in if I was still in their in 10 minutes time........

 

I'd have said "Feel free mate, I'll just break out when I'm finished" :Thumbup:

[JordanHall 0]

Well .... Theres always 1 !

 

 

Quite an interesting tale there !

 

 

[Danno13 0]

I would like to add when i did go in on Monday the customer refused to pay the pub so in turn the pub did not pay me

The landlord said it was my problem, when i asked for the customers details he refused to give them to me

 

Did you not have anything in writing? or a contract? There is no way they should have got away with not paying you. This same contract should also protect you from threatening behaivour.. you would have been within your rights to packup and leave, keeping your full fee.

 

Another case of people not treating this job like a proper business, and being walked all over!

 

I do sympathise.. but these things can be easily avoided!

Edited September 30, 2007 by Danno13

[D.X 0]

Did you not have anything in writing? or a contract? There is no way they should have got away with not paying you. This same contract should also protect you from threatening behaivour.. you would have been within your rights to packup and leave, keeping your full fee.

 

Another case of people not treating this job like a proper business, and being walked all over!

 

I do sympathise.. but these things can be easily avoided!

 

 

In full agreement. Too many people don't take it seriously enough and I can't see why. This could have been avoided by taking a few simple steps.

 

1 - Making the client sign a written contract stating you can leave the venue with no loss of fee if you feel threatened by anyone, including the landlord.

 

2 - Full payment upfront before the event starts.

 

With regards to Number 2, some people might not like this or agree to do it. I say tell them to book another DJ. But first, ask them, if it's a wedding for example, if the cake makers lets them pay after they've ate the cake. If the church lets them pay after they get back from the honeymoon. If the landlord at the reception lets them pay for the beer after the hangovers gone away. Etc etc.

[wizard 0]

I sympathise.

 

But this is just one of a few reasons I will NEVER. EVER work for pubs no matter how much they offered. Private functions only.

[jeffwall 0]

Not my usual answer to these things but...

 

Would have jumped over the bar and knocked him out!

 

Cheeky git threatening all that...would have made a fool of him, big bully boy!

Edited October 1, 2007 by jeffwall

[DJJEG 0]

Not my usual answer to these things but...

 

Would have jumped over the bar and knocked him out!

 

Cheeky git threatening all that...would have made a fool of him, big bully boy!

Best one yet!!!!

[Grazey 0]

Sounds like you're better off avoiding that one!

 

Surely if the landlord is hiring you on behalf of the client then the client should dictate the music...

 

Just unfortunate he ruined both your night and the customers night in one fell swoop!

[otronics 0]

Certainly sounds like the Landlord has no sense or anything around him. If people are enjoying the event is his pub, then this is obviously good.

 

You have done the correct thing to avoid as it sounds like he has some issues.

 

Would never put my phone up to the mic like that in this context..only in exceptional circumstances.

[alicat 0]

Like you Jeff, I would of packed my gear away and then had a quite word with the landlord......just me and him like.......

[deejaymitch 0]

he then turned nasty and threatened to lock me in if I was still in their in 10 minutes time

 

Please give this guy my number. I'll work for free if he locks me in the bar every night!!!

 

[eazy 0]

unfortunatlly too many pub owners think they can make people like what they want instead of listening to there customers and finding out what they like they also think they know all about djing , ive always stuck to the line off i wont tell you how to serve your drinks and yo dont tell me how to run a disco ! always have problems with landlords and hotel managers guess im just lucky lol probably because i really dont care about them when im working the only people thats important to me is the people on the dancefloor if there happy my job is done !!!

[deejaymitch 0]

"always have problems with landlords and hotel managers"

 

No idea who you mean Terry?!?! :dan+ju: :dan+ju:

[shakermaker 0]

At the end of the day, unless they are paying you themselves to do a job and you are specifically there for them, landlords and bar staff should keep their noses out. I absolutely hate it when you are in a venue, be it a pub, hotel or whatever and you are doing a function and the bar staff come up and ask you to play tracks for them.

 

They are there to work !!!

 

If you were doing something for a client and the only thing that the landlord had to do with it was the hire of the venue then he should have kept his nose out too. That kind of thing winds me up and I agree, I'd be more inclined to give him some back but unfortunately it isn't the smartest move as no doubt he'd have his regulars backing him up. In that situation I would have done the same as you and told the person who booked you. If grief was flung my way by the landlord after that I would have told the client again and also stuck on something like 'Blue Monday' or 'Bat out of hell' and nipped outside and called the rozzers as back up.

 

Not sure if I'd stop the music, I'd probably grin and bear it until the end and then thought "Thank **** that's over!!"

[robbiedj 0]

I absolutely hate it when you are in a venue, be it a pub, hotel or whatever and you are doing a function and the bar staff come up and ask you to play tracks for them.

 

They are there to work !!!

 

 

 

 

Now, I'm in the other camp here. I will play a request for the bar staff, often early on and make sure the girls get a glostick.

 

Then they look after you all evening. :ads:

[Paul Smith 0]

! always have problems with landlords and hotel managers guess im just lucky lol probably because i really dont care about them when im working the only people thats important to me is the people on the dancefloor if there happy my job is done !!!

Wouldn't it make your job easier 'Eazy' if you did make an effort to get on with Landlords & Hotel managers after all you are working in their domain.

 

Maybe they can sense from your approach that you don't care about them and that's why you have the problems :shrug:

 

[andyw 0]

Now, I'm in the other camp here. I will play a request for the bar staff, often early on and make sure the girls get a glostick.

 

Then they look after you all evening. :ads:

 

agree with robbie on this one,makes for a better evening if the staff is enjoying it

 

Wouldn't it make your job easier 'Eazy' if you did make an effort to get on with Landlords & Hotel managers after all you are working in their domain.

 

Maybe they can sense from your approach that you don't care about them and that's why you have the problems :shrug:

 

a little effort at the start pays dividends at the end

[TonyB 0]

Now, I'm in the other camp here. I will play a request for the bar staff, often early on and make sure the girls get a glostick.

 

Then they look after you all evening. :ads:

 

Give the girls a glowstick sounds like a good chat up line - I'll have to try that one.

 

I agree it is best to keep on the right side of venue owners/managers/staff. They are much more likely to recommend you if you do.

[spinner 0]

Now, I'm in the other camp here. I will play a request for the bar staff, often early on.

 

 

 

 

Quite right too.

[shakermaker 0]

Ok, fair comments on the whole but maybe I should've explained why the staff thing gets to me a bit more clearly.

On a number of occasions, if I have been doing (for example) a 40th birthday somewhere and the playlist consists of 70s and 80s requests, a member of the bar staff has popped over and said something like "What you playing this **** for? stick some RnB or something on"... I am using RnB as an example but it could be anything. It's just what THEY want to hear when it's nothing to do with them and it annoys me sometimes. I am usually quick with a witty reply but now and then I am lost for words.

 

I'm not saying I never play to the staff. I am lucky in that my hotel residencies have really good, friendly staff at them so I get on well with them and they don't tend to act like that. It's generally in places that I have never been before. Lastly, to be fair to some of the people that have annoyed me...they have asked me to play a tune and it's something that I have forgotten all about so it's jogged my memory so it aint all bad but I am sure you know where I am coming from.