Nerang RSL & Memorial Club — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

Lamb pizza tasted bland and disgusting. Nothing nice about.

Had a go at the gaming. Absolutely terrible. The machines’ odds are very far out. Clubs and pubs need better government oversight and better legislation prohibiting gambling. Most of them (not just all but certainly most) serve to take money from people and feed the owners and the government.

I do not recommend this place for a punt. It has so many machines that is an absolute joke. Why is it that the Gold Coast seems to have a high concentration of overkill slots compared to other areas.

More stringent returns and oversight needed from a legislative stand point.

Response to RSL:

It has nothing to do with profits for personal gain. My comment relates to gambling clubs generally. Not necessarily an RSL or even this particular club. But certainly no doubt profits are used to pay wages, buy more machines, open up new clubs, renovate, buy an army tank for display (yes I know if an RSL that has one)…. and it would be curious to see what the owners of an RSL receive for the services they provide e.g. as director or manager etc.

I do have a lot of questions why community members run a large gambling venue for the community. Why do you need so many machines? What’s your gross income? What percentage of that is donated or given back to the community that doesn’t specifically relate to gambling or providing a social gambling function? What’s your net income after expenses? I’m happy to offer to pay for a full accounting report on the percentages given back to the community and perhaps even a report on the benefits and negatives to the community. Boy, I’d happily pay for someone to take a survey at your front door on how many patrons are from the community, how much money they spent, what their income is and whether they lost and how it made them feel. We can release it publicly together if you like and that might give some perspective.

Offer is on the table. Feel free to take me up on it.

In any case, what my comments have to do with is the need for better legislative reform to prevent the huge losses that are occurring amongst individuals having a go at winning some money at clubs, pubs or other venues with slot machines.

Often gambling affects the economically disadvantaged and these days there is a venue in most suburbs. There is also a high prevalence of violence at some clubs.

Although RSL’s compared to other venues may give more back to the community compared to other venues, what gambling is doing in our communities is far worse in my opinion and what I’ve observed as someone who does have a go and interact with other patrons.

If you pride yourself on what you do for the community then why are you offering gambling services? There are other ways to make money that are just as legitimate and less harmful to communities.

Taking money from people gambling and doing good with it just doesn’t sound right to me. Even if that profit is turned into doing good, it doesn’t absolve how the money was fleeced from people in the first instance (whether legislatively permissible or not).

Where in your club or on your machines do you actually specify what the odds are for each machine? For example, a visible sign that says “there is a X% of winning on this machine. Chances are, you will lose.” That might not be required at law, but wouldn’t it certainly help people see and understand the true extent of how bad it is? I would guarantee you most people have no idea how bad the odds actually are. They only have a general concept of “there’s a chance to win”. That’s certainly my mentality and unless told otherwise, I’m none the wiser.

If you want to promote good gambling practices, perhaps signage like that would be helpful for people like me who don’t really have a grasp of how bad the odds are.

Simply because legislation permits you to do it doesn’t mean it’s right overall either. Or do you disagree with this also?

Otherwise I do accept your point regarding the food. We could have brought it back. We chose not to do so as we weren’t interest in...

Would not recommend going to the Club for a meal if there is a large group of you. Someone is sure to be disappointed/put out & complaing to staff & head staff will get you nowhere either. They showed no sympathy whatsoever & couldnt care less. We were a group of 16. Waitress took all our orders. Meals came out. They came back to see if everything was ok. (Not sure how we ended up with 2 of 1 meal which 1 did get sent back) but they were also informed that 1 person was actually STILL waiting on their meal. Not sure what or where the confusion was but meal was eventually brought out but it was NOT how my 31 week PREGNANT daughter in law ordered it. It was taken back & we were told they would make another one & it shouldn't be too long. As people were finishing their meals we asked again where the meal was. We were told they had to make another one & it would be 10 minutes. 15 minutes later we asked AGAIN WHERE THE MEAL WAS. By this stage EVERYONE else HAD FINISHED their meals!!!!! The meal FINALLY ARRIVED. By this stage my 31 week pregnant daughter in law was absolutely starving. Had she not been so hungry she would've up & left. We asked the waitress what had been the problem & she said that the meal was on the counter but picked up by another staff member & delivered to another table. Meals were split & paid for by 4 families me being the LAST to pay. I told the waitress I wasn't going to pay for my daughter in laws meal because of the inconvenience caused. I was told because it was eaten I had to. I asked to see her boss & again told I had too & then spoke with I think the head chef. He also said the meal had to be paid much to my disgust because of the inconvenience caused. He also said meal hadn't been taken to another table but had been left sitting on the counter. So why did waitress tell us otherwise. 2 different stories by 2 different people. Someone was lying. Although I don't live in the state I do get to Nerang & the Club quite often but definitely won't be going back for a meal anytime soon if ever again. Very...

We went to the RSL about 2 weeks ago to Gallipoli Restaurant. Absolutely appalling service. We ordered meals with my mother and children and everyone's came out except mine. Just a Thai beef salad. Waited 10 mins then went to ask where my meal was. They had forgotten it. Waited longer and after everyone else had finished there meal at the table it came out. No beef which I paid extra for. Took it back and waited another 10 mins still no meal. My partner went up to who we think is the restaurant manager Tia I think her name was. Asked for a refund. She laughed in his face. He asked to speak to the Duty Manager. She got on her walkie talkie and next minute there were 2 security guards in the restaurant. Some guy came out maybe a head chef we don't know and said we can talk to him. We asked for the Duty Manager again and this guy said NO we can talk to him. Then he has asked my partner to go into another room to discuss with 2 security guards. There was no apology, no refund. We were made to feel like criminals, like we had done something wrong because they forgot my meal. Very intimating being taken aside with 2 security guards. I finally had my meal come out but I got it take away as I did not want to stay there a second longer. The steak was so tough it was like leather and could not eat anyway. Such aggressive and rude behaviour from the staff in the restaurant. I work in customer service and I have never seen anything like it before. Absolutely disgusting and disappointing considering the staff in the gaming and bar area are so lovely. I was so upset that I wrote an email to the General Manager of the RSL Andrew of what had happened and how we were treated. It's been 2 weeks and no response. I guess that shows how much they really care about there customers and the service they provide. The whole problem could have easily been resolved with an apology, a complimentary drink for the inconvenience or a refund considering the wait but it escalated into the most appalling experience I...