tinman-is-god Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Why do several thousand people think it'll be fine if they all turn up at the last minute and then complain that the ticket office couldn't deal with it?! You are clearly missing the point. I arrived at 7.25 and the ticket office queues were massive. The Dolman sold out at about 7.40 so everyone had to move to Williams/Main Ticket Office. Several thousand people turned up 20-30 mins before K/O and didn't get in on time. Thats the issue. I presume you didn't go last night as you have obviously missed the point here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFCfan Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 So we should all get there at just gone 6 for a 7.45 kick off because the ticket office is rubbish and we shouldn't moan about it? Don't you think having to turn up 90 minutes before the game in order to make sure you get in is not worth moaning about? Do you know where Bradley Stoke is in relation to AG? I certainly didnt get their at just gone 6. After picking this missus up in Redland, parking, walking to the ground, i was in a small queue at the Williams stand ticket office at 7. Seated at 7.15 after getting a drink. There was a moderate queue at the Dolman stand office and about 3 people at the Atyeo office. If you choose to get their at 7.25, to a pre-season game against a big side when are large number of people are going to pay on the day, then i find it staggering than you and others are surprised to find it might take longer than 15 minutes to get a ticket with our Shipping Container ticket office technology. For the sake of people arriving 20 minutes earlier saves hassle. Worth noting for next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Mat Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 You are clearly missing the point. I arrived at 7.25 and the ticket office queues were massive. The Dolman sold out at about 7.40 so everyone had to move to Williams/Main Ticket Office. Several thousand people turned up 20-30 mins before K/O and didn't get in on time. Thats the issue. I presume you didn't go last night as you have obviously missed the point here. I went, sat in the Atyeo, in my usual place, and bought my ticket two weeks ago... I didn't miss the point; I can see the ticket office ran out of tickets, which is clearly a problem. However, the point I am refering to is that if several thousand people turn up without a ticket - even 20 to 30 minutes before a match - do you not think that is going to cause problems? Why do you think the club promoted this match so heavily beforehand? They were clearly keen to encourage people to buy tickets to avoid these kind of jams. I am not saying the club is blameless - and if it is true they ran out of tickets, that's unforgiveable - but I also think people have to take responsibility some time and stop blaming everybody else! It gets on my nerves... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinman-is-god Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Do you know where Bradley Stoke is in relation to AG? I certainly didnt get their at just gone 6. After picking this missus up in Redland, parking, walking to the ground, i was in a small queue at the Williams stand ticket office at 7. Seated at 7.15 after getting a drink. There was a moderate queue at the Dolman stand office and about 3 people at the Atyeo office. If you choose to get their at 7.25, to a pre-season game against a big side when are large number of people are going to pay on the day, then i find it staggering than you and others are surprised to find it might take longer than 15 minutes to get a ticket with our Shipping Container ticket office technology. For the sake of people arriving 20 minutes earlier saves hassle. Worth noting for next time. Because we were playing a big side with a large number of people going to POTD, as you say, I was hopeful that BCFC would open enough ticket windows to deal with the demand. But they didn't, hence the issues last night. I arrived at 7.25 and got in the ground at got in at 8.02. That is totally unacceptable when they were advertising it as POTD, so they should have been prepared for the demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinman-is-god Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I went, sat in the Atyeo, in my usual place, and bought my ticket two weeks ago... I didn't miss the point; I can see the ticket office ran out of tickets, which is clearly a problem. However, the point I am refering to is that if several thousand people turn up without a ticket - even 20 to 30 minutes before a match - do you not think that is going to cause problems? Why do you think the club promoted this match so heavily beforehand? They were clearly keen to encourage people to buy tickets to avoid these kind of jams. I am not saying the club is blameless - and if it is true they ran out of tickets, that's unforgiveable - but I also think people have to take responsibility some time and stop blaming everybody else! It gets on my nerves... It gets on my nerves queuing for 42 minutes to get a ticket when I turn up 20 minutes before a game. I really think people need to think about posting. Let me put it simply: They promoted last night's game and would have expected the crowd that they got last night. They did not open enough ticket offices/windows to deal with the demand last night Therefore the people that they expected to turn up did, but struggled to get in because there was inadeqaute numbers of ticket sellers That is why we were frustrated, because the club didn't plan for the numbers that turned up even though it was obvious to anyone that there was going to be more than 10k there. Its pretty simple really, and the club are to blame, not fans that turned up at 7.25/7.30 for a 7.45 KO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Mat Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 It gets on my nerves queuing for 42 minutes to get a ticket when I turn up 20 minutes before a game. I really think people need to think about posting. Let me put it simply: They promoted last night's game and would have expected the crowd that they got last night. They did not open enough ticket offices/windows to deal with the demand last night Therefore the people that they expected to turn up did, but struggled to get in because there was inadeqaute numbers of ticket sellers That is why we were frustrated, because the club didn't plan for the numbers that turned up even though it was obvious to anyone that there was going to be more than 10k there. Its pretty simple really, and the club are to blame, not fans that turned up at 7.25/7.30 for a 7.45 KO. Very patronising - how kind. You ought to be a politician. It does make me laugh how people just will not take any responsibility... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riaz Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Very patronising - how kind. You ought to be a politician. It does make me laugh how people just will not take any responsibility... I'm afraid he is right. Alot of turnstiles were closed and the club did not expect 10k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodbarmyarmy Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Left work at 17.00 drove 25 miles home to chepstow to pickup my boy and returned to AG at approx 18.30 went striaght to ticket office bought two Dolman tickets sat on park wall with a can of Natch then entered ground 19.15 ish.........no problems whatsoever...even sat in our ST seats even though our "on the night" tickets were for another row Well done all involved - enjoyable night You cant turn up less than an hour before a game with no ticket and expect A) No delay in getting one B) the exact seat/stand you want to be available Life's not like that so Use your heads for christ's sake As for the comments about World cup.......totally different kettle of fish.........for a start at WC games people don't turn up at last minute looking to pay on the night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riaz Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Left work at 17.00 drove 25 miles home to chepstow to pickup my boy and returned to AG at approx 18.30 went striaght to ticket office bought two Dolman tickets sat on park wall with a can of Natch then entered ground 19.15 ish.........no problems whatsoever...even sat in our ST seats even though our "on the night" tickets were for another row Well done all involved - enjoyable night You cant turn up less than an hour before a game with no ticket and expect A) No delay in getting one B) the exact seat/stand you want to be available Life's not like that so Use your heads for christ's sake As for the comments about World cup.......totally different kettle of fish.........for a start at WC games people don't turn up at last minute looking to pay on the night I think there is fault all round, because no one predicted 11,000 people to turn up. Alot of people turned up late - people who usually have season tickets. And then had to join extra long queues due to there being not very many turnstiles. On a normal matchday, these people will roll straight in to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_Mat Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I'm afraid he is right. Alot of turnstiles were closed and the club did not expect 10k. I agree, Riaz, there is blame all around - that's what I said in my original posts! I DO blame the club for making mistakes. And I can see there are mistakes, there. But the blame isn't always entirely in one place, is it? People should sometimes admit they didn't help matters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keep the Faith Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Ignoring the ticket office for a moment here (as I pre-purchased my ticket using my season card) the night was still a bit of a joke. I went through my usual pre match ritual which involves arriving around an hour early, going far a drink in the Dolamn bar until around 15 mins before kick off, then going into the ground with plenty of time to spare. I tried to do that last night but the queue to get in the ground was so large that it took me 35 mins to get in. Nothing to do with trying to buy a ticket and given that the crowd was considerably down on usual, I would have thought it would be easier to get in rather than much, much harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leroyfromthestart Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Absolute rubbish. Wherever did you hear that? Take it from me, the staff this season are the same as the staff from last season, and there is NO rota system. That would be ludicrous, and against all regulations. Yes, tonight wasn't good, but the main problem was the larger than expected crowd, and the closure of the Williams car park due to crowd trouble from the arriving Ajax fans under escort. Capello F is correct in what they've said. The matchday ticket office staff have been put ON a rota system. Yes, you're correct in saying they're are the same people, but not everybody who worked last season will be working this season every game. There is only one person that the finger can be pointed at (other than those that turn up 15 minutes before kick off) and thats our chief executive! He ultimately decides how last night should be run, from the marketing of the match 3 months prior, to the day of the match and the instructions (or lack of) given to the matchday staff. This consequently has a knock on effect with regards to there being no link between the supporter (customer) and the club (business). As someone who is (supposedly) an expert in this field I am still amazed at how long it has gone on with this person as our chief executive. As for the negative comments of the staff on a matchday, they're just trying to do their jobs, which is relayed to them by the people that are paid an awful lot of money for doing nothing (other than arrange Elton John concerts). These people care about our club, earn a fraction of what our chief executive earns and receive a lot of, in my opinion, unnecessary abuse. Whilst I can appreciate some may not be the most approachable and friendly (I wouldnt be if I had to deal with people that are as equally rude, if not worse), but with the resources they've got, the limited number of matchday colleagues they've got and limited information instructed to them on a matchday, they do a good job. Like Ive said, the buck stops with the person who calls the shots and even though this is a forum and people have a right to their opinion on here, this view is shared by thousands of city fans that will just keep on moaning to the matchday staff next time around, when the chief executive and/or their superiors probably arent even aware there is even a problem. The only way your views will be heard is if you contact the club, in particular our chairman/board who have the power to act on this and as a result will start to repair the problems off the pitch, and hopefully match the problems we've made great strides to fixing on the pitch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkeeebles Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I agree, Riaz, there is blame all around - that's what I said in my original posts! I DO blame the club for making mistakes. And I can see there are mistakes, there. But the blame isn't always entirely in one place, is it? People should sometimes admit they didn't help matters... 2 simple facts. They had turnstiles closed when clearly they needed more open! They didnt have enough tickets printed for the dolman stand and at 7.55pm were still sending staff running down to the dolman ticket office with handfulls freshley printed tickets. I know that because i saw it. Had they not made those 2 most basic of errors then 90% of the chaos could have been avoided. Nobody should have to take blame or responsibilty for turning up to a friendly at 7.25pm when the crowd ends up being less than 11,000! If we cant cope with that many fans then it is down to poor poor organisation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkeeebles Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I am not a happy bunny today. I had my ticket in the dolman already paid for. I got down there at 7.15pm an started queing in the advanced ticket que to collect my ticket. I eventually got to the front of the que at 7.45pm only to be told that they never had my ticket there. They sent me over to the ticket office opposite the club shop which meant i was now at the back of the que again. I got into the match at 8.22pm missing almost 25 mins of the game. What really pissed me off the most though was out of the 3 of us that went i was the only one to pre book my ticket. The other 2 paid on the night. They were both in the ground 2 mins before kick off. Where is the justice in that! I will be on the phone today but i am not confident it will do me any good! P.s. What i did see queing at the 2nd office was guys running down to the dolman ticket office with bundles of tickets that had just been printed. They never printed enough tickets in the first place so thats why they kept running out! To update the above post. I phoned the ticket office and explained exactly what had happened to me. I was told that the reason there wasnt a ticket there for me was because the money paid in advance activates my season ticket and i should have used that. This was a news to me and i was surprised that the lady who dealt with my purchase never told me this at the time! Anyway i asked if as a gesture of goodwill they would refund me my money as i felt they should have informed me what the procedure was. The lad in the ticket office said he would need to speak to his supervisor and would ring me back. Guess what they never rang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 The online S/T thing seemed a farce too.. I thought it was £12? When you went to purchase they charged you £15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 To update the above post. I phoned the ticket office and explained exactly what had happened to me. I was told that the reason there wasnt a ticket there for me was because the money paid in advance activates my season ticket and i should have used that. This was a news to me and i was surprised that the lady who dealt with my purchase never told me this at the time! Anyway i asked if as a gesture of goodwill they would refund me my money as i felt they should have informed me what the procedure was. The lad in the ticket office said he would need to speak to his supervisor and would ring me back. Guess what they never rang! I think you can pursue this. Although they may say you should be aware that is how the system works your ST ticket contains a match that was never activated by swiping. I believe that if you are a ST holder and forget your ticket, and have to pay on the day, that you can claim a refund. That's what used to happen before the cards anyway. Maybe someone else with experience can offer advice? I didn't go last night but am left speechless by many people's experiences. I'm embarrassed for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tales From The Front Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I take on board the views about..should have got there early, club not expecting so many (what with new signings and triallists on display???) etc etc etc. But the thing that got me was the amount of time it took the match day staff to open addtional turnsyles, when it was clear there was more people than expected. it was approximately ten to eight, when two extra turn styles on the Dolman Stand block (Ashton Rd entrance were oppended). IMO this took far to long...further more the attendance couldn't have been accurate because the turn style reader wouldn't read the bar code on my ticket...and I was told to go through anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon79 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Ive read a few of the posts on here about the shambles last night and I thought I was the only one! Last year at the Antwerp game, my new membership card didnt work and by the time the ticket office sorted it out, we had missed the 1st 20 minutes of the game! So this year i decided to buy a season ticket for the east end along with a mate. So anyway,2 weeks ago, we went upto the gate and bought 5 tickets for the ajax game and as it was a one off we thought we would sit in the premiere seating in the williams.We were told that mine and my mates seats would be put on our ST and the other 3 had normal tickets.So we turned up at the gate and qued up for the williams and few,we got in with no problems,the cards actually worked! So we make our way through the williams to the entrance for the premiere seating and low and behold,the steward wont let me and my mate in cause we have'nt got tickets,just our ST cards and a seat reservation slip.We tried to explain to the guy that we had ST cards and this slip for proof of purchase,but he was having none of it.So then he goes off to speak to his superior and she's not bloody having any of it! By which time I'm none too pleased as you can imagine.This guy tells us we have got too go to the ticket office (the one i visited 2 weeks prior!) to see if they could give us a ticket. So of we all trott to try and get out of the williams stand,we ask a steward if we will be still be able to get back in although we have already swiped them to get in the 1st time,he doesnt bloody know.I then march over to some other guy and ask to speak to someone in a supervising capacity and at last we get to speak too someone with some common sense( stocky bloke,with a shaven head).Anyway he has a listen,then asks us to follow him back to the premiere seating,he then goes of for 2 minutes,comes back and tells the bloke to let us through.Why did we have to go through all of that? Eventually 15 minutes after we got in, we get to our seats and watch us get trounced 4-0! Luckily( I THINK) the game was delayed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockin-robin Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 To update the above post. I phoned the ticket office and explained exactly what had happened to me. I was told that the reason there wasnt a ticket there for me was because the money paid in advance activates my season ticket and i should have used that. This was a news to me and i was surprised that the lady who dealt with my purchase never told me this at the time! Anyway i asked if as a gesture of goodwill they would refund me my money as i felt they should have informed me what the procedure was. The lad in the ticket office said he would need to speak to his supervisor and would ring me back. Guess what they never rang! TBH with you fella, the club has made it very clear that tickets bought in advance will be added to your season ticket/membership card and that you just use that to gain entry. It has even been discussed on this forum a fair few times this year and last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUMMAT OUTTA NOWT Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Well I think the general feeling then is the club has once again screwed up. Any official line from the club on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon79 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I'm afraid he is right. Alot of turnstiles were closed and the club did not expect 10k. Not so sure on that Riaz, it was stated on the local news that city were expecting a crowd of over 10,000 for last nights game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nogbad the Bad Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I think you can pursue this. Although they may say you should be aware that is how the system works your ST ticket contains a match that was never activated by swiping. I believe that if you are a ST holder and forget your ticket, and have to pay on the day, that you can claim a refund. That's what used to happen before the cards anyway. Maybe someone else with experience can offer advice? I didn't go last night but am left speechless by many people's experiences. I'm embarrassed for the club. I haven't seen any exaggerations on here RedM. Fairly nightmarish 45 minutes trying to establish yourself in one of the ticket queues, then on to the turnstile queue with fans all the time pushing through the melee to get to various turnstiles/parts of the ground. I can't remermber anything more chaotic and I've been in crowds of 35k+ at AG. In the area between the Atyeo and the Dolman it felt like a similar crowd last night and it's surprising there were less than 11k. Still, we did get to see 80 minutes of slick and entertaining football ( from Ajax!) after that, so quite a memorable occasion all in all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon79 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 TBH with you fella, the club has made it very clear that tickets bought in advance will be added to your season ticket/membership card and that you just use that to gain entry. It has even been discussed on this forum a fair few times this year and last. Would agree with you there,they have made that clear.But how come i me and my mate were not allowed in the premiere seating without a ticket? Although we used our ST for entrance and had a confirmation slip with our seat numbers on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon79 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Did anyone else have a problem with getting into the premere seating after using a ST or membership card to get in? We were not allowed in to start with because we didnt have a ticket.( although we had an official confirmation slip with our seat numbers in it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DanC Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Has the Supporters trust taken this up with the club yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRock Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Bring back the traditional way of paying at the turnstiles .... a straightforward one operation process.... then appoint a Tesco store manager to ensure no queues. A key part of his strategy would be to train up a team of multi-tasking flexible staff. Simple.... but apparently beyond our stadium managements capabilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse With No Name Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Capello F is correct in what they've said. The matchday ticket office staff have been put ON a rota system. Yes, you're correct in saying they're are the same people, but not everybody who worked last season will be working this season every game. There is only one person that the finger can be pointed at (other than those that turn up 15 minutes before kick off) and thats our chief executive! He ultimately decides how last night should be run, from the marketing of the match 3 months prior, to the day of the match and the instructions (or lack of) given to the matchday staff. This consequently has a knock on effect with regards to there being no link between the supporter (customer) and the club (business). As someone who is (supposedly) an expert in this field I am still amazed at how long it has gone on with this person as our chief executive. As for the negative comments of the staff on a matchday, they're just trying to do their jobs, which is relayed to them by the people that are paid an awful lot of money for doing nothing (other than arrange Elton John concerts). These people care about our club, earn a fraction of what our chief executive earns and receive a lot of, in my opinion, unnecessary abuse. Whilst I can appreciate some may not be the most approachable and friendly (I wouldnt be if I had to deal with people that are as equally rude, if not worse), but with the resources they've got, the limited number of matchday colleagues they've got and limited information instructed to them on a matchday, they do a good job. Like Ive said, the buck stops with the person who calls the shots and even though this is a forum and people have a right to their opinion on here, this view is shared by thousands of city fans that will just keep on moaning to the matchday staff next time around, when the chief executive and/or their superiors probably arent even aware there is even a problem. The only way your views will be heard is if you contact the club, in particular our chairman/board who have the power to act on this and as a result will start to repair the problems off the pitch, and hopefully match the problems we've made great strides to fixing on the pitch! Read what Capello says in his post again, slowly this time. He says that there is to br a rota system among ticket office and TURNSTILE staff, to save money and there will only be 60% of staff on duty at a time. I say again, utter rubbish, and believve me, I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leroyfromthestart Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I think last night proved there was less staff in the ticket offices, hence the rota system in operation. I know as a fact, of the 19 members of ticket office staff in the two busiest stands (atyeo and dolman) last season, only 14 are required on a ROTA basis every match this season, so on a matchday the club are 5 people light per match compared to last season, when there will sure to be an increase in matchday sales compared to last season due to the decrease in season card holders. This is just one of the factors of why there were chaotic scenes last night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkeeebles Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 TBH with you fella, the club has made it very clear that tickets bought in advance will be added to your season ticket/membership card and that you just use that to gain entry. It has even been discussed on this forum a fair few times this year and last. That is fair enough and once the guy in the ticket office said this i remembered reading it somewhere and felt a bit daft for not realising that would be what happened. For some reason the thought never entered my head! However!!!!! Not everybody comes onto this website! Not everybody reads the official site! Not everybody has access to the internet! And not everybody buys the local paper! So it is possible that not everybody is aware of the procedure. If you have never bought a ticket for a cup game or a friendly etc then you may not have the faintest idea that your season card is activated for that game and that you should use that to get in the ground! When i phoned up the lady never mentioned that this is what happens! The phone is also an important means of communicating info to the fans! IMO she should have told me. It should be procedue for every ticket sold to a season card holder that this is what happens! IMO it should be procedure even if they have advertised it in every available source they have! It is 1 sentence that could save a lot of fans a lot of agro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aller g Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I'm afraid he is right. Alot of turnstiles were closed and the club did not expect 10k. Not so sure on that Riaz, it was stated on the local news that city were expecting a crowd of over 10,000 for last nights game. Yes.. true... sextone had told my boss they were expecting 10,000 and that was on the tuesday night. No excuse not to have all the turnstiles open. the turnstile staff get paid peanuts.. so why not just pay them to open for a hour or so. people always turn up 15-20 mins before the game.. normally its fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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