The SC&T representing fans' concerns

[Rocky]

1 minute ago, Cityboy1954 said:

Read what i put no one in my party has a phone ffs .

Then request physical season cards?

 

[Cityboy1954]

Just now, Rocky said:

Then request physical season cards?

 

Have done for this season but looks like the future their will be no choice .

[Rocky]

1 minute ago, James54De said:

You didn’t put that. You said you have three grandchildren with no phone. You don’t have a smartphone yourself? 

It is tricky for the older generation.

He even replied to the post and quoted himself all at the same time.  

Workarounds are in place, but still, let's continually get stressed over nothing.

[Rocky]

1 minute ago, Cityboy1954 said:

Have done for this season but looks like the future their will be no choice .

What did you do when cars were invented and you couldn't ride your horse anymore?

Move with the times

[Cityboy1954]

1 minute ago, Rocky said:

What did you do when cars were invented and you couldn't ride your horse anymore?

Move with the times

Always a smart dick isnt there 

[Bristol Rob]

Just now, Rocky said:

What did you do when cars were invented and you couldn't ride your horse anymore?

Move with the times

Poster might be Amish.

[Cityboy1954]

7 minutes ago, James54De said:

You didn’t put that. You said you have three grandchildren with no phone. You don’t have a smartphone yourself? 

No 

[!james]

5 minutes ago, Cityboy1954 said:

Have done for this season but looks like the future their will be no choice .

Unfortunately it's the thousands of other people who do have smart phones but clearly have an emotional attachment to a piece of plastic that will make the club charge for them next season. 

[phantom]

11 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

Can understand that where the audience is limited or the discussion is commercial sensitive, but SCAT ask people who might want to attend to get the Teams link from them.

So anyone could in theory have dialled in. 

You are thinking of the monthly meetings - which ironically is scheduled tomorrow evening, which is open for anyone to join

This was a extra meeting where only invited people were able to dial in

[Cityboy1954]

2 minutes ago, !james said:

Unfortunately it's the thousands of other people who do have smart phones but clearly have an emotional attachment to a piece of plastic that will make the club charge for them next season. 

Willing to pay for the four cards to be sent to my address no problem if thats an option.

[italian dave]

21 minutes ago, Cityboy1954 said:

Have done for this season but looks like the future their will be no choice .

I think there will still be an option to have a card in the future. There just might be a charge for having it. 

[TV Tom]

10 minutes ago, italian dave said:

I think there will still be an option to have a card in the future. There just might be a charge for having it. 

The day I don’t have a physical card OR get charged for the privilege of having one just because I don’t have a “smart phone” is the day I don’t re-new my season ticket, and I know I’m not the only one of my age to say that, it would be an awful way to treat  fans some of which have 50, 60 or 70 years of following the club through thick and thin

[W-S-M Seagull]

15 minutes ago, italian dave said:

I think there will still be an option to have a card in the future. There just might be a charge for having it. 

Can you legally charge someone with a protected characteristic for a ticket if they are unable to use a digital one? Wouldn't providing a ticket be classed as a reasonable adjustment? 

[Silvio Dante]

56 minutes ago, OneTeamInBristol said:

Can we all agree to keep the abbreviation to SC&T rather than SCAT?

No.  
 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Silvio Dante

[Cityboy1954]

6 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

The day I don’t have a physical card OR get charged for the privilege of having one just because I don’t have a “smart phone” is the day I don’t re-new my season ticket, and I know I’m not the only one of my age to say that, it would be an awful way to treat  fans some of which have 50, 60 or 70 years of following the club through thick and thin

Spot on mate

[phantom]

26 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

The day I don’t have a physical card OR get charged for the privilege of having one just because I don’t have a “smart phone” is the day I don’t re-new my season ticket, and I know I’m not the only one of my age to say that, it would be an awful way to treat  fans some of which have 50, 60 or 70 years of following the club through thick and thin

There is a very likely chance that all phones will be "smart phones" a long time before that happens, so you will be fine

[glynriley]

1 hour ago, !james said:

Unfortunately it's the thousands of other people who do have smart phones but clearly have an emotional attachment to a piece of plastic that will make the club charge for them next season. 

Why does it bother you? If the club turn round next season and say they will be charging for a card, what effect does it have on you?? If people are happy to pay for a "piece of plastic" that's up to them. Some right weird attitudes on this digital issue.

And for the record, my ST is on my phone.

[TV Tom]

11 minutes ago, phantom said:

There is a very likely chance that all phones will be "smart phones" a long time before that happens, so you will be fine

My 12 year old Tesco phone that I paid a tenner for is certainly not a smart phone and hopefully this will see me out for the rest of my days 

[!james]

9 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

My 12 year old Tesco phone that I paid a tenner for is certainly not a smart phone and hopefully this will see me out for the rest of my days 

So if you don't upgrade your phone you would stop following the club you supporting for 50/60/70 years because they would charge you a fiver for a plastic season card? 

[Bristol Rob]

4 minutes ago, !james said:

So if you don't upgrade your phone you would stop following the club you supporting for 50/60/70 years because they would charge you a fiver for a plastic season card? 

They might send a strongly worded pigeon to make their displeasure known. 

[W-S-M Seagull]

@phantom was an explanation given as to why the socks were a different colour on the 3rd kit? 

[richwwtk]

37 minutes ago, TV Tom said:

My 12 year old Tesco phone that I paid a tenner for is certainly not a smart phone and hopefully this will see me out for the rest of my days 

Are you hoping for the same from your 1963 Austin? Are you posting from your 1984 Amstrad? Do you still watch TV on your 1976 Redifusion?

Edited August 1, 2023 by richwwtk

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, !james said:

Unfortunately it's the thousands of other people who do have smart phones but clearly have an emotional attachment to a piece of plastic that will make the club charge for them next season. 

 

1 hour ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

Can you legally charge someone with a protected characteristic for a ticket if they are unable to use a digital one? Wouldn't providing a ticket be classed as a reasonable adjustment? 

I think there’s maybe a link between these two things.

I don’t think anyone would argue with there being no charge where there’s a genuine need. The problem is that it’s become very evident that the club can’t easily distinguish where that need exists because there are some people who will provide misleading answers when asked.

I’m not sure that simply not owning an smartphone is a protected characteristic, but there may be other instances where a protected characteristic might make it difficult to use a smart phone.

It’s illegal to make a charge specifically for making reasonable adjustments. However, if (as is now the case) there’s an option to have a physical card, albeit with a charge attached, then there’s no need for any ‘reasonable adjustment’ beyond that.

So, they either continue to, in effect, offer a choice. And make a charge if you choose the physical card. Or they take away the choice, but provide it only where there is a genuine need (and somehow figure out how to do that!) at no charge.

Edited August 1, 2023 by italian dave

[exAtyeoMax]

4 hours ago, phantom said:

In response to current issues being raised with us recently, members of the Supporters Club & Trust alongside SLO Jerry Tocknell met with Football Club CEO Phil Alexander and Head of Communications Dave Barton on Friday.

A brief summary is provided below but we once again encouraged the Club to engage in more meaningful collaboration with supporters along the way rather than simply publishing faits accomplis. It was agreed to hold a follow up meeting in the coming weeks.

Kits and training wear 
Feedback on kits and training wear was articulated, including replacing the robin crest with the bird, colour, collar, price and colour of training kit, poor quality, lack of stock…

Questions were raised as to the lack of away kit so close to the season and the lack of communication from the Club on this. The Club took away an action to come back to us with further details including release dates.
We reminded the Club to consider colour blindness in their choice of kits.

Disabled parking
The Club confirmed that the disabled parking charge increase of 30% for the coming season will be reversed and remain at last season’s levels. It affects about 20 people who will be contacted directly.

Fees on away tickets and coach travel
Fees for away match and coach travel are managed by Bristol Sport across all sporting codes. We agreed with the football Club that our away travel is probably one of the best value in the league but stated that additional fees should be per transaction and not per ticket and if per ticket should be included in the ticket/coach price rather than added.

Digital Season Tickets
Digital tickets were used for the first time at the open training session. We noted that it was good that the Football Club gave fans access to players, especially for younger fans. All digital tickets worked well on the day with 1,200 people gaining access.

The Club did acknowledge some problems once people were inside the ground with long waiting times to see players.

The Club will have ambassadors around Ashton Gate before matches to provide support and generally improve the digital access experience for fans, which was we welcomed.

We fed back that it was welcomed that supporters had the choice of requesting a physical card which has had a take up of c. 30% which is high in comparison to other Clubs but considered that it should reduce as people become more comfortable with the electronic cards. It was noted that supporters couldn’t have both a physical and electronic card which may cause some confusion if not clearly communicated.

Supporters do still need to be advised of how to transfer digital tickets to family and friends.

Fan-led review
Finally, in relation to the Fan Led Review we reminded the football club that we need to get ahead of any regulator imposed fan consultation process. Many of the issues discussed in this meeting might have been headed off by prior fan consultation.

TAKEN FROM: Representing fans' concerns - Bristol City Supporters Club & Trust

Did the club say how much longer we have a deal with O'Neills?

[phantom]

27 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

@phantom was an explanation given as to why the socks were a different colour on the 3rd kit? 

It wasn't raised, but I do notice that it seems to have been rectified at Portsmouth

8 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Did the club say how much longer we have a deal with O'Neills?

That question wasn't asked

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, glynriley said:

Why does it bother you? If the club turn round next season and say they will be charging for a card, what effect does it have on you?? If people are happy to pay for a "piece of plastic" that's up to them. Some right weird attitudes on this digital issue.

And for the record, my ST is on my phone.

I don't think anyone has a problem with that though GR - not that I've seen anyway.

As I've read it the only issue is that people who have a genuine need for a card will probably now end up paying as well.

I don't think the club has helped: they've been quite unclear/ambivalent/inconsistent about whether this is about need or choice. 

(So is mine: not sure what it's called now though - card, ticket, image?!)

Edited August 1, 2023 by italian dave

[frenchred]

4 minutes ago, phantom said:

It wasn't raised, but I do notice that it seems to have been rectified at Portsmouth

That question wasn't asked

Mate

Do you see any benefit in having someone from here compile a list of queries, complaints etc prior to each meeting? This is by far the biggest forum loosely attached to the club, if the emotion were taken out of most of it there are some very valid points being made.

We also understand that not everyone from the scat are on here or are very busy with other stuff in their life

At least if you had something to take along by way of a list we could knock them off as responded to?

[italian dave]

2 hours ago, TV Tom said:

The day I don’t have a physical card OR get charged for the privilege of having one just because I don’t have a “smart phone” is the day I don’t re-new my season ticket, and I know I’m not the only one of my age to say that, it would be an awful way to treat  fans some of which have 50, 60 or 70 years of following the club through thick and thin

But you don't mind me having to pay an extra £10 on the cost of my season ticket in order to cover the additional admin costs of yours? I've also followed the club through 60 years of thick and thin!

[Steve Watts]

3 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I'm ruthless. If someone is not doing a good job then there is always someone else that will. 

The fact that Jerry has already said he and others are doing several peoples jobs because of staff shortages would suggest that there isn't always someone else who will.

1 hour ago, Silvio Dante said:

No.  
 

All I'm saying is that two certain girls still have one more cup that Rovers do in their trophy cabinet!

1 hour ago, !james said:

So if you don't upgrade your phone you would stop following the club you supporting for 50/60/70 years because they would charge you a fiver for a plastic season card? 

For many it isn't a case of don't upgrade to a smart phone as can't.  My mum - old, but not elderly.  Still in her 60's, but is a proper technophobe.  As in she is terrified of anything even mildly complicated.  She's afraid she'll "bugger it up" and gets genuinely upset at the thought of doing anything even remotely associated with this century - she still uses a bloody video recorder to tape things when she's out!  The thought of her having a smartphone is as terrifying to my brother, sister and I as it is to her.  

Thankfully she doesn't like football and this won't be an issue for her, but there are plenty of others who, like her, simply don't feel comfortable using that sort of technology!

 

[Davefevs]

5 hours ago, phantom said:

Disabled parking
The Club confirmed that the disabled parking charge increase of 30% for the coming season will be reversed and remain at last season’s levels. It affects about 20 people who will be contacted directly.

 

I’ve had my refund.

4 hours ago, phantom said:

Phil acknowledged that he was still relatively new to his role, and listening to him explain not only his role within Bristol City but also how having to work within the Bristol Sport umbrella actually surprised me how complicated things were now for our football club

This for me is part of an overall problem for our football club.  Being very simplistic, Nige can work miracles on playing budget (which he has), but if other parts of the group don’t do their bit, he’s stuffed.

Even the City FC and Ashton Gate axis is complicated by transfer pricing not just by each company, but the transfer pricing with Bristol Sport too.

5 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

If the head of communications doesn't communicate, then what is the purpose of his role? 

4 hours ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I'm confused. Surely Bartons job as head of communications is to be on the pulse about the issues the fans are speaking about and feeding that back to the powers that be? 

I just find it unbelievable that he was unaware of these issues.

I'm ruthless. If someone is not doing a good job then there is always someone else that will. 

This is where it gets complicated, as kinda the same issue as my reply to Phants.

Barton is the HoComms for Bristol City Football Club.  We don’t know how far the boundaries stretch.  It could be really narrow like - purely football team comms, e.g. interviews with staff / players, media collaboration etc.  Things like Ticketing, Kits, etc, etc, could be a combo of Ashton Gate comms and Bristol Sport comms respectively.

Barton reports into the Group Head of Comms - Lisa Knight

So, it’s easy to point the finger, and I’m not saying you’re wrong either, but Barton might easily say “not my remit” and legitimately so.  I’m not trying to give him a get out of jail free card either, just merely stating the group structure is creating issues of responsibility and accountability.

But basically, the lack of clarity and therefore accountability is very poor at times.  I’d argue that Dave ought to be aware as a stakeholder and part of Lisa’s team, they should have awareness of each other’s issues so that they can put on a joined-up front.