Ticket Office this morning - What a Joke

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

No they are not.

Because I'm not prepared to wait an hour (2 in 15 minutes, 8 more to go) on a 0845 number to buy tickets, when I am a season ticket holder, and should be able to buy the f***ing things online in seconds.

The fact the queue dropped from 8 to 1 in 10 minures or so like the other caller said, maybe suggest I wasn't the only one not prepared to wait that long

register them on-line, add them to your friends and family list, buy them ticket on-line. I am sorry, but am I missing something here? It's all very simple.

 

[Mr Burns]

To be fair I think he has a point (and i'm a non-STH if that helps!). It doesn't make any sense that as a STH you are unable to buy more than one extra ticket on-line, but if you're a non-STH, like myself, you can buy as many as you like on-line. How does that work?

Thank you. I've just asked Bozza to remove the question, as I am going to reask it in a more professional manor, and not as a pissed off punter.. which I still am.

If the club uses an "off the shelf" package, then that package is wrong and needs updating.

In the age of the interent, you should not be able to less online that you can by walking into the ticket office. If I was in the ticket office, I could buy whatever tickets I wanted, for whoever I wanted, and all the time that is possible, you should be able to do it online.

Plus I totally stand by what I said about staffing levels. Enough staff in the shop and offices, should be trained up, so when there are queues of 10plus holding for 15 minurtes or more, extra people should be able to access the ticketing system, to clear the backlog straight away.

 

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

But if you read it I aslo said I've been in there when the poor sods run of his feet, and what my problem is, instead of standing around chatting and stratching their arses, other members of staff should be jumping on the phones at peak times. I' m not having a go at the poor sod who answers the phone.

But anyway, if they have 10 callers waiting,and they get a dickhead on the phone, maybe they should explain they can only take order for current games, and call them back later in the day? Just a thought

And if they did that some other gimp would be on here sayung he/she tired to buy tickets for a game a few weeks away, but they were told they couldn't. I think you need to have a look out the window, see if you can spot the bing fiery ball in the sky. Keep watching it for a while and remind yourself the that world revolves around that and not your good self.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

register them on-line, add them to your friends and family list, buy them ticket on-line. I am sorry, but am I missing something here? It's all very simple.

That's what I thought. Does it make any difference if their addresses are abroad?

 

[Titanic]

To be fair I think he has a point (and i'm a non-STH if that helps!). It doesn't make any sense that as a STH you are unable to buy more than one extra ticket on-line, but if you're a non-STH, like myself, you can buy as many as you like on-line. How does that work?

As a STH I can buy up to nine tickets online, because I have 8 friends and family associated with my fan number. As 5 of us are STH already, that means for home games I can buy 4 additional tickets. For away games I can order all 9.

How do you manage to buy more than one ticket online for a home game, as a non-STH?

 

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

That's what I thought. Does it make any difference if their addresses are abroad?

That I do not know, as it does need a postcode, so could potentially be a problem, but one I reckon they have anticipated.... maybe someone could phone up the ticket office and find out? Where's that Mr Burns chap?!?

 

[portlock seagull]

I'm not Mr Burn's biggest fan but he has a damn good point even if he hasn't made it in a damn good manner. It constantly amazes me how many fans make excuses and defend our clubs weaknesses (and customer service is right up there, be it the web booking system, the phone booking system, replying to letters, stewarding at Withdean......) rather than demand improvements. It's the mentality of football fans that needs to change before the authorities/clubs will actually change anything - getting ripped off, treated like cattle, crap food at extortinate prices etc is NOT acceptable in this day and age. So when someone makes such a complaint, don't jump down their throat - we all want things to improve, and pointing out a service is sub-standard is the only way things will change. So stop making excuses you apologists and demand better for your £25+ (twenty-five!) quid a ticket!!!

 

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

What a f***ing joke

I need to get a couple of extra tickets for Saturday, 15 minutes in the queue, moved from 10th to 8th. Probably only moved because people in front of me got pissed off with waiting.

Love to buy online, but as a season ticket holder, cannot buy extra tickets, even though there is an option to buy more than one ticket.

No wonder the grounds never full, no **** can buy a f***ing ticket!

Spot on - and amazing the amount of abuse you've received for this. The club's sales channels are hopelessly inadequate. Yes, you can get very good, friendly service if you pop into the shop on a quiet Wednesday lunch-time, but.......the website is incredibly un-user friendly and it is a joke that you should have to queue for that length of time (other than perhaps for something totally out of thew ordinary like a Cup Final).

I know of very few businesses of equivalent scale that have such a backward approach to managing their inventory.

 

[Bozza]

I think football clubs are an exception when you compare the models of online offerings to face-to-face custom due to the very real issue surrounding crowd segregation.

You absolutely do not want any (opposing team supporting) joker rocking up to your website and filling their pockets with your product - home section tickets - given the subsequent problems that can ensue. In the ticket office itself, there is a very decent chance (although not guaranteed, obviously) that if someone walks in off the street they are local and a home fan.

I have no idea whether it is the case or not, but it could be the club have partially rolled out the 'have to be registered and named to get a ticket' policy to their online offering whilst retaining the more relaxed approach to physical sales such that when you walk into the ticket office currently you can still just buy a handful of tickets without having to provide registration details. But wouldn't that seem sensible, rather than a one-off big bang implementation across the board?

Can the club win? They try and improve things - to bring in systems and processes befitting a club of the size we want to be and they get moaned at. If they keep things all cottage industry they take a kicking too.

 

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

I'm not Mr Burn's biggest fan but he has a damn good point even if he hasn't made it in a damn good manner. It constantly amazes me how many fans make excuses and defend our clubs weaknesses (and customer service is right up there, be it the web booking system, the phone booking system, replying to letters, stewarding at Withdean......) rather than demand improvements. It's the mentality of football fans that needs to change before the authorities/clubs will actually change anything - getting ripped off, treated like cattle, crap food at extortinate prices etc is NOT acceptable in this day and age. So when someone makes such a complaint, don't jump down their throat - we all want things to improve, and pointing out a service is sub-standard is the only way things will change. So stop making excuses you apologists and demand better for your £25+ (twenty-five!) quid a ticket!!!

Agree it isn't perfect, but it is infinitely better than it used to be. We are also in transition and maybe we haven't invested in this are as much in recent years, but the people at the club now are the best I have known and they do a brilliant job. The on-line system always works fine for me, i am not sure if I have been lucky, but any errors I have seen have ended up being me messing it up.

As for complaining about waiting in a queue on the phone, what are the club supposed to do? Waste money employing an infinite number of people to man the phones, or anticipate the need and then expect people to be patient at busy times, or to call back later?

 

[Titanic]

You can't buy more than one ticket full stop:

Notice how i'm not logged in, and I can still only buy one ticket per member.

EDIT: I entered five and was going to check if it'd let me as an STH buy five tickets, before i realized i forgot my fan number and password!

The next step after this requires you to log in and provide your fan number and associated friends & family.

Doesn't it?

 

[Mr Burns]

As for complaining about waiting in a queue on the phone, what are the club supposed to do? Waste money employing an infinite number of people to man the phones, or anticipate the need and then expect people to be patient at busy times, or to call back later?

No. They make sure that enough shop staff,and any other office staff in the building, are trained to use the system, so at any unexpected, or expected for that manner, peak time, they can back up the deadicated ticketing staff.

 

[Mr Burns]

As a STH I can buy up to nine tickets online, because I have 8 friends and family associated with my fan number. As 5 of us are STH already, that means for home games I can buy 4 additional tickets. For away games I can order all 9.

How do you manage to buy more than one ticket online for a home game, as a non-STH?

Maybe I didnt buy online last year, but I certainly brought numerous times in the shop upto to 4 tickets as a time. But in that case, I could go out and put family members, who have never ever been to a game and have no interest in football on the system. I could even put my dog on there and buy a ticket in his name if the need arose.

To me having a system that allows you to do that online, but not allowing a member who regularly buys tickets or is a STH to buy one or two additional tickets online is a worry.

 

[portlock seagull]

Agree it isn't perfect, but it is infinitely better than it used to be. We are also in transition and maybe we haven't invested in this are as much in recent years, but the people at the club now are the best I have known and they do a brilliant job. The on-line system always works fine for me, i am not sure if I have been lucky, but any errors I have seen have ended up being me messing it up.

As for complaining about waiting in a queue on the phone, what are the club supposed to do? Waste money employing an infinite number of people to man the phones, or anticipate the need and then expect people to be patient at busy times, or to call back later?

Waiting a projected 2.5hrs for someone to answer the phone isn't coming on leaps and bounds in my book!! The club has improved, but much work is still required if it takes that long despite having an 8000 stadium capacity!!

 

[jezzer]

Where the club fall down is when it gets busy, but its gonna get `kin busy at various times over the next few months and at the moment I would say that the office is not entirely geared up for it.

The office do some amazing work, who can forget the efforts made by the staff during the aston villa binfest, and complaining about waiting on the phone is old hat really, ive waited an hour before now, not good but expected when you know loads of others are doing the same at the same time.

But I dont care what anyone says the online system does not work properly at times, ive entered details of friends and family and some of them dont appear even when ive been added to theirs and having a policy that seems to have looser rules face to face than online is frankly stupid if indeed this is the case, which i suspect it is.

When Falmer starts rolling, there will be hell booking tickets if the waits on the phone and the online gliches arent sorted out now` cos theyll be potentially 4 x the amount of fans trying to get sorted. Its a nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[Perry's Tracksuit Bottoms]

Try phoning now. Hardly any wait at all.

 

[El Presidente]

There are still plenty of tickets available, J Block looks emptier than a certain SUPERFAN's vibrator drawer during a Terry Connor's greatest goals video.

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

just got peterborough tickets

 

[Hercules Rockerfeller]

Waiting a projected 2.5hrs for someone to answer the phone isn't coming on leaps and bounds in my book!! The club has improved, but much work is still required if it takes that long despite having an 8000 stadium capacity!!

2.5 hours when? That's a crock of bull plop. there is a perfectly good on-line system and i have never waited more than 10 minutes to get thorugh on the phone. Even when things have gone wrong, or got lost, they have been in touch and surpirsed me at how efficient they are. We are a small club at the moment and I think your expectations are a little high and unreasonable. just my opinion.

 

[poidy]

I was in the club shop this morning buying my Yeovil and Peterborough ticket. The guy serving me said that last season on a weekday they would average 70 calls. This season it's over 200 a day with no extra manpower to accomodate this. Not to mention that they are also having to deal with customers coming into the shop and bookings made on the Internet aswell. So give them a break for crying out loud. They do a fantastic job for probably not a great deal of money. I'd also be gobsmacked if they were getting paid any extra with the added workload this season. We should be grateful that we have the ticket office team that we do. Everytime I've dealt with them regarding an issue they've always gone above and beyond. :thumbs up: