Dear Supporter
As current Seagulls Player subscribers are aware, we have been experiencing a number of issues with the service. Some of these issues date back some considerable time and, despite the best efforts of our media team – and a number of previous complaints to The Football League and the League’s partner, Perform – the poor service has continued.
This weekend Seagulls Player subscribers endured yet more frustration as the commentary soundtrack was lost for most of the second half of the match at Middlesbrough. Again, our media team spent much of their time trying to rectify the issues – which were not of their making – and to respond to supporter queries. This prevented them from focusing on their normal match day duties.
Clearly, this simply isn’t good enough and we can only apologise. Seagulls Player subscribers, our supporters, deserve better and, at the very least, our fans should be entitled to the service for which they are paying.
Indeed, several subscribers wrote to me over the weekend to air their perfectly understandable frustrations and I promised to take up the matter personally and directly with both The Football League’s and Perform’s chief executives with a view to agreeing a plan for service improvements and also to secure some form of goodwill gesture for current subscribers.
By way of an update, I did, as promised, write to The Football League and Perform on Sunday afternoon. I received a fairly swift response to my original letter (and to my subsequent reply) and it has now been arranged for Paul Camillin, the club’s head of communications, and myself to meet with The Football League (and Perform) on Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, Paul and his media team and the Football League’s Interactive (FLi) staff are looking at a short term technical fix which they are aiming to implement in time for this week-end’s home fixture with Huddersfield.
I have also asked for The Football League to prepare a written explanation for the issues we have faced that we can pass on to Seagulls Player subscribers. In addition, I will continue to push for some kind of financial gesture of goodwill for our fans.
I cannot promise that things will be perfect following the short term fix, or that the discussions we will have regarding the quality of the longer term service will deliver ideal solutions to the all of the issues we have faced, but I do hope you will see an improvement in the very near term.
I can promise that we will do whatever we can to ensure you receive the service for which you are paying. The club does benefit from your subscriptions and given the efforts we are making to increase revenues, we are very keen to maintain this important income stream providing of course our supporters receive value for the money they are paying out.
Finally, several of you have suggested that we should walk away from the current agreement and 'go it alone’. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. All of the Football League’s digital assets are grouped together and sold on a collective basis.
The Albion was one of a majority of Football League clubs that signed this long term contract for which the Player service is just one element. Yes, there is a service level agreement, and, yes, we are using that to judge the current suppliers, Perform, but walking away is not an option for us at this time.
The club does have a right to opt out at the end of the current contract or when it ceases to be a Football League member.
Once again, I want to apologise for the poor service you have received. We absolutely share your frustration. And we are determined to do everything we can to ensure you receive the service for which you have paid. In the meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding. We will keep you updated on the outcome of our discussions and we will pass on any communication we receive from the Football League.
Kind regards, Paul Barber
As current Seagulls Player subscribers are aware, we have been experiencing a number of issues with the service. Some of these issues date back some considerable time and, despite the best efforts of our media team – and a number of previous complaints to The Football League and the League’s partner, Perform – the poor service has continued.
This weekend Seagulls Player subscribers endured yet more frustration as the commentary soundtrack was lost for most of the second half of the match at Middlesbrough. Again, our media team spent much of their time trying to rectify the issues – which were not of their making – and to respond to supporter queries. This prevented them from focusing on their normal match day duties.
Clearly, this simply isn’t good enough and we can only apologise. Seagulls Player subscribers, our supporters, deserve better and, at the very least, our fans should be entitled to the service for which they are paying.
Indeed, several subscribers wrote to me over the weekend to air their perfectly understandable frustrations and I promised to take up the matter personally and directly with both The Football League’s and Perform’s chief executives with a view to agreeing a plan for service improvements and also to secure some form of goodwill gesture for current subscribers.
By way of an update, I did, as promised, write to The Football League and Perform on Sunday afternoon. I received a fairly swift response to my original letter (and to my subsequent reply) and it has now been arranged for Paul Camillin, the club’s head of communications, and myself to meet with The Football League (and Perform) on Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, Paul and his media team and the Football League’s Interactive (FLi) staff are looking at a short term technical fix which they are aiming to implement in time for this week-end’s home fixture with Huddersfield.
I have also asked for The Football League to prepare a written explanation for the issues we have faced that we can pass on to Seagulls Player subscribers. In addition, I will continue to push for some kind of financial gesture of goodwill for our fans.
I cannot promise that things will be perfect following the short term fix, or that the discussions we will have regarding the quality of the longer term service will deliver ideal solutions to the all of the issues we have faced, but I do hope you will see an improvement in the very near term.
I can promise that we will do whatever we can to ensure you receive the service for which you are paying. The club does benefit from your subscriptions and given the efforts we are making to increase revenues, we are very keen to maintain this important income stream providing of course our supporters receive value for the money they are paying out.
Finally, several of you have suggested that we should walk away from the current agreement and 'go it alone’. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. All of the Football League’s digital assets are grouped together and sold on a collective basis.
The Albion was one of a majority of Football League clubs that signed this long term contract for which the Player service is just one element. Yes, there is a service level agreement, and, yes, we are using that to judge the current suppliers, Perform, but walking away is not an option for us at this time.
The club does have a right to opt out at the end of the current contract or when it ceases to be a Football League member.
Once again, I want to apologise for the poor service you have received. We absolutely share your frustration. And we are determined to do everything we can to ensure you receive the service for which you have paid. In the meantime, thank you for your patience and understanding. We will keep you updated on the outcome of our discussions and we will pass on any communication we receive from the Football League.
Kind regards, Paul Barber
(Ninja edited!)
