Unreadable Heritage Stones

[birthofanorange]

For 'those' that may be keeping an eye on this thread, how's this for efficiency?

I sent a copy of my e-mail to the Cricket Club and in less than an hour, received a reply from both Sarah (PA to the CEO) and Dave Brooks (CEO) himself. It appears that they have gone for a different spec to the ones chosen for the Amex - bigger stones, for example - but they are fully aware of the problems we have had with ours and will be keeping an eye on how they look.

Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long for a reply in respect of ours.

 

[zfleas]

Hi Gary, personally I dont have a stone but I just want to congratulate you on all the hard work your putting into this! Your doing a fantastic job, keep it up.

 

[birthofanorange]

Thanks for the kind words, but it will only be worth it all when we get a result...and we WILL!

 

[a'snan]

Heritagestones

I have recently become aware of your thread.

In October 2004. when the “Alive and Kicking Appeal” was launched , I made a donation in support of the Club’s campaign for a new stadium, and received an appreciative letter from Dick Knight . He wrote that the Club would be honoured to dedicate a seat in the new stadium to my late husband and sent me a certificate which endorsed this. I appreciated this and thought that it would be a fitting tribute to my husband who had died earlier that year.

When I received a letter from the Club dated 15 March 2010, I was disappointed to hear that it was considered unfeasible to put plaques on seats and instead it was planned to have Heritage Stones. I appreciated the club’s difficulties and reluctantly accepted the situation and ordered a Heritage Stone. In September 2010. I contacted the Club when I learnt that the Heritage Stones were being offered at a considerably lower price and was informed in a letter from the Club, dated 6 September 2010 that the stones would form two sections and that the stone for my husband would be in a specially dedicated area. Having received no information on the project since last year, I found that this was not so, and all the stones were to be positioned together, and I wrote to Martin Perry and Ken Brown on 12 July 2011 to get clarification on the situation and find the location of my stone. Eventually I received a cursory reply from Sally Townsend, dated 12 August 2011 giving me the location of my stone and stating “ the display in front of the West Stand reception has already been much admired by the many visitors that pass through the area“.

I was dismayed when I took my 10 year old grandson to see the stone and found that my husband’s correct name was not on it . His name was supposed to be inscribed on the first line and the second line should have said A FAN FOR LIFE. Instead, the “A” is missing from the second line and has been added to my husband’s surname. My order No 10171 clearly states the correct wording and although the number of characters and spaces on each line was restricted to 16, I note that there are now 17 on the first line of the existing stone and agree that the stones are also smaller than expected, difficult to read and of poor quality . Despite sending an email to the Club on 10 August 2011 and a further letter to Martin Perry on 24 August 2011 about this, I have received no reply to date.

Thank you for your efforts to bring the disappointment of so many fans to the attention of the Board and get the situation rectified, and I hope a satisfactory solution to the many complaints will be found,

 

[a'snan]

Heritagestones

no message

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

For 'those' that may be keeping an eye on this thread, how's this for efficiency?

I sent a copy of my e-mail to the Cricket Club and in less than an hour, received a reply from both Sarah (PA to the CEO) and Dave Brooks (CEO) himself. It appears that they have gone for a different spec to the ones chosen for the Amex - bigger stones, for example - but they are fully aware of the problems we have had with ours and will be keeping an eye on how they look.

Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long for a reply in respect of ours.

Not surprised at the prompt response from David Brooks, much of his background is working for customer focussed organisations and he was brought in with that in mind. If you remember, his predicessor Gus Mckay was both a clown and exactly the opposite; possibly more suited to managing online gambling and property development companies or construction projects.

 

[a'snan]

No message

 

[paddy]

I have recently become aware of your thread.

In October 2004. when the “Alive and Kicking Appeal” was launched , I made a donation in support of the Club’s campaign for a new stadium, and received an appreciative letter from Dick Knight . He wrote that the Club would be honoured to dedicate a seat in the new stadium to my late husband and sent me a certificate which endorsed this. I appreciated this and thought that it would be a fitting tribute to my husband who had died earlier that year.

When I received a letter from the Club dated 15 March 2010, I was disappointed to hear that it was considered unfeasible to put plaques on seats and instead it was planned to have Heritage Stones. I appreciated the club’s difficulties and reluctantly accepted the situation and ordered a Heritage Stone. In September 2010. I contacted the Club when I learnt that the Heritage Stones were being offered at a considerably lower price and was informed in a letter from the Club, dated 6 September 2010 that the stones would form two sections and that the stone for my husband would be in a specially dedicated area. Having received no information on the project since last year, I found that this was not so, and all the stones were to be positioned together, and I wrote to Martin Perry and Ken Brown on 12 July 2011 to get clarification on the situation and find the location of my stone. Eventually I received a cursory reply from Sally Townsend, dated 12 August 2011 giving me the location of my stone and stating “ the display in front of the West Stand reception has already been much admired by the many visitors that pass through the area“.

I was dismayed when I took my 10 year old grandson to see the stone and found that my husband’s correct name was not on it . His name was supposed to be inscribed on the first line and the second line should have said A FAN FOR LIFE. Instead, the “A” is missing from the second line and has been added to my husband’s surname. My order No 10171 clearly states the correct wording and although the number of characters and spaces on each line was restricted to 16, I note that there are now 17 on the first line of the existing stone and agree that the stones are also smaller than expected, difficult to read and of poor quality . Despite sending an email to the Club on 10 August 2011 and a further letter to Martin Perry on 24 August 2011 about this, I have received no reply to date.

Thank you for your efforts to bring the disappointment of so many fans to the attention of the Board and get the situation rectified, and I hope a satisfactory solution to the many complaints will be found,

Very poor from the club and the suppliers. It is just beyond belief how many errors have been made - surely it cannot be that hard to inscribe a message word for word onto a stone. If there was any doubt on the part of the suppliers they should have contacted the club who could in turn have contacted the supporter in question to clarify the message.

 

[Horsham by the Sea]

This list will be forwarded to various departments of the Club, ditto Parkers, along with a few select posts that have been made.

I have no doubt that a response will be forthcoming.

Not sure if Parkers have a 'retail' business or just trade but surely they as the suppliers they need to ' step up ' here and resolve this issue otherwise builders and customers might decide to trade elsewhere....

Im sure the bad press alone is worth ££££'s to Parkers..??

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Have to say warning bells flashed the moment I saw that the wording was to be some sort of flimsy icing ON the stone rather than an inscription carved INTO the stone. Not good.

 

[birthofanorange]

Have to say warning bells flashed the moment I saw that the wording was to be some sort of flimsy icing ON the stone rather than an inscription carved INTO the stone. Not good.

As far as I know, they ARE engraved into to the stone, yet a protective coating has been put on which has altered the appearance somewhat.

 

[ArfurW8]

Earlier this year I contributed to one of these heritage stones for a sadly missed pal of mine,is it easy for visiting fans to view these stones on a matchday?

 

[birthofanorange]

Earlier this year I contributed to one of these heritage stones for a sadly missed pal of mine,is it easy for visiting fans to view these stones on a matchday?

It depends on how you interpret 'view'. Yes, they are readily available to go and look at (matchday or otherwise), although you may have to look quite hard to actually 'see' them.

 

[ArfurW8]

Thanks,I will make the effort anyway.

 

[birthofanorange]

Great! We would be interested in what you think of them.

 

[Giraffe]

Great work Gary. You've not listed my cert numbers although I did PM them to you. You should have four from me.

 

[birthofanorange]

Great work Gary. You've not listed my cert numbers although I did PM them to you. You should have four from me.

Yep, don't know how they got left off - they'll be added.


Username Cert. No.

afters 0004
ALBION 28
Alex, Alex Dawson oo! oo! 0542
Alton Seagull
Another Berkshire Seagull 0858 & 0859
anotherbristolseagull 0989
astevens76 0579
bathseagull
BHAFC_Edward 1242
Billy Seagull 0952
birthofanorange 1580 & 1490
BlytheMeister
bobby smith 0254
bobzam
bomber130 1744
Braders 0283
brightonseagulls1
bristolseagull
byf
c-c-c-sider 1404
Caveman
chimneys 0924 & 1046
clapham_gull
corralt
CPO 0 3 BHA 0276
DannyHoof
Danny Hoof 1482
Dawn Korus 1638
Deadly Danson 0742
DIFFBROOK 1018
Ditchboy 0939
Ernest
ewe2
forumwayseagull
generationx
Giraffe 1531, 1532, 1533 & 1534
graham moseleys gloves
Harold 1008
hastings
Henfield One 0116 & 0117
herecomesaregular 1610
Hillian 1
Horses Arse 0330
Horsham by the Sea
HoveHorace
Jack Straw 0129 & 0131
Jameson
Johnny Fever
kingcole
Kneon Light
LadySeagull 1021
levski seagull 0108
Lindfield by the Pond 0505
loco61 0684
LondonBlue
Lord Bracknell (Regarding the Falmer For All Campaign Team Stone) 0218
m20gull 1486
magoo
Marcus
Mayfair Seagull 0833
Mo Gosfield
Moshe Gariani
Mrs Coach
Muttley 1729
newhaven gull
nomoremithras4me 1399
october76 1027
One Robbie Reinelt 0608
Paddy 1568
parf 0217
Paul1960 0465
Ponce Mohammed Buzzer 0008
pork pie
portlock seagull
PrestGull
PWA
rexwedge 1684
rocker959
ROSM
saltdeanseagull1 0271
scarby 1122 & 1123
scooter1
Seagulls over Essex 0497
seagull stu 0294, 0295 & 0296
Sibroadway 1595
southasp 0048 & 0049
spig100963
SuperMario 0017
Surport Local Team
Sussex
SweBHAFC
sweetmods
TAG76
Thunder Bolt
timco 0225
Titanic
Tony Meolas Loan Spell 1096
Toongull 1620
Twinkle Toes
Vega 0036
WATFORD zero 1428
wellquickwoody 1324
wendy's tackle 0089
Wilko 0127
Winker 1124
Wozza 0003

Anyone else wishing to add?

 

[a'snan]

I don't think you have my cert number 145 (order number10171)

 

[kingcole]

You are doing a grand job here, and I hope we get the result. About 5 pages of replies have been added since last time I looked. Do I need to do anything, or will be be doing to mass email (or PM) to all of us on the list when you need some more info.

I have not got my certificate number to hand. Do you need this from me?

 

[Bwian]

Eventually I received a cursory reply from Sally Townsend,

That seems to be par for the course for her. I don't know what her background is but her customer relations skills need upgrading-quickly. I've had a couple of matters that have involved her being in contact with me and frankly, as the club's customer services manager, her attitude towards the club's customers is terrible.

I considered getting a couple of these stones and am so glad I decided not to.