Update on Heritage Stones.....

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

There was a very long, very good, very honest explanation on the state of play regarding Heritage Stones by Derek Chapman on the Albion ROAR broadcast on Xmas Eve. Well worth a listen for those who doubt the club's intentions in this respect. Absolute worst case scenario, the club will dig up your stone and give you it back, to do with it what you will.

 

[Deanbha]

My Grandads stone is almost unreadable.

 

[ROSM]

There was a very long, very good, very honest explanation on the state of play regarding Heritage Stones by Derek Chapman on the Albion ROAR broadcast on Xmas Eve. Well worth a listen for those who doubt the club's intentions in this respect. Absolute worst case scenario, the club will dig up your stone and give you it back, to do with it what you will.

I've downloaded that today so will have a listen. On face value, digging up the stone and giving it back will hardly be worth the 100 quid that people paid over. A tin of marine blue airfix model paint and a small slab from wickes would achieve the same result and be significantly less.

 

[Brovion]

There was a very long, very good, very honest explanation on the state of play regarding Heritage Stones by Derek Chapman on the Albion ROAR broadcast on Xmas Eve. Well worth a listen for those who doubt the club's intentions in this respect. Absolute worst case scenario, the club will dig up your stone and give you it back, to do with it what you will.

I must admit I wasn't impressed with his explanation. He said people bought the stones as a way of contributing to the club, the inference being that it doesn't matter a toss what they look like the important thing is the club got your money. And yes, if you're unhappy he'll dig up your stone and give it back to you. No refund, but then you wouldn't want the money back would you? After all it was a donation.

He did say they were looking at cleaning them (something about the laminate), but apart from that he was pretty unapologetic.

 

[ROSM]

I must admit I wasn't impressed with his explanation. He said people bought the stones as a way of contributing to the club, the inference being that it doesn't matter a toss what they look like the important thing is the club got your money. And yes, if you're unhappy he'll dig up your stone and give it back to you. No refund, but then you wouldn't want the money back would you? After all it was a donation.

He did say they were looking at cleaning them (something about the laminate), but apart from that he was pretty unapologetic.

And then of course there were those who were given a stone as a way of remembering their donation to the alive and kicking fund. What started as seat, became a stone in a 'special area on a wall' then became a stone of dubious quality on the floor alongside people who paid significantly less. But as you say, it was a donation to the club at a time when they really needed it and clearly they dont need money so much now so its not important.

 

[Bozza]

I must admit I wasn't impressed with his explanation. He said people bought the stones as a way of contributing to the club, the inference being that it doesn't matter a toss what they look like the important thing is the club got your money. And yes, if you're unhappy he'll dig up your stone and give it back to you. No refund, but then you wouldn't want the money back would you? After all it was a donation.

There are two 'use cases' involved here, and both are mentioned in the club's piece when this was launched.

Chapman's explanation is adequate, if not completely satisfactory, for one of them - those who did make a donation as part of the 'Alive & Kicking' appeal. Those people did make a voluntary donation to the club and the stone is an indication of thanks.

However, there is a significant other group - those who explicitly bought a stone either for themselves, as a present for a family member or as a memorial to an Albion fan who did not complete the journey to the Amex. And for these people in particular, I'm really struggling to understand the club's stance. The stones are piss poor, so much so that I told my partner to not bother with one for me - it was supposed to be a Father's Day present and she missed the initial cut-off so was going to be in a second phase. Having seen what is there already, why would anyone pay a single penny for a stone now?

I do have a lot of faith in the officials at our club, but I truly think they've got this badly wrong.

 

[Brovion]

There are two 'use cases' involved here, and both are mentioned in the club's piece when this was launched.

Chapman's explanation is adequate, if not completely satisfactory, for one of them - those who did make a donation as part of the 'Alive & Kicking' appeal. Those people did make a voluntary donation to the club and the stone is an indication of thanks.

However, there is a significant other group - those who explicitly bought a stone either for themselves, as a present for a family member or as a memorial to an Albion fan who did not complete the journey to the Amex. And for these people in particular, I'm really struggling to understand the club's stance. The stones are piss poor, so much so that I told my partner to not bother with one for me - it was supposed to be a Father's Day present and she missed the initial cut-off so was going to be in a second phase. Having seen what is there already, why would anyone pay a single penny for a stone now?

I do have a lot of faith in the officials at our club, but I truly think they've got this badly wrong.

That was my understanding as well. Basically there were two types of 'customer' for the stones: the Alive 'n' Kicking people and those who bought them as memorials or whatever. The club tried to kill two birds with one stone (an apposite analogy!) and have ended up pissing off everybody. I think this might rumble on for a while yet.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

There are two 'use cases' involved here, and both are mentioned in the club's piece when this was launched.

Chapman's explanation is adequate, if not completely satisfactory, for one of them - those who did make a donation as part of the 'Alive & Kicking' appeal. Those people did make a voluntary donation to the club and the stone is an indication of thanks.

However, there is a significant other group - those who explicitly bought a stone either for themselves, as a present for a family member or as a memorial to an Albion fan who did not complete the journey to the Amex. And for these people in particular, I'm really struggling to understand the club's stance. The stones are piss poor, so much so that I told my partner to not bother with one for me - it was supposed to be a Father's Day present and she missed the initial cut-off so was going to be in a second phase. Having seen what is there already, why would anyone pay a single penny for a stone now?

I do have a lot of faith in the officials at our club, but I truly think they've got this badly wrong.

The comments on this thread today surprise me. Have none of you noticed that the stones have been 'fixed'?

The lettering has most definitely all been re-painted with a new coat of a brighter blue. I was there looking at them before the Burnley game, next to the son and wife of a very recently departed friend of my family, and can assure you that they are all now readable.

 

[ROSM]

That was my understanding as well. Basically there were two types of 'customer' for the stones: the Alive 'n' Kicking people and those who bought them as memorials or whatever. The club tried to kill two birds with one stone (an apposite analogy!) and have ended up pissing off everybody. I think this might rumble on for a while yet.

That's right. the letter to those with live and kicking needs stated that the stones would be in a separate area on a wall. Then it changed to a separate area outside the main entrance and eventually they ended up all being lumped together.

That in itself would be okay if the quality was good. Quite simply its not.

I regret to say that I havnt seen one smidgeon of interest from the club (the albion roar item excepted as I havnt heard it yet) that they are keen to resolve this satisfactorily.

I know it may seem churlish given the fantastic £104m stadium we have for their to be debates over this - but frankly this was an easy thing to get right given how well it has been done elsewhere.

As i said, as the club is unlikely to need goodwill and money from fans in the near future its probably not high on their list.

 

[Brovion]

The comments on this thread today surprise me. Have none of you noticed that the stones have been 'fixed'?

The lettering has most definitely all been re-painted with a new coat of a brighter blue. I was there looking at them before the Burnley game, next to the son and wife of a very recently departed friend of my family, and can assure you that they are all now readable.

Must admit I haven't looked at them recently. By the sound of it then the remedial action that Chapman mentioned has taken place, will it be enough to placate the angry mob?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Must admit I haven't looked at them recently. By the sound of it then the remedial action that Chapman mentioned has taken place, will it be enough to placate the angry mob?

Some will remain unhappy, simply because their expectations were of something grander or bigger. For most, I think that 'readable' will suffice.

 

[Bozza]

Listening to the Roar in question right now and I think it is been underplayed what Derek Chapman said.

He covered it at length, and is genuinely upset that others are upset, and detailed a series of steps they are going through to improve the legibility of the writing.

His offer of "giving the stones back" was spoken with decent intent and certainly was not a flippant "if you don't like it, you can sod off."

Having listened to the man, I'd be confident that he'll get this sorted properly and from what [MENTION=3566]hans kraay fan club[/MENTION] says - that process could be well under way already.

 

[Bozza]

Ahem...

 

[Titanic]

I like the look of that - they look like completely new stones?

 

[Notters]

Ahem...

View attachment 33323

I hope this is costing the manufacturer rather than the club.

 

[Deadly Danson]

If that's new stones for all of us then I like the look of that a lot.

 

[nomoremithras4me]

I like the look of that - they look like completely new stones?

Defo new stones, the older ones were light grey. Different class, why didn't they do that in the first place? Do we know if the older ones are being replaced with these, or are they just for JCL' s?

 

[theonesmith]

Can you still buy them? I would go for one that looks like that...

 

[Gullys Cats]

I w uld l ke to g t a h ri ge st ne for m kids.

It's o t of o der!

 

[Superphil]

Defo new stones, the older ones were light grey. Different class, why didn't they do that in the first place? Do we know if the older ones are being replaced with these, or are they just for JCL' s?

One of the many many monumental f*** ups by the club from last season surrounding the opening of the half built Amex out of town white elephant.