Monday 10 May 2010

Pissed Off - Part 2

Having had a chance to catch-up with friends and Charlton Life, I am feeling far less excluded in being royally messed around and seeing my loyalty ultimately betrayed. It looks like my experience puts me in the majority not the minority. However, that makes me even angrier than I was yesterday afternoon.

I am seething at comments that the club doesn't have the infrastructure (people, phone lines, internet etc) to sell 2,000 tickets in four days with any form of prioritisation. Let me see - that would mean 500 tickets a day or 50 an hour on an extended working day. Five windows open at the Valley would mean ten tickets each an hour or six minutes per customer  season ticket holder hostage. That is excluding the rip-off telephone lines. No, I'm much happier with the explanation that they were satisfied it was easier and cheaper for the club just to flog them as quickly as possible. Sod the moaners - should have just got up earlier and cleared a few hours out their day if they really wanted to go.

So, I've just done something that really goes against the grain, and I've cancelled my Valley Gold standing orders that I've had since the beginning. I'll let you know how long it takes someone to call me and query this. My guess is within a week of them missing the next payment. Then again, maybe the club just doesn't have the infrastructure anymore. After all, they couldn't manage to send me the official photograph with Chris Dickson last time I sponsored a player. As I said earlier, very sad.


P.S. It really doesn't help when the Official Site is boasting about having sold the entire allocation in less than five hours, but that just shows you what their priority was.

10 comments:

  1. Dave,

    As you know I'm the last one to defend the club, but your calculation of the number of tickets being sold forgets the potential 18,000 second leg tickets that have to be sold by Monday. If they only sold 500 a day for four days then they would have to sell 18,000 in five days (assuming they opened on Sunday) that's 3,600 a day.

    It has been a common and popular practice to boast about how many tickets can be sold in such a short period of time. I genuinely think the club thought that we would have had enough tickets to satisfy demand with 2,000 available -give or take and were mightily pleased with themselves that hay managed to sell them so quickly.

    It is ultimately just another example of the gross incompetence of those running our club. I can't begin to imagine how those that purchased 5 year season tickets with 'priority for away games' must feel right now. I'd love to see what would happen if one of them asked for their money back as they were not allocated a ticket for this game.

    This is another example of why the current board have, and continue, to lose millions of pounds running our football club.

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  2. KHA - I was just trying to make the point that time was an excuse. My simple maths largely ignored the fact that most people buy multiple tickets, that we have a bigger telephone capability than walk-up sales and potentially all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday to sell home tickets. They could also have segregated match sales to speed away sales. I thnk we are both agreed it was a major cock-up and one I suspect they saw comng but the expedient of quick sales won the argument at the expense of loyalty.

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  3. I have every sympathy Dave, and prioritisation is one reason why I'm not going on Friday, much as I would love to. I feel that there are many Addicks who have been to more away games than I have this season (I've done 8 games) so they should get a chance for the play off away leg ahead of me. Sadly, not many other fans think like that, and it is just me, me, me (and my mate/s) on these matters. Is this the clubs fault? I don't know - there would have been whinges whatever they had done as supply simply did not meet demand; for that, they cannot be blamed.

    Pedro45

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  4. Dave, I certainly don't think the club have helped themselves one bit, and far be it for me to be an apologist, but in fairness, with an allocation of just over 2000, there was absolutely no chance whatsoever of them pleasing everyone in such a short sale period. Let's face it, even if they restricted the first batch of say 500 tickets to those with a dozen or more away games this season, they could have only held that open for a day at best given the time period involved and the home leg sales to deal with. It's difficult to imagine a club-run loyalty scheme that would have held up in this instance. Although I'm well aware you haven't suggested this, it wouldn't be correct for anyone to assume that the majority of the 2000 who have tickets don't deserve them. I really hope you get a ticket as without knowing you personally I sense from regularly reading your Blog that the loss of your dedicated support on the night will be missed.

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  5. Take a deep breath Dave, and enjoy watching it on the box (maybe I'm getting old but this is now my favoured option when our games are broadcast).

    After all, one big advantage is that you can 'drink during the game'.

    Nothing will be settled on Friday after all. As I always remind myself when upset about missing a game.....if we win I'll be pleased anyway, and if we lose I'll be pleased I didn't go.

    Or alternatively do what I often do (eg. at MK Dons) and just sit in the home end.

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  6. Yes Dave I do agree that the club got it wrong. What makes that even worse is that it was so predictable that they would get it wrong.

    I think it was short sighted of them to fail to have a plan prepared weeks in advance for this. They could have allowed a priority system to be in place two weeks ago which would have negated the need for the infrastructure that that claim we now need. In truth though I do believe that having not prepared for this at all made it very difficult for the club to do much else now.

    We also need to take into account the fact, as mentioned by Pedro45 there were always going to be fans with a belief that they should qualify not getting a ticket. Just those that committed to next season in march outnumber the tickets by 3-1. We probably have more than 2,000 fans that have had. Season ticket for over 20 years. I know it's wrong buy as the club were going to get critisised anyway pitting them on general sale to season ticket holders made their life easier.

    However, as you say they messed up, but why shouldn't they, they seem to have messed up everythinng else in the last four years.

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  7. NYA - wise words but that's all consolation for me. If we go down 3-0, I will find it far harder to come to terms with than if I had been there in person to witness it.

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  8. Don't know if you're aware? There's an 'explanation' on the OS now.

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  9. I for one do not agree that this was an "example of the gross incompetence of those running our club". In fact I think that several posters are being hugely unfair. Personally, I called the club on Monday morning and after holding for a quite a while (annoyingly but understandably) was able to purchase my home-leg ticket with a minimum of fuss (I passed on the away leg ticket as I'm saving the coppers for our big day at Wembley). I just feel that the club are probably not as fantastically staffed as you would think, and probably the fairest way to organise the sale of tickets was to essentially set the prerequisite of a morning visit to the ticket office. If you could make it, good for you - if you couldn't then as they say : "tough titties". I think it is impossible to determine who is most worthy: season ticket holders, fans without season tickets but travel to every away game, valley gold members, fans who were willing to take a day off work to queue up, supporters club members etc etc. Everyone has a claim as to why they are the most deserving. This is why first come, first served was the fairest method of sale. I feel for you as I have been in similar infuriating situations before, but if you want to blame anyone please blame Swindon for giving us such a small allocation of tickets.

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  10. We can only hope that the fans who got tickets for swindon away at least look passionate behind the goal roaring the addicks on,sick of our fans sitting down making little or no noise there because they have priority. Its a play off semi final show some passion whatever your age or sex.

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Go on, you know you want to....