PIF, PCP, and RB Sports & Media

[HaydnNUFC]

Just now, et tu brute said:

The thing that stinks for me with randomly allocating tickets, is that people with medical issues are basically not going to enter a ballot, when they maybe allocated a seat which will be a non starter due to their issues. 

 

.com have nailed it.

 

Quote

Tuesday saw NUFC release ticket sale information in respect of their opening home and away games in the Premier League - the details of which have been greeted with dismay by many of those affected.

Home:

FYI: The ballot window for Villa is publicised as being 48 hours - the club's FAQs state they will be 24 hours.

FYI: A reminder that home match tickets obtained in a ballot cannot be used by anyone other than the member who obtained them. The checking process and the penalty for non-compliance is unspecified.

Aside from the late notice of the ballot scheme and the consequent travel issues caused, the inability to select seats and price categories is fundamentally wrong and completely at odds with current economic reality.

The vast difference between paying £44 or £74 for a match ticket with no choice is as unacceptable as the lack of choice in where those tickets are. 

The front row of the Leazes lower is as undesirable to many as the back row of Level 7 - not only in terms of the view but also accessibility of that seat.     

The lack of clarity regarding the ballot process when memberships went on sale last week has also caused some to openly regret paying the £37 as they now don't think the scheme is workable for them.

An element of "be grateful for what you're given" over the whole thing echoes other current ticketing issues where a lack of clarity and sympathy is evident.

The Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) have published the following response online here

Away:

FYI: there's a move away from 10am as a time for commencing away sales - that now becomes 2pm.

FYI A timetable for points reduction is laid out but the level of that reduction will vary according to the rate of sale and number available so cannot be predicted.

The largest number of queries have been prompted by the threat to enforce the rules prevent transfer of tickets and the promise of unspecified ID checks.

As has been previously communicated to the club, anyone purchasing tickets in a group has no means of finding out which ticket in that group is theirs - so in order to satisfy an ID check, every member of that group would need to enter the ground together - something that's wholly unworkable. 

 

[Andy]

Mourinho is a really lazy link IMO, can't see it ever happening. 

[Yorkie]

2 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Am I being stupid here, or isn’t this ticketing issue a pretty minor thing? It seems like the level of vitriol towards it is massively disproportionate to the actual issue.

 

I think it will be a stupid oversight rather than anything malicious, and it will all be sorted out within a week.

 

 

There's a few issues at play here, which do you think are minor?

[et tu brute]

1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

.com have nailed it.

 

 

It's not only Level 7 though, people with mobility issues will have problems getting to seats in any area, where it is not at a level and no handrail to assist going up and down stairs. 

[Whitley mag]

Clearly not a clever decision and wouldn’t be surprised if Staveley isn’t to impressed with this. They’ve employed expensive new execs to run the show and as with many new execs they’ll want to make changes.

 

Wouldn’t be surprised that whoever’s idea this was is hauled in front of the owners, as it’s clearly a PR disaster. 
 

I’m certainly not convinced this is a decision made by the owners, but clearly they’ve employed people who think this is acceptable, hopefully they’re savvy enough to step in put a few remedies quickly in place.

 

[HaydnNUFC]

3 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Am I being stupid here, or isn’t this ticketing issue a pretty minor thing? It seems like the level of vitriol towards it is massively disproportionate to the actual issue.

 

I think it will be a stupid oversight rather than anything malicious, and it will all be sorted out within a week.

 

It's not minor at all. It would be if they changed it now and allowed winners in the ballot to pick their seat or just scrapped the whole thing altogether and revert to last season's system. Ticketing for fans is the bare minimum an elite level football club should be getting right and this summer has been a total shambles from communication to the changes themselves.

 

Some issues include and are not limited to; for members you enter a ballot per match and get randomly assigned any seat in the ground for that match even though the seats have a price range of £30, regardless of how accessible or desirable that seat is to you. Some people can't afford to fork our £74 for a football match (charging that in the first place anyway is a bit of a disgrace in itself), a pensioner who can't walk too far may get assigned a seat in Level 7 or high up in Level 4 with no handrails up to it. A STH will never be able to get the seat next to or near him to take his child to a match again, the child in fact will likely be randomly assigned a seat at the opposite end of the ground. Typically vocal fans who sing a lot may get assigned to a seat in quieter areas such as the Platinum Club and less vocal fans may get assigned into the Gallowgate or safe standing area which will negatively impact the atmosphere. 

 

It's absolutely shit. I'm lucky enough to probably being able to fork out in excess of £70 for a match but I don't want to. I don't want to pay that much and I don't want to sit in the Platinum Club because no one I know sits near there and the atmosphere is shit. But I'd get no choice and get charged for it regardless so I either have to take it or leave it. It's totally wrong.

[Whitley mag]

10 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Am I being stupid here, or isn’t this ticketing issue a pretty minor thing? It seems like the level of vitriol towards it is massively disproportionate to the actual issue.

 

I think it will be a stupid oversight rather than anything malicious, and it will all be sorted out within a week.

Got to say there’s been a bit of overreaction on Twitter from the likes of that Burnsie wanker, think he called them scum earlier.

 

Folk need to be able to choose their own seats and not be forced to pay for a ticket they don’t want.

 

It’s a simple fix and apart from that I can live with the pricing and ballot, as they both seem in keeping with other top 6 clubs, and at the end of the day that’s what the majority of folk want, to compete with the big 6.

[loki679]

I don't think anyone wanted to compete with them on what shits they could be.

[HaydnNUFC]

1 minute ago, Whitley mag said:

Got to say there’s been a bit of overreaction on Twitter from the likes of that Burnsie wanker, think he called them scum earlier.

 

Folk need to be able to choose their own seats and not be forced to pay for a ticket they don’t want.

 

It’s a simple fix and apart from that I can live with the pricing and ballot, as they both seem in keeping with other top 6 clubs, and at the end of the day that’s what the majority of folk want, to compete with the big 6.

 

The tiny silver lining from this all is Burnsie being livid again, like.  Heinous weirdo. To think that he was allegedly at one of these ticketing workshops as well.

[Kid Icarus]

It wouldn't surprise me if they're either breaking existing legislation on accessibility or they'd be liable if anyone took it further. They're essentially discriminating.

[Whitley mag]

Just now, HaydnNUFC said:

 

The tiny silver lining from this all is Burnsie being livid again, like.  Heinous weirdo. To think that he was allegedly at one of these ticketing workshops as well.

He’s fucking bipolar and the fact the likes of him might have had any input is frightening.

[et tu brute]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they're either breaking existing legislation on accessibility or they'd be liable if anyone took it further. They're essentially discriminating.

Disability Discrimination Act 

[TheGuv]

6 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they're either breaking existing legislation on accessibility or they'd be liable if anyone took it further. They're essentially discriminating.

Any lawyers in the house? 

[TheDimpleboy]

1 hour ago, stozo said:

I feel like all the kicking off about ticket process is a bit people wanting to have their cake and eat it. People want us to compete for trophies. FFP is the major barrier to that. Which means we need to increase revenue. Which in turn means everything (especiallly tickets) will go up in price. Everything has a cost, and this is the price of success. 

 

This is absolute nonsense though. Compare the income that the club gets through TV revenue/sponsorships to that of regular (non corporate ticket sales). They utterly pale in significance. The club is choosing not to insulate supporters from rising costs when it could, in favour of squeezing out every last penny from fans in a deprived area.

 

And for what it's worth, as a season ticket holder unaffected by the membership fiasco, I don't prioritise success on the field over looking after fans off the field. 

 

Why is assumed that every fan wants absolute, instant success on the field - regardless of the cost off it? It's certainly not true for any match going fan that I know. 

[Whitley mag]

4 minutes ago, loki679 said:

I don't think anyone wanted to compete with them on what shits they could be.

Nobody ever wants the bad things just the good. The authorities would have us believe FFP is there to protect clubs and fans, in a strange way in our quest to compete its fucking the fans over, as this is clearly driven by New Execs like Eales being tasked with increasing revenue streams.

[gdm]

18 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Am I being stupid here, or isn’t this ticketing issue a pretty minor thing? It seems like the level of vitriol towards it is massively disproportionate to the actual issue.

 

I think it will be a stupid oversight rather than anything malicious, and it will all be sorted out within a week.

No it’s a fucking shambles.
 

Memberships went on sale late. 
 

people were buying memberships without any real information out there that tells you what you get for it and I don’t mean 15% off food at Shearers

 

Memberships are not only more expensive they are now unlimited and there for the actual value in the membership is a lot less. There could be any number of people in the ballots

 

and now not only can you not choose where to sit you can’t set a price limit and in these times that can be a really worry for people and then apparently it turns out if u get the highest price ticket you can’t even back out of it. So be prepared to pay the max or don’t enter the ballot

 

Also absolutely no thought of kids, the elderly or the infirm.

 

it’s a complete shit show and let’s say it like it is if this was done under Ashley the outrage would be 10 fold. The club/pif have a lot of goodwill but people are rightfully angry
 

 

[Kid Icarus]

It's all very

 

[Matt1892]

13 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they're either breaking existing legislation on accessibility or they'd be liable if anyone took it further. They're essentially discriminating.

The argument would have to be that it was indirect discrimination but I don’t think it would be, the club would say there is no obligation on the individual to buy the ticket if they were not happy with the location. 

[TheGuv]

Just now, Matt1892 said:

The argument would have to be that it was indirect discrimination but I don’t think it would be, the club would say there is no obligation on the individual to buy the ticket if they were not happy with the location. 

It charges the card on successful ballot though doesn’t it?

[Whitley mag]

ToonDawg absolutely nails it in this exchange with Burnsie. 

 

The biggest gripe with club pre takeover was that they didn’t listen, they’ve made a cock up here undoubtedly, let’s hope they put it right which I’m confident they will.

 

 

[patrone]

I remember down the quayside years ago they had these random dodgy vans with, usually, a bit of a wide boy salesman, offering mystery boxes for a set fee of like £10. What's inside COULD be worth more, and they had examples on show, or it could be just junk, you had no say in what one you got.

 

This shambles reminds me of that

 

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, Matt1892 said:

The argument would have to be that it was indirect discrimination but I don’t think it would be, the club would say there is no obligation on the individual to buy the ticket if they were not happy with the location. 

I imagine they'd say something about the lift, but in a world where fan's are customers you're probably right on that one as well.

[Matt1892]

Just now, TheGuv said:

It charges the card on successful ballot though doesn’t it?

My understanding is the purchase from the draw isn’t mandatory, as in if you do not want the seat then you didn’t have to have it even if you are in the draw.

[gdm]

2 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

My understanding is the purchase from the draw isn’t mandatory, as in if you do not want the seat then you didn’t have to have it even if you are in the draw.

Again, something that hasn’t been made clear unless I missed it 

[patrone]

4 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

My understanding is the purchase from the draw isn’t mandatory, as in if you do not want the seat then you didn’t have to have it even if you are in the draw.

seems they take the money asap, then  you'd have to argue the toss

 

https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/membership-ballot-for-aston-villa-tickets-opens-on-wednesday/

 

"Once the deadline date has passed for ballot registrations, the ballot will be drawn randomly. The member applicants who are successful in the ballot will automatically have their credit/debit card payment charged for the total cost of ticket(s) allotted. Each successful applicant (and, in the case of a successful group application, the lead applicant submitting on behalf of the group) will receive a confirmation email.

If your payment is not successful the box office will contact you. You will then have 24 hours to complete payment following initial contact. If payment is not received by this time, the tickets will be re-balloted and allocated to another eligible supporter."