Sorry, Mr Burgess - still "tinpot"

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Mr Matthew

No offence but why should you or I be consulted?? Why should a professional football club consult on pricing.

Confused!!!

When yeh have had summat for a few years, and it is removed without consultation you think thats ok? well sorry it sodding well aint.

[BeesKnees]

Hi, I hope you don't mind giving our experience of changing to cashless.
All the turnstiles have scanners that read barcodes, season tickets have been replaced with monthly membership cards that have a barcode on them that lets you straight into the ground. There is a £2pm loyalty card that gives 15% of everything, tickets, merchandise, food and drink.
eTickets are bought online and work by showing the code you are emailed to the scanner from your smartphone or a print at home ticket. The club are building a new ticket office as we speak that will be fitted with terminals so fans can buy tickets in a similar manner to when you go to the cinema.
There was a lot of negativity and cynicism, particularly around the membership cards but paying monthly has nearly doubled the number of members compared to season ticket holders (Although not changed attendance numbers).

Anyway, sorry if you feel I have intruded and hope for a good game tomorrow.

[deeayess]

Originally Posted by BeesKnees

Hi, I hope you don't mind giving our experience of changing to cashless.
All the turnstiles have scanners that read barcodes, season tickets have been replaced with monthly membership cards that have a barcode on them that lets you straight into the ground. There is a £2pm loyalty card that gives 15% of everything, tickets, merchandise, food and drink.
eTickets are bought online and work by showing the code you are emailed to the scanner from your smartphone or a print at home ticket. The club are building a new ticket office as we speak that will be fitted with terminals so fans can buy tickets in a similar manner to when you go to the cinema.
There was a lot of negativity and cynicism, particularly around the membership cards but paying monthly has nearly doubled the number of members compared to season ticket holders (Although not changed attendance numbers).

Anyway, sorry if you feel I have intruded and hope for a good game tomorrow.

I have used a similar system for years as a season ticket holder at Ibrox and it is a great system especially when when you can activate the smart card for non season ticket games. The same worked for non season ticket holders who had a "Ready Card" which worked the same but there was no charge for the card. That worked because people wanted to go to games especially season ticket holders for big games, Cup finals and european games. That won't be a problem at Accy.

Going by what you say that sounds an expensive system for no gain as the attendances didn't rise. That isn't even what is being talked about here, it's a case of paying cash to someone then giving the ticket to someone else. What is the point of having two people doing what one did in the past? The idea is to cut the losses not add to them.

I can see the point if the turnstiles were computerised and there was an online ticket system but it isn't. I could also see the point if it was necessary for crowd control but not with the size of the crowds we get so can someone plese explain what the benefit of this is in terms of attracting new fans and in reducing the deficit because otherwise what is the point?

Any chance of just giving us the answers?

[BeesKnees]

Originally Posted by deeayess

Going by what you say that sounds an expensive system for no gain as the attendances didn't rise.

The system for us is free, it is a company set up by our owner, installed as part of moving to a new ground and then sold to other clubs and the income from it feeds into the club. Now used by Cambridge, Stevenage, Morecambe and a few others. https://www.venuetoolbox.com . Biggest saving is no staff on turnstiles, no admin and postage costs.

[deeayess]

Originally Posted by BeesKnees

The system for us is free, it is a company set up by our owner, installed as part of moving to a new ground and then sold to other clubs and the income from it feeds into the club. Now used by Cambridge, Stevenage, Morecambe and a few others. https://www.venuetoolbox.com . Biggest saving is no staff on turnstiles, no admin and postage costs.

And you thought you would sell it to us too?

Given the money it is a good system especially for those that can afford it but I'm sure people were still quing for tickets more than 20 minutes into the game when we were down or was that for something else?

[BeesKnees]

As I said earlier the new ticket office is still being built so those who are afraid of technology continue to queue. If I remember rightly your game was the first time the turnstiles had gone cashless so you probably got a flavour of what to expect. It settled down within a couple of games

[deeayess]

Originally Posted by BeesKnees

As I said earlier the new ticket office is still being built so those who are afraid of technology continue to queue.

Pretty much your average football fan then .

For the record I think a smartcard system is a great idea and have used it at Ibrox for many years but there is a huge season ticket fan base there. That isn't the case at Accy where survival it's self depends on attracting new fans and casual walkons.

It won't affect me today anyway as I've decided I don't fancy a mars bar after all!!!

[Chrisr]

Originally Posted by Mr Matthew

No offence but why should you or I be consulted?? Why should a professional football club consult on pricing.

Confused!!!

It is simple, a small club like Stanley needs to take the fans with them, so why not have talk to the OASSC for instance, let people listen to the ideas and proposed changes and the reasoning behind them, That way people are involved, they too can have their say on the changes, This should never have been a stand off, The new MD has rode rough shod over every body and forced his ill conceived ideas n a club that is ill prepared for such changes, The fans at this club are fully behind Andy Holt and his aims, the problem is the MD is not capable of forwarding the vision without upsetting fans. We are very proud of our history in this club. we don't need a man like our MD dragging it down, we have always talked to the club and managed to scrape through with kind support and plenty of unpaid volunteers. If we are to move to a modern way of purchasing tickets great if it is done right, you can't even do it online. This man has definitely put the cart before the horse.
As for the disabled concession withdrawal I hope he gets great pleasure from it, It will come back to haunt him. Stanley is no longer a community club it is an exclusive club. This MD has done as little as he can possibly get away with to comply, This is not nor ever has been the club ethos, So we will enjoy the moment and push all we can to reach league 1 and our place in football history. I just wonder if you can buy your ticket with cash at the ticket booth if so then nothing has been achieved.

[Chrisr]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

A lot of clubs issue you a ticket at the cash turnstile, I thought this was more the norm?

Sticking up for the MD he could argue that all adult £199 tickets are concession prices. The season ticket prices did come down quite a bit in 2103 didn't they? There are people with disabilities with very high paid jobs and they still can get DLA/PIPs as they are not means tested. A blanket reduction for someone with a disability makes no sense, but if visually impaired there would be logic for obvious reasons.

Equating the 'sick, disabled and unemployed' could offend some people.

You really need to do your research before making your wild and inaccurate statements. DLA is finished/ PIPs is the replacement. The type or severity of the disablement is irrelevant, What is relevant is the concession was taken away without any warning or discussion with the people affected or the supporters club. A little consultation goes a long way. As for sticking up for the MD and arguing the prices of a season ticket is cheap as it was reduced dramatically in 2013. may indicate we were over charging for what was on offer and people voted with their feet. We don't have enough people coming to be so picky. The MD is in cloud cuckoo land at the moment, if we do well in league one then things may change and our fanbase may increase, I hope it does. You have to judge people on the results of their actions.

[Chrisr]

Well so much for the cashless turnstiles. I went down the steps to be greeted by a red pergola, Inside this piece of Canvas was our wonderful MD selling tickets for cash. I thought the reason for removing cash from the turnstiles was for safety and to allow fans access to the ground quickly. Massive failure on both counts. So who does he not trust with the cash?? or is it as simple as putting the cart before the horse. we are not ready for this type of change yet, we do not have a dedicated ticket office who have access to the software needed to sell online to both home and away supporters. The ques for the tickets were quite long. To say we only had a crowd of just over 1400 we made the experience of attending the club one to forget quickly. Why does our MD persist in ignoring the fans and other people who have the knowledge and expertise to handle these matters, why does he seem to think he knows it all when in fact he obviously does not, We need to run this club to suit the fans we have and we can introduce electronic ticketing when we have the facilities and staff to do this, first of all invest in staff training and equipment. then take it from there. Today we were seen to be very amateurish in our management.

[deeayess]

Sorry Chris, that opinion doesn't fit in with the new Md as he thinks it's a great idea. Didn't affect me as I have said on another thread as I stayed at home in the pub. I was a long distance non attendee today.

[Mr Matthew]

Chrisr and deeayess give it a rest with your incessant witch hunt. 1 of you weren't there and 1 of you was looking for fault. It is so much easier in life to criticise than praise. I as a manager myself know this all to well.

My take on matters, great to see the MD getting stuck in and getting his hands dirty, plus from personal experience probably had less of a wait going through both stations than I normally do at one waiting at the turnstiles getting muddy little feet. There was a queue of about 10 people at the Gazebo's and I was at the front in less than 90 secs.

Not perfect by all means but not bad either.

[choirboy]

I brought along my first Grandson, to the Barnet match, for the first time today, anticipating getting him on for free, (as advertised), as he is only seven years of age and expected no problems in getting the free amazing talking 'doll' of Jesse Mcloor!
I am a long time season ticket holder along with my grown up daughter and on approaching the ground we were told that the Under Twelves only get in free with a 'Paying Adult' and that we would have to pay £5 for him to be admitted!!!!!
Well........ I had only a few coppers left in my pocket after buying THREE Half Time Draw tickets, (supporting the club again!) ............So I asked at the 'other end' of the 'Gazebo' and got a free ticket for the lad without problem!
It would seem that the new MD considers that I am not a 'Paying Adult' if I am a Season Ticket holder!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which is absolute NONESENSE in every respect.....Of course my daughter and I are both 'Paying Adults'.......We paid up front last spring as encouraged by the club, therefore putting extra cash into the club's accounts instead of our own!!
My Grandson really enjoyed the match, and the atmosphere, sat in front of The Ultras with his Auntie, blowing his new plastic horn, wearing his new Stanley scarf and singing along with the chants and he has expressed a desire to come again!
To be honest when I was told that I would have to pay for him after all that advertising a I initially felt like SODDING OFF HOME!
I reckon that I actually got him on for free because the 'left hand' in the Gazebo did not seem to know what the 'right hand' in the Gazebo was doing! .....More evidence of "TIN POT" MANAGEMENT perhaps!? We also then had to go and queue up in the shop to get the free Jesse 'Doll' and so by the time we finally got into the ground our usual standing spot on the Clayton End had been occupied! GRRRRRR!!!!!!
NOT PLEASED WITH THE RESULT against Barnet TODAY BUT ALSO NOT PLEASED WITH THE AMATEURISH, TIN POT, TIME CONSUMING, CONFUSING and MESSY METHOD OF HAVING TO GET INTO THE GROUND!

Footnote; At the moment my daughter and I will probably not be renewing our Season Tickets for next season!
We both have to miss a few matches due to other commitments but have bought them for years simply in support of the club even if we have finished up on the 'wrong side' financially.

.........A MORE PROFESSIONAL APPROACH MY THE NEW MANAGEMENT???
.........HARDLY!!!!!!:

[deeayess]

Originally Posted by Mr Matthew

Chrisr and deeayess give it a rest with your incessant witch hunt. 1 of you weren't there and 1 of you was looking for fault. It is so much easier in life to criticise than praise. I as a manager myself know this all to well.

My take on matters, great to see the MD getting stuck in and getting his hands dirty, plus from personal experience probably had less of a wait going through both stations than I normally do at one waiting at the turnstiles getting muddy little feet. There was a queue of about 10 people at the Gazebo's and I was at the front in less than 90 secs.

Not perfect by all means but not bad either.

So a team going for 2nd place in the league gets a crowd of 1300 home fans and causes another season ticket holder to decide to chuck it and you think that is a success. You're not the only manager on here but at least I listen to my staff and don't just impose my will.

There will always be fans who believe that everything is rosy even when they are locking the gates. The club can't survive with the numbers coming through the gates just now and if you think they can then more fool you.

[Chrisr]

Originally Posted by Mr Matthew

Chrisr and deeayess give it a rest with your incessant witch hunt. 1 of you weren't there and 1 of you was looking for fault. It is so much easier in life to criticise than praise. I as a manager myself know this all to well.

My take on matters, great to see the MD getting stuck in and getting his hands dirty, plus from personal experience probably had less of a wait going through both stations than I normally do at one waiting at the turnstiles getting muddy little feet. There was a queue of about 10 people at the Gazebo's and I was at the front in less than 90 secs.

Not perfect by all means but not bad either.

I wish people like you would wake up and smell the coffee, This is not a witch hunt, But I will not be told what I know is wrong when I can see it in front of my eyes. Just for your info I have not gone looking for any faults, I am annoyed that the MD seems to think he is the only one who knows anything about running the club. If you got through the tent and turnstiles so quick then you were one of the lucky few.
I don't know what sort of manager you are but if someone told you they did something for a reason then it turned out to be not the reason given I think you would be somewhat surprised to say the least. I came to this club for years when they were glad to see you. A lot of decent hard working people gave up time and effort for no reward to keep the club doors open. So excuse me if I feel a little perturbed when someone who is not as customer focused or friendly as the club is used to then something has to be done. He is proving to be a square peg in a round hole. That is not just my thought and observation.