Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: not3bad on February 13, 2013, 01:22:49 PM
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I tried to get a ticket for the Reading match yesterday. I tried to buy it online and was denied - I was told I didn't have the necessary booking history (season ticket holder who has been to at least one away game this season), despite the fact that I have.
I tried to buy a ticket over the phone today and was told the game was now sold out.
"When did the match sell out?" I asked.
"This morning," I was told.
"In that case I want to make a complaint," I said.
Apparently the error is that they hadn't updated my booking history on the system. I was told they'd ring me as soon as they had a return. What's that all about though? I thought your booking details would be updated automatically?
Since I live in Reading I was looking forward to this game, apart from the significance it has relegation fight wise.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? Any idea how likely it is they'll get a return?
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I'm not sure i'd be too happy if my details had'nt been updated. There should be some returns though, there normally are.
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Interesting that they've told you that they'll phone you if a return becomes available. I've been phoning the ticket office twice a day for an Arsenal return, because I was told they can't phone individuals as it's a first come, first served basis.
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That’s why the away scheme is worthwhile.
You don’t need to be in it for numeric reasons, as say you did under the height of O’Neill, but it just saves the ball ache of faffing with phones or the internet every other week.
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That’s why the away scheme is worthwhile.
You don’t need to be in it for numeric reasons, as say you did under the height of O’Neill, but it just saves the ball ache of faffing with phones or the internet every other week.
The problem with the away scheme is (and correct me if it's no longer the case) that if you send back a certain amount of tickets over the season, you get struck off.
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it has happened to me in the past. incredibly frustrating. hopefully given it has sold out a month ahead, they can secure an extra allocation from reading.
and another moan. they never update the website to give you an update on availability. nothing on the website to indicate that arsenal and reading have sold out.
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The online ticketing for away games has been a problem for some time.
See here ......................... http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=49062.0
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You only get half of the stand behind the goal for league games. There won't be a further allocation.
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When we played there a couple of years ago - when Harewood scored!!! Pat MacMahon couldn't get a ticket with us in the away end so he joined the Reading supporters' club and ordered a ticket in the home end.
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Surely the database was updated when you purchased the away ticket? Don't think you can add or transfer booking history if you don't give them the client reference at the time of purchase so would be no reason for manual updates at a later date, sounds like a system error - I know I've had similar issues this season with buying online, tends to happen when there is limited availability, luckily I work five minutes away so can get down there if necessary.
One of the good things about Randy Lerners tenure has been the improvement in the ticket office and how they deal with issues like this, I'm sure they'll sort this out for and you'll be biting your nails at Reading for the 9 pointer.
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The online system is even worse than the useless system we use at my workplace however whenever I phone I've got to say one legacy of the Lerner regime is the ticket office staff are always without fail very helpful. I used to dread dealing with the ticket office years ago.
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When we played there a couple of years ago - when Harewood scored!!! Pat MacMahon couldn't get a ticket with us in the away end so he joined the Reading supporters' club and ordered a ticket in the home end.
I was there for that as well. Great goal.
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The online ticketing for away games has been a problem for some time.
See here ......................... http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=49062.0
Ah, this is exactly what I got! I'm not the only one then. Hmm.
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I'd like to know which doughnut thought 1,400 tickets was enough for Arsenal.
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I'd like to know which doughnut thought 1,400 tickets was enough for Arsenal.
To be fair our away numbers have been pretty poor all season so I understand the reason behind it. It's annoying though as I only found out I could go today, so I phoned up to be told its sold out. Bah.
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When we played there a couple of years ago - when Harewood scored!!! Pat MacMahon couldn't get a ticket with us in the away end so he joined the Reading supporters' club and ordered a ticket in the home end.
Until I went to China I was constantly being spammed byReading who had me down as a member - as Chico rightly points out I joined just for that 2008 game and membership was free. I managed to get a ticket right next to the away end too so it was as painless as it could be.
With a Reading address this should be easy for you. Their fans were decent too so it was not the worst afternoon in the world.
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I sat in the Reading end in 2007/08 (I think we won 2-1) - I was in the block next to the away end and cheered both goals without any stick from the locals.
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Reading could still end up being midweek and there will probably be returns then. It's cup quarter-final weekend, not that they're expected to get through against ManU.
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The same happened to me whilst trying to get bradford away tickets. By the time i phoned up to get tickets, it had sold out.
Nothing but a 'im sorry sir' from them, its really not good enough.
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Reading could still end up being midweek and there will probably be returns then.
That would suit me as it's only up the road from me. But it's unlikely as you say.
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I've got an account with Reading still and have been once or twice in recent years (I live in Farnborough) and if it hasn't sold out I couldn't probably get a home end ticket if you want mate?
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I've got an account with Reading still and have been once or twice in recent years (I live in Farnborough) and if it hasn't sold out I couldn't probably get a home end ticket if you want mate?
I'll message you!
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I'm not in the away scheme and do them all bar 3 or 4 every season. You just have to keep an eye out for on sale dates and ring as soon as they go on sale. I'm lucky now that im always in the first allocated on sale date such is my history.
For the few games I miss, I'll give my reff to a close mate.
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Reading could still end up being midweek and there will probably be returns then. It's cup quarter-final weekend, not that they're expected to get through against ManU.
Are they allowed to change the date of the fixture once tickets have been sold?
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I had the same problem with the online booking system saying I didn't have the necessary one away match to qualify for the Reading game. I have five! When I phoned I was told the client accounts hadn't been updated and he did it on the spot and also checked my sons' accounts. That is fine but it suggests there had been a system malfunction and some if not all client accounts had been set to zero even though they appeared accurate when you check your account. It would be an idea to call and ask them to check yours.
The site still says tickets are on sale for the Arsenal and Reading games until you try to book online and you get nowhere!
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I'd like to know which doughnut thought 1,400 tickets was enough for Arsenal.
Sheffield Utd took 1440 to Shrewsbury on Saturday for a league One game
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I'd like to know which doughnut thought 1,400 tickets was enough for Arsenal.
Sheffield Utd took 1440 to Shrewsbury on Saturday for a league One game
At the time Villa had to commit to the tickets we were still hopefully of being in the cup final that weekend and the Arsenal game would have become a midweek fixture, so maybe that's got something to do with it.
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Reading could still end up being midweek and there will probably be returns then. It's cup quarter-final weekend, not that they're expected to get through against ManU.
Are they allowed to change the date of the fixture once tickets have been sold?
Think they must be because Ive been caught out a couple of times when dates have changed. It's no problem getting your cash back but it is when you've booked train tickets etc.
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The same happened to me whilst trying to get bradford away tickets. By the time i phoned up to get tickets, it had sold out
Lucky sod.
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Rang and got my four yesterday at 9.05 am
The guy said they only had 30 left then so not surprised they sold out
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I'm in the away scheme and have to send back some tickets [eg Newcastle on a week night]. They are supposed to turf you out if you send more than three tickets back but they show no signs of really doing it. They ought to be glad for all the fans they can get given the quality of football these days.
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The same has happened to me for the Reading game. You can get tickets yourself for the home end online , you just have to register on their website. Last night it was saying there were only 34 seats left in the ground though. Another way is through Viagogo, Reading take part in that, as we do. A bit more expensive with their add on fee but a possible way in all the same.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
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I've got an account with Reading still and have been once or twice in recent years (I live in Farnborough) and if it hasn't sold out I couldn't probably get a home end ticket if you want mate?
I'll message you!
Have replied.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
I don't know, it won't let me access it either. That happens from time to time though.
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I've been after an Arsenal ticket for over a week, the game having apparently sold out after we took a miserly 1,400. However, it appears there are still at least a coach load of tickets left, but you have to pay £100 for "executive travel", which will no doubt be a programme and chicken in a basket thrown in.
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The website is incredibly frustrating....for example
logged in this morning to see the criteria for Stoke tickets - but only get the message that I do not qualify yet, there is however nothing to tell me when I will qualify
Wanted to buy an extra ticket for Liverpool home as close as I can get to my seat in B2 ....but the interactive seating plan is not showing.....whilst it is for other games
I tried the 'closest seat to' and it tried to sell me my own season ticket seat
For a high profile company like Villa this is a piss poor effort
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Just spoken to the TO about the Stoke game.
They say that tickets are not on sale yet and probably won't be until next Friday (the person I spoke to had to find this out from a sheet of paper because there's no information at all yet on their computer system).
I said that the ticket website was very misleading with regard to the Stoke game and also out of date (ie the ticket page of the OS is still advertising the West Ham game.)
I asked for the name and number of the person in charge of the ticketing section of the website but the TO refused to provide the information.
As arnie says above .......... piss poor effort.
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I actually got a call from the Villa this morning offering me a ticket but I told them I was sorted. Still fair play to them for getting back to me. It's only been 3 days. They also assured me that my booking history is now up to date so that's good.
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Bought tickets last year to Man City away and coach travel. Got to villa park on the day and they'd lost the tickets and we had to go and queue at Man City to be given new ones. When I got home there was an email from the club giving me and two friends tickets in the hospitality bit - the restaurant in the corner where you sit out on a balcony to watch the game - for the inconvenience. Fair play to them for that, they've really gotten better over the last few years in the ticket office and with customer relations.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
it says they've taken an allocation of 1,240 for stoke away on a saturday 3pm!
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
it says they've taken an allocation of 1,240 for stoke away on a saturday 3pm!
Yeah i saw that earlier. We'll get more than that eventually surely.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
it says they've taken an allocation of 1,240 for stoke away on a saturday 3pm!
Just seen that and came on to post! Are they mad?! Arsenal and Reading have sold out with weeks to go, Stoke's cheaper and closer than both and we've got nearly seven weeks to sell them. We'd definitely shift the full allocation. Let's hope the tickets for this one go as quick as they did for the Boxing Day fixture and we take the full lot of tickets. Then again, they didn't last time..!
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Where are you seeing this allocation news ?
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Where are you seeing this allocation news ?
On the official site mate.
Stoke City v Villa
Barclays Premier League
Saturday April 6 - KO 3pm
Britannia Stadium
Ticket Allocation: 1,240
Prices: £30 [adults], £21 [over-65s], £17 [U17s], £14 [U11s], £14 to £21 [disabled supporters]
Wheelchair tickets: Four spaces. Available by calling the Consumer Sales Department on 0800 612 0970.
Friday February 22: On sale to season card holders who have attended at least three Premier League away fixtures in 2012-13* Thursday February 28: On sale to season card holders who have attended at least one Premier League away fixture in 2012-13*
Tuesday March 12: On sale to season card holders for the 2012-13 season*
Wednesday March 20: On sale to supporters who have away booking history in 2012-13*
Thursday March 28: On sale to supporters who have booking history *
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3079791,00.html (http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3079791,00.html)
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I didn't think to look for info about the Stoke game under an article-heading about Man City !
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Why on earth have we only taken 1200 tickets for such an important away game when we sold out twice that easily for Reading? I'm sure we could easily have sold the full allocation for a Saturday afternoon in April. It's only up the road for god's sake!
So much for all this bollocks about the team needing the fans behind them when they're trying to flog home tickets.
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I didn't think to look for info about the Stoke game under an article-heading about Man City !
Well no you wouldn't, would you? Yet another thing that makes it difficult to buy away tickets; they're constantly trying to shift 10,000 empty blue seats at Villa Park that the away information seems to suffer. Don't get me wrong, the staff in the Villa Park ticket office are largely very helpful, but how much easier would their job be if we could get it right online? Constant errors in allocation (different allocations listed on the etickets site and the O/S), criteria, price of tickets (listing Young Adult prices for Liverpool & Sunderland when in fact there weren't any YA prices, and listing a £15 YA price for West Brom when in fact it was £25), cut-and-paste jobs from previous away games, listing upper and lower tier prices for QPR away when we only had the upper tier and the difference in price was actually for wings & central. The online side of things is a bloody shambles.
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agree, the staff in the ticket office are very good, but if you're trying to order tickets on the sly at work, for example, you want to do it online with minimum fuss.
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Its because we had around 400 un-sold seats from two years ago when we lost up there on a Monday night when it was on the box.
Its ridiculous that they’re not taking the extra 1200 tickets, which would comfortably be sold, based on one game under completely different circumstances.
Idiotic.
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Its because we had around 400 un-sold seats from two years ago when we lost up there on a Monday night when it was on the box.
Its ridiculous that they’re not taking the extra 1200 tickets, which would comfortably be sold, based on one game under completely different circumstances.
Idiotic.
Is it idiotic though, our away followings this season have been pretty poor for League games and an allocation of about 1200 - 1500 would pretty much cover it I think for the vast majority of games.
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I wanted a ticket for one of the away games last season (I forget which) and was told that you needed to have bought three away tickets. I told the lad on the phone that I had, but because one of the games hadn't been played yet it didn't count. Madness.
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I wanted a ticket for one of the away games last season (I forget which) and was told that you needed to have bought three away tickets. I told the lad on the phone that I had, but because one of the games hadn't been played yet it didn't count. Madness.
The "not counting unplayed games" criteria has been standard for quite a while. It used to catch me out quite a bit when I wasn't attending as many away games as I do now.
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(http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s532/villajk/2406b418dcdb3f3c85685ca2f9c29de5_zps3ccd573b.jpg)
It says on here that it is sold out, even though tickets are not on sale yet.
Another copy and paste blunder.
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I have had 2 calls off the TO today.It must be time to renew.
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(http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/s532/villajk/2406b418dcdb3f3c85685ca2f9c29de5_zps3ccd573b.jpg)
It says on here that it is sold out, even though tickets are not on sale yet.
Another copy and paste blunder.
No one's responded yet to my request for the name and number for the person responsible for the ticketing part of the website.
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One thing that does annoy me about the ticket office is how far in advance they put away tickets on sale. They've put the details up for Stoke away up on the site today and it's not until April.
Out of interest Clampy, what are the details for Stoke away? The Stoke game is listed on the ticket site but when I try to access it, it tells me I don't have the correct privileges. (Which, as ever, is bollocks)
Have we taken the full allocation? Are they on sale now..? Need to get four and if we've only taken the 1400 again, with Arsenal and Reading sold out, I'll have to get in quick I'd imagine.
it says they've taken an allocation of 1,240 for stoke away on a saturday 3pm!
We've taken poor crowds to the britannia last two seasons but in fairness one was on Monday night and the other boxing day at 8pm.
I'm sure we can take 3k for a 3pm saturday game!
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Also Stoke only charging 30 quid this year, I'm sure last couple of years I've paid 35 quid? (boycotted the boxing day fixture) so guess we must have been relegated to Cat C or whatever.
100% we'd shift 3k tickets.
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Its because we had around 400 un-sold seats from two years ago when we lost up there on a Monday night when it was on the box.
Its ridiculous that they’re not taking the extra 1200 tickets, which would comfortably be sold, based on one game under completely different circumstances.
Idiotic.
Is it idiotic though, our away followings this season have been pretty poor for League games and an allocation of about 1200 - 1500 would pretty much cover it I think for the vast majority of games.
It is idiotic when you take into account the factors Ads suggests. I was at that game he talks about on the Monday evening and it wasn't far short of a sell out. Likewise the 1371 allocation last season sold out with two or three weeks to spare. This for a game on Boxing Day evening with little to no public transport.
Our away followings haven't been the best on occasion this season. But judging by Arsenal and Reading selling out so quickly with higher ticket prices and further to travel, it's a no-brainer that we need the full allocation for this one.
West Ham: 2900
Newcastle: 962
Southampton: 3100
Spurs: 1700-ish
Fulham: 2900 + more in the neutral area
Sunderland: 1500-ish
Man City: 989
QPR: 1700
Liverpool: 1600
Chelsea: Around 1000
Swansea: 1036 (Sold out the lower allocation, next allocation up is 2000)
West Brom: 2400?? (Topically, there were two different allocations listed on the websites so who knows?!)
Everton: 1600-ish
So an average of 1800 there and we could've sold more for West Ham, Southampton, Swansea and Albion, and I've not worked in the 1-2000 extra Villa fans potentially in the neutral zone at Fulham. If you include the 3300 at Swindon, 3000+ at Norwich, 4350 at Bradford and 1000?? at Man City for the League Cup games, it's an average of around 2100. No doubt the Swindon match impacted on the attendance at Sunderland where we usually take upwards of 2000. Not to mention it was our sixth away game in as many weeks. And of course the Man City league game was always going to see a lower away following after the Cup game where they charged a quite ridiculous £22.50, only to find a couple of weeks later that they then wanted another £40 off us for our annual 3/4/5-0 battering, and with no Young Adult prices the make-up of the away end was very different. Add another few hundred fans with Young Adult tickets. In fact, why on earth were the majority (lower tier) of Leeds fans charged £20 for their game at the Etihad on Sunday when we were charged £22.50 for a night match against a team we play twice a season and have played away at their place five times in three seasons? They also did 16-21 YA prices for £10!! Hardly seems fair, does it?
Personally, league-wise I think the only poor following there is Newcastle. As it is most seasons. At a relatively reasonable £26 a ticket and just the second away game of the season, we ought to be taking double that up there. Even if it was a Sunday. (Bloody beautiful day by the way, and a top performance to match!) Swansea looks poor on the face of it but you can only have 1000 or 2000 there because the concourse and access points lead to both the upper and lower sections and so there can't be any slight increases in allocation. You either take 1000 or 2000. However you could also say that Everton 3 o'clock on a Saturday we should be selling out, too. Prices are not too bad and they almost always bring the full 3000 to us with more expensive tickets. As for Chelsea, £52-£55!! Whether a club's taken 10, 100, 1000 or 10,000 fans there, anyone who pays that kind of money to support their team deserves a lot of credit. Although they also need their head looking at.
Interesting to note that our away followings are a lot stronger in the South than in the North. We've always taken good followings to the likes of Southampton and Portsmouth and maintained excellent followings at Arsenal, Fulham and West Ham. As I say, take away Chelsea and £40-£45 tickets for QPR (a game we'd sell 3000 for with reasonable ticket prices) and the only Southern away game we never seem to travel well to is Spurs. But then it's a real dive, it's difficult to get to for London, the tickets are more expensive than Fulham and Arsenal, we rarely play them on a Saturday at 3 o'clock, and the few fans that aren't tourists are arrogant jumped up little shites from the Home counties who spend ninety minutes practicing that awful drone and singing "Are you West Ham in disguise?" every single season and think they're hilarious. Original fuckers.
Sorry, back on point, we'd sell the 2900 with ease. In fact, with criteria starting on a mere three away games I can see the 1200 selling out on Friday almost instantly. I'll certainly be phoning up early. Oh and just to put the 1200 allocation into context, the "Pride of the Midlands" have taken the 2900 allocation for their game there and they took 574 fans to Anfield and 685 fans to Sunderland, the jokers. Likewise West Ham have got the 2900 and they have to watch "outstanding" football Sam Allardyce style. Baffling decision by Villa.
Also Stoke only charging 30 quid this year, I'm sure last couple of years I've paid 35 quid? (boycotted the boxing day fixture) so guess we must have been relegated to Cat C or whatever.
100% we'd shift 3k tickets.
I thought they were £35 too. I've just checked every ticket since they came back up though and they were all priced at £30 Adult. Fair play to them. Didn't we charge them around £43 a couple of seasons back at VP in an attempt to bill the game as a big Midlands derby and sell a few more tickets? Oh dear Villa...Thankfully Stoke haven't reciprocated.
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The other strange thing has been how early the away tickets have gone on sale this season. We get ours through the Away Scheme but I have to get Lions Club tickets for most away games and it seems like it has been nearly every week that I have had to be dialling in.
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The other strange thing has been how early the away tickets have gone on sale this season.
It's been like that for a few season's now and it can be annoying.
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Its because we had around 400 un-sold seats from two years ago when we lost up there on a Monday night when it was on the box.
Its ridiculous that they’re not taking the extra 1200 tickets, which would comfortably be sold, based on one game under completely different circumstances.
Idiotic.
Is it idiotic though, our away followings this season have been pretty poor for League games and an allocation of about 1200 - 1500 would pretty much cover it I think for the vast majority of games.
I think on the run-in we have we can be taking 2k plus. Away tickets have been selling fast, as (we the hardcore) know we need to get behind the boys.
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I've just been speaking to Scott the Ticketing Manager. He's asked me to pass on a few things regarding Stoke, the online ticketing system and ticket selling in general.
Firstly, with regard to the problems/queries I had:-
Scott will contact the person who maintains the avfc.co.uk website regarding the fact that the ticket allocation/sale date information for Stoke is hidden away on a webpage called "Man City clash in focus". He will also speak to them about the main site displaying pages promoting tickets for games that have already happened.
He will investigate why, when tickets are not yet on sale (eg Stoke), the e-ticketing system originally said that people don't have the correct privileges rather that stating that the tickets are not yet on sale and stating when they will be (NB - the Stoke page has already been updated to state that tickets are on sale on Friday)
Moving on to problems that others have had............
There are two main reasons why people might get erroneous "privileges" messages when attempting to buy tickets. Firstly, the updating of ticket buying history to the e-ticketing is still a manual system. Therefore, sometimes people's accounts don't get updated. If you believe that you should be able to buy tickets online but are being blocked, please contact the TO. The other main reason is that some people have multiple accounts for the e-ticketing (eg, a new account set up if you'd lost your password) but only one can be linked to their main booking history/Client Ref/ST. Therefore, if you're still having problems, please ask the TO to check to see if you have multiple accounts.
Some people are unhappy that tickets for away games are going on sale earlier than in previous years. The main reason for this is that once a fixture is less than four weeks away, the home team can recall some unsold tickets to sell themselves or not make additional batches available. Therefore, the main batch of away tickets need to be sold as early as possible in order for the club to decide whether to commit to additional tickets. This leads on to.............
The first batch of tickets are "sale or return" but any additional batches have to be paid for in full by the club. Segregation rules mean the the jump in ticket numbers from one batch to the next could be over 1000 tickets. The club therefore need to be pretty sure that they're going to sell out any additional tickets before committing to buying them.
This is the situation we have with the upcoming Stoke game. Once the TO have seen how the first batch is selling, they'll look at whether it makes sense to buy additional tickets. Given the apparent demand, it is likely that an additional batch of tickets will be taken for the Stoke game.
Scott also told me about ongoing improvements to the ticketing system, eg......
... using a "Print-at-home" system for home tickets, making it easier for people to make a last minute decision to attend a game
... looking into a system whereby you can use a ticket displayed on your phone
... improving the way that availability of tickets for away game is shown on the website
... improving the "choose your seat" facility (they are already working on some known bugs in this system)
Many thanks to Scott for calling me. A very pleasant and helpful bloke (and I'm not just typing that because he's already been reading this thread).
(NB - the above is based on my recollection of a telephone conversation with Scott. Any errors in the above are therefore mine rather than the club's)
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"The main reason for this is that once a fixture is less than four weeks away, the home team can recall some unsold tickets to sell themselves or not make additional batches available."
That's interesting. I never knew that.
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"The main reason for this is that once a fixture is less than four weeks away, the home team can recall some unsold tickets to sell themselves or not make additional batches available."
That's interesting. I never knew that.
No, nor did i and it obviously explains why they go on sale so bloody early and it makes sense.
Anyway, good work Redsox and thanks.
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Good stuff, Redsox. And fair play to Scott for getting in touch.
Pleased to hear they read these kind of threads and appear to be acting to improve the process of buying tickets.
Still think it's an overly cautious decision to only take the intitial allocation at Stoke, though, when everything points to us selling the 2900 with ease.
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Good info Redsox, thanks
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I've just spoken to a fella at the ticket office who believes we will only take the initial allocation for Stoke and no more. However he wasn't sure and reading the comments above in this thread puts me somewhat at ease, as I am unable to get to a phone or the ground tomorrow, and think we will take the extra allocation.
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good info redsox, thanks.
e-tickets/ phone tickets is a good idea. but booking fee for choosing such an option should be nil or reduced accordingly. scott, take note!
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Hi, got a question regarding the tickets.
I have brought and paid for my Reading tickets already, but for the Stoke tickets it says i need to have attended 1 away match for me to be able to buy them next Thursday.
As Reading has been brought and paid for will that go towards my reference and enable me to buy a stoke ticket rather than wait till they go on sale to season ticket holders with no away history?
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Hi, got a question regarding the tickets.
I have brought and paid for my Reading tickets already, but for the Stoke tickets it says i need to have attended 1 away match for me to be able to buy them next Thursday.
As Reading has been brought and paid for will that go towards my reference and enable me to buy a stoke ticket rather than wait till they go on sale to season ticket holders with no away history?
You need to wait until the Reading game has been played until it counts as a reference.
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Tickets purchased for Stoke. Spoke to Sheila who was very pleasant.
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I've just sorted our Stoke tickets as well. Spoke to Greg who was very efficient.
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I just tried to book by Stoke ticket online and was blocked by the "Privileges" problem.
I therefore booked the ticket over the phone and Luke at the TO corrected my online account while I was talking to him.
I therefore now have some more info about this problem.
The "manual" updating that Scott mentioned to me earlier in the work appears to relate to some "tags" that they have to update on each account as you move thro' the privilege levels.
eg, I started off the season with the "ST" tag plus a tag related to my away attendance from last season. As this season progressed, the latter was changed to a "1 Away Match" tag. It should subsequently have been updated to a "3 Away Match Tag". Unfortunately this was not done. Hence the online system blocked me today because as far as it was concerned I was still at the "1 Away Match" level.
I've actually been to 10+ away games, so there's been plenty of opportunity for the TO to update my account. Although Scott told me that they are working on this problem, it would be well worth anyone experiencing similar difficulties asking the TO to check your "tags".