I received an email back from her 2 days ago saying my email was being handled by the fans@cafc.... Address and I would receive a response shortly.....
I received an email back from her 2 days ago saying my email was being handled by the fans@cafc.... Address and I would receive a response shortly.....
When will this woman ever take responsibilty for anything that happens in her department?!
I've emailed and asked for a refund as it was not the experience I expected at all... The sole reason I went was to throw things on the pitch and the net prevented this.
Didn't even get a response... Appalling customer service!
I sent an email about the west lower. Sent to Mandy and the fans email. Got an email this morning saying she has forwarded it to the fans email to reply to me. I sent back an email saying thanks however that they were copied in on my original email.
I sent an email about the west lower. Sent to Mandy and the fans email. Got an email this morning saying she has forwarded it to the fans email to reply to me. I sent back an email saying thanks however that they were copied in on my original email.
Why has the person responsible for ticketing passed this on to a section of the club which cannot provide the answer and which is itself moribund? Sounds like a reasonable claim to the Small Claims Court to me if the Club sold tickets without a restricted view caveat having previously been advised at time of sale and with no discount offered or alternative seating offered on the day.
Wtf is going on in the corridoors of Charlton Athletic Football Club?
I go through varying degrees of emotions, ranging from resignation and giving up to being very upset.
The sheer incompetence and how amateurish certain individuals are is astounding.
It starts at the top and works its way down to certain individuals who think those at the top are great....
Yes, true. Any 'business' requires strong leadership and role model behaviour from the top. Those below the current CEO are being imbued with the KM culture of incompetence. They see her never apologising, never taking responsibilty and never admitting that anything is amiss (e.g. 'Why do you think our Club is not being run properly). This extends to treating the 'customers' like shit as in (I'm paraphrasing) - They should be grateful for what the major shareholder is doing for the Club and "get used to the way we do things now".
This is allowing, at just about every level it seems, those with any decision making responsibilities to act exactly as Katrien Meire would act - and deal with enquiries and/or complaints in a dismissive and arrogant manner. I hasten to add that its not everyone at the Club that acts like this but clearly there are significant numbers in SMT and other senior management positions. I suspect that any who don't subscribe to the KM way of doing things just have to keep their heads down.
I think KM standing up in the audience at a conference and asking why people are saying that the club is not being run properly is probably one of the most breathtaking examples of how out of touch she is with her own job. The reason people are saying this, Katrien, and take a deep breath here because this may be a tricky concept for you to grasp -
CHARLTON ATHLETIC IS CURRENTLY A COMPLETE SHAMBLES. LOOK AT IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE, WE HAVE DROPPED A DIVISION, YOUR MANAGER RECRUITMENT POLICY IS AWFUL AND HAS BEEN A COMPLETE FARCE, MOST OF YOUR CUSTOMERS HATE YOU AND ROLAND, AND THE CLUB REEKS OF INCOMPETENCE AND DESPAIR. I COULD GO ON BUT IF YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW AWFUL YOU ARE BY NOW, AND YOU FEEL THE NEED TO CHALLENGE THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS IN PUBLIC AMONGST YOUR PEERS, THEN I DOUBT WRITING THIS IN CAPITAL LETTERS WILL STOP YOU SHOWING YOURSELF UP. YOU GO AHEAD AND MAKE YOURSELF LOOK DUMB. IT'S YOUR CAREER AFTER ALL.
I received an email back from her 2 days ago saying my email was being handled by the fans@cafc.... Address and I would receive a response shortly.....
Me too. I replied it was a ticketing issue and that a copy and paste response from the fans address would not be good enough. Nothing back since..
I suspect they are worried about setting a precedent. They've painted themselves into a corner by sticking the netting up without telling anyone and are clearly liable for damages for breach of contract.
However, they know that the first person to publish any offer of a refund or compo on here is going to open a can a worms and a potential claim from everyone else affected. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see any offer couched* in terms of it being a goodwill only gesture and on the basis it is not disclosed to others.
They bought the can of worms themselves - they put the netting up without considering all the consequences properly. Now they are going to have to eat their worms, force fed by us if necessary!
The way they have dealt with the issue so far is insulting and cowardly. Ticket office Mandy ignores everybody's emails then abdicates her responsibility by fobbing it off on fans@cafc.co.uk
so what can you do,if they just ignore these emails, how do you escalate the compliant - anyone know?
@Bournemouth Addick can probably be more certain than I am but to actually get money back if the club refuse to play ball, you probably have three possible choices.
Second, section 75 of the consumer credit act might apply but because of the £100 limit probably only if you are claiming for a pro rata portion of a season ticket or a group of match day tickets bought together as one transaction. In short, if those things apply, and you have paid by credit card or other finance agreement (zebra finance or whoever the club recommend) then the finance company is jointly and severally liable and should cough up. There are plenty of template letters available on-line. (The card company would then claw the money back from the club.) Third, if under £100 and paid for by either debit card or credit card, try the charge back scheme operated by the card provider and part of their Scheme Rules.
Obviously option one is your only recourse if you paid cash.
so what can you do,if they just ignore these emails, how do you escalate the compliant - anyone know?
@Bournemouth Addick can probably be more certain than I am but to actually get money back if the club refuse to play ball, you probably have three possible choices.
Second, section 75 of the consumer credit act might apply but because of the £100 limit probably only if you are claiming for a pro rata portion of a season ticket or a group of match day tickets bought together as one transaction. In short, if those things apply, and you have paid by credit card or other finance agreement (zebra finance or whoever the club recommend) then the finance company is jointly and severally liable and should cough up. There are plenty of template letters available on-line. (The card company would then claw the money back from the club.) Third, if under £100 and paid for by either debit card or credit card, try the charge back scheme operated by the card provider and part of their Scheme Rules.
Obviously option one is your only recourse if you paid cash.
...annoyed at myself for not spotting the autocorrect "sight" to "site" looking back at the letter now but essentially @cafcfan is right in terms of available options and the application of S75. The next stage, if no satisfactory response is received, would be to send a letter before action.
One thing I'd throw into the mix also is if and when the club do respond and if those affected are still unhappy then consider a complaint to the theifo.co.uk/complaints.html too.
It would be dreadful if the club spent all summer dealing with small claims or complaints to the IFO.
I had a reply from Mandy on May 10 as follows (in response to question whether the netting would be used again)
To my knowledge the netting put in place for the last home match of the season was used for exceptional circumstances. It is not the decision of the ticket office as to when it is going to be used. As per the Burnley fixture I believe that we again offer supporters alternative seating
Lol, shunning it off as if it's not the Ticket Office's problem - well obviously if someone wants a refund they are going to go through the TO. It's her departments problem, if you wasn't offered alternative seating you are entitled to a refund - chase it up guys.
I had a reply from Mandy on May 10 as follows (in response to question whether the netting would be used again)
To my knowledge the netting put in place for the last home match of the season was used for exceptional circumstances. It is not the decision of the ticket office as to when it is going to be used. As per the Burnley fixture I believe that we again offer supporters alternative seating
I would throw it straight back at her stating it IS a ticketing issue because you are demanding a part refund of your season ticket, and make it clear no alternative seating was offered.
Lol, shunning it off as if it's not the Ticket Office's problem - well obviously if someone wants a refund they are going to go through the TO. It's her departments problem, if you wasn't offered alternative seating you are entitled to a refund - chase it up guys.
This is one of the the worst sort of business practices - To the customer, it doesn't matter who is responsible or not within the supplier's structure! There is an issue and it should be resolved by the best part of the organisation to do this.
Lol, shunning it off as if it's not the Ticket Office's problem - well obviously if someone wants a refund they are going to go through the TO. It's her departments problem, if you wasn't offered alternative seating you are entitled to a refund - chase it up guys.
This is one of the the worst sort of business practices - To the customer, it doesn't matter who is responsible or not within the supplier's structure! There is an issue and it should be resolved by the best part of the organisation to do this.
Agreed appalling obfuscation.
Given that we are supposed to be 'customers' it is not our place to work our way through the bureaucratic labyrinth that purports to be the modern day Charlton Athletic.
The Money Claim On Line website quoted above is quite straightforward to use and it'll probably cost £25 as you're claiming less than £300. You need to specify the refund you want, why you should have it, claim the £25 back (and any other costs, such as cost of postage, if you've written to them) as well as interest on the money they owe. Worth doing, if you don't mind risking the £25, because if you are successful then presumably everyone in the NL will claim, costing them no small amount of money or risking having CCJs against them which will make getting credit difficult. Ideally of course the poor sods who were sitting on the sofa would also claim, as presumably they had tickets but were moved to this "prime" position, the view from which was then continuously blocked by stewards.
Comments
Got an email this morning saying she has forwarded it to the fans email to reply to me. I sent back an email saying thanks however that they were copied in on my original email.
I will forward my lack of reply to the Football League who are very quick at pushing this to CAFC and they will reply.
Sounds like a reasonable claim to the Small Claims Court to me if the Club sold tickets without a restricted view caveat having previously been advised at time of sale and with no discount offered or alternative seating offered on the day.
I go through varying degrees of emotions, ranging from resignation and giving up to being very upset.
The sheer incompetence and how amateurish certain individuals are is astounding.
This is allowing, at just about every level it seems, those with any decision making responsibilities to act exactly as Katrien Meire would act - and deal with enquiries and/or complaints in a dismissive and arrogant manner.
I hasten to add that its not everyone at the Club that acts like this but clearly there are significant numbers in SMT and other senior management positions. I suspect that any who don't subscribe to the KM way of doing things just have to keep their heads down.
The reason people are saying this, Katrien, and take a deep breath here because this may be a tricky concept for you to grasp -
CHARLTON ATHLETIC IS CURRENTLY A COMPLETE SHAMBLES. LOOK AT IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE, WE HAVE DROPPED A DIVISION, YOUR MANAGER RECRUITMENT POLICY IS AWFUL AND HAS BEEN A COMPLETE FARCE, MOST OF YOUR CUSTOMERS HATE YOU AND ROLAND, AND THE CLUB REEKS OF INCOMPETENCE AND DESPAIR. I COULD GO ON BUT IF YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW AWFUL YOU ARE BY NOW, AND YOU FEEL THE NEED TO CHALLENGE THE BLATANTLY OBVIOUS IN PUBLIC AMONGST YOUR PEERS, THEN I DOUBT WRITING THIS IN CAPITAL LETTERS WILL STOP YOU SHOWING YOURSELF UP. YOU GO AHEAD AND MAKE YOURSELF LOOK DUMB. IT'S YOUR CAREER AFTER ALL.
There.
However, they know that the first person to publish any offer of a refund or compo on here is going to open a can a worms and a potential claim from everyone else affected. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see any offer couched* in terms of it being a goodwill only gesture and on the basis it is not disclosed to others.
They will want it to just go quietly away...
*see what I did there?
The way they have dealt with the issue so far is insulting and cowardly. Ticket office Mandy ignores everybody's emails then abdicates her responsibility by fobbing it off on fans@cafc.co.uk
Hopefully, this will cost them thousands
First the small claims court. An easy process which can be done on-line here I believe https://moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
Second, section 75 of the consumer credit act might apply but because of the £100 limit probably only if you are claiming for a pro rata portion of a season ticket or a group of match day tickets bought together as one transaction.
In short, if those things apply, and you have paid by credit card or other finance agreement (zebra finance or whoever the club recommend) then the finance company is jointly and severally liable and should cough up. There are plenty of template letters available on-line. (The card company would then claw the money back from the club.)
Third, if under £100 and paid for by either debit card or credit card, try the charge back scheme operated by the card provider and part of their Scheme Rules.
Obviously option one is your only recourse if you paid cash.
One thing I'd throw into the mix also is if and when the club do respond and if those affected are still unhappy then consider a complaint to the theifo.co.uk/complaints.html too.
It would be dreadful if the club spent all summer dealing with small claims or complaints to the IFO.
To my knowledge the netting put in place for the last home match of the season was used for exceptional circumstances. It is not the decision of the ticket office as to when it is going to be used. As per the Burnley fixture I believe that we again offer supporters alternative seating
Given that we are supposed to be 'customers' it is not our place to work our way through the bureaucratic labyrinth that purports to be the modern day Charlton Athletic.
If you haven't had a reply then esculate it to a formal complaint.