I received a response to my email to club. The response was from a guy called Jack O'Sullivan, who I must admit I hadn't heard of before and acted very professionally. In essence the club admit its error and have offered the gentleman 2 complimentary tickets and access to the Vista Lounge. The gentleman in question is happy and probably going to take up the offer for the Port Vale game. The response was actually received the following day. I delayed putting it up until I had followed through with this guy to ensure everything is good, which it appears to be. We (including me) give the club a lot of stick, but on this occassion have come up trumps. The email
"Thank you for your e-mail to Charlton Athletic Football Club. My name is Jack O’Sullivan and I am the club’s Community & Supporter Development Officer, and am happy to find a solution to this matter for you and the gentleman in question.
Firstly, I apologise for the confusion and disappointment caused to this gentleman and his grandson on Saturday. I can confirm that there has been no change in policy around ticketing, instead this must have down to a training issue and I have now spoken to our ticket office manager to ensure that all staff are fully aware of policy, and that it is correctly implemented at all times.
The gentleman and his grandson should not have been refused tickets. Despite not being a member, or having a purchase history, the operator should have still sold the tickets and registered their details to help them build up a purchase history, in the eventuality that they wanted to purchase tickets to a restricted fixture in the future. The only time a supporter would be unable to purchase tickets at the window would be for a restricted fixture, however as the match against Chesterfield did not fall into this category, a mistake was seemingly made on our part.
In terms of a gesture to go some way towards recompensing the supporter, we would be happy to provide him with two complementary tickets to a home league match of his choice. I would also like to offer a pair of tickets to our Vista Lounge for the same fixture, which offers outstanding views across London and is a great way to enjoy our hospitality at The Valley.
If you could ask the supporter in question to contact me directly once he knows what game he would like to take advantage of this offer for, I would be grateful.
Thank you once again for raising this issue and I hope this explanation and offer is of satisfaction.
Well done, Jack. That's a proper response, and a very good gesture.
Looking at his job title though, that poor git must have a tough time. Not the easiest time to be supporting the development of the fanbase and community relations.
I received a response to my email to club. The response was from a guy called Jack O'Sullivan, who I must admit I hadn't heard of before and acted very professionally. In essence the club admit its error and have offered the gentleman 2 complimentary tickets and access to the Vista Lounge. The gentleman in question is happy and probably going to take up the offer for the Port Vale game. The response was actually received the following day. I delayed putting it up until I had followed through with this guy to ensure everything is good, which it appears to be. We (including me) give the club a lot of stick, but on this occassion have come up trumps. The email
"Thank you for your e-mail to Charlton Athletic Football Club. My name is Jack O’Sullivan and I am the club’s Community & Supporter Development Officer, and am happy to find a solution to this matter for you and the gentleman in question.
Firstly, I apologise for the confusion and disappointment caused to this gentleman and his grandson on Saturday. I can confirm that there has been no change in policy around ticketing, instead this must have down to a training issue and I have now spoken to our ticket office manager to ensure that all staff are fully aware of policy, and that it is correctly implemented at all times.
The gentleman and his grandson should not have been refused tickets. Despite not being a member, or having a purchase history, the operator should have still sold the tickets and registered their details to help them build up a purchase history, in the eventuality that they wanted to purchase tickets to a restricted fixture in the future. The only time a supporter would be unable to purchase tickets at the window would be for a restricted fixture, however as the match against Chesterfield did not fall into this category, a mistake was seemingly made on our part.
In terms of a gesture to go some way towards recompensing the supporter, we would be happy to provide him with two complementary tickets to a home league match of his choice. I would also like to offer a pair of tickets to our Vista Lounge for the same fixture, which offers outstanding views across London and is a great way to enjoy our hospitality at The Valley.
If you could ask the supporter in question to contact me directly once he knows what game he would like to take advantage of this offer for, I would be grateful.
Thank you once again for raising this issue and I hope this explanation and offer is of satisfaction.
Kind regards, Jack O’Sullivan"
I have just contacted Jack, and apparently my tickets are in the post. Cheers for the "heads up".
Comments
We (including me) give the club a lot of stick, but on this occassion have come up trumps.
The email
"Thank you for your e-mail to Charlton Athletic Football Club. My name is Jack O’Sullivan and I am the club’s Community & Supporter Development Officer, and am happy to find a solution to this matter for you and the gentleman in question.
Firstly, I apologise for the confusion and disappointment caused to this gentleman and his grandson on Saturday. I can confirm that there has been no change in policy around ticketing, instead this must have down to a training issue and I have now spoken to our ticket office manager to ensure that all staff are fully aware of policy, and that it is correctly implemented at all times.
The gentleman and his grandson should not have been refused tickets. Despite not being a member, or having a purchase history, the operator should have still sold the tickets and registered their details to help them build up a purchase history, in the eventuality that they wanted to purchase tickets to a restricted fixture in the future. The only time a supporter would be unable to purchase tickets at the window would be for a restricted fixture, however as the match against Chesterfield did not fall into this category, a mistake was seemingly made on our part.
In terms of a gesture to go some way towards recompensing the supporter, we would be happy to provide him with two complementary tickets to a home league match of his choice. I would also like to offer a pair of tickets to our Vista Lounge for the same fixture, which offers outstanding views across London and is a great way to enjoy our hospitality at The Valley.
If you could ask the supporter in question to contact me directly once he knows what game he would like to take advantage of this offer for, I would be grateful.
Thank you once again for raising this issue and I hope this explanation and offer is of satisfaction.
Kind regards,
Jack O’Sullivan"
Looking at his job title though, that poor git must have a tough time. Not the easiest time to be supporting the development of the fanbase and community relations.
It's good customer service, simple as that.
Make a mistake, and all organisations do, so apologise, explain and offer a solution and compensation.
If only more senior staff at the Valley could do the same.
Cheers for the "heads up".