Seating issues

[brucie]

That's absolutely fecking appalling.

In the games I have attended this year and paying at the main gate you don't get a ticket, so therefore you should have been able to sit where you liked. In my opinion you should have stood your ground and remained in the seats as you took the trouble to get there early.

Its shameful that you should have been required to move just before kick off particularly given the age of the persons accompanying you. My view is that the club had made no effort to reserve the seats and whilst it was tough on the latecomers who pre booked it was absolutely no fault of your own.

I would stress again that as there were no reserve signs on the seats and no allocated ticket numbers then why the **** should you have been required to move or felt the need to? Its just not your fault.

If the persons who wanted your seats were becoming confrontational you should have reported this to the stewards and put the ball in their court - not that you would probably get any sense out of them mind you.

Someone should make sure that you get free tickets for the rest of the season given the shambolic way you have been have been treated. I can understand that trying to move you elderly relative and deal with your upset son in a crowded stand and trying to find other non existant seats must have been stressful in the extreme.

I actually think its quite sensible of the club in general not to issue numbered tickets anymore in general. I have payed at the gate before with my two sons only to find that we have had tickets all in different parts of the stand which is clearly ridiculous.

The situation is quite easily sorted out - allocate the first block of seats in bristows bench (nearest corner flag/family stand end) for those who want to pre book and make the rest first come first served.

That way the pre bookers can get in each others way when they feel need to turn up five minutes after kick off and don't disturb anyone else who has got there in good time and are trying to watch the match.

The way you were treated is absolutely disgraceful - lets hope you get some free tickets and an apology pretty damn quick.

[WHG]

So people who just turn up on the day think they should be able to sit wherever they want
But people who had the foresight to think that it was going to be busy and wanted to guarantee that they sat together booked their seats in advance shouldn't be allowed to because they couldn't get to the ground early. What complete tosh.
If you can't be bothered to book in advance you should have to accept whatever is available on the day.
It is the fault of the club not issuing everyone with tickets with seat numbers on that causes the problem.
And if you turn up on the day and your tickets are for different parts of the stand , well that is only your own fault.

[greb46]

With a large crowd albeit boosted with it being Christmas there is the potential to gain some new regular supporters but something fairly simple to organise regarding seating causes the risk of confrontation to supporters who have no reason to believe they've done anything wrong.They've paid their money and been told to sit wherever.A ridiculous situation which should be sorted asap before more regular or potentially new support is lost.

[DWB]

Surely the idea of booking online is that you can chose your seats, pay in advance, and be able to turn up at a reasonable time to claim them (especially if you are old or young and don’t want to be ‘hanging around’ for too long on a cold day).
This is exactly the same as booking cinema or theatre tickets where you would expect to turn up and sit in the seats you actually booked!
It is for the club to sort out the seat numbering and quickly. It would also help if the seat numbers were displayed on the walls by the steps to the various sections of the stand to enable supporters to know which steps to go up!!
Finally all staff, stewards etc need to be singing from the same sheet and not telling people they can sit anywhere.

[Plainmoor78]

It's the club's fault for having an ambiguous policy. But those who had the foresight to pre-book their seats beforehand are entitled to those seats.
Obviously the answer is to issue tickets when paying at the gate with the seat number on.

[Modgull]

It's the club's fault for having an ambiguous policy. But those who had the foresight to pre-book their seats beforehand are entitled to those seats.
Obviously the answer is to issue tickets when paying at the gate with the seat number on.

But that is exactly what they do - its just that no-one takes any notice of the ticket and sits in any non-season-ticket seat.

[View1]

So people who just turn up on the day think they should be able to sit wherever they want
But people who had the foresight to think that it was going to be busy and wanted to guarantee that they sat together booked their seats in advance shouldn't be allowed to because they couldn't get to the ground early. What complete tosh.
If you can't be bothered to book in advance you should have to accept whatever is available on the day.
It is the fault of the club not issuing everyone with tickets with seat numbers on that causes the problem.
And if you turn up on the day and your tickets are for different parts of the stand , well that is only your own fault.

We asked at the gate and we're advised as long as the seat is not reserved we can sit where you want. The seats we selected were not marked as reserved. After being forced to leave the seats the stewards we spoke to advised we did not need to leave and that's not the club policy. We then spoke to the manager of the club shop who advised we should move.

My issue is not with the members who booked them (although they were rude arseholes and if your one of them I'd love to meet you again after upsetting my son in the manner you did). My issue is with the club for not having a clear, transparent policy and having different staff offering different advise create havoc.

If they reserve seats they need to mark them as reserved or at the very least they need to offer a seat number to everyone who pays at the gate so we know where to go.

This is a football match, people don't all book online and to suggest we all should is ridiculous. You book online you get the seats you choose, no problem. But we need to know what's pre booked so we know what to avoid or the club need to allocate all seats whether on the day or on the gate.

[portugull]

Can I add to what happened yesterday from personal experience.
I joined the Bristows queue and immediately a steward said "if you have a season ticket OR a booked ticket follow me and you can enter at the side gate where ALL tickets will be inspected"
This was good and no one got in for free.
I wonder was the gate more than 3,863?
In Bristows I tried to help a Gent who could not find his seat because it was occupied by someone else!
His ticket gave SEAT C73 was for Bristows Bench but crucially as far as I could see did not indicate which Section!! He was in Section D.
The Club must address this matter.

[portugull]

For clarity in my post above C73 was Row C Seat 73 but no Section was given. Causes huge confusion particularly for first timers.

[Teigngull]

I can see both sides of the arguement, fortunately there is a simple solution(s).
I think the club could be wise & allocate a block of seating that is only available to book online , cleverly suggested by brucie. This way EVERYBODY (Inc the plastic police) know where they stand.
Also it MUST BE MADE CLEAR that ALL TICKETS MUST BE RETAINED FOR CHECKING AT ANY TIME (Inc season tickets holders).
Or even simpler, make it clear that if you book online, all purchasers MUST'VE CLAIMED their chosen seat 15 minutes before Kick off.
Every paying customer should be treated with the respect & appreciation they deserve regardless of how, where & when they purchase their ticket.
TUFC should ensure that EVERY member of staff, paid, full time , part time , voluntary, is 101% briefed & clear in the club policy on seating arrangements in Bristows bench, this way there should be no or, at very least, minimal aggravation / issues with seating EVERYBODY ?
If we want to portray our selves as a professional football club then it should start at the very top right down to the guys/girls who sweep the terraces, ignoring the issue or making it up as you go along is not acceptable or good enough.
We've seen major improvements on the playing side with proper footballing people put in place & on the administration side vast improvement has been made by weeding out the weak links that were hampering the progress & success our loyal fans deserve.
We can all accept mistakes are made but if they're constantly repeated then heads need to roll, we're in the entertainment business & the paying customer is key, treat them with contempt & they will disappear for a long long time.
Down to you now TUFC.


Sorry for the constant use of CAPS but I wanted to get my point across c!early.

[desperado]

Agree with Gulliball it is ridiculous that the away support get two whole sections for less than 50 people. No need to segregate them , just allocate them two rows in last section

[wivelgull]

While all this is going on we await a response from the club.
But is there a response? Is there going to be?
The club should respond NOW: TODAY.

[WHG]

I can see both sides of the arguement, fortunately there is a simple solution(s).
I think the club could be wise & allocate a block of seating that is only available to book online , cleverly suggested by brucie. This way EVERYBODY (Inc the plastic police) know where they stand.
Also it MUST BE MADE CLEAR that ALL TICKETS MUST BE RETAINED FOR CHECKING AT ANY TIME (Inc season tickets holders).
Or even simpler, make it clear that if you book online, all purchasers MUST'VE CLAIMED their chosen seat 15 minutes before Kick off.
Every paying customer should be treated with the respect & appreciation they deserve regardless of how, where & when they purchase their ticket.
TUFC should ensure that EVERY member of staff, paid, full time , part time , voluntary, is 101% briefed & clear in the club policy on seating arrangements in Bristows bench, this way there should be no or, at very least, minimal aggravation / issues with seating EVERYBODY ?
If we want to portray our selves as a professional football club then it should start at the very top right down to the guys/girls who sweep the terraces, ignoring the issue or making it up as you go along is not acceptable or good enough.
We've seen major improvements on the playing side with proper footballing people put in place & on the administration side vast improvement has been made by weeding out the weak links that were hampering the progress & success our loyal fans deserve.
We can all accept mistakes are made but if they're constantly repeated then heads need to roll, we're in the entertainment business & the paying customer is key, treat them with contempt & they will disappear for a long long time.
Down to you now TUFC.


Sorry for the constant use of CAPS but I wanted to get my point across c!early.

Complete twaddle same as Brucie.
Unless they have changed the way they do tickets, every ticket has a seat number on it . Seat C73 is between seat C72 and C74 not hard to work out.
The only problem is stewards telling people 'sit where you want'. This is not surprising considering most of the stewards are from Plymuff. A four syllable answer is above norm for them.
The correct response is ' If it's not busy sit where you want but if someone comes along with a booked seat then I'm afraid you will have to go and sit in the seat it says on your ticket'. Bit too much for them to say though.

[DartShitehawk1969]

Complete twaddle same as Brucie.
Unless they have changed the way they do tickets, every ticket has a seat number on it . Seat C73 is between seat C72 and C74 not hard to work out.
The only problem is stewards telling people 'sit where you want'. This is not surprising considering most of the stewards are from Plymuff. A four syllable answer is above norm for them.
The correct response is ' If it's not busy sit where you want but if someone comes along with a booked seat then I'm afraid you will have to go and sit in the seat it says on your ticket'. Bit too much for them to say though.

But when you pay cash at the turnstile you don't get a ticket.

[WHG]

[


Unless they have changed the way they do tickets, every ticket has a seat number on it .
[/quote]
But when you pay cash at the turnstile you don't get a ticket.
[/quote]

Cost cutting so TUFC fault as usual