Continued ticket madness?

The Mrs called the ticket office today and got our Kiddy tickets over the phone by quoting our season ticket number, she asked if they could post them out as we live out of Town (we would have paid BTW) and she was told that "we don't post tickets out"????  

Our ticket office is not generally very friendly
I've rung them for years as live away from Gy
They've had my card number for years and not once has anyone said
"how are you"
" hi Mr @@@@ nice to hear from you again"
" enjoy the game"
"Thankyou for your support"
They need a refresher course in customer care, and a broader understanding of where town fans may be ringing from
Such a shame as so many people work so hard and care about this club so much
Come on Town!!

I agree about the ticket office not being friendly, i don't think they like each other in there and sometimes i feel an air of hostility towards each other which then rubs off on the customers. I might be wrong, but having ran a few sales forces in my time, they could do with some sales training on looking after the customer and giving such a good service that the customers want to come back time after time.

The ticket office system needs a look at to be honest. I've had issues getting tickets over the phone being a semi-exile during the working week yet having a season ticket registered to GY. I know a lad who had issues getting a replacement ticket for a match as he'd left his season ticket in Keelby or somewhere. There's been the one-for-one thing this week too and we're yet to have the annual scramble for Lincoln tickets. A lot of these problems have simple solutions. Agree there is often a weird atmosphere in there too. I feel like an inconvenience if I go in there on say a Wednesday afternoon for anything.

Sorry to hear these comments. I've always found the staff very helpful, which is great given that I live so far away.

Ive always found the ticket office very helpful and never have a problem with tickets being sent to me
albeit for an extra fee.... as an exile it's always been OK for me

Listen ........I don't want to be negative when there is more positivity around than possibly ever before but that actually is a reason for raising this, When I did my operation promotion pledge I think if I read it right I became a trust member? possibly mis-read this but either way I was more than happy to pledge and pay.

So I know trust members participate in this forum and reckon that if someone who has a line into the club from the trust gave this feedback to Steve in the ticket office I am 100% sure it would get better and quickly. All we ask is for season ticket holders, non season ticket holders and new fans be treated with a little bit of care for spending their "hard earned".  

Also how many times do we impose draconian rules on ticket sales and retract them when they don't sell as quick as we thought they would?  

Also I don't want to sound like Victor Meldrew but when I spent £40 on a shirt for my dad on Saturday the colleague behind the counter did not even say thank you? But that's another story........

I think there might be one or two bad apples but I've normally found the staff in the ticket office quite friendly but you've got to speak as you find.

I have to agree and also add that the level of training is also poor.
Last season, before we had season tickets, I would call up to order our tickets- 2 adults in the main stand, 1 being disabled and the other being a free disabled assistant. Almost every time it turned into a whole rigmarole, usually taking at least 15 minutes.
When we went to get our season tickets this year it took 4 separate people to do it.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Listen ........I don't want to be negative when there is more positivity around than possibly ever before but that actually is a reason for raising this, When I did my operation promotion pledge I think if I read it right I became a trust member? possibly mis-read this but either way I was more than happy to pledge and pay.

So I know trust members participate in this forum and reckon that if someone who has a line into the club from the trust gave this feedback to Steve in the ticket office I am 100% sure it would get better and quickly. All we ask is for season ticket holders, non season ticket holders and new fans be treated with a little bit of care for spending their "hard earned".  

Also how many times do we impose draconian rules on ticket sales and retract them when they don't sell as quick as we thought they would?  

Also I don't want to sound like Victor Meldrew but when I spent £40 on a shirt for my dad on Saturday the colleague behind the counter did not even say thank you? But that's another story........

Agree on this went Monday and required one extra ticket with my season ticket and felt like I was trying to con the World, but on Tuesday it was no problem, Duh!

Quoted from HertsGTFC

The Mrs called the ticket office today and got our Kiddy tickets over the phone by quoting our season ticket number, she asked if they could post them out as we live out of Town (we would have paid BTW) and she was told that "we don't post tickets out"????  

Very strange. I managed to order a ticket for the Kidderminster game online earlier this week and selected the 'Special Delivery' option as it was listed on the website as costing 50p. The following day I received an e-mail telling me my ticket was ready for collection from the club shop. I replied to explain that I'd asked for the ticket to be posted to me, and then assuming that I'd already paid 50p for delivery (on top of the 50p per ticket charge they already impose on each online order) i suggested they could simply send the ticket to me second class to save on postage. I got a reply back saying that they would post the ticket to me, however there would be an additional charge of £6.75 (!) for 'Special Delivery'. I wasn't given a chance to question that postage charge or to select a cheaper postage method, so it's now cost me a total of £24.75 to buy a ticket that should have cost £17 because they don't have the postage costs on their online store set up properly!

They've always been fine with me in the past too, I suppose it depends on who you deal with and what mood they're in though.

I phoned the club shop this morning to get a ticket for the Kiddie game (anyone got a spare seat btw?) and was quoted £6.75. Also find it strange they don't post out season tickets but nevermind, no biggie.

I only ring the ticket office a few times in a season,

I have always found them to be helpful and friendly,

Apart from once, the young lady must have been having a bad day.

Always found the girls brilliant when I go . The problems I see is when a customer  doesn't know where he or she wants to be , half way up in the middle , next to my friend,  not knowing the stand etc . Very frustrating for all , not the girls fault.  For the few who complain there are far more that are very satisfied .

Quoted from DocTower

  For the few who complain there are far more that are very satisfied .

True, but thats the nature of any customer facing organisation. You should strive to continuously improve so more and more are happy with the service

Maybe it would be better for those with gripes to formally address them directly with the club, maybe to the chief exec & copying in the trust?

I would add that the new 'open plan' lay out is much more customer friendly

Complaints of any nature should be seen as a golden nugget for they are opportunities for your company to improve, satisfy more customers, improve the experience of your customers and hopefully increase spend or encourage repeat business. Basic customer service.

From the customers viewpoint, if you dont complain officially then the organisation cannot improve as it isnt aware there is something wrong, Brits as a rule are great at grumbling but not great at officially complaining, an official complaint may resolve your issue quickly, prevent it happening to anyone else and even see you get an official apology or other reward to show you are a valued customer.

Everyones a winner.

Football customer service is fairly unique beast as the 'customers', ie the fans are usually a loyal bunch and will consistently return as going to another club isn't an option, it's not like going to a restaurant and choosing another one after a bad experience. How we grow is through positive vibes, easy-as-possible ticket purchasing/collecting and people generally being as helpful as they can be. A season ticket holder wanting a couple of tickets for Kidderminster away should be seen as a brilliant thing as they're buying TWO tickets for another person who might not be a season ticket holder, which is a potential future market. We need clear communication, actually allow people to spend their money and maybe a bit of good-will for the diehards.

...Common sense and a smile, let's get on it!

Have always found the ticket office to be very good to be fair. Reading these threads was panicking a little but have found them to be great again as I got my tickets for Kiddy sorted. Only problem I had was a bad phoneline which as I was on a train I don't think I can blame the ticket office for.

I think they sometimes forget it's us that keep them in a job.

Two of my off spring work in retail,  if there is a problem they do ask the complaining customer to write to head office actually giving them e mail and address . However very very few ever do as they would rather gripe to a friend,  basically they can't be bothered . They've had a moan to my daughters who handle  the situation far better than the customer , the old adage of the customer is always right doesn't always hold up when all the facts are seen .

Procedures could improve but until the powers that be know what the problem is how can it happen .

Quoted from BIGChris

True, but thats the nature of any customer facing organisation. You should strive to continuously improve so more and more are happy with the service

Maybe it would be better for those with gripes to formally address them directly with the club, maybe to the chief exec & copying in the trust?

I would add that the new 'open plan' lay out is much more customer friendly

Surely there are enough Trust members on here to formally mention this at on of their meetings? The Trust reps on the Board should follow this up through the GTFC Office manager.

I dislike going to buy tickets, the attitude of a number of staff is very poor. It often feels like you are disrupting their day!

Asking for 5 adult tickets, not necessarily all together, as close as possible to the back row, seat # is not an unreasonable request for a ticket office.

However you would think I had just spat in their tea.

Generally speaking, my experiances of the ticket are good. The way of life means it's the odd bad/disappointing experience that sticks in my head.

For example, season just gone, Sat home league match, went into ticket office about 2ish to purchase a ticket for the following week's Sat home FA Trophy match. "They're not on sale yet!" came the abrupt reply. 2/3mins later I was in the ground talking to a mate who had just purchased his ticket for the Trophy match from the office 5-10 mins previously before I did....

Went into the office last month to renew my season ticket. Each season I call in person to renew it, I feel more comfortable doing it in person rather than over phone/post. Got through the process, it was entered into computer, written down in the book, paid. Final thing at end of the process was, oh yes, season ticket book aren't here, so you'll have to come back on Monday to pick it up. Felt like I'd just spent £280 or whatever it was and then afterwards told I wasn't going to receive what I was expecting. Was slightly miffed, but thought too myself, oh well, another trip to make, it will sort itself out. Went back in on the Monday, asked if the books where here to a different member of staff than the 1st time, and back came the very gruff and "No, you WHERE told it was NEXT Monday" "She told me this Monday, not that I mind coming back nex....." "No you where definatey told next NEXT Monday" as she walked away from me finishing her sentence from a third of the office away. I left the office feeling angry wanting to say stuff your ticket then. I didn't, knowing I need tickets to see the team I love.

But I'm English, and the English don't like complaining in person. I definatley don't like complaining in person. That's why I'm on here as a keyboard warrior slagging them off anonymously rather than face to face! And the fact I know its Grimsby Town's ticket office, which I know blunders from time to time . I put up with the odd bad moment, its not like having bad service in Tesco so choosing to go to Asda instead. Its Grimsby Town FC, I have to use that office. I know I should really complain so hopefully it doesn't happen again, but I don't I just don't think if I did anything would change.

(Sorry about the rant, I'm braver doing it anonymously and made myself feel a bit happier now I've got it off my chest!)

As somebody who uses the Post Office a lot - or what's left of it nowadays - the whole thing at Grimsby with the Special Delivery service is basically laziness and ignorance.

Paying for Special Delivery for anything less than £30 is an illogical procedure as you get exactly the same cover from the P.O. with proof of postage. If there's lots of tickets to be sent out then forms for bulk delivery can be downloaded off the P.O. website and filled in prior to even going there. All the counter clerk does is check the addresses on it against the envelopes and stamps it. Job Done. Cheap, quicker than arranging Special Delivery for each one, and it saves fans money and customer relations are that much better.

Do please pass that on to Steve as well.

Quoted from Caesar

Have always found the ticket office to be very good to be fair. Reading these threads was panicking a little but have found them to be great again as I got my tickets for Kiddy sorted. Only problem I had was a bad phoneline which as I was on a train I don't think I can blame the ticket office for.

Not panicking just really p1ssed off with years of crap service, stupid rules and being spoken to like I was a 7 year old.........The lad who sold the programmes on the corner of Blundell Av last year was much more polite in all weathers..........!

Quoted from jock dock tower

As somebody who uses the Post Office a lot - or what's left of it nowadays - the whole thing at Grimsby with the Special Delivery service is basically laziness and ignorance.

Paying for Special Delivery for anything less than £30 is an illogical procedure as you get exactly the same cover from the P.O. with proof of postage. If there's lots of tickets to be sent out then forms for bulk delivery can be downloaded off the P.O. website and filled in prior to even going there. All the counter clerk does is check the addresses on it against the envelopes and stamps it. Job Done. Cheap, quicker than arranging Special Delivery for each one, and it saves fans money and customer relations are that much better.

Do please pass that on to Steve as well.

That's not quite correct, what you are really paying for is guaranteed next working day delivery.  We use it even when there is no actual value to what is being posted just to ensure it is delivered the following day.

Everyone with a gripe is telling the wrong people! Email the club and something may be done pleeeeeease!

I honestly can't understand why some people seem to get BAD service ALL the time... I just get polite
conversation and good service whatever.... maybe it's because I've been overseas, and in places like Egypt , Cyprus,  and Turkey customer service and efficiency simply does not exist... being in the UK is a Godsend sometimes.....

Quoted from gary_elton

I honestly can't understand why some people seem to get BAD service ALL the time... I just get polite
conversation and good service whatever.... maybe it's because I've been overseas, and in places like Egypt , Cyprus,  and Turkey customer service and efficiency simply does not exist... being in the UK is a Godsend sometimes.....

Spot on Gary . Echo what you say .

The small blonde woman, who i believe is the manager, is the one with the attitude.

Rude, and never wants to help.

i got my kidderminster tickets from a young lad, with dark hair, and he was spot on

Quoted from gary_elton

I honestly can't understand why some people seem to get BAD service ALL the time... I just get polite
conversation and good service whatever.... maybe it's because I've been overseas, and in places like Egypt , Cyprus,  and Turkey customer service and efficiency simply does not exist... being in the UK is a Godsend sometimes.....

That's true but you've also been to America where customer service is EVERYTHING to a business.We're somewhere inbetween the 2 extremes as usual!

Quoted from Biccys

That's true but you've also been to America where customer service is EVERYTHING to a business.We're somewhere inbetween the 2 extremes as usual!

Except in New York!!

Just seen this thread and have to say I have also had a few issues, particularly in relation to Wembley earlier this year and the £10 wembley tickets offer.  I rang up on a match day in March to order 4, and the woman's first response was curt saying 'you do know its a match day don't you, can you ring back Monday', which actually was difficult seeing I was in work, but I did so, and when I rang back the guy I spoke to said the club had a policy that they weren't posting out these vouchers.  I told him I was in Manchester and it seemed unfair, but he advised me the offer was the same for all clubs in the league, and so to get some from Altrincham.  So I purchased 4 from Altrincham from a woman there who really didnt know what she was doing, only to find out on swapping them for tickets when we reached Wembley, that I wouldnt be able to sit in the town end, but with neutrals! I ended up have to liaise back and forth for weeks with the Conference until they eventually reluctantly swapped the tickets for us to sit with the town fans, but it really peed me off that i had given £40 to Altrincham instead of town, and had the whole stress of getting new tickets about a week before the game, all because town wouldnt post to an exile.

I think one of the major problems for me is it seems that the club don't seem to appreciate just how many fans live away from Grimsby, and don't allow for this enough or take this into consideration.  I realise that going to away matches doesnt help town financially, but by going to the likes of Macc, Wrexham, Altricham etc etc which i do without fail, the support does help the team, and so I think any proof of going to these games should count for something at least, maybe priority behind trust members when getting tickets.

When ringing to get my Kiddie tickets yesterday I found the lady really abrupt and like i was an inconvenience. I wanted to ask how the sales had been going for the game but didnt dare in the end..!
Sorry to rant!

On the flip side of things, I lost my wallet in the lower Findus last season.  I went back to look for it after the game but couldn't find it.  I then popped into the ticket office to see if it had been handed in.  My wallet hadn't been handed in, but the ticket office was very helpful and took all my details down.  An hour after I got home, the office rang me to say my wallet had been found, they even arranged for Dave Smith to drop it into me on his way home.   Big credit to GTFC, they couldn't have been more helpful.

A shame to see a few people on here think that the service in the ticket office can be poor. Personally, I have never had a problem with the service. I live abroad and on a couple of occasions when I've come back for some of the bigger games such, as Lincoln, where good seats are at a premium, they have always gone above and beyond to help as much as they can. I generally don't have any complaints on that front.

Remember when I went to buy tickets for the Lincoln Boxing Day game two seasons ago. The day before, it said on the OS that there were around 100 tickets left. About 10th in the queue, club shop opens, women comes out and says 'if you're here about Lincoln tickets, then they sold out yesterday afternoon'. Not even an apology for poor communication, it was very abrupt and frustrating. It also strikes to me that the ticket office staff are lifeless and serve you without any vigour whatsoever and find my mood has dropped once I leave the ticket office. Strange.

i contacted the ticket office today
the girl was very helpful
got tickets ,got shark
bring it on  

Agreed with what has been said on here, whenever I go in there, there's a strange atmosphere and as another poster said the blonde haired woman always tends to be the worst, very rude! Did go in the club shop a few weeks back though and got served by a young ish lad who was very polite and willing to have a bit of a chat about signings etc, made a change!

Oh god who opened this can? There are worms everywhere!

It's a grimsby thing...  sometimes folk aint appy unless they're moanin....  

Quoted from rancido

Surely there are enough Trust members on here to formally mention this at on of their meetings? The Trust reps on the Board should follow this up through the GTFC Office manager.

In my (admittedly limited) experience of such matters it has always been better to go down the correct channels when dealing with GTFC. I love The Fishy BUT it isn't an official club organ and therefore would run the risk of being ignored. Anyone who has posted on here for as long as I have will be only too aware of the club's attitude to this esteemed organ!! People might not be over enamoured with it but the official way is to approach the Trust through the enquiries function. It is a lot harder to ignore issues when they are presented through the official channels. Anyone can e-mail the Trust they don't have to be a Trust member. To the best of my knowledge only Bax (for Operation Promotion matters) and I post on here. Gone are the days when I read every thread-certainly since Operation Promotion took over my life...

Over to you people....

Quoted from barralad

In my (admittedly limited) experience of such matters it has always been better to go down the correct channels when dealing with GTFC. I love The Fishy BUT it isn't an official club organ and therefore would run the risk of being ignored. Anyone who has posted on here for as long as I have will be only too aware of the club's attitude to this esteemed organ!! People might not be over enamoured with it but the official way is to approach the Trust through the enquiries function. It is a lot harder to ignore issues when they are presented through the official channels. Anyone can e-mail the Trust they don't have to be a Trust member. To the best of my knowledge only Bax (for Operation Promotion matters) and I post on here. Gone are the days when I read every thread-certainly since Operation Promotion took over my life...

Over to you people....

Excellent post barralad, obviously there is a problem that needs sorting, it is up to the club, in this time of good will they must be looking at it, i do not book online since they put a 50p tax on exiles and probably costs town a couple of games a season from me no-one likes complaining to a club we love with a passion but being taen for granted is very poor

I drove up to Gy this morning for two tickets and went straight to BP. I'm a trust member but wanted two tickets. Asked for two seats and wasn't asked for either season ticket details (I don't have one) or Supporters Trust membership
Got two tickets, great polite service but suspect anybody could have walked in and bought some

I had a similar experience to Buckstown.  Up here for the weekend, I went into the ticket office and they were really helpful, selling me a ticket with no-questions asked.  The people were really friendly and happy for a chat as they were preparing for the open day.  Young chap on the desk was particularly helpful and told me they'd sold just over 900 so far.

If you're not sure about anything or are an exile, I'd just suggest calling and explaining your situation.  I remember buying tickets for the Eastleigh playoff game and they took a booking over the phone and sent them by post so it can be done.

As for the staff and attitude, I think you're always bound to get the odd rude person or someone on a bad day, and we all have different anecdotes depending on our experiences.  It would be good if the club could maybe run some customer service training so that all staff are as good as the guy who helped me today.  If they can stick to three golden rules, they'll be fine:  1)  Always be polite to people 2) Always try to give the customer a solution rather than a problem 3) NEVER TURN AWAY SOMEONE'S MONEY.

Noticing that the people who aren't complaining aren't home regulars. Not a dig - just maybe the non complainers aren't going in regularly enough to have the reasons to whinge or maybe they're on cloud nine being in such a romantic setting as BP and Cleethorpes are that they are oblivious to it.

I have never had a problem at the ticket office, they've always gone out there way to get my lad and me our preferred seats in the lower findus. They've always been polite to me.

I'm a little confused as I live near near Northampton and can't get to BP will they send tickets to me for the Kiddie game? But charge me £6+ for postage?
Or can they only be picked up from BP?

Shame we cant design a system to pay and reserve your seat which then becomes unavailable to the next person....self ticket.

Quoted from Teesknees

I'm a little confused as I live near near Northampton and can't get to BP will they send tickets to me for the Kiddie game? But charge me £6+ for postage?
Or can they only be picked up from BP?

They should be willing to send you tickets, but they may try and insist on sending them special delivery at a ridiculous cost of £6.75. Might be worth phoning and asking if they could just send them first class instead.

Quoted from Chrisblor

They should be willing to send you tickets, but they may try and insist on sending them special delivery at a ridiculous cost of £6.75. Might be worth phoning and asking if they could just send them first class instead.

Royal Mail charge £6.45 for Special Delivery. If your tickets (or other goods) are over £20 then ordinary post will not cover them!

Personally I would rather pay the extra and have guaranteed next day delivery, and fully covered if lost in post!

Quoted from Chrisblor

They should be willing to send you tickets, but they may try and insist on sending them special delivery at a ridiculous cost of £6.75. Might be worth phoning and asking if they could just send them first class instead.

Thank you for your advice.

At the back end of last season after having had my usual gruff ticket purchasing experience I went in with a friend who has a few gtfc contacts. Lo and behold smiles and chat. I was now not a nuisance ruining the ticket office coffee morning.

This change in attitude seems only available when you are in the "clique".