Ticket admission only

[Fosse69]

My son-in-law and I arrived at the ground at midday and went to the old ticket office which is now for away fans. We queued inside the shop and were told to go outside where the queue was much shorter. We went outside and joined a much longer queue although I must admit we had our ticket within minutes.

It was the same when we went into the ground at 2:30. The queue was quite long and not moving, apparently a young couple at the front tried to gain access to the Railway Stand when their tickets were for the paddock and they couldn't understand what the problem was. Once they'd been re-directed by a "helpful steward" the queue disappeared quite quickly.

No complaints really but the real test may be Wolves at the end of the month when a crowd of 10k plus should be expected especially with us sitting high in the league.

The problem is the gate numbers for some Paddock tickets, maybe all, mine definitely is, are for Stand tickets. Most people know which to use, but newcomers would not.

[smithie]

I loathe ticketing agencies, and always felt it wasn't Vale's style to get into bed with these people.

 

Little story from last Tuesday. I wanted to buy two tickets for theT20 Warwickhire v Somerset match, which were (apparently) £15.00 each in advance. The Warks CCC website stated "WE have a ticket line you can use to buy tickets over the phone". I called the said number and smelt a rat, as a Manc answered. I asked where in the UK I was through to, and I was told it was Ticketmaster!

 

Usual gubbins ensued...name, address, phone number, sock size etc until the girl says OK, I'll debit your card now...that's £34.00 Sir. The reason? £1.50 PER TICKET fee, and £1.00 transaction fee.

 

Needless to say, I suggested rectal self-insertion and hung up.

[Boslem Boy]

The problem is the gate numbers for some Paddock tickets, maybe all, mine definitely is, are for Stand tickets. Most people know which to use, but newcomers would not.

 

That's right, their paddock & my stand tickets both said to use turnstiles 15-20.

[carpetman123]

Buy a season ticket.....problem solved!!

[valiant]

And who's going to rob the money with dozens of coppers everywhere?

You'd be surprised £1000s of pounds get lost/stolen using the old method. Also many adults used to go in for childs prices as it was so easy. Again huge amounts of money lost for the club.

 

Yeah with 10 of thousands of people trying to get in. Not like that in Burslem though is it?

I went the cinema the other day had to queue up to get a ticket and then go to a separate queue to get in to the screen for my film. There was only about 30 people there. Vale had several thousand people and if they want to ever increase that they need a modern ticketing system and finally thats what they're starting to introduce.

 

It's no use saying lets stay small time and just have a few people coming up on Saturday that sneak in for children's prices but they pay at the turnstyle so they're happy. We'll soon end up back in administration repeating things that have already proven to fail us.

[Trentham Lakes Valiant]

I will repeat again,are we tinpot living in the past or are we a modern football club moving forward?,cash less turnstiles are the way of the future,lets see how many away league games are cash turnstiles,it's down to the fans to retrain their brains to make the transition go smoothly..

 

Someone has hacked Grebo's account. That post makes sense.

[valerule4ever]

I don't like like the all ticket system, it is too much hassle, supporters shouldn't have to make 2 trips or be expected to wait to get in, I still believe the club should have at least 1 cash entry point in the ground. I know this will put off some casuals from attending especially in winter or tuesday games or if we are struggling. I used to attend the odd game at Crewe if Vale were not playing but since they went all ticket I have not been back once!

 

On a plus point the new season ticket cards are much better than the old style numbered tickets! It would be good for cup games if season ticket holders could use there season ticket to gain entry to the ground somehow to save having to visit the ticket office/buy seperate ticket?

[Jacko51]

I don't like like the all ticket system, it is too much hassle, supporters shouldn't have to make 2 trips

 

Have you not got a phone? You can order tickets by phone if you can't get to the ground.

[ancient mariner]

plenty of spare seats youth

 

 

Ever likely you user the name joker,

you must be having a laugh if you think it is ok to sell the same seats twice.

The point i was making is,we were told to sit in allocated seats,this was not possible.

We had no problem finding alternative seats,but what would have happened at 3.00 if 2 people had turned up wanting the seats we were in ?

As for youth i've probably got a cap thats been to more matches than you,lol.

[Mcphee4Scotland]

The ticket office is poorly designed. That is the main problem. Why didn't they just have several windows facing out externally like every other club has? At least with several shorter queues there is a psychological benefit from not being in one massive queue. Advanced purchase sales (i'e for future matches and away matches), collections on internet and phone bookings and same day matchday tickets should have separate kiosks. It is common sense to not have everybody in one queue. I wanted to get Walsall and Oldham tickets today but simply didn't want to stand in one massive queue, effectively delaying others who had more urgent ticketing requirements.

 

As a season ticket holder I found the efficiency of getting into the ground at 2.45 ideal. No queues whatsoever at the actual turnstiles so they'll be 4,600+ supporters more than happy. The inefficiency of today simply would not be repeated if we went completely paperless. What is wrong with having tickets in the style of the season tickets that can have matches loaded onto them online or in bulk? Having a paper system at all when a credit card style ticket is available is simply backwards.

 

Your first paragraph pretty much sums up my thoughts exactly.

 

It would have been beneficial for all involved if Vale have build three or four separate kiosks available to purchase tickets when the new ticket office was built. The queues to purchase matchday tickets were pretty large yesterday and I can understand people's frustrations.

 

Thankfully from a personal perspective; I managed to sort out our tickets a couple of days before the game so didn't endure large queues. In the short-term; whilst we are waiting for the Ticketmaster online ticketing system go live; the other ticket office by the main Club entrance should remain open for home matches and good communication from the club should state this via media outlets such as Sentinel, Radio etc. I believe that there were pretty small scale queues for this ticket office compared to the new one.

 

I overheard a conversation between a couple of the Stewards yesterday and a fair few fans had indeed become frustrated at waiting in queues for 20+ minutes and they mentioned quite a few fans requesting that a special 'Cash turnstyle' be opened up to reduce the large queues.

[Rampant Zebra]

Still not getting this massive amount of losses. Even if some people get in for concessionary rates when they shouldn't, senior tickets are only £5 cheaper, 18-21 tickets £5 cheaper and 12-17 tickets £12 cheaper. People are still paying to get in and maybe a lot of them wouldn't go if they had to pay full price.

[Andyregs]

Still not getting this massive amount of losses. Even if some people get in for concessionary rates when they shouldn't, senior tickets are only £5 cheaper, 18-21 tickets £5 cheaper and 12-17 tickets £12 cheaper. People are still paying to get in and maybe a lot of them wouldn't go if they had to pay full price.

 

What I saw was they actually would go in full price, they were just trying it on. Would be a wasted journey otherwise.

[For Us All]

You didn't speak to any of the people waiting outside the Bycars while the IT man climbed over the turnstile to get the scanner working so we could get in then!

 

I got to the Bycars at 14.45 and was in the ground at 14.50,can't see what the problem was.

[I HAVE A DREAM]

Round and round and round and round this debate goes. It's all ticket - move on

[For Us All]

Ever likely you user the name joker,

you must be having a laugh if you think it is ok to sell the same seats twice.

The point i was making is,we were told to sit in allocated seats,this was not possible.

We had no problem finding alternative seats,but what would have happened at 3.00 if 2 people had turned up wanting the seats we were in ?

As for youth i've probably got a cap thats been to more matches than you,lol.

 

He's a wum,probably a lardie or a trainspotter.