ifollow / ST query | Vital Football

ifollow / ST query

wxgill

Vital 1st Team Regular
As i am getting matchday passes to watch the home games for "free" does this mean i am getting to see the games as if i had a season ticket? Therefore PS sees the ST holders as not being owed any money?

If that is the case i think he should say that so people can make an informed choice to keep accepting the free pass or not to bother.

I have watched the home games but in all honesty i prefer listening to Radio Kent for free.
 
As i am getting matchday passes to watch the home games for "free" does this mean i am getting to see the games as if i had a season ticket? Therefore PS sees the ST holders as not being owed any money?

If that is the case i think he should say that so people can make an informed choice to keep accepting the free pass or not to bother.

I have watched the home games but in all honesty i prefer listening to Radio Kent for free.

Blimey, how can you say that after yesterday's game?! Fantastic entertainment! All the other fans of other clubs are having to do the same, it's not just Scally who's making his club's fans do this...
 
As i am getting matchday passes to watch the home games for "free" does this mean i am getting to see the games as if i had a season ticket? Therefore PS sees the ST holders as not being owed any money?

If that is the case i think he should say that so people can make an informed choice to keep accepting the free pass or not to bother.

Yes being able to see the matches via iFollow for "free" is supposed to be a replacement until such time we can physically return. If you decided you wanted a refund from the club then they would presumably reduce the refund pro-rata based upon iFollow keys already sent out.

It strikes me that free video keys as a replacement for sitting in the ground was sufficiently obvious that the club didn't need to specifically spell it out.
 
To be honest I am surprised that you think a refund might even be an option on the table. Have you read that anywhere ?

Personally I think free Ifollow is fair compensation for my season ticket. There are a few issues with the reliability of the platform, including people being charged when they shouldn't, but other than that it gives us better access than RK or following on twitter.

Scallys very late communication a while back didn't really cover refunds other than he said I am grateful to those who allowed the club to survive by buying season tickets. He added I am considering how to recognise them at some point in the future but he totally swerved any ST refund process

If you want one then you might need to phone the ticket office direct and see what they say.

I wouldn't expect a good outcome though, not unless you are prepared to look at the clubs legal requirements for non supply of goods or services that you have paid for.
 
Blimey, how can you say that after yesterday's game?! Fantastic entertainment! All the other fans of other clubs are having to do the same, it's not just Scally who's making his club's fans do this...

Not strictly true. Many clubs have offered a refund OR iFollow. Unless I have missed the communication we have never been given the option.
 
I will start by saying that I never had any intention of requesting a refund for this season or last; whether we got to see any football or not. I still don't. I think that's the beginning not the end and I'd say the level of loyalty shown by fans deserves more than the club has given.

It was never so obvious that video keys were a replacement for sitting in the ground, it became apparent gradually. Once it was clear that was the deal then it should have been spelled out and some sort of acknowledgement of rights surrenedered should have been made. Look at where we are: some fans have literally given the club several hundred pounds without any acknowledgement other than a short paragraph in a long address. Some of us are now questioning others for not going along quietly with this situation.

We may need to nurse the club along for a good while yet and it's entirely possible it won't survive in its current form. I have every sympathy with the couple of staff trying to make a woefully poor system work and thank them for their efforts but it didn't need to be like this. The way the ifollow system was set up for us was wrong from the start and the administration of it has been poor. There has been no dialogue with fans some of whom might have the skills to improve matters and many of whom would have been prepared to undertake mundane tasks.

I know one fan of around my age, a long time ST holder, who hasn't watched a single game online and doesn't intend to in the future. No one has contacted him and I suspect no one at the club knows how many there are like him. These are lifelong fans, who have made a substantial financial contribution without recognition. We desperately need to keep them on board. I'll end by repeating my observation that the very people, who declare us customers and the club a business, are those most adamant that we have a duty to pay up and shut up. Right now the survival of Gillingham FC relies more on the support of its fans than any other factor.
 
I will start by saying that I never had any intention of requesting a refund for this season or last; whether we got to see any football or not. I still don't. I think that's the beginning not the end and I'd say the level of loyalty shown by fans deserves more than the club has given.
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Agree 100% but lets be honest has the club (under Scally) ever done that ? Someone said it in a post a while back (might even have been you Jo) that Scally has always looked at the fans as people he has to tolerate rather than customers he should value and bend over backwards to help and retain.

We are normally promised something when he's selling something to us. "project championship" or "ST cheese and wine parties" - I still laugh at that one. Even the hinted at GFC bond never materialised (thankfully).

Other clubs articles occasionally pop up on my face book feed and there seems genuine warmth and appreciation to their fans. I've never felt that from Scally. We are tolerated as he needs our money is the vibe I get. I might be wrong.

Contrast and compare Steve Evans communications to the fans and Scally's.

Your point above is absolutely valid and it would cost very little effort to do it but it needed to be done throughout lockdown. Just not his way I guess.
 
For me a £10 pass does not cut it. I believe my ST works out at about £13 a game.

I'm going to ring the club tomorrow and ask about a refund for my two year ticket.

Yet the club are pondering buying a player - i thought we were short of money and may go bust by xmas without crowds?
 
For me a £10 pass does not cut it. I believe my ST works out at about £13 a game.

About right, but most fans also spend matchday money on transport, food, drink, programme etc so £10 to sit at home in the warm whilst a deadly virus ravages the country is probably not too bad a deal.

It is, of course, your right to claim a refund if you feel short changed by not actually being allowed inside the stadium to watch matches currently . I hope you get an answer from the club.
 
For me a £10 pass does not cut it. I believe my ST works out at about £13 a game.

I'm going to ring the club tomorrow and ask about a refund for my two year ticket.

Yet the club are pondering buying a player - i thought we were short of money and may go bust by xmas without crowds?
Don't think they've got anyone in to answer the phones currently. Could be wrong, let us know how you get on.
 
THe lack of communication is still an issue and without any it is hard not to feel a bit ripped off as a season ticket holder. Myself and my daughter watch on ifollow and it works out about £25. If We didn’t have season tickets we could sit there and pay £10. How can that be right?
 
Multiple ST holders at one address is an issue but no one planned for a lockdown when the tickets were sold. As a bit of PR the club could identify multi season ticket households and send some merchandise as a gesture.

Not a perfect solution but its a far from perfect situation
 
For me a £10 pass does not cut it. I believe my ST works out at about £13 a game.

I'm going to ring the club tomorrow and ask about a refund for my two year ticket.

As discovered, phoning is probably ineffective. Your best bet is obviously to e-mail the ticket office which Ben Whatshisname seems to be covering.

I give warning not to be surprised that any refund will be on this season only and that next season's ticket will be subject to usual non-pandemic rules.
 
As a bit of PR the club could identify multi season ticket households and send some merchandise as a gesture.

Not a perfect solution but its a far from perfect situation

It would still cause people to moan. You'd have people like wxgill complaining that ST works out at £13 a match while iFollow is only £10 so the normal fans should also be given a gesture too worth £3 a match while a household with 2 ST should be gestured with £3 + £13.

And then it might be further complicated by the fact that just because two tickets are registered at the same address, it doesn't mean the owners actually live together. I know someone whose son was supposed to be going to university this year (they were talking about Canterbury at one point) and the father was going to buy the ticket for them although the ticket would still be registered at the family address. I've lost contact with them over the summer so unsure what happened in the end to confirm.

I'm sure too there will be those who'd argue the loss is worth £69 (ie, 23 matches x £3 difference) and any gesture worth half of that is Scally doing gestures on the cheap while trying to get rid of junk from the club shop he can't sell.