This was the scene outside two minutes before kick off... please log in to view this image Even when the ground's half empty we can't get people in on time. At 7.15 last night, I went to the club shop to get QPR tickets (I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to go until Monday night) and I also missed kick off. There are eight tills in the club shop, two were selling tickets and had a queue of 60-odd people at any given point, while six were doing absolutely **** all, with staff just stood around gawping at the queue. They had people walking up and down the queue, pulling out people who were just collecting tickets, which helped, but they weren't pointing out that Donny tickets weren't on sale, so many were queuing for nothing (not selling tickets to a game a week away, when so many people are there wanting to buy them, is in itself daft). Also, they have to key in everyone's name and address to sell them tickets, so it takes ages. Most of the people buying away tickets has passes with them, which have a bar-code on them, why the **** they can't just scan them in to get peoples details is beyond me. Why they can't open more tills to sell tickets is also beyond me. Our systems are archaic, not being able to sell tickets efficiently, or simply get people into the ground on time is farcical. Still, at least they cleaned the stairs to the bar.
I had a rant at a steward. He said the problem was people turn up too late! I told him it's the entry system which is ****. The print at home tickets don't seem to scan. The system takes far too long to reset between each entry. Last night was worse than at any point last season with bigger crowds. Has Ehab sacked and replaced all the stewards? I don't recognise any stewards from last season in or around the ground. They all look new, they are also very keen to enforce no standing rules.
I missed kick off, as did Askew and another That in itself isn't a surprise as we often to decide to have one quick pint more to avoid the queues However last night we actually got there well before kick off...and then stood in the queue in the photo for ages What it doesn't show I don't think is that was only one side of the queue, it actually snaked back the other way for 100 yards too Yet again it was bizarre to see one steward on each scanner trying to help people. The only saving by putting the system in seems to have been that they could sell the chairs that the original turnstile stewards sat on! On the plus side it meant I missed their first goal...and then missed their second goal to nip to the bar before half time...So I left the game really happy with our 2-1 win !
They've used the new pricing structure to encourage more people into North and South stands, but not provided any more entry capacity to allow for that. There were zero queues for East Stand entry last night and on Saturday, because the pricing policy has thinned out attendances in East considerably. That said, the entry capacity for each stand has previously worked ok with an entirely full stadium. So there must be a reason why the North and South turnstiles are incapable of dealing with demand for more seats (but not every seat) being occupied, which was maybe masked last season by relatively low turnouts in those stands.
It really is as if they're doing everything possible to stop fans attending. I'm serious - there's just too much happened / happening for it to be pure incompetence.
Scanning takes too long to reset between people, but ideally the turnstile would be immediately next to the scanner because I don't think it resets until the person has walked forward and gone through Or just have a scanner separate away from the actual entrance with one steward so you're scanned on entering the last bit of the queue then sort yourself out through the turnstiles (which wouldn't be needed anyway if you were scanned remotely)
Key Performance Indicator - Number of adults getting in on concession tickets. It was over 100 (probably. No idea of number). Introduce new turnstiles and it's lower but not 0. Remove concessions and it's now 0. Why are there new stewards? Are the old ones too busy replacing divots? Did they show too much sympathy for the ground staff? Did they not share the club's philosophy?
Easy - get in - unlatch the fire escape gates and let everyone in - no queue - it really is that easy if its time for kick off and they're still ****ing about
This seems the most plausible explanation. My missus went last night with our lad and she used my pass for entry. I bought and used a print at home ticket for W10. Went in at 7.35 via turnstile 36 and there was 2 people in front of me in the queue. No issues whatsoever.
On Saturday it the queue in front of me doubled back from the turnstyle to the away barrier. it took me ten minutes to get to the turnstyle and about 30 seconds to get through it. That is too long. Tash is right, the delay between scans is an issue. But the whole ticketing system is not right. as in the op.
Exactly. What will it take for some people to wake up and smell the coffee? Over and over we see the apologists going red faced and still they steadfastly defend the indefensible.
Agreed bummers, however never underestimate Ehab's levels of incompetence. And whilst I'm on that subject what are the odds on our fax machine ****ing up during the last minutes of the window whilst half way through the Musa deal? Incompetence or pure ****ishness? You decide.
Got in at 8.00pm. Also had a go at the 'supervisior' steward who was stood with about ten other stewards around him all doing FA except appearing to share out pizza whilst the queue to get in got longer and longer. I asked him to supervise and to send feedback to his superiors that this isn't good enough. Met with a blank stare and a bit of aggression from one of the boy stewards. 'it's not his fault'
They're taking the piss, pure and simple, it's blindingly obvious (except to the apologists, pictured). please log in to view this image