Dear Roker Report,
A follow-up to my readers’ letter of last week, where I was a bit lost as to how I could access Barnes and Benno via the SAFC site.
My next step was to purchase a Black Cat Membership (as commentary access was part of the package), and I received an immediate email response giving me my Supporter ID and invoice. Good, I thought – that’s that settled.
I then tried to listen to the Hull City
game but could not find where to click (other than the ‘death loop’ BUY button). At first, I thought it might be me not being able to figure out what to press – however, the next day, when I tried to view the Members’ Only videos, nothing happened. I was, however, encouraged repeatedly to enrol in the membership scheme – the one I had just paid for.
I followed the suggestion in my membership confirmation email and phoned the office (option 1). ‘Good,’ I thought, a person to talk to. But no. A recorded message told me what the office hours were (which I was already aware of and calling within), then said no one would be able to answer my call and abruptly hung up. There was not even the obligatory “Your call is important to us” – clearly it wasn’t.
I then tried to contact the club via the website. The only drop-down option which seemed relevant was the ‘Complaint’ one. I sent a message explaining my specific issues and received two emails from SAFC almost immediately – neither of which was relevant to my problem. An AI bot probably scanned my complaint and picked out key words, then sent pre-written responses.
But, on the plus side, I was told ‘my Arsenal tickets would be emailed to me shortly’ – which came as a bit of a surprise, as I hadn’t ordered any.
If only a human was involved, I might have been able to get a simple question answered. “I have paid to join the Black Cat Membership scheme but it does not appear to have been activated?”
I am in my 70s and consider myself decent at tech stuff, but what about people who require help to navigate such things? Surely a dedicated helpline (with real people) would be an appropriate gesture for a family club such as ours, especially for older supporters. I realise most online HELP / CONTACT US are largely unhelpful and uncontactable, but I expected better from SAFC.
It seems the communication staff are not able to handle the number of requests they receive.
This appears to be a mess of the club’s own making. I am guessing it is to do with the membership scheme and ticketing. A Membership Scheme is not a bad idea, in principle, but requires appropriate staffing levels to administer. No wonder they have a “high volume of incoming requests” to the complaints department.
I am absolutely in awe of the work of the playing staff, management, recruitment staff, etc. They have worked wonders over the last few years, but when it comes to communication with fans, I feel it is a very different story.
There is no excuse, especially for a club of such magnitude, for shoddy customer relations.
Mel Oyston
Ed’s Note [Gav]: Cheers for passing this along Mel, and I’m sorry to hear you’re having bother. To be honest, the more I hear about issues people are facing and the more time goes on I’m starting to realise that the Membership Scheme simply isn’t what it was cracked up to be when it was first announced.
Sunderland announced the Membership Scheme almost two months ago, and within that announcement we were told that an app was coming that would provide added value for members. Unless I’ve missed it, we’ve heard absolutely nothing about the app since. How long will it be before it’s launched?! Things like digital programmes, radio commentary and the like will surely be accessible once the app is available, but we’re two months down the line now with no indication of when it’s coming and what added value it will actually provide.
The very real issue that the club now have when it comes to Memberships is that they have to start showing there’s added value, otherwise people simply won’t bother next time they’re asked to shell out.
Obviously, the carrot dangling before people is easier access to tickets via ballots, and importantly, we have the Europa League this season. But let’s say we don’t qualify for Europe next season – are people going to buy memberships if they’re not really seeing a return on their money?
There are many examples of other Premier League clubs providing value through memberships and when you weigh the majority up against what Sunderland fans are getting, it’s safe to say we’re not getting a lot.
There’s probably a lot more to get into with this membership stuff and I’d encourage people reading this that are having their own issues to get in touch so we here at RR can get a better understanding of the things that are causing people issues.
