Many people have have commented on how difficult it can be to contact the club by telephone or by email when trying to make enquiries or to buy tickets. If, like me, you live some distance from Coventry, buying a ticket over the phone or on-line is the only way, unless you don't mind paying the match day price hike. I know from my own experience how frustrating it can be.
If you want to park at one of The Ricoh Arena car parks as well as buy a ticket to watch our favourite team The Sky Blues that means two phone calls or two emails and quite often, twice the frustration.
As a wheelchair user, I prefer to use one of The Ricoh Arena car parks, it is a nice, quick, smooth journey into the ground, no bumps, kerbs or blocked dropped kerbs to negotiate. Of course that means I have to book a parking space in advance as well as buy a ticket, but not being able to contact the club when I want to has, in the past meant I have missed games and the club has missed out on much needed revenue.
Having followed our great club for fifty years, we were still known as The Bantams when I fist saw Coventry play, I needed to vent my frustration at the difficulty I had in watching a football match. I wrote an article outlining the problems I have encountered as well as the additional problems a disabled supporter has. I do not know what thought I would achieve. I was hopeful someone at the club would take notice and push for improvements to be made. I will admit, I was not optimistic.
A few days after my article was published, I had a phone call from Justin in the ticket office at The Ricoh Arena. Now let me quickly explain that I published the article under my incomplete name. I left no contact details, but Justin used his initiative and cross referenced the incomplete by line on my article and found details that could have been mine on the club supporters data-base and tried the phone number. It was mine.
Justin listened to my moans and complaints, then advised me of Coventry City Football Club's problems. Apart from not being able to easily contact the club, by biggest complaint was that the club couldn't tell me if there wheelchair spaces available straight away. It must be said that because Coventry City do not own the ground or the car parks, there are bound to be areas which are not conducive to efficiency and that explains why we have to make two calls to the club if we want to use the car park and buy a ticket. Until The Ricoh is owned by the football club this won't change in a hurry and we will have to put up with a bit of inconvenience.
Last week I tried to contact the club to book a parking space and to buy a ticket for the Leicester game. The club advise that you book parking spaces at least a week in advance and with less than five days to go, I stopped phoning The Ricoh and resigned myself to not going to the game. Justin's phone call altered that.
After we had exchanged opinions, Justin asked if I still wanted to buy a ticket for the Leicester game if there were any wheelchair spaces left and when I said yes, he said he would check and get back to me. Even he had to go away to check on wheelchair space availability.
After a few minutes he phoned me back to say there are spaces left and arranged for me to book a car park space and a wheelchair space, but in fine Coventry City style, despite the fact he was in the ticket office, he couldn't process a payment, he would get a colleague to call me back.
I am happy to report that I was phoned back a short time later and I paid over the phone so I will be going to the ball after all.
We are all quick to moan and complain when things seem to go against us and slow to appreciate those who do try to help, but I am happy to give credit where it is due and say a massive thank you to Justin for going that extra mile to help a frustrated fan get to see a game.
I did say in my previous article I did not expect special treatment, but that I did expect to be able to buy a ticket without difficulty. I did get special treatment though, I am grateful for that, but it shouldn't be necessary. All supporters ought to be able to contact the club without undue difficulty and I hope that the club will get its problems sorted out quickly, they are aware of them and that is a start.
I am sure I am not alone in being deterred from going to games at The Ricoh. The club is desperate to get more fans through the turnstiles and making it a lot easier to buy tickets over the phone will, I am sure, bring in a few more fans.