Pathetic Customer Service

[maydrakin]

I am writing this, largely out of frustration, but I feel I need to get it off my chest.

My dad was a season ticket holder for 50-odd years and he died of cancer in September. (I joined him as a season ticket holder from 1987)

He had renewed his ticket for the 2020-21 season before the pandemic hit which was carried over into this season.

In April, when he knew he was too poorly to go again, he wrote to the ticket office advising as such and would therefore prefer a refund to the ticket for 2021-22.

He received a response saying that the club could not provide a refund as the deadline had since passed.

As a result, I wrote to the club in July to see if an amicable solution could be found to transfer his ticket to my friend who would pay the difference from a 65+ ticket to a standard adult one, then paying my dad for the rest of the ticket.

I heard nothing.  I chased again twice and still heard nothing.

In an attempt to try and sort it out before the season ticket deadline (after my dad had recently died and after Derby had gone into administration), I went to the ticket office and was advised the process would be that my friend would have to buy the ticket in full and my dad could get a refund on his seat, due to his death.

I therefore paid for my friend’s seat (which was my dad’s seat) in full for my friend and gave details with regards to getting a refund.

This week, the SLO contacted me to say that it would be possible to upgrade his seat to my friend and to contact the ticket office accordingly, in response to my email sent in July.

When I explained what I had already been told by the ticket office, I received another email advising that due to the administration events, no refund could be given at all.

So, Derby County have taken my dad’s money and my friend’s money for the same seat, have given me conflicting information and are now reneging on returning my Dad’s refund (which would have obviously gone to my mother).

I have requested that I get his season ticket back but for a different seat, as I can either bring someone else, or sell it on to recover some of the cash, but have had no response so far.

I can’t express how poorly I have felt Derby have handled this, (effectively costing me over £300) and it shows how much they valued my dad as a “customer”, when their lack of providing the correct information or acting in a timely manner could have seen this resolved.

Overall, I’m really saddened that this becomes my Dad’s final legacy with the club that he loved.

[Ram-Alf]

Sad to hear about your Dad and I have some sympathy for you, My Brother passed in April(cancer)we cleared his flat out and found stuff that we never expected, Daughter took all paperwork home to sort out, She gave me a call to say my Brother had not cashed in his 19-20 season ticket refund, The expiry date had passed, A letter was sent and gave him another month to claim, This passed also, She asked if she could make a claim and send his death certificate as proof...she did, An email was recieved to say that they had recieved the email and could she be a little patient...a few weeks later £80+ cheque made out to her was sent, An animal charity was given the money.

All I can think is that because we are in Administration...all cheques have to be autharised and cleared by the Administraters.

To be fare to DCFC they handled it very well ?

Edited October 8, 2021 by Unlucky Alf

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, maydrakin said:

I am writing this, largely out of frustration, but I feel I need to get it off my chest.

My dad was a season ticket holder for 50-odd years and he died of cancer in September. (I joined him as a season ticket holder from 1987)

He had renewed his ticket for the 2020-21 season before the pandemic hit which was carried over into this season.

In April, when he knew he was too poorly to go again, he wrote to the ticket office advising as such and would therefore prefer a refund to the ticket for 2021-22.

He received a response saying that the club could not provide a refund as the deadline had since passed.

As a result, I wrote to the club in July to see if an amicable solution could be found to transfer his ticket to my friend who would pay the difference from a 65+ ticket to a standard adult one, then paying my dad for the rest of the ticket.

I heard nothing.  I chased again twice and still heard nothing.

In an attempt to try and sort it out before the season ticket deadline (after my dad had recently died and after Derby had gone into administration), I went to the ticket office and was advised the process would be that my friend would have to buy the ticket in full and my dad could get a refund on his seat, due to his death.

I therefore paid for my friend’s seat (which was my dad’s seat) in full for my friend and gave details with regards to getting a refund.

This week, the SLO contacted me to say that it would be possible to upgrade his seat to my friend and to contact the ticket office accordingly, in response to my email sent in July.

When I explained what I had already been told by the ticket office, I received another email advising that due to the administration events, no refund could be given at all.

So, Derby County have taken my dad’s money and my friend’s money for the same seat, have given me conflicting information and are now reneging on returning my Dad’s refund (which would have obviously gone to my mother).

I have requested that I get his season ticket back but for a different seat, as I can either bring someone else, or sell it on to recover some of the cash, but have had no response so far.

I can’t express how poorly I have felt Derby have handled this, (effectively costing me over £300) and it shows how much they valued my dad as a “customer”, when their lack of providing the correct information or acting in a timely manner could have seen this resolved.

Overall, I’m really saddened that this becomes my Dad’s final legacy with the club that he loved.

This is shameful. I'd pop something up on the club's Twitter feed and embarrass them into putting this right by some form of discretionary payment. A long shot perhaps, but I'd not be letting this lie. Best of luck in any case.

[Beetle]

Sorry for your loss. Having lost both of my parents relatively recently prior to covid and my father in law to covid I would be absolutely livid if I was you.

I genuinely hope and believe you will be seen right by the club though.

Keep us posted on how you get on. I'll show my support for you however I can if needed. I'm sure there are a few fellow Rams out there that will do the same.

 

[PendineRam]

15 minutes ago, Beetle said:

Sorry for your loss. Having lost both of my parents relatively recently prior to covid and my father in law to covid I would be absolutely livid if I was you.

I genuinely hope and believe you will be seen right by the club though.

Keep us posted on how you get on. I'll show my support for you however I can if needed. I'm sure there are a few fellow Rams out there that will do the same.

 

Most definitely! 

 

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

Sorry for your loss and to hear about your ongoing frustrations, which don't exactly help matters.

Unfortunately, I can't say I am wholly surprised to hear this as this lack of communication and ability to deal with matters rationally and simply seems to be engrained. I have now given up on ever receiving anything from the club with regards to my matte, which has been going on for months now with no proper response at all. Hopefully someone will get a grip on this sort of thing soon when new pople are in place and hopefully common sense will prevail in your case. Best of luck with it. 

[Gisby]

Do we know of anyone who is a member of this forum whilst also very closely connected to the club? Think his initials are OB … maybe he could help? Sometimes it not what you know but who you know. Just a thought ?‍♂️

[rammieib]

Really sorry to hear this - exactly the type of customer service new owners would need to fix.

My only hope is someone with a little bit of influence reads a very articulate post and something gets sorted out to rectify the situation and make it correct.

[Ambitious]

4 hours ago, maydrakin said:

I am writing this, largely out of frustration, but I feel I need to get it off my chest.

My dad was a season ticket holder for 50-odd years and he died of cancer in September. (I joined him as a season ticket holder from 1987)

He had renewed his ticket for the 2020-21 season before the pandemic hit which was carried over into this season.

In April, when he knew he was too poorly to go again, he wrote to the ticket office advising as such and would therefore prefer a refund to the ticket for 2021-22.

He received a response saying that the club could not provide a refund as the deadline had since passed.

As a result, I wrote to the club in July to see if an amicable solution could be found to transfer his ticket to my friend who would pay the difference from a 65+ ticket to a standard adult one, then paying my dad for the rest of the ticket.

I heard nothing.  I chased again twice and still heard nothing.

In an attempt to try and sort it out before the season ticket deadline (after my dad had recently died and after Derby had gone into administration), I went to the ticket office and was advised the process would be that my friend would have to buy the ticket in full and my dad could get a refund on his seat, due to his death.

I therefore paid for my friend’s seat (which was my dad’s seat) in full for my friend and gave details with regards to getting a refund.

This week, the SLO contacted me to say that it would be possible to upgrade his seat to my friend and to contact the ticket office accordingly, in response to my email sent in July.

When I explained what I had already been told by the ticket office, I received another email advising that due to the administration events, no refund could be given at all.

So, Derby County have taken my dad’s money and my friend’s money for the same seat, have given me conflicting information and are now reneging on returning my Dad’s refund (which would have obviously gone to my mother).

I have requested that I get his season ticket back but for a different seat, as I can either bring someone else, or sell it on to recover some of the cash, but have had no response so far.

I can’t express how poorly I have felt Derby have handled this, (effectively costing me over £300) and it shows how much they valued my dad as a “customer”, when their lack of providing the correct information or acting in a timely manner could have seen this resolved.

Overall, I’m really saddened that this becomes my Dad’s final legacy with the club that he loved.

Awful. Absolutely awful. 

The treatment of fans in general, over the past 12 months, has been absolutely terrible. Yet, I still would've liked to think that they wouldn't stoop to the above. The administrators have been decent since coming in, hopefully it will come to a happy resolution. 

[i-Ram]

5 hours ago, maydrakin said:

I am writing this, largely out of frustration, but I feel I need to get it off my chest.

My dad was a season ticket holder for 50-odd years and he died of cancer in September. (I joined him as a season ticket holder from 1987)

He had renewed his ticket for the 2020-21 season before the pandemic hit which was carried over into this season.

In April, when he knew he was too poorly to go again, he wrote to the ticket office advising as such and would therefore prefer a refund to the ticket for 2021-22.

He received a response saying that the club could not provide a refund as the deadline had since passed.

As a result, I wrote to the club in July to see if an amicable solution could be found to transfer his ticket to my friend who would pay the difference from a 65+ ticket to a standard adult one, then paying my dad for the rest of the ticket.

I heard nothing.  I chased again twice and still heard nothing.

In an attempt to try and sort it out before the season ticket deadline (after my dad had recently died and after Derby had gone into administration), I went to the ticket office and was advised the process would be that my friend would have to buy the ticket in full and my dad could get a refund on his seat, due to his death.

I therefore paid for my friend’s seat (which was my dad’s seat) in full for my friend and gave details with regards to getting a refund.

This week, the SLO contacted me to say that it would be possible to upgrade his seat to my friend and to contact the ticket office accordingly, in response to my email sent in July.

When I explained what I had already been told by the ticket office, I received another email advising that due to the administration events, no refund could be given at all.

So, Derby County have taken my dad’s money and my friend’s money for the same seat, have given me conflicting information and are now reneging on returning my Dad’s refund (which would have obviously gone to my mother).

I have requested that I get his season ticket back but for a different seat, as I can either bring someone else, or sell it on to recover some of the cash, but have had no response so far.

I can’t express how poorly I have felt Derby have handled this, (effectively costing me over £300) and it shows how much they valued my dad as a “customer”, when their lack of providing the correct information or acting in a timely manner could have seen this resolved.

Overall, I’m really saddened that this becomes my Dad’s final legacy with the club that he loved.

Sorry to learn of your loss Maydrakin. Your experience sums up the shitshow the club has become in the last 6-12 month of the Morris reign. Hopefully you will get a positive outcome on this. I would drop a polite letter to the Administrators and hopefully they will be able to agree some suitable accommodation on this. As someone else suggested perhaps @Owen87ITKmight be able to help too in some way. Avoid Twitter. Full of idiots.

[Carl Sagan]

A terrible time for you Maydrakin. I'm so sorry to hear the story about the season ticket, but more sorry to hear you dad died. Huge sympathies.

It's a terrible time for the club too. We know it was abandoned for months, the ticket office closed, no one there, and is now in administration fighting for its survival. It's obviously a case of crossed wires, people overworked or not being there to do the job. And now more have been made redundant. Plus it's probably illegal for the administrators to reimburse you because their obligation is to other creditors first.

It's all crap right now, and a thousand times more so for you. I'm sorry it's been handled badly by the club earlier on, and now it's out of the hands of anyone who's left or come in. I understand you getting the frustrations off your chest, but I don't think there can be any progress at this stage until after the club has been sold. Hoping it is. And even then, who knows? Let's hope any new owners want Derby to be a strong community-embedded club again.

[Boycie]

I agree with @i-Ram using Twitter to complain is like peeing in the wind.

You get all the fools jumping on.

Sorry to hear about your Dad mate.

[B4ev6is]

10 hours ago, maydrakin said:

I am writing this, largely out of frustration, but I feel I need to get it off my chest.

My dad was a season ticket holder for 50-odd years and he died of cancer in September. (I joined him as a season ticket holder from 1987)

He had renewed his ticket for the 2020-21 season before the pandemic hit which was carried over into this season.

In April, when he knew he was too poorly to go again, he wrote to the ticket office advising as such and would therefore prefer a refund to the ticket for 2021-22.

He received a response saying that the club could not provide a refund as the deadline had since passed.

As a result, I wrote to the club in July to see if an amicable solution could be found to transfer his ticket to my friend who would pay the difference from a 65+ ticket to a standard adult one, then paying my dad for the rest of the ticket.

I heard nothing.  I chased again twice and still heard nothing.

In an attempt to try and sort it out before the season ticket deadline (after my dad had recently died and after Derby had gone into administration), I went to the ticket office and was advised the process would be that my friend would have to buy the ticket in full and my dad could get a refund on his seat, due to his death.

I therefore paid for my friend’s seat (which was my dad’s seat) in full for my friend and gave details with regards to getting a refund.

This week, the SLO contacted me to say that it would be possible to upgrade his seat to my friend and to contact the ticket office accordingly, in response to my email sent in July.

When I explained what I had already been told by the ticket office, I received another email advising that due to the administration events, no refund could be given at all.

So, Derby County have taken my dad’s money and my friend’s money for the same seat, have given me conflicting information and are now reneging on returning my Dad’s refund (which would have obviously gone to my mother).

I have requested that I get his season ticket back but for a different seat, as I can either bring someone else, or sell it on to recover some of the cash, but have had no response so far.

I can’t express how poorly I have felt Derby have handled this, (effectively costing me over £300) and it shows how much they valued my dad as a “customer”, when their lack of providing the correct information or acting in a timely manner could have seen this resolved.

Overall, I’m really saddened that this becomes my Dad’s final legacy with the club that he loved.

I have to agree very very poorly handled if I was you I be fuming also did pay it be direct debted or credit card you might be able to get it back that way.

[IslandExile]

1 minute ago, B4ev6is said:

I have to agree very very poorly handled if I was you I be fuming also did pay it be direct debted or credit card you might be able to get it back that way.

Very good point B4.

Very sorry for your losses Maydrakin and UnluckyAlf.

[B4ev6is]

50 minutes ago, IslandExile said:

Very good point B4.

Very sorry for your losses Maydrakin and UnluckyAlf.

It is last thing you need when lost a love one but he might be able to get it back through his bank I seen when shop go into admin they often say pay by direct debt or credit card so maybe bank get it back for you.