Seagulls Player Update

seagullsovergrimsby said:

The club knew there was a problem , I believe the Middlesbrough matchday thread brought things to a head as they realised the implications of a mass cancellation campaign by the fans if nothing was going to be sorted out.

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El Presidente said:

We went (after a discussion on NSC during the match) to Paul Barber on 14 December at 4.30pm, had an email reply two hours later, the matter was taken up by PB with PERFORM and the FL within seven days. Ongoing negotiations have produced:

(a) A vastly improved service, partly due to PERFORM and partly due to the Albion installing a back up service
(b) An offer of a refund for the substandard service offered by PERFORM.

I'm not being critical of you, but there is a way to make a complaint, and IMO it should be professional, objective, stick to the facts, avoid emotions, and advise of potential consequences should the issue not be resolved to the benefit of all. In any negotiating scenario between two parties there are four outcomes, Win-Win, Win-Lose, Lose-Win and Lose-Lose.

History tells us that Win-Lose situations have a habit of metamorphising into Lose-Lose (the Treaty of Versailles being a classic example), so it was in the Albion's interest to take up the issue on our behalf, but in order to do that PB needed some concrete information, which is what we did during the debacle of the 'Boro match commentary.

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Muzzy said:

This was the email I received this morning from Paul Barber regarding the latest on what is being done about SP...

SEAGULLS PLAYER UPDATE

Dear Supporter,

As outlined in my message to Seagulls Player subscribers before Christmas, previous service levels - going back a very long period – and despite the best efforts of the club's staff, these have been unacceptable.

Following the most recent issues surrounding drop outs during the live match commentary at Middlesbrough, we informed both the Football League and PERFORM that our patience, and that of our fans, had finally run out and we demanded urgent action to improve the service.

In fairness, and as we would expect, both The Football League and PERFORM responded professionally and promptly to our concerns and pledged to resolve the issue as soon as possible. They are confident they have now correctly identified the issue as a likely hardware problem, and they upgraded key equipment before Christmas.

For the four matches over the Christmas period, I hope you will agree that we have seen a significant improvement in the service. The challenge for the Football League and its partner PERFORM is to maintain this level of service for every match moving forward.

However, should further problems arise, the club has also invested in the hardware and software to provide a back-up system - as we feel it is unfair for our fans to commit the time and money to follow the team in this way and not be provided with the service as expected. We hope we will not need to use this back-up system, but should it be necessary a link will be provided via the Audio Commentary page of Seagulls Player and other methods.

In addition to the actions they have taken to improve the hardware, PERFORM have, through the club, formally apologised to Seagulls Player subscribers and made a compensation payment to the club.

We wish to pass on the compensation to Seagulls Player subscribers in full. As such, and as a gesture to recognise the poor service you have experienced for some considerable time, you are entitled to a refund equivalent to the value of three months’ subscription fees. (or the number of full months you have been a subscriber, if less than three months).

To claim your refund you will need to write to write to us by Friday 17th January 2014.

Requests should be sent to: Seagulls Player Refund, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, The American Express Community Stadium, Village Way, Brighton BN1 9BL.

Please ensure you state your full name, address and email address linked to your Seagulls Player account in order for us to verify your claim. Refunds will then be sent by cheque (in pounds sterling) to your registered address.

Alternatively, you may wish to consider donating this sum to Albion in the Community, Brighton & Hove Albion's charitable arm. If you decide to do this, then you do not need to do anything, as all unclaimed refunds will be automatically donated to AITC after 17th January 2014. Funds donated in this way will be channelled towards AITC's disability programme, and in particular the Albion Power Chair team.

The sum of £500 will pay for a young disabled person to join and play for one of AITC’s impairment specific sports teams for a whole season, while £5000 will pay for AITC to run a disability community sports club in Sussex. These young players and clubs rely on the generosity and support of donors, as many could not afford to play sport without their help – so any donation you may be able to make will be gratefully received.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Kind Regards,
Paul Barber
Chief Executive

I have unsubscribed from SP and will remain so until at least the beginning of next season.

Whats the general feeling and opinion from other subscribers on here?

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Seagulls Downunder said:

Aren't we going round in circles here, the point is the club & PB knew about this ages ago and nothing was done.
I wish I still had the emails from over a year ago as you'd see that mine was very diplomatic as I was speaking on behalf of our 300 members whether or not they all subscribe and still nothing was done.
Now speaking for myself it seems you back the clubs actions and that we were wrong to complain, there are endless threads on here about the subject but it's only when we all said enough is enough was anything done.
I'm not knocking you for your input in trying to sort this out but it does appear from your posts that we're in the wrong, we pay good money so surely we have a right to complain however we feel fit, be it diplomatically or shooting off at the lip.

If you really want to be a voice for all of us then my I suggest you take up the subject of the clubs App which is a joke as commentary starts after the match does and unlike other clubs you don't get the build to the match that you do on the PC, having had the same email answers to SP everyone else has I still haven't managed to get one about the App.

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Seagulls Downunder said:

And just to prove my point, 6 mins in to the match before it started, just not good enough.

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KZNSeagull said:

The service has improved considerably since these changes were implemented and I have not experienced an issue with it since then, other than from my rubbish internet connection.

I have not received any emails from the club regarding the service, only those that have been posted on here. But my refund can go to AITC anyway, so that's fine.

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Muzzy said:

The Iphone app has been superb today, apart from only starting 2 mins into the game. The commentary is right from KO but about 90-120 seconds behind. Is SP the same?

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El Presidente said:

We went (after a discussion on NSC during the match) to Paul Barber on 14 December at 4.30pm, had an email reply two hours later, the matter was taken up by PB with PERFORM and the FL within seven days. Ongoing negotiations have produced:

(a) A vastly improved service, partly due to PERFORM and partly due to the Albion installing a back up service
(b) An offer of a refund for the substandard service offered by PERFORM.

I'm not being critical of you, but there is a way to make a complaint, and IMO it should be professional, objective, stick to the facts, avoid emotions, and advise of potential consequences should the issue not be resolved to the benefit of all. In any negotiating scenario between two parties there are four outcomes, Win-Win, Win-Lose, Lose-Win and Lose-Lose.

History tells us that Win-Lose situations have a habit of metamorphising into Lose-Lose (the Treaty of Versailles being a classic example), so it was in the Albion's interest to take up the issue on our behalf, but in order to do that PB needed some concrete information, which is what we did during the debacle of the 'Boro match commentary.

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clapham_gull said:

Sorry it has taken the club far too long to take proper action. Many of us have been complaining directly to the club for years.

I know how to complain thanks and my last year subscription was free. With credit to the club they sorted that out after Perform refused to refund me.

However, having the service for free is different from the service being reliable.

Problems have existed since the service started and they go much deeper than a dodgy ISDN line or some faulty hardware.

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Seagulls Downunder said:

Aren't we going round in circles here, the point is the club & PB knew about this ages ago and nothing was done.
I wish I still had the emails from over a year ago as you'd see that mine was very diplomatic as I was speaking on behalf of our 300 members whether or not they all subscribe and still nothing was done.
Now speaking for myself it seems you back the clubs actions and that we were wrong to complain, there are endless threads on here about the subject but it's only when we all said enough is enough was anything done.
I'm not knocking you for your input in trying to sort this out but it does appear from your posts that we're in the wrong, we pay good money so surely we have a right to complain however we feel fit, be it diplomatically or shooting off at the lip.

If you really want to be a voice for all of us then my I suggest you take up the subject of the clubs App which is a joke as commentary starts after the match does and unlike other clubs you don't get the build to the match that you do on the PC, having had the same email answers to SP everyone else has I still haven't managed to get one about the App.

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mr sheen said:

Agreed, I have this issue too

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Iggle Piggle said:

Thirded. All this cock noshing and back slapping about the improvement in service quite frankly is getting on my tits. The service is still a piece of shit and the app doesn't work.

I will write back that they can keep the cash for AITC but that the app issue must be fixed otherwise I will be cancelling.

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Iggle Piggle said:

Thirded. All this cock noshing and back slapping about the improvement in service quite frankly is getting on my tits. The service is still a piece of shit and the app doesn't work.

I will write back that they can keep the cash for AITC but that the app issue must be fixed otherwise I will be cancelling.

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Muzzy said:

The app didn't miss a beat for me today. This was a first though I admit.

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clapham_gull said:

Couldn't agree more.

Has not been taken seriously beyond the Head Of Communications trying his best to sort something out that had frankly has nothing to do with him.

Been passed onto to him again by the way. Surely this is a commercial issue not a public relations one ? Seagulls World isn't free.

Devils advocate suggests the issue was only taken seriously when a prominent thread on NSC appeared with a mass threat of cancellation. Sod the poor souls who've been complaining for years.

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clapham_gull said:

Android or IPad ?

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glasfryn said:

there you have it in a nutshell

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