Cup final tickets

[Toby Chopra]

Perhaps I'm conflating it with some of the big London internationals, where the RFL have definitely had last minute fire sales in the past. But it's been a while since we've had one of them anyway. The RLWC team seem to have done a good job selling tickets for the Emirates semi-final using gradually rising prices, if their messaging is to be believed. So that's a good base for future London games.  

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

As with Padge earlier, I booked tickets in Club Wembley and have been shunted down to the lower tier. Went from the front 3 rows of block 222 in Club Wembley to rows 3, 5, 7 and 9 in block 124, seats so low down I'd never have chosen them

[Archie Gordon]

So who is taking all the Club Wembley seats? Folk who booked even posher seats?

[Moove]

7 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

So who is taking all the Club Wembley seats? Folk who booked even posher seats?

They were part of the club allocations when they went on sale to season ticket holders. If the ticketing site hadn't crashed I'd have had some myself as they were the first ones which came up.

To be honest I would have thought it would have been a lot easier to bump everyone who pre booked up to Club Wembley then have just the lower and upper tiers open to the free for all.

[shaun mc]

1 hour ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

As with Padge earlier, I booked tickets in Club Wembley and have been shunted down to the lower tier. Went from the front 3 rows of block 222 in Club Wembley to rows 3, 5, 7 and 9 in block 124, seats so low down I'd never have chosen them

Same here - ticket email arrived lunchtime today. Gone from Block 204 in Club Wembley to Row 9 in Block 121. Like yourself, I'd never had chosen them.

Anyone had a reply to their complaint?

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

43 minutes ago, shaun mc said:

Same here - ticket email arrived lunchtime today. Gone from Block 204 in Club Wembley to Row 9 in Block 121. Like yourself, I'd never had chosen them.

Anyone had a reply to their complaint?

No so far, it was sent within minutes of the tickets arriving. I could understand having to maybe be spread out in Club Wembley and maybe move back a bit, or even to another block, but what I cannot understand is being moved to another part of the stadium, especially when tickets for that area were on sale. OK I got we go a deal because we booked early, but it should be honoured. I personally do not feel like running another trip when we get treated like that, though I'll probably reconsider at a later date.

My party have been pretty supportive, disappointed that they are not in Club Wembley but happy to be going.

[Dave T]

Whilst those blocks are decent, and have in the past been included in the higher price, imho they are not a patch on Club Wembley, which is an outstanding experience. 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

48 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Whilst those blocks are decent, and have in the past been included in the higher price, imho they are not a patch on Club Wembley, which is an outstanding experience. 

That's precisely why I, and I presume Shaun Mc and Padge, are pretty annoyed at being moved, for no reason I can work out

[shaun mc]

I've had a reply :

When the RFL contacted customers, we made clear that we could not promise to roll forward the same seats from 2020 to 2021 for the event. This year’s event takes place under the backdrop of the government roadmap and inclusion in the Event Research Programme, for which the sport as a whole is grateful.

 

We are working with a number of constraints in terms of the stadium seating plan. Your tickets were moved into an area of the same ticket category based on the best seats available, working within the limitations of stadium COVID zones and social distancing requirements. We are unable to reallocate seats within the stadium.

 

If you are not happy with the seats you have been allocated we are able to offer a refund.

 

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, shaun mc said:

I've had a reply :

When the RFL contacted customers, we made clear that we could not promise to roll forward the same seats from 2020 to 2021 for the event. This year’s event takes place under the backdrop of the government roadmap and inclusion in the Event Research Programme, for which the sport as a whole is grateful.

 

We are working with a number of constraints in terms of the stadium seating plan. Your tickets were moved into an area of the same ticket category based on the best seats available, working within the limitations of stadium COVID zones and social distancing requirements. We are unable to reallocate seats within the stadium.

 

If you are not happy with the seats you have been allocated we are able to offer a refund.

 

That’s poor. They should have sorted out existing bookings before selling on more of the same category. I think they’ve really cocked up here. As people have stated Club Wembley is a whole different experience to the rest of the stadium. It’s not a like for like swap

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

That’s poor. They should have sorted out existing bookings before selling on more of the same category. I think they’ve really cocked up here. As people have stated Club Wembley is a whole different experience to the rest of the stadium. It’s not a like for like swap

If no one is going to be sat in Padge's seat then fair enough. If he is being moved so someone else buying a later ticket can sit there - that is pretty poor even by the RFL's standards.

A full transfer of existing tickets from 2020 should have been signed off before any other tickets were sold. 

[Damien]

15 minutes ago, Scubby said:

A full transfer of existing tickets from 2020 should have been signed off before any other tickets were sold. 

Indeed, it seems pretty strange that wasn't the case. I can understand if restrictions meant that some people had to be moved because 1 in every 2 seats had to be free but if they were selling tickets this year then this obviously wasn't the case. Its very poor.

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

40 minutes ago, shaun mc said:

I've had a reply :

When the RFL contacted customers, we made clear that we could not promise to roll forward the same seats from 2020 to 2021 for the event. This year’s event takes place under the backdrop of the government roadmap and inclusion in the Event Research Programme, for which the sport as a whole is grateful.

 

We are working with a number of constraints in terms of the stadium seating plan. Your tickets were moved into an area of the same ticket category based on the best seats available, working within the limitations of stadium COVID zones and social distancing requirements. We are unable to reallocate seats within the stadium.

 

If you are not happy with the seats you have been allocated we are able to offer a refund.

 

This is an exert from the email I got when my rollover tickets were confirmed in November 2020, I assume you got the same email

• Whilst every effort will be made to locate your seats in the same area for the 2021 Cup Final, we cannot guarantee that this will be possible in all cases. Should your seats need to be relocated, they will be transferred to a location that matches the price band that you paid for the 2020 Cup Final

Given that tickets for Club Wembley were on sale, then clearly every effort to locate our seats in the same area has not been made

 

[Padge]

Spent 2 hours yesterday trying to get through to the RFL ticket office only to be cut-off when I go to number 1 in the queue (there seems to be a two hour limit on queuing time).

Spent an hour on the phone this morning, all at 7p/min. total cost to me in phone calls £12.60.

To be told "no we can't put you back in club Wembley"

Can I buy club Wembley tickets "No"

Why not. "its sold out"

I know someone who bought tickets Friday "its been sold out for a month"

How did he buy club Wembley tickets Friday then "I don't know"

Can I have the name of the manager of the ticket office "there isn't one, its just a few of us doing this"

Who do you report to then. "A director"

Which one. "all of them"

Who deals with complaints "a director"

Which one "all of them"

and so it went on.

So basically, they shunted out the people in club Wembley when they expected a lower limit, when the attendance was increased they opened club Wembley, and instead of putting the people who had paid for it last year, and had graciously not taken their money back to help out, back in, they just started reselling the seats and shafted the loyal fans.

All I can say at this time is do some creative complaining, think out of the box.

[wilsontown]

Yeah, I was in Club Wembley and got moved to South Lower. As it turns out I can't go anyway. But having paid the going rate for Club Wembley you'd not be happy at being shunted into inferior seats, would you?

[fighting irish]

This is making me cringe. ''......it's just a few of us doing this''.

This could be the subject of a book entitiled:-

''How to destroy your whole fanbase, starting with the most loyal devoted ones, but without stopping till you get 'em all.''

[shaun mc]

The most disappointing thing for me is that these tickets had been booked for 19 months - we book them early for a number of reasons - yes including a deal if its on offer, but also to be able to choose seats that suits our party, getting in and out of rows of seats, that sort of thing.

Yes, were of a certain age - about 115 CC Finals between us as a rough guess, so we are loyal customers

I only find out 2.5 days before we leave for London that we don't have the tickets we booked. I understand all thats going on with making the CC Final as part of the Events Programme to increase capacity and its more research which I fully support

I totally expected not to be in the same seats and probably not the same block

At the point of knowing whether it was going to be 22,500 capacity or 45,000, the RFL should have been contacting ticket holders who may be affected if there was too much capacity already sold in certain blocks

To be told 3.5 days before the game itself isn't on. My only option is to cancel if I don't like the seats allocated. As its so close to game day, then whats left may be worse. But - its all out-sourced to Ticketmaster and they have form of not caring about the customer

[gingerjon]

23 hours ago, Padge said:

Spent 2 hours yesterday trying to get through to the RFL ticket office only to be cut-off when I go to number 1 in the queue (there seems to be a two hour limit on queuing time).

Spent an hour on the phone this morning, all at 7p/min. total cost to me in phone calls £12.60.

To be told "no we can't put you back in club Wembley"

Can I buy club Wembley tickets "No"

Why not. "its sold out"

I know someone who bought tickets Friday "its been sold out for a month"

How did he buy club Wembley tickets Friday then "I don't know"

Can I have the name of the manager of the ticket office "there isn't one, its just a few of us doing this"

Who do you report to then. "A director"

Which one. "all of them"

Who deals with complaints "a director"

Which one "all of them"

and so it went on.

So basically, they shunted out the people in club Wembley when they expected a lower limit, when the attendance was increased they opened club Wembley, and instead of putting the people who had paid for it last year, and had graciously not taken their money back to help out, back in, they just started reselling the seats and shafted the loyal fans.

All I can say at this time is do some creative complaining, think out of the box.

I'd be getting a few equivalents together off this board and offering the story to a paper, TBH.

[Damien]

Its becoming more and more common for players and ex players to be painting out the failings of the games administration. 

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Its becoming more and more common for players and ex players to be painting out the failings of the games administration. 

That may be true but Ben Cockayne isn’t the best example to quote 

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

That may be true but Ben Cockayne isn’t the best example to quote 

Literally also shown is the reply by Nick Fozzard. The next reply is Ritchie Mathers. Chev Walker also has a say.

[Dave T]

8 minutes ago, Damien said:

Literally also shown is the reply by Nick Fozzard. The next reply is Ritchie Mathers. Chev Walker also has a say.

Ah, the next reply is Mathers - say no more. He thinks its a scandal that he doesn't know that the Cup Final is this weekend? But his mates are going, so some obviously know.

I think RL players/fans saying they didn't know it was the Cup Final this weekend are flat-out lying.

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think RL players/fans saying they didn't know it was the Cup Final this weekend are flat-out lying.

I'm not having that, there are plenty of RL events, including the Challenge Cup, that RL fans don't know about until they are told. I know because this has been the case on many occasions with friends and family over the years. Most RL fans don't particularly frequent message boards like this and unless you do you can of be blissfully unaware. The Challenge Cup never gets mentioned on Sky and I haven't seen a promo on the BBC so it would be easy to have no idea. This is particularly so with the change in the calendar and I myself didn't particularly realise it was this weekend till the other day.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

I'm not having that, there are plenty of RL events, including the Challenge Cup, that RL fans don't know about until they are told. I know because this has been the case on many occasions with friends and family over the years. Most RL fans don't particularly frequent message boards like this and unless you do you can of be blissfully unaware. The Challenge Cup never gets mentioned on Sky and I haven't seen a promo on the BBC so it would be easy to have no idea. This is particularly so with the change in the calendar and I myself didn't particularly realise it was this weekend till the other day.

We spent all last week arguing about the pricing of this event. 

There is a fair argument about the RFL not getting this out into the mainstream, but people don't need to make stuff up to make a point. 

[Damien]

27 minutes ago, Dave T said:

We spent all last week arguing about the pricing of this event. 

There is a fair argument about the RFL not getting this out into the mainstream, but people don't need to make stuff up to make a point. 

I know, that doesn't mean I realised it was this weekend. Are you accusing me of lying now?