OFFICIAL YOUR NOT FANS OR SUPPORTERS, YOUR CUSTOMERS!

OFFICIAL YOUR NOT FANS OR SUPPORTERS, YOUR CUSTOMERS!

By
West Ham Fan Cass Pennant

From popcorn munchers to manhandling stewards and outrageous burger prices to being too far from the pitch there just ain’t no proper satisfaction as the club owners promise to listen to fans to try and rethink what might work better for both club and fan over the London Stadium so I can only hope they take this story on-board and respond in the right way, won’t name him but I will be writing this as he told it but if the owners want to inbox me or email then his details will be passed as he has already contacted the club to complain not for his money back but at the level of service he as a father feels was piss poor value and badly handled.
He had paid £1100 I understand to have his two young daughters be mascots at last Sunday’s game when they played Southampton. These young girls had waited six years, the father is old school die-in-the-wool hammer who will not have a bad word said about his beloved hammers and as a person I know very well I can say last Sunday would have been massive for he dotes on those girls and as a family they all season ticket holders that love the club.
Now what he tells me disgusts me totally and begs me to ask what has our club come to and where does it want to go with this.
I said how did the big day go for the girl’s mate, he said it was destroyed for him and one of his girls wouldn’t even go through with it because the distress she was in. I said WTF, he said:
I will complain to West Ham United about the mascot package that I brought my two daughters to for the Southampton game on the 25th September. My eldest daughter had a melt down which involved her not going onto the pitch. I paid £550 per child, I am not asking them for a refund but I believe this was a rip off and am completely dissatisfied with how the package was made up.
On arrival at 1.30pm we were met by Mascot Liaison staff member who took us into a small room, with a table with no more than £15 worth of gifts for each child, it was completely inappropriate, the gifts were cheap and tacky. I was not the only one surprised and I know one of the other parents showed her disgust and made everyone aware of it.
If you look at the itinerary, it looks great. This did not happen at all for by 13.40 all parents were told to leave the stadium. As detailed in the itinerary it states that at 15.40-mascots prepare for the walk out with the players and make their way to the tunnel area (at which point a member of staff would escort the parents to their seats) but we were told to leave the stadium at 13.40
My daughter was completely surprised that I was being told to leave and started her melt down, she made various excuses about not wanting to go onto the pitch but in essence these excuses were purely because she was upset about me leaving so quickly.
Another bone of contention is the issue of the seats that the parents/guardians were shown to. What a shambles these seats were ridiculous, parents mascot seats behind the goal, you could not see anything from there, it was so disappointing. Surely better seats could have been found to see your children come out.
He has been supporting West Ham for over 30 years and has corporate seats as well as his own seats in the West Stand. He says he would never endorse this mascot package or recommend it to any family or friends as he feels it was a very poor experience. That said he want’s to see the club try to get it right and would like to discuss the mascot package with Karen Brady or one of the Directors.(To be fair the two David's are fans and do listen if made aware and myself being a fan for 50 years know most of the Boleyn staff if gone with them are fans from the community too, so yes its early days and a new learning for WHU until you read my mates final word next).
His last point is a sign of where the history of this proud club and it’s supporters is really going or is it a sign of the times for on the West Ham itinerary it starts off with Dear Customer, surely it would be better to put Dear Supporter, as I am sure we are all.

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I have said this for years we are part of Tan's burger chain nothing else as far as I am concerned football had died as a cultural
pursuit, rather it is part of the globalized "rip them off "philosophy which now permeates the once beloved game.

It's been going on for years, clubs want consumers not fans. The match day experience is dying.

That's a sad story for the kids and the old man.
West ham have really struggled with their move. You would of thought they'd of sought more advice from other clubs who have had similar issues.

'Dear customer' bit puts the tinhat on it.

No surprise to me how the modern fan is treated. However,it does constantly surprise me on here how the people keep going back for more. Vote with your feet and wallets. We ae customers and they will continue to milk you for every penny they can get.

100% plastic and proud!!!!!

So the compliant is that the parent was asked to leave the mascots in the care of the club for 2 hours. Surely the parent knew that this would happen as the club is bound to go through what happens with the mascots when they walk onto the pitch? The child then has a meltdown and somehow that's the fault of WHU.

My daughter has done summer schools with CCFC main times and it involves leaving her there all day without me tagging along. Cheap gifts are part of the deal but they are extras and I don't book the event for the gifts I book it for the football training and the social experience of meeting other girls who like playing football.

Where this person might have a gripe is with the seating providing his version of events is accurate. If so then complain.

That's a lot of money to shell out to not be able to enjoy the day as a family. Children want to be with the parents!

That's a lot of money to shell out to not be able to enjoy the day as a family. Children want to be with the parents!

I agree with you on the price £550 is a hell of a lot! They are mascots and at some point the parents are going to have to leave them to it, surely your are not suggesting the parents should walk out onto the pitch before kick-off with their children

I remember my daughter being part of some dancing thing before the Wales vs England women's international at CCS and she was left alone with the organisers for about 2 hours while they ran through their routine. To me it's quite normal and there seems to be no objections from the other children involved.

Sometimes we have to accept that there really isn't any blame to apportioned. This was simply a child who may not have had the confidence to do what her parents had arranged for her hence the meltdown. Twisting circumstances in order to blame the club seems a bit harsh although if the seats were as crap as they state then that would be a reason to complain especially considering the money paid.