Ticket chaos as system buckles

  • by Staff Writer
  • Tuesday, 26th July 2016

A number of West Ham supporters have complained to KUMB.com after being forced to wait up to TWO HOURS in order to access the Ticket Office.

With many fans attempting to access the ticket line by phone in order to purchase or upgrade tickets for the forthcoming Europa League tie against Domzale and the Juventus friendly, the ticket line has understandably been extremely busy in recent days.

However West Ham - who promised ticketing issues would be consigned to the past following the switch to Ticketmaster - came under fire from supporters today, some of whom suggested the new system was even SLOWER than before.

Michael Aston - who had been hanging on for exactly one hour, 58 minutes and 30 seconds at time of writing - was the first to write to KUMB earlier in the day. "Don't ever call the ticket office," he said. "It's an absolute disgrace, the new online system is useless."

And fellow season ticket holder Mike Cawston told a similarly grim tale of his experience. "I need to upgrade two of four STs," he said. "Unfortunately this is impossible to do online.

"I made four attempts by phone yesterday with each call lasting 30 minutes. Today I went to the Ticket Office in person - only to be told the computer system was down. Later I phoned again and, after waiting for another 45 minutes, I was informed told they couldn't upgrade tickets and I needed to speak to Ticketmaster's Customer Services.

"So I phoned them, they said all bookings need to be made through the club's box office - hence I now have to phone again later!"

KUMB's own Rio Barlow was another fan who was left frustrated and out of pocket after hanging on for an unfeasibly-long period of time. "I've been holding for two hours," he said. "Not being told you have to move seats; being charged to do so; confusion amongst staff? It's a complete shambles."


Meanwhile Steve Hackett simply decided not to bother again, having failed to get through to the ticket office at the first attempt. "I've written off money in my ticket trader account now," he told KUMB. "I can't be bothered with another hour-long wait."

And Mark Segal, another long-term season ticket holder was equally unimpressed. "I started trying at 9am this morning," he said. "At 10.20 I was still getting the message that the office was closed and would open at 9am!

"I tried again this afternoon and held the line for about 25 minutes before giving up - but I need to ring again as I want to upgrade from a kids to adult ticket."

Further to issues with lengthy delays, season ticket holders have also complained about being charged booking fees. " I was unable to book my season ticket seat as it was unavailable," said Joe Maker. "In the end I got charged a £2 'non member' booking fee per ticket to book alternatives!"


The existence of a booking fee also annoyed Michael Aston. "Online it said no lower tier seats were available, so I chose other seats = only later to buy my mate's seats next to us! I was also charged a £2 booking fee as a non-member online, even though we were all season ticket holders.

"Fortunately I managed to get the seats changed - after a two-hour wait on the phone."

* KUMB reached out to West Ham United FC for a response, but we're yet to receive a reply.


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