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Disgusting treatment of ESTC members

Hi

I would like to place on record my absolute disgust of the ticketing process. For the original tournament all that time ago my friend and I were lucky enough to secure tickets to every England game at Euro 2020 including the knock out games via the follow your team system. 

When the details of the tournament and attendance restrictions were finally confirmed and the games reballoted we did not get a single ticket to a single game. 

Then yesterday, miracle, get an email saying I have been successful in the ballot of extra Czech Republic tickets. So I am in place ready to go at 10.55am this morning. The access code arrives at 10:57am and is not recognised by uefa until 11am, by which time the website is going so slow that it times me out before I can actually achieve anything. It is now 12:44pm and I have finally given up after constant attempts to purchase tickets. I would rather have not got a successful ballot email and felt so happy, just to have those hopes dashed. 

In the build up to England v Scotland I felt truly devastated to have known that I was meant to be there and couldn't be. 

I have been a ESTC member for 11 years and this is how I am treated. I am sure I am not alone and everyone else has similar stories. 

Regards

Joe

22 Replies

  • Stephen Marrow
    Great post Joe. I’m in exactly the same position and couldn’t have put it better.

    Gutted.
  • Mark Taylor
    Same here mate .this morning was a joke . Had all 3 group game tickets . Not been to any of them
  • Lee Saunders
    I’m exactly same and echo your statement. Been travel club member for decades now. Had exactly same experience as you today. Feel cheated and so frustrated. Wasted hours of a special fathers days.

    Who on earth took the decision to allocate that many ballot holders. Joke. I feel for you.
  • Carl Padley
    travel club member for 11 year but only 19 total caps how can you complain i havent got no tickets either but with my caps not expecting any
  • James Morgan

    In reply to Carl Padley:

    Can I ask have you all renewed your membership? Was wondering if people are being overlooked if they haven’t
  • Carl Padley

    In reply to James Morgan:

    could be wrong but shouldnt think it matters as your reapplying for the tickets you had when you was a ESTC member
  • James Morgan

    In reply to Carl Padley:

    Quite right Carl that’s what I’m trying to establish. I lost every every ticket and got nothing in any ballot was hoping people who deserve a ticket more than I get them
  • Matthew Isle

    In reply to James Morgan:

    Renewal is irrelevant.

    All these ballots (remember this is the third one for the Czech Republic match as the previous two didn't sell out) are being done on cap levels from the previous campaign.

    Seems the combination of UEFAs terrifically slow systems, the apathy on the previous two ballots (meaning there were still tickets from these sales left) and the tight timescales (meaning that a fastest finger first had to be used) converged to create a bottleneck.

    Looking at posts around members were still getting cat 1 tickets at 12:30 - possibly long after members had given up.

  • James Morgan

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    I know I just wonder why a top capper gets Croatia €185 but last Sunday uefa email me and say we have a tickets for you at €125 and allow me to buy up to 4 it’s all a mess if you ask me
  • Matthew Isle

    In reply to James Morgan:

    James Morgan
    I know I just wonder why a top capper gets Croatia €185 but last Sunday uefa email me and say we have a tickets for you at €125 and allow me to buy up to 4 it’s all a mess if you ask me

    When did a top capper get the €185 Croatia ticket? Which sales phase?

  • Karl Daines

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    Yes it was the third ballot for the Czech Game, but previous ballots didn't sell out because the number of people successful in the ballot equalled the number of tickets available.... and realistically only a very small handful didn't sell (this was the first ballot to include the 'extra' tickets ESTC managed to get off UEFA/Czechs to bump availability up to 750 tickets).

    To then change the system and oversubscribe the number of successful people in the ballot by almost 4 times the number of tickets available on a web platform that is not fit-for-purpose is a shambles.

    There was no need to oversubscribe the ballot by this much, and access codes could have been drip fed to people in batches every hour that maintained the integrity of the original 70/20/10 balloting process.
  • Steve Kirby
    You need to go to more England games.
  • Matthew Isle

    In reply to Karl Daines:

    Karl Daines
    Yes it was the third ballot for the Czech Game, but previous ballots didn't sell out because the number of people successful in the ballot equalled the number of tickets available.... and realistically only a very small handful didn't sell (this was the first ballot to include the 'extra' tickets ESTC managed to get off UEFA/Czechs to bump availability up to 750 tickets).

    To then change the system and oversubscribe the number of successful people in the ballot by almost 4 times the number of tickets available on a web platform that is not fit-for-purpose is a shambles.

    There was no need to oversubscribe the ballot by this much, and access codes could have been drip fed to people in batches every hour that maintained the integrity of the original 70/20/10 balloting process.

    It's incredibly emotive so i do have huge sympathy for your points, but regarding the bit in bold, over 40% of some cats for the Czech match in the two previous phases didn't sell.

    Increasing the caps level for those eligible for the code from 13 to maybe 14 or 15 or 16 or 20 would have disappointed a different and even larger subset of fans?

    Can't comment on the drip feeding. I guess that's a conversation between UEFA and the FA to see if that's feasible for future sales.

    A real shame the UEFA system doesn't seem fit for purpose.

    Hopefully we progress and you can pick up later games.

  • James Morgan

    In reply to Matthew Isle:

    That I can’t answer I was chatting to him at the bar at half time he was shocked
  • Stephen Gerrelli

    In reply to Steve Kirby:

    Kirby Sounds like you are a regular. Meme attitude. The website has let me down today. Had a ticket in my hand.
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