Digital season card passes at the riverside stadium
- Thread starter Redlips
- Start date
It hasn't started yet.
We will not be going digital until during the season - even then it will be gradual with lots of help and advice offered.
It should not be as big a leap as the end of manned turnstiles and use of an automated card reader.
r00fie1
Well-known member
[Genuinely no offence intended Humphrey Cushion]
Its not about embracing "change" or "modern times".
This is about practical issues, not a philosophical discussion.
Its about accessibility and being all-inclusive for all fans who attend games.
Its assuming all people who enter those turnstiles have the phone with NFC [Norton Football Club?] on it. Its assuming the system wont crash / the phone wont freeze / the battery hasnt died / someone`s picked up the wrong phone / the code read system has stopped working for whatever reason / waiting while people fiddle for their phones whilst the queues get longer / inputting the season [card] details incorrectly / having accidentally deleted it / etc.
...........when we`ve had a bit of plastic [for 20 years] you shove into a slot [like a bank card] which makes a buzzing noise - lights up green and then lets us onto the concourse in seconds! Likewise if you arent a season card holder - you use a ticket just purchased from any one of the match-day ticket offices - the machine reads the ticket and lets us in! Bingo!
If it aint broke dont fix it.
Its not about embracing "change" or "modern times".
This is about practical issues, not a philosophical discussion.
Its about accessibility and being all-inclusive for all fans who attend games.
Its assuming all people who enter those turnstiles have the phone with NFC [Norton Football Club?] on it. Its assuming the system wont crash / the phone wont freeze / the battery hasnt died / someone`s picked up the wrong phone / the code read system has stopped working for whatever reason / waiting while people fiddle for their phones whilst the queues get longer / inputting the season [card] details incorrectly / having accidentally deleted it / etc.
...........when we`ve had a bit of plastic [for 20 years] you shove into a slot [like a bank card] which makes a buzzing noise - lights up green and then lets us onto the concourse in seconds! Likewise if you arent a season card holder - you use a ticket just purchased from any one of the match-day ticket offices - the machine reads the ticket and lets us in! Bingo!
If it aint broke dont fix it.
Diego
Well-known member
Nice one, I’m happy to change, everything’s digital now really. Just the way I was reading this thread was as if some people have already changed theirs.
Unravel_Morrison
Well-known member
So, if you have, say 4 people stored on 1 phone, do you just have to go through and then pass the phone back?
FishofContemplation
Well-known member
If you’ve done thirty years you’ve done change before. Why is this one the line? why didn’t you call it a day when they first brought the card in and stopped you tearing out a voucher from a book?
Not true. If like me you have changed seats it's is starting now. Some have already had theirs. I'm still waiting for mine. Will give them until midweek to see if I get my notification.
asredastheycome
Well-known member
Because thats his line. Everybody has a line its just where it is in the sand. Maybe the card was easier than having a book stuck in your pocket. But the phone nonsense is certainly no easier than slipping your plastic card in a slot as roofie1 states above. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
NYboro
Well-known member
I'm fine with it as long as they allow plenty of time to return the form and get the new card.
Archiestephens_elbow
Well-known member
Doesn't mean its right
NYboro
Well-known member
It's also the first time I've come across anything that insists on NFC, which I won't use. Most places just use QR codes.
Unravel_Morrison
Well-known member
If everybody kept going we would need 100K + seats in the ground.
It can be personal circumstances, events on the pitch or changes in the matchday experience and people just don't go again.
When I was in my late teens, early twenties, I used to speak to a lot of older guys who had stopped going and there were various reasons for that. Still Boro fans but just didn't go any more.
I didn't get that then as I was always looking to the next match but I get it now.
There always has to be progression and this digitalisation is part of that, but this shouldn't be announced a fortnight before the season starts and it shouldn't need a fan (because that's all that Rob is) to get the club to clarify what is happening.
Humphrey Cushion
Member
None taken Roofie , like I said in my post… it was more an observation with the everyday change we all experience in most areas of our lives.
I am neither defending or applauding the club for doing it, merely relating that similar things happen elsewhere ( I dare say they will have their issues too, it’s part of newness ).
In relaying my own experience all I was doing was noting that I bought a new thing before the early bird deadline, and waited for a thing to happen… what was once a book ( yeah I had my first ST in 1976) , became a card and now moves into something new again.
Recently I arrived back at Manchester airport, the automatic passport thing worked ok for me , as it did for most I saw. Progress ?? Well it is when it works I guess
.Meanwhile I gave up writing cheques and queuing in the rain some time ago, however I haven’t quite yet gone full 2023 as I still go to the takeaway as opposed to just eat etc ( Luddite in us all !!)…
ps I wrote this on the internet , what ever next, I can’t keep up
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Redwurzel
Well-known member
An issue now is the fan needs to provide the right hardware and software to gain entry, as standard.
In this case a smartphone with NFC software - possibly a large minority don't have this as we stand today. They now feel second class
Its like say in 1990 asking fans to bring a bank card to gain entry - most would have one but some did not.
In this case a smartphone with NFC software - possibly a large minority don't have this as we stand today. They now feel second class
Its like say in 1990 asking fans to bring a bank card to gain entry - most would have one but some did not.
Redwurzel
Well-known member
I would guess its that or a steward would have to check your phone and let them in manually.
I do some work as a steward at another venue and its still manual checks for visitors with tickets on their phones.
NYboro
Well-known member
How many times do you need telling that you do NOT need this.
caravan club
Member
It’s about choice, imagine most people on here have been to concerts using print at home tickets or downloaded the ticket on their phone. Same as boarding passes when flying, all pretty commonplace nowadays I think. There will always be people who are resistant to change, and rightly so in some situations. I talked to someone last week who has bought a new season ticket after attending infrequently due to previous work commitments and he does not want to use his phone for this, and is surprised at the short time left to change his options.
SilentProf
Well-known member
Short notice and poor communication is how the club do things unfortunately. People just need to understand it’s not being forced on anyone and the phased introduction means we’re not going to have 20,000 people stuck at the turnstiles on day 1. Give it a few months and it will be old news.
Unravel_Morrison
Well-known member
I guess its just a new concept. When a group of us travel by train from say Euston we pass the phone back over to each other as you book in groups to get the discount. I guess the main person goes last with a physical turnstile.
Unravel_Morrison
Well-known member
I think the other question to ask is, as it seems that it isn't being rolled out on a stand by stand by stand basis, what happens if the tech fails and you can't get in? Do people go to the ticket office to get a physical ticket?