Shame on them

Apparently 11 who were booked on the coaches did not turn up. There was a reserve list of people wanting to go. I understand sometimes there are last minute emergencies but doubt if this was the case 11 times over, and you can at least try and contact Bas even an hour or so before departure time to see if someone was on standby.

They should be named and shamed....

Certainly agree with you there Steve and understand where Richard is coming from.
However I don't think you can name and shame as there could be one or two in that list who really were without a choice, unlikely I know, but you just need to be careful.
Makes it even more frustrating for some of us who really had little choice in travelling that distance.
I don't know what to do this afternoon, it's now 15 mins to kick off.
Can I stand the commentary ? , do I just watch the Chat?, do I keep the forum on, or do I go for a walk ?.
Just heard the starting line up on Radio Bristol, POSITIVE AT LAST with Dan, Ben and Nick starting.

Off for a walk now, or am I.

11 missing is £300 light for the cost of the coach. Strange behaviour indeed.

I was furious when I'd found out. A couple missing, sure, that can happen. I overslept the other week for Gosport and ended up having a lift to the game, felt so guilty for missing the coach that I paid what I owed. In that case, I didn't cost anyone a space. There could have been others who would have travelled and they missed out.

In the future I would suggest that people have to pay a deposit before they travel for this sort of game. It's not like it was easy for public transport so the coach was going to gain a lot of interest. If that means it can only be policed by them paying at a game so be it - I'm assuming almost all on the coaches would have attended at least the first leg.

Firstly, a few facts...

113 fans travelled on the 2 coaches yesterday
10 failed to turn up - their fares would have totaled £274
1 other had contacted me the night before, apologising that he couldn't make it.
This cancellation came too late to inform the one person on the reserve list.
Someone at the match said he had met 2 near TP, who had driven from Portishead and missed the coaches by seconds (apparently they drove up)

and some thoughts (mine, not necessarily those of the SC committee)...

Yes, it's very frustrating that some didn't turn up yesterday, especially as we had requested that we should be informed, in case there were reserves (for all they knew, we could have had 20 in reserve)

The above loss of £274 to the SC is in fact much less than the actual one - had we known that only 113 fans were interested, we may well have ordered the 2 53 seaters at a combined cost of £2100. Because we went for the more expensive 71 seater, our bill will be £2800. But our aim was to maximise the support for the team rather than SC profits.

I agree with Sascha that naming and shaming is not the answer. But if a 14 year old can make the effort to send his apologies, I cannot think why others couldn't do the same. Perhaps if they read this, they would consider making a donation to the SC.

Asking people for deposits or paying the full fare in advance is an old chestnut - personally I don't like the idea. Those 113 booked their seat and turned up - should they be put to the inconvenience of paying in advance because a few let us down? Also, it would be very difficult for the SC to organise. At present most book their seats on a previous journey (yes, possible to pay in advance), at a home match or phone/pm. If the suggestion is that payment is made at a home match prior to the trip, firstly there must be such a match and then you need someone to be responsible for collecting the money. If anyone has a solution to that, please offer!

Well balanced post, comrade. I have to say that, on a day when the supporters outdid themselves, it is a shame that this happened when, as usual, volunteers went to such lengths to make it the best day possible for them. As you say, an apology, at the very least, would be nice but a donation to the Supporters' Society would be great.

The Supporters' Club runs the coach not the Society.

Just a thought - could an option be to allow bookings on something like eventbrite - and require payment or at least a deposit? This wouldn't mean everyone has to - regulars can still book in the same way, but for bigger games the general public could just go online. I know lots of small organisations use this for events which are free even, just to keep track of numbers without someone's phone going continually.

Thanks, Dodgy, I've just had a look at this and it looks interesting and would be useful for those with the access. But bear in mind that many who went on Saturday don't have it. But for those who have, it could certainly ease the load on the day and ensure people were paying in advance.

BenE wrote:The Supporters' Club runs the coach not the Society.

Apologies, I have got the Society on my mind a lot presently and I get confused at the best of times.

yes that hit me - I am afraid I tend to think that everyone in the world has internet access. Sorry I missed you on Saturday!

I like the personal feel of how it is currently done and think an amazing amount of work has been done by the few to get a lot of supporters to the Dover and North Ferriby games.... we should revel in that.