I saw that the club announced on 27th June via the website that new season ticket cards would be sent out in July to replace the ageing ones we've had for a few years.

As I've recently moved house I went on to my account and saw that I hadn't yet got round to updating my address - which I promptly changed.

I thought i'd double check with the club that they'd received my updated change of details to receive a reply as follows:

"Hi,
The file that we send away to get the cards printed and then sent out was sent around the 12th June. If your address has been changed after this date, the card will be sent to your old address.
Kind regards."

There were three problems here for me:

1) I'd received no prior info from the club suggesting that the new cards would be being issued or given an opportunity to confirm my address prior to issuance.
2) Why promote new season card issuance on June 27th when the address details were sent off on the 12th therefore potentially creating the very problem i'm now enduring.....?
3) The club didn't really offer me a solution to my problem in the email?!

So I've rung the club.....

BFC: "Can't you go round to your old address?"
ME: "No it was a rented property, the landlord lives in the Far East, its nowhere near my new address and I don't even know if its occupied."
BFC: "Well we can't issue you another one."
ME: "Am I the only person in this predicament? Its seems that many people may have this problem having neglected to update their details and then finding out that the cards have been issued without any prior warning."
BFC: "Yes we've had loads of people ringing up. They are all going round to their old houses to ask for their cards."
ME: "Well I can't really do that. And what if the new tenants are just throwing away old mail?"
BFC: "Ok, here's what we are going to do: we will send a letter to old your address and ask the people there to send us your season card back."

Brilliant

I sincerely hope nobody else is in the same boat as me......

Don't understand why they can't just issue another one and electronically cancel the existing one. I thought that was one of the benefits of having a prox card rather than a paper ticket.

Thanks for that, i can add this to my ever expanding list of.
"Never rent a house because"

I've spoken to the club on this one. They have already sent out a letter to your old address asking for the return of the card. If they are unsuccessful in retrieving it, they will provide you with a new card ahead of the new season.

I'm in exactly the same position as you and was going to contact them tomorrow. I won't bother now I know they're still incompetent and will sort it myself.

ClaretTony wrote: If they are unsuccessful in retrieving it, they will provide you with a new card ahead of the new season.

Cheers Tony
It would have been nice if they'd mentioned anything resembling the contents of the last sentence of your message!

They obviously deserve some credit though if they've managed to send out a letter already despite never asking me for my name or Clarets number at any point during the phone call - voice recognition software.....?!

Selby Claret wrote:Cheers Tony
It would have been nice if they'd mentioned anything resembling the contents of the last sentence of your message!

I spoke to the manager. If the club have got anything wrong here it is not the ticketing department but a lack of communicating to people that they are issuing new cards until the deed is done. It has been mentioned on here a few times that we were getting new ones but not on a specific thread relating to new cards. I think the company who are producing them have already done that and are ready to send them out.

Selby Claret wrote:They obviously deserve some credit though if they've managed to send out a letter already despite never asking me for my name or Clarets number at any point during the phone call - voice recognition software.....?!

Maybe the letter is just ready to go. You must have given them some information because they did have your name.

Thanks for your efforts CT

Like you say - a simple email weeks ago to ST holders asking for confirmation of contact details would have solved the problem

Sorry to hear this, however, as someone who has moved house 24 times before settling in Ashington I always just contacted Royal Mail and sorted out re-direction with them and never experienced any problems.

A postal re-direction does seem the obvious solution - for the new card and all other correspondence that might be sent to the OP's old address.

Until CT's intervention the club's response does seem to be fairly unhelpful though time and again this type of exercise seems to create some difficulties for those in charge. It's almost as if they don't think things through.....

I suppose you expect the club to wipe his bottom for him too

It wasn't that I don't know how to do a redirect or was unaware of the postal services - it was simply that all the 'important' and regularly used stuff I dealt with immediately online (gas / water / tv licence / banking / amazon / ebay etc etc). And, in truth, I get post so rarely due to 'paperless options' with most accounts that I didn't consider re-direction worth anything.

It had just never crossed my mind to update my BFC account details as I hadn't made any purchases post-move (merchandise / tickets etc).

As soon as I saw the article re: the season cards I realised my oversight and amended the details.

It was just frustrating to learn that the article detailing the issuance of new cards came out weeks after all the addresses of ST holders had been sent to the card manufacturers. Not least since this is the first time in a few years of (my) holding a ST that a physical card upgrade has been initiated.

The number of persons who pay by direct debit and don't require any postal involvement that have changed address in recent years could prove far more of a logisitical problem requiring more BFC time / effort / money than if an all-encompassing pre-issuance address check had been completed.

I'm not saying I didn't make a mistake - only that it felt like this problem could have been avoided by the club AND that the 'solution' seems somewhat convoluted - we are talking about a small square of plastic in an envelope - but that square of plastic is key to a £500 per year purchase made by one of BFC's customers - and for the club's stance to be a combination of "go knock on the door of your old house" and/or a letter sent to new residents pleading for its safe return - seems archaic in 2017.

Thats all

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote:Sorry to hear this, however, as someone who has moved house 24 times before settling in Ashington I always just contacted Royal Mail and sorted out re-direction with them and never experienced any problems.

Bailiffs or ex wives???

ClaretTony wrote:Maybe the letter is just ready to go. You must have given them some information because they did have your name.

So you contacted the club about an issue on behalf of someone else who didn't get their consent for you to do so, and the club have given you information without checking with the person concerned that they have given consent to give it to a third party? Interesting.

I sincerely hope the club hasn't given any of my information to you or anyone else without my consent.

ClaretTony wrote:I spoke to the manager. If the club have got anything wrong here it is not the ticketing department but a lack of communicating to people that they are issuing new cards until the deed is done. It has been mentioned on here a few times that we were getting new ones but not on a specific thread relating to new cards. I think the company who are producing them have already done that and are ready to send them out.

It's great that he's helping Tony but hasn't Dyche got other things to be doing?

Sorry... couldn't resist.

Rosehill Claret wrote:So you contacted the club about an issue on behalf of someone else who didn't get their consent for you to do so, and the club have given you information without checking with the person concerned that they have given consent to give it to a third party? Interesting.

I sincerely hope the club hasn't given any of my information to you or anyone else without my consent

Not at all, and they didn't give me any personal information. As for you, I wouldn't have even bothered asking them.

I've just had the email telling me they're sending mine out.

Sidney1st wrote:I've just had the email telling me they're sending mine out.

Isn't that just the advertising emails they send out with the website article?

tim_noone wrote:Bailiffs or ex wives???

LOL --a career in the Royal Air Force!

ClaretTony wrote:Isn't that just the advertising emails they send out with the website article?

Dunno, you tell me.

It is, just one of the regular emails they fire out with website info on

Fair enough.

I'll just wait for it to turn up during July then.

I've just received the same e-mail, except mine said at the bottom....... "thanks for your support Selby Claret"

I moved home 2 years ago,at the time I used the Royal Mail redirection service which was valid for 6 months. The club had Selby Clarets correct address to issue the card initially , however, as the season cards have been valid for over 6 months, I fail to see how the Royal Mail service would be of help to Selby unless he moved home within the last 6 months.

" It has been mentioned on here a few times that we were getting new ones but not on a specific thread relating to new cards. " maybe need to be specific on the word specific as I started a thread a few days ago on new cards and changing address implications. Perhaps this site being essentially a medium to distribute club related news and messages could have been more pro active in highlighting issue?

Turfiteclaret wrote:" It has been mentioned on here a few times that we were getting new ones but not on a specific thread relating to new cards. " maybe need to be specific on the word specific as I started a thread a few days ago on new cards and changing address implications. Perhaps this site being essentially a medium to distribute club related news and messages could have been more pro active in highlighting issue?

It's the club's job to get info out and they don't pass information on to us in the way they used to. We are certainly not a medium to distribute messages from the club.

I was made aware of the new cards by another supporter - not from the club.

And I can only apologise, but I hadn't seen your thread.