Fan Letters: “Sadly, Sunderland’s customer service remains as shoddy as ever”

Dear Roker Report

Twelve months on and I find myself writing to you about the appalling customer service at our great club, this time regarding a potential breach of contract.

This year, I reach eighty years of age and seventy years of actively supporting Sunderland, with the last twenty five years as a season ticket holder and car park user.

Being born in Gateshead and surrounded by Newcastle supporters, the only club I could ever support was Sunderland, with my grandfather, father and myself clocking up a century of following ‘The greatest team the world has ever seen’.

2023/2024 saw the introduction of the digital ticketing system, with the worst transition and unplanned implementation approach imaginable.

I paid for my ticket on 21 March. I explained that didn’t have a smart phone and I asked how I would be able to enter the ground, and I finally received a reply which stated that I would be informed later in July.

After numerous emails and unanswered phone calls, I received a reply on 15 July which stated that I wouldn’t be able to attend unless I came with a friend or family member with the option to add a multiple ticket to their device.

After numerous complaints, the club changed its approach and stated that a plastic card would be available on the condition that I visited the ticket office in person with evidence of my identification.

I live over one hundred miles from the stadium and this required a two hundred mile round trip to the stadium, which I did through flooding in rural Yorkshire.

When I got to the ground, I stood in a queue in the pouring rain before being allowed into the office by a rather large security guard, bereft of either sympathy or empathy. Following numerous emails and unanswered phone calls about this and how I would secure my car park pass, I was advised to write to the club.

I wrote my second letter to Kyril Louis Dreyfus (the first was on his taking ownership of the club, which he had the decency to reply to, along with his thanks) before receiving a phone call from his PA, Karen, who was excellent.

This was followed by a call from Chris Waters, the brilliant Supporter Liaison officer, whereby they both set up meeting with Steve Davison at the club.

This meeting was handled well and Mr Davison apologised for my experience and assured me that the club would listen and take on board the criticisms of customer service.

In March of this year, I wondered about renewing my season ticket, and was very conscious of my own health problems, together with thoughts on the prospect of continuing the long trips to Sunderland.

Attending evening matches in the winter, which results in getting home after midnight, isn’t too attractive to those of us of a certain age.

In addition, my former schoolfriend has accompanied me over the last twenty years or so. He drives up from the Midlands before we meet and drive up together from Wetherby, thereby completing a round trip nearing five hundred miles on a match day.

He also had doubts about renewing, but I finally decided to renew based on:

• Mr Davison’s assurances
• Dreyfus’ apology to fans after the Black Cats’ Bar fiasco and his statement that any future decisions would be made with the fans at the centre of the club’s thinking.
• The minutes of the supporters’ meeting on 12 March, which confirmed that ‘A non-digital ticket will be available in addition to a digital ticket’ [Note 3B].
• The publicity in the ‘A Way of Life’ brochure, confirming the senior supporters’ total price of £290.
• My rather nostalgic second viewing of Leo Pearlman’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die.

In late March, I duly paid £500 to Sunderland AFC, covering the cost of a season ticket and my £210 car park fee.

I then emailed the ticket office on 30 March, requesting the physical ticket and car park pass.

With no reply, I emailed on 3 April and again on 15 April, requesting details on both the season ticket and car park pass. In between, I telephoned the ticket office at least six times with no response whatsoever.

On April 6, I finally received a reply which stated that…

A nominal fee will be charged for the production and distribution of any physical alternatives.

Since the club hadn’t mentioned this at the supporters’ meeting or in the ‘A Way of Life’ campaign, I’ve now taken legal advice and been advised that if the club continues to levy this surcharge, they’re in breach of their stated contract terms.

Following the pending departure of Steve Davison, I understand that David Bruce is now in charge of all commercial and customer service activities at the club.

As a result, I wrote to Mr Bruce last week with a full history of my experience last year and this year, and asked for a full reply and comment on the potential breach of contract.

I paid £7.95 with recorded delivery and enclosed all my correspondence, but as yet I have not received a reply.

My main point is not so much the nominal payment, which I believe to be illegal, but the appalling way the club is treating its loyal supporters and providing rank bad customer service.

We deserve better and I look forward to Mr Bruce improving this diabolical situation on behalf of an owner who I truly believe understands the club’s history and fanbase.

I trust I’ll see an improvement in Sunderland’s customer service in my remaining years, and before I join my heroes Cloughie and Charlie Hurley in a heavenly game of five-a-side, but on reflection, will St Peter ask for a digital ticket to let me through the pearly gates?

Colin Ions

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Colin. Thank you for your letter.

First of all, it’s sad to hear that you’re still experiencing issues with the club’s ticketing and customer service departments. You were in regular contact with us last summer and it must be extremely frustrating to have encountered yet more problems after you decided to renew for 2024/2025.

Now that a dismal season has finally ended, the hard work in terms of customer engagement needs to be kicked up several gears after a truly dismal campaign for the club.

There are simply no excuses for the lack of communication and willingness to engage that you’ve outlined in your letter, and the club needs to work doubly and triply hard to reach out to fans and deal with their queries satisfactorily.

That’s the minimum we deserve after what’s happened in recent months, and I hope this situation is eventually resolved for you.

Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Dear Roker Report,

I’d like offer nine proper nouns in response to Kristjaan Speakman’s focus on ‘progression and excellence’: Hjelde, Mundle, Ba, Styles, Hemir, Rusyn, Bennette and Mayenda.

None of them are anywhere near good enough and all of them were brought in by you.

Combine the money thrown away on this group and surely you could’ve afforded one of either Nathan Broadhead, Ellis Simms or Keiffer Moore, or perhaps even two of them! I haven’t included Nectarios Triantis in this waste of resources because he appears to have found his feet at Hibernian.

To Mike Dodds, I say this:

You might’ve got into coaching via the back door at Coventry and found a champion in Mr Speakman, but you haven’t got a clue about getting into the heads of the players you’ve worked with.

‘Transition’, ‘out of possession’ and ‘in possession’ may be trendy soundbites but unless the players are playing for you, you’re wasting your breath and your time.

Tony Mowbray hit the nail on the head when he referred to Pierre Ekwah as needing a ‘rocket’ before he goes out to play, because he’s done absolutely nothing since Mowbray was sacked.

It’s called motivation! Ask Alex Ferguson, Eddie Howe or Pep Guardiola, as well as Brian Clough, Bobby Robson, Bill Shankly or Matt Busby.

Wet blankets do nothing but smother!

Alan Jackson

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Alan. Thank you for getting in touch.

There’s no doubt that flaws within the club’s recruitment strategy and coaching structure have been exposed this season, and January in particular was a real let down, with three players arriving in Callum Styles, Leo Hjelde and Romaine Mundle who didn’t really improve the squad when they were signed.

I do think that some of the players you mentioned have the potential to make a bigger impact for us next season, but some of them need to be loaned out, and for their own good if nothing else.

As far as the coaching situation goes, it’s been a disaster ever since Tony Mowbray left and if the club doesn’t accept that they got it wrong with Dodds and Michael Beale and ensure those mistakes aren’t repeated, we really will be in trouble.

Let’s hope they aren’t.

Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Dear Roker Report,

If we play like this, we’ll be fighting relegation next season.

No game plan, no tactics and no idea. We have to get rid of the junk that we’re paying wages to and bring in some experience.

Where is Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, as no one has seen him at the ground for weeks? Hopefully he’s scouting for a new owner.

A new head coach and a new experienced team and we might stay in this division, but the fans are getting restless and soon the war drums will be beating, so heads must roll for the good of the club.

42,000 fans? What a laugh. The ground was half empty and will remain so until we start winning.

Bill Calvert

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Bill. Thank you for your letter.

I fully agree that without some major changes during the summer, next season is going to be one of struggle and we could easily find ourselves in a battle to stay in this league.

Saturday’s loss was the latest in a run of horrendous home results in recent months, and unless we begin to put that right, next season will be equally tough.

With any luck, the new head coaching appointment will be imminent, and then the hard work can begin as we look to put a terrible season behind us and regain the ground we lost during 2023/2024.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images

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Dear Roker Report,

I’ve been a passionate fan since I was a kid on the fence at the Fulwell End in 1962.

I’ve lived in Canada for many years now, but my love for the Lads has never wavered, and I write because the latest financials and the commentary on them has me bemused.

We passed on quality strikers that we said we couldn’t afford, and they were acquired by Ipswich and Coventry City- clubs that have a fraction of the crowds that attend Sunderland’s home games.

I’m told that we don’t pay above the Championship average to our players, one reason we allowed Ross Stewart to leave and didn’t sign other players.

That means that more than half the teams in the Championship pay more than we do with (surely) far less revenue, yet none, with perhaps the exception of Leeds United, can boast the capacity, the following and the history that we have.

In the end, I’m not interested in explanations as to why we lost £9 million, but I’m curious as to how we compare to Ipswich and other teams such as Coventry who didn’t get parachute payments but still managed to acquire players who we said we couldn’t afford.

Is it perhaps because accounting rules show a loss when one might argue that the value of Jack Clarke, Dan Neil and probably Chris Rigg has increased to the point where we’re probably £20 million in the black from a year ago?

Is it because we’ve invested wisely in other, non-player areas? What can we learn from the Ipswich resurgence? What can we gain from having a rich owner? What does being unable to afford Ellis Simms tell us about our real ambitions?

As we look back on the season, what is there that can give the fans hope for 2024/2025?

All I can see is losing our best players and an alarming decline next season. To have gone from the optimism of August to this is very sad indeed.

Brian Ranson

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Brian. Thank you for getting in touch.

There’s been a good deal of speculation about our financial status, our approach to recruitment and our unwillingness to ‘break the bank’ in order to chase the Premier League dream, and the truth is that only those in the boardroom know the answers to the questions.

Would I have liked to have seen us sign Ellis Simms, for example? Absolutely. Would Lawrence Shankland be a good addition for us? I think he would be, but these are decisions the club takes and they stand or fall by them.

This season, they got it wrong, without a doubt, but if the likes of Jack Clarke are sold this summer, that ought to free up a good deal of money which can hopefully be spent on addressing the weaknesses within the squad.

That’s clearly the next stage of the plan and it needs to be executed successfully.

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Dear Roker Report,

Was Mike Dodds taking the mickey by playing Nathan Bishop in our final game on Saturday?

Ian Frame

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Ian. Thank you for your letter.

Maybe Dodds felt that Bishop deserved a chance after waiting patiently all season?

Whatever the reasons for his selection, it didn’t work, as he was beaten too easily for the first goal and conceded a poor second later on.

A strange one, without a doubt.

Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images

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