Birmingham v Berwick

[Fromafar 10,363]

12 hours ago, Brummiestormer said:

So much hatred for Birmingham on here by so called speedway fans but fear not I'm sure your bile can be directed somewhere else when we are gone!

It’s not hatred,it’s pointing out that their treatment of the paying customer is poor.It will no doubt affect their business with new fans can’t see the value for money.Irrespective of print rules in the programme fans on Wed deserve a full refund or free admission to another meeting.IMO.

[HGould 2,213]

On the subject of Ambulances and Paramedics it would seem that with our NHS in the state its in that the only resolution Speedway can have is to have 2 x Ambulances and 2 x Paramedics and other medical support at each Fixture.

I won't hear a bad word about the Paramedics at Perry Barr though as there is at least 1 rider in the past few years whose life was saved by them. (Mitch Davey)

That awful incident though casts a light on just how unforseen accidents can happen in Speedway that CAN'T be legislated for and for that reason I won't attack the Promotion for the sake of it. My recollection of that night was that whilst Mitchell's life was being saved another rider was being treated for a significant broken bone injury. So in that context even with 2 Ambulances and 2 paramedics and teams; a Meeting would still have been abandoned as both crews would  have been working independently and both going asap to A+E. That's an extreme scenario but no doubt a few bashers would still have found fault with it.

With regards the refund policy the Club have abided strictly to the letter of the BSPL regulations as they stand. In my opinion they are WRONG to do so and a small amount of common sense and customer relation skills would have quickly come up with an alternative. My question though would be - if the Club deviate from the BSPL specific Rules would they be penalised? Would a memo come from the Ivory Towers to tell them they can't do that as it sets a dangerous precedent.

There tend to be 2 types of Speedway promotion in this era, the ones that stretch the boundaries with a customer slant are all too often frowned upon by the powers that be and the ones who act like they don't give a fig about supporters and abide rigidly to the BSPL rules are seen as glowing lights.

There are 2 sides to every story and 2 sides to every coin.

Strictly speaking Birmingham Speedway have followed the protocols. By all means attack them if you wish but we don't know the full facts and until we do I will reserve judgement.

I will be writing to the Management politely to ask these questions and hopfully I will get a reply. I think with a businessman like Nigel in charge who will understand how important good customer service is, I will get a reply.

Too many Speedway tracks are closing, we are all rejoicing in the return of Oxford and quite rightly and in Jamie Courtney there is one of those more forward thinking Promoters that are bucking the trend, but lets not forget HOW LONG it took to get Oxford back and how long it took Brian Buck to get Birmingham back too from the wilderness years.

Thank You

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by HGould
spelling

[Racin Jason 72 1,283]

10 hours ago, Hackett said:

When I looked at the details on speedway updates I was pretty shocked about the 6 hour turnaround for an ambulance but anything other than free admission to a future meeting will be a PR disaster for the Brummies.  Appreciate that they are in financial difficulty and had some bad luck to start the season BUT if they choose not to offer free admission I can see a number of fans not returning. 

Edited 2 hours ago by OML

Spot on.  The promotion can’t afford to lose fans so early in the season especially as they have rectified the track which was one of the reasons for poor crowds last season 

[Fromafar 10,363]

2 hours ago, OGT said:

For anyone interested, ITV journalist, Nina Nannar has written a book about the history of the ambulance.

It's a great read by all accounts.

Order one for Josh.Wish him a speedy recovery.

[iainb 5,017]

3 hours ago, M.D said:

Glad youve not given up but the promotion should listen to fans gripes/concerns and act if needed

I griped about the team they put out in the first match of their season at Leicester on Twitter... got blocked, tells you all you need to know about this promotion

[GiveusaB 1,145]

18 minutes ago, iainb said:

I griped about the team they put out in the first match of their season at Leicester on Twitter... got blocked, tells you all you need to know about this promotion

I've been banned many times from the Club Forum for having a 'negative' opinion ....you have to wear Red/Yellow glasses (not Leicester ones.....LOL) to make any comments on there.

 

[iainb 5,017]

2 minutes ago, GiveusaB said:

I've been banned many times from the Club Forum for having a 'negative' opinion ....you have to wear Red/Yellow glasses (not Leicester ones.....LOL) to make any comments on there.

 

It makes no odds to me really... i just won't make the trip over from Leicester that's all. 

Sounds like the club should be sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party

[crescent girl 1,905]

3 hours ago, HGould said:

On the subject of Ambulances and Paramedics it would seem that with our NHS in the state its in that the only resolution Speedway can have is to have 2 x Ambulances and 2 x Paramedics and other medical support at each Fixture.

I won't hear a bad word about the Paramedics at Perry Barr though as there is at least 1 rider in the past few years whose life was saved by them. (Mitch Davey)

That awful incident though casts a light on just how unforseen accidents can happen in Speedway that CAN'T be legislated for and for that reason I won't attack the Promotion for the sake of it. My recollection of that night was that whilst Mitchell's life was being saved another rider was being treated for a significant broken bone injury. So in that context even with 2 Ambulances and 2 paramedics and teams; a Meeting would still have been abandoned as both crews would  have been working independently and both going asap to A+E. That's an extreme scenario but no doubt a few bashers would still have found fault with it.

With regards the refund policy the Club have abided strictly to the letter of the BSPL regulations as they stand. In my opinion they are WRONG to do so and a small amount of common sense and customer relation skills would have quickly come up with an alternative. My question though would be - if the Club deviate from the BSPL specific Rules would they be penalised? Would a memo come from the Ivory Towers to tell them they can't do that as it sets a dangerous precedent.

There tend to be 2 types of Speedway promotion in this era, the ones that stretch the boundaries with a customer slant are all too often frowned upon by the powers that be and the ones who act like they don't give a fig about supporters and abide rigidly to the BSPL rules are seen as glowing lights.

There are 2 sides to every story and 2 sides to every coin.

Strictly speaking Birmingham Speedway have followed the protocols. By all means attack them if you wish but we don't know the full facts and until we do I will reserve judgement.

I will be writing to the Management politely to ask these questions and hopfully I will get a reply. I think with a businessman like Nigel in charge who will understand how important good customer service is, I will get a reply.

Too many Speedway tracks are closing, we are all rejoicing in the return of Oxford and quite rightly and in Jamie Courtney there is one of those more forward thinking Promoters that are bucking the trend, but lets not forget HOW LONG it took to get Oxford back and how long it took Brian Buck to get Birmingham back too from the wilderness years.

Thank You

 

A very good, constructive post.   

What's it doing on the BSF?

 

[Wee Eck 703]

4 hours ago, HGould said:

With regards the refund policy the Club have abided strictly to the letter of the BSPL regulations as they stand. In my opinion they are WRONG to do so and a small amount of common sense and customer relation skills would have quickly come up with an alternative. My question though would be - if the Club deviate from the BSPL specific Rules would they be penalised? Would a memo come from the Ivory Towers to tell them they can't do that as it sets a dangerous precedent.

The refund policy was designed to give consistency. But it’s only a policy, not a rule. Clubs are independent businesses and must have the right to exceed the minimum. It’s not without precedent as, in the past, other tracks have offered much reduced readmission. Perhaps the correct approach would have been to allow free re-admission but suggest that supporters might wish to make a voluntary contribution to help cover some of the costs incurred due to the abandonment. 

[R87 476]

23 hours ago, Brummiestormer said:

So much hatred for Birmingham on here by so called speedway fans but fear not I'm sure your bile can be directed somewhere else when we are gone!

It's not hatred at all.  Its calling them out for a disregard for the safety of the riders and track preparation

[MattB 177]

1 hour ago, R87 said:

It's not hatred at all.  Its calling them out for a disregard for the safety of the riders and track preparation

Birmingham have spent a lot of money over the winter to improve the track, which admittedly was awful in 2021

[crescent girl 1,905]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the track on Wednesday, it looked superb.    Such a shame what looked like a pretty fair crowd were denied what might have been a cracking match .   An expensive lesson for the new consortium.

[King Jamie 356]

Re the number of ambulances, Edinburgh were caught out late last season when James Sarjeant crashed. We all stood around for what felt like more than an hour while treatment took place and the promised replacement was diverted to another emergency.

I'm not sure if we only had one ambulance on site all season but there were two on show for the remaining few meetings thereafter.

This season, I can't say with 100% certainty, but I did see two leave the stadium last night.

Re readmission prices, those same terms are quoted on the Edinburgh website. However, I think I'm right in saying we still adopt the older version whereby, for example, if a meeting gets abandoned after heat 3, you pay £3 the following week. I most certainly wouldn't pay £10 for 2 heats. I would simply choose to deliberately miss a meeting at some point instead.

That said, I do understand the concept of fixed costs. Therefore, I can see where the policy is coming from. As a paying customer, it wouldn't make me feel any less ripped off though.

Speedy recovery to Joshua Auty.

[arnieg 3,643]

23 minutes ago, King Jamie said:

Re the number of ambulances, Edinburgh were caught out late last season when James Sarjeant crashed. We all stood around for what felt like more than an hour while treatment took place and the promised replacement was diverted to another emergency.

I'm not sure if we only had one ambulance on site all season but there were two on show for the remaining few meetings thereafter.

This season, I can't say with 100% certainty, but I did see two leave the stadium last night.

Re readmission prices, those same terms are quoted on the Edinburgh website. However, I think I'm right in saying we still adopt the older version whereby, for example, if a meeting gets abandoned after heat 3, you pay £3 the following week. I most certainly wouldn't pay £10 for 2 heats. I would simply choose to deliberately miss a meeting at some point instead.

That said, I do understand the concept of fixed costs. Therefore, I can see where the policy is coming from. As a paying customer, it wouldn't make me feel any less ripped off though.

Speedy recovery to Joshua Auty.

What is interesting about this change in admission policy is how few clubs have the guts to admit what they have done.

 

I looked at 2022 progs from 6 tracks (Inc Birmingham) and only one (Newcastle) actually stated what the 'new we rip you off' readmission policy was

[Fromafar 10,363]

19 minutes ago, arnieg said:

What is interesting about this change in admission policy is how few clubs have the guts to admit what they have done.

 

I looked at 2022 progs from 6 tracks (Inc Birmingham) and only one (Newcastle) actually stated what the 'new we rip you off' readmission policy was

Certainly think newcomers who didn’t know the readmission policy certainly won’t be impressed and probably feel total rip off sport.2 RACES. FOR£10 given that it could happen again in certain circumstance you probably wont see them again.