West Ham FC Apology to Aston Villa Supporters
Last week, MOMS contacted West Ham FC on behalf of the Aston Villa away supporters at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 18th August 2012, who sitting in direct sunshine on a very hot day, had no access to soft drinks or water, after they ran out early on in the match. The problem was added to by the fact there was only one kiosk (with five staff) servicing almost 3000 Villa fans.
As several West Ham fans have also pointed out to MOMS, there are problems with access to refreshments and queues in the rest of the ground, and this is typical with most grounds in the Premiership. You only have to make one trip to Twickenham to see a comparison of how catering should be done in a civil manner to cater for large crowds.
Across the board, Premier League club fans have long been treated with a low-level of due care, considering the amount of money we pay for tickets. Consumers would never be treated like this in other industries.
Many thanks to West Ham FC for not ducking the issue. Their reply and recognition of the problem is below, which I informed them, I’d pass on to Villa fans.
From West Ham FC:
I would like to apologise for the delay in responding to your email, however rest assured I have spoken to the Manager of our outsourced catering service here at West Ham United, and therefore please see below his response.
The Aston Villa match was played on what was the hottest day of the year. Unfortunately we sold out of water and soft drinks in some area’s due to the high demand for these products. All kiosks were fully stocked to the maximum with all products but unfortunately the demand exceeded the provisions that were made.
We have looked at all area’s with the team and have put in place systems to ensure that this does not happen again.
This is the first time this has happened to us at the Boleyn ground and we were not the only sporting venue that this happened to on this day due to the weather.
Our sincere apologies to all supporters on the day and please be assured we have taken all actions necessary to ensure this does not happen again.
Regards
Doug McClean
General Manager
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| West Ham United Football Club Limited Boleyn Ground Green Street Upton Park London, E13 9AZ |