Hammers United wrote to the Club’s Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) 16 August regarding the “use it or lose it” deadline for Club Cash balances which was due to come into effect 31 August. We asked for the deadline to be removed and for supporters to be able to use their Club Cash as and when they see fit.
By 23 August we had received no reply so we wrote again asking for a progress update.
On 25 August the SLO replied but failed to address our request. All we were told was that the Club Cash deadline was raised with the ISC’s Ticketing Subcommittee.
We immediately wrote to both the Chair of the ISC’s Ticketing Subcommittee and the Chair of the ISC asking for details but received no reply.
On 30th August we wrote again to the Chair of the ISC and this time we got the following reply:
The Club Cash deadline was extended to August 31st to increase the time and opportunity to redeem prior to expiry.
An email was sent on 15 August and the final reminder will follow on 30th August.
The Club will also use potential Conference League emails on Friday August 26th.
We did not consider this to be a satisfactory answer and we were very disappointed that neither the Chair of the Ticketing Subcommittee nor the Chair of the ISC saw fit to challenge the club on this. Instead it seems to us that we were effectively given the Club’s line and nothing more.
We then wrote to our members asking for anyone with a Club Cash balance that was due to expire 31 August to contact us - many did, some with Club Cash balances running into hundreds of pounds.
Yesterday we wrote to Tara Warren, West Ham United’s executive director, urging the club to change its stance on Club Cash. Details as follows:
Hi Tara,
We wrote to Jake Heath 16 August regarding the “use it or lose it” deadline for Club Cash balances which was due to come into effect 31 August. We asked for the deadline to be removed and for supporters to be able to use their Club Cash as and when they see fit.
By 23 August Jake had not replied so we wrote again asking for a progress update. Two days later Jake replied but failed to address our request. All he told us was that the Club Cash deadline was raised with the ISC’s Ticketing Subcommittee.
The deadline for using or losing Club Cash has now passed and Hammers United has more than 30 members (and counting) who are aggrieved that they will lose their Club Cash balances, some of which run to hundreds of pounds.
Fans use the Club’s ticket exchange to hand back match tickets for games they cannot attend. The Club then sells these tickets at full price and receives real cash.
The ST Holder gets a fraction of the sale price that the Club achieves and this is “paid” by way of Club Cash (not real cash) which can only be redeemed against purchases with the Club.
By any measurement you choose to employ, this is a win-win for the Club and, to be fair, is acceptable to fans who choose to engage with this.
However, it is the belief of the Hammers United committee, Hammers United’s members and the wider fan base that to enforce an arbitrary deadline by which fans MUST spend their Club Cash WITH THE CLUB is both immoral and unethical, despite what is written into the terms and conditions.
None of us can see any reason why there needs to be an arbitrary deadline, especially as the current rate of inflation diminishes the value of Club Cash, thus increasing the Club’s margins when Club Cash is used in the only way it can be used: on purchases with THE CLUB.
Due to the unfortunate timing of this situation which has seen many fans “lose” their Club Cash balances, Hammers United respectfully requests that you give this matter you fullest and most urgent attention to do the right thing and reinstate all “lost” Club Cash balances with immediate effect and amend the terms and conditions of this scheme such that there will no longer be any deadline for using Club Cash and fans will be free to decide when they want to use it.
I look forward to a very swift and satisfactory response.
Kind regards
Paul Colborne
Chairman - Hammers United
We hope the Club takes the right course of action on this matter and will provide an update as and when a reply is received.
If you are not already a member of Hammers United and would like to join, please click on the link below:
http://hammersunited.com/join/
COYI
Hammers United Committee
