Customer Charter
BLACKBURN ROVERS
FOOTBALL & ATHLETIC PLC
CUSTOMER CHARTER
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Lynsey Talbot is the principal customer services contact at Blackburn Rovers for questions, complaints or concerns. Lynsey is the Personal Assistant to the Chairman, John Williams, and she can be contacted as follows:
By post: Correspondence should be addressed to Lynsey at Blackburn Rovers FC, Ewood Park, Blackburn, BB2 4JF.
By fax: on 01254 671042
By e-mail: to LTalbot@rover-mail.co.uk
By telephone: 01254 296270
Office hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
The Club endeavours to respond to any contact from a customer within 3 working days. If it is not possible to provide a full response to the issue raised within that time, an acknowledgement will be sent and a detailed response will follow within 14 days of receipt of the original communication. The Club responds by whatever method is appropriate taking into account the nature of the initial contact.
STAFF CONDUCT
The Club's Equal Opportunities Policy aims to ensure that no job applicant, employee or customer receives less favourable treatment due to issues of sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, disability, race, age, religion and belief colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.
The Club's Academy was awarded Investors In People Recognition in June 2004.
Our staff are encouraged to pursue appropriate training and development aimed to make the club more competitive and to improve our products and services for our fans.
Deborah Wortman is the Club's Children's Officer and advises all areas of the club on matters appertaining to Child Protection.
CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION
- The Club recognises the importance of regular consultation with its various stakeholders. This includes the following
- The Fans Forum which consists of 20 season ticket holders of the Club and whose meetings are attended by the Chairman or Managing Director and senior managers. The Forum is consulted on issues such as atmosphere and the design of new playing strips.
- Dialogue with local residents is maintained through the Ewood Working Group which also comprises representatives of the Police etc. Meetings are held quarterly at Ewood Park and attended by senior management.
- Market research is undertaken through various means including questionnaires.
- The Club publicises its position on major policy issues and gives the earliest possible notice of any changes to its ticketing policy, and the reasons for the changes, in the Club programme, the weekly e-mail newsletter, on its website:- www.rovers.co.uk - and via the local media. All e-mail and SMS subscribers are notified of Premier League fixture changes as soon as these have been confirmed.
- Board members and Management represent the club on such as the following:
The Blackburn with Darwen Economic Regeneration Board
The Blackburn with Darwen Economic Regeneration Partnership - Funding Group
The Safety Advisory Group
The Local Strategic Partnership
The Chamber of Commerce
Blackburn with Darwen Children & Young People Strategic Partnership
TICKETING
- Pricing
The Club continues to strive for a wide access to matches by offering a broad range of ticket prices. Adult matchday prices range from £15 to £35. Premier League home matches are categorised as either A or B games with prices at A games carrying a premium. Tickets can be purchased either by post, by telephone, through the website www.rovers.co.uk. or in person at the Ticket Office at Ewood Park.
- Season tickets
The Club operates a scheme to enable supporters to pay for season tickets by instalment at a reasonable rate of interest.
- Concessions
Concessionary prices are available for junior supporters and senior citizens. Concessions to senior citizens are available to men and women at the same age of 65. Young adults, who are aged between 16 and 21, can also take advantage of discounted prices through membership of the Club 16-21 scheme.
- Allocation
At least 5% of tickets to each game are made available to non season ticket holders
The Club provides:
-- An area of the ground for the exclusive use of family groups and junior supporters namely the Upper Tier of the Blackburn End.
-- Support for disabled spectators and their carers. The Club helped to fund the purchase of a disabled supporters minibus that is used to transport disabled fans to both home and away matches. Christine Peacock, the club's Disability Liaison Officer can be contacted for details of our disabled facilities and ticket arrangements at Disability@rover-mail.co.uk.
-- From 1st July, along with all other public buildings, Blackburn Rovers became a non-smoking stadium.
- Restricted view seating
Seats are defined as restricted view where the view of either goal is affected by a post. There are a small number of restricted view seats in the Riverside Stand. Such seats are only sold on request or when all other tickets have been sold and are subject to a £2 discount on the matchday ticket price.
- Terms & Conditions
The terms and conditions for the sale of tickets are included on the website www.rovers.co.uk.
- Loyalty and Membership Schemes
The Club runs the following Loyalty and Membership schemes:
-- Team Rovers - available for children up to the age of 16. Benefits include organised events, birthday and christmas cards, exclusive matchday offers etc. Young Rovers is free to join
-- Club 16-21 - available to fans aged 16-21. Benefits of this include reduced ticket prices, free entry to reserve games, ticket priority.
- Away matches
Season ticket holders receive priority for the purchase of tickets for away matches on every occasion. The Club operates an away season ticket scheme which enables season ticket holders to reserve a ticket for all the club's away matches. When it is considered that demand for tickets may exceed the allocation priority is given to those who travel away regularly. The home club determines the cost of these tickets.
The Club arranges travel to all away matches.
- Cup Competitions
Generally the Club reduces its League match admission prices for home Cup Ties subject to the approval of the visiting club. The Club takes account of the status of the away club and stage of the Competition when determining its prices. Season ticket holders are always given the opportunity to purchase their own seat. The Club operates a home cup ticket payment scheme to enable season ticket holders to guarantee their seat for all home cup-ties played at Ewood Park.
- Returns / Refunds
The Club's policy on the return and distribution of unwanted tickets is to offer a full refund providing tickets are returned to the Ticket Office prior to kick off. The policy is sometimes varied for high profile fixtures and, if so, incorporated into the ticket publicity for that match.
If a match is postponed before kick-off, ticket holders are entitled to free admission to the rearranged game. If a match is abandoned after kick-off, spectators are entitled to half price admission to the rearranged match.
ACCOMMODATING AWAY SUPPORTERS
- The Club abides by FA Premier League Rules governing the allocation of tickets to visiting clubs.
- Away supporters are located in the Darwen End. The Club does not charge admission prices to supporters of a visiting club, which are higher than those charged to our own supporters for comparable accommodation. In particular the concessionary rates offered to senior citizens and junior supporters apply to supporters of a visiting club. The only exception to this would be where the Club offers discounted tickets to such as school groups as part of its wider schools programme. Reciprocal offers are not available to schools in the locality of the visiting club.
MERCHANDISE
New home and away strips have been introduced for season 2007/08 and both are changed annually.
- The Club carries out its obligations under FA Premier League Rules to prevent price fixing in relation to the sale of replica Strip.
- The Club store, Sports World at Ewood Park, offers refunds on merchandise in accordance with its legal obligations.
- Blackburn Rovers Community Trust (Registered Charity No: 1117122) is fully committed to offering all members of the local community access to the highest quality programme of grassroots football, education, disability initiatives and awareness projects to encourage off-field participation, success and enjoyment using the brand name of Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Our wide ranging delivery focuses on the development of football skills; use of the medium of football as a means to inspire learning and increase levels of educational attainment; health promotion, and social inclusion, ultimately using the positive power of the sport to improve the quality of life for all.
- The community coaching programme is based at the Blackburn Rovers Indoor Centre (BRIC), adjacent to Ewood Park. Activities delivered using the astro-turf pitches on site include soccer schools, coaching clubs and matchday training packages. 7-a-side and 5-a-side Community Leagues (all ages); a four-division netball league; cheerleading classes; a weekly youth club and birthday parties also take place at the BRIC. Multi-sports coaching/training programmes for local schools, both during PPA time and after school, are offered on school site and programme delivery at local community facilities, including that of the KICKZ programme, further serves to ensure equality of access.
- Also based at the Indoor Centre is the FA Licensed Blackburn Rovers Centre of Excellence for Girls, part of the FA talent identification programme for talented young female players aged 8-16.
- Our Education Department - Educate at Ewood - is housed in dedicated accommodation on the ground floor of the Darwen End Stand. With access to the very latest technologies, the department offers a wide range of curriculum focused days across all Key Stages which have been developed to provide relevant, real-life learning opportunities in a non-traditional setting to enthuse and motivate all learners. Participation affords pupils the experience of education outside the classroom to inspire learning and thereby help increase levels of achievement and educational attainment. All programmes have been designed to meet National Curriculum requirements, using the environment and medium of football as a route to other knowledge, skills and understanding, and are delivered by a team of highly qualified, experienced teachers and assistants.
- Social inclusion and community cohesion are central to our work and we offer a range of education and coaching activities specifically designed to engage traditionally under-represented groups. In order to facilitate participation by as many schools and youth groups as possible the Department has two minibuses to transport learners to and from the stadium.
- The Club recognises the need for meaningful, positive action in order to develop and deliver a product, in a safe environment, that is sensitive to the needs of communities and individuals within those communities. Our Diversity Strategy, at the heart of which sits the Racial Equality Standard for professional football clubs, is being used to provide a clear strategy towards ensuring mutual respect, appreciation and a sense of belonging for all associated with the Club - staff and supporters alike.
- To this end the Club has taken full account of UEFA's Ten Point Plan of Action for Professional Football Clubs and will continue to build upon developed relationships and to work with the Premier League, 'Kick It Out', 'Football Against Racism in Europe', 'Show Racism The Red Card' and other partners, using the standards set to provide the focus and structure for our action plans. Having been awarded the Intermediate level of the Racial Equality Standard for Professional Football Clubs in December 2006 the Club is now working towards Advance level accreditation.
- The Club has developed its own, local anti-racism campaign, "Racism: Not Under Our Roof". Supporters are now able to use one of several, well-signed routes, - freephone, SMS texting or email - to report any incident of chanting or racial abuse direct to Club personnel. These routes appear in ground signage and in every match day programme, in addition, the national Kick It Contact details for reporting offences are also given on the official Club website.
- To further consolidate relationships with schools, youth groups and local junior football teams, the Club operates a discounted ticket scheme. At most home games such organisations are offered the opportunity to purchase match tickets for just £3.00 per child (with ratio of free supervisory adult places) to allow them the chance to enjoy the matchday experience at an extremely affordable price.
- The Club supports The Prince's Trust - the UK's leading youth charity, which exists to help young people to overcome barriers and get their lives working. Through practical support including training, mentoring, and financial assistance, it helps 14-30 year-olds to realise their potential and transform their lives. The Club provides important support for the Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service in delivery of the Prince's Trust 'Team' programme in Blackburn and Community Trust staff also deliver the 'Get Off The Bench' and 'Get Into ?' programmes at Ewood Park..
- In June 2007 Blackburn Rovers was again acknowledged as one of the top performing clubs in Business In The Community's 'Clubs that Count' initiative, supported by the Department of Health, which has been designed to capture, communicate and develop the positive work sports clubs are doing in the community.
- The Club's policy is to support initiatives run by organisations and schools situated in its local community. Support is usually in the form of providing signed items such as shirts, footballs, tickets and hospitality packages which can be used for raffles and auction prizes to raise funds.
- All requests for player appearances are handled by the commercial department who work in conjunction with staff at the Senior Training Centre to ensure a fair distribution of community work between players.
Blackburn Rovers
October 2007
