Ramsay1874

Hello General

I hate to say it when so much good is being done at the Club but I have to agrree with those bemoaning the catering - we are in Upper Holte and despite being in early are regularly given either cold or overcooked food, and we are frequently wrongly charged - it is dreadful.

Probably for the first time since I was 10, when my Mum used to pack me off to Villa Park with my marmalade & banana sandwiches to watch Gerry Hitchens, I took sandwiches to Villa Park yesterday having finally given up on the half-time struggle to buy low quality food in the Upper Trinity.

If it's low quality and no struggle I'm prepared to suffer the quality and if it's good quality and higher prices I'm prepared top pay - but low quality plus a struggle to get served people who still don't really understand their roles and responsibilities is not an option for me.

I think the problem is compounded by the fact that since the smoking ban a lot more people are now more content to leave their seats at half-time because the air is now breathable on the concourse - this leaves fewer square-feet for the people who are trying to get to the serving areas.

When the Villa played at Reading recently I had a problem with my ticket being read by their electronic turnstiles. A nice young man with a portable reader came over to my turnstile and asked if he could scan my ticket; which he then did. He concluded that the turnstile had acknowledged my ticket and marked it as "used" but had not opened the turnstile. He then "reset" my booking from his hand-held reader and he then waited with me to check that the turnstile would let me in.

It was efficient and I always felt like a valued customer (even though I was an away fan as far as he was concerned).

It appears that Reading understand that the technology doesn't always work so they have someone other than a turnstile operator on-hand to help.

This is nothing more than what the title says - a thank you.

Thank you Villa. Thank you Randy Lerner, Thank you to Martin O'Neill and to all the people who work for or help the club.

Thanks for the post, it's a perfect mirror to my own feelings except that I couldn't have put it so eloquently.

Oh, and thanks for the fags ;-)