Jambo fury after wait for tickets goes into extra time

HEARTS season ticket holders today accused the club of underestimating demand from fans after many were still waiting for their books a day before the first home game of the season.

Jambo websites have been flooded with messages from irate fans complaining that tickets they'd paid for weeks ago still hadn't arrived.

Supporters have even reported cases of some family members receiving their tickets, while other relatives living at the same address had not.

Hearts today blamed "technical problems" for the delay, but no-one at the club was available to explain what those were.

Supporters' clubs today said Hearts had simply not employed enough staff to cope with the high demand for tickets.

The chairman of Heart of Midlothian Supporters Trust was amongst those still without a ticket ahead of the first home game of the season against Celtic at Tynecastle tomorrow.

Martin Laidlaw said a lot of people were feeling very anxious and Hearts' ticketing system needed to be urgently reviewed.

He said: "I haven't got mine yet and I'm slightly irritated. Obviously, there has been an overwhelming demand but you would think they would have them all out and ready for the beginning of the season. We'd like to see this addressed."

Lifelong Jambo John Addison, 75, from East Craigs, only received his ticket on Thursday.

He said: "I feel angry. This isn't very nice for season ticket holders. I paid cash at Tynecastle in May and I was worried I wasn't going to get it in time."

Another supporter, who did not wish to be named, said: "I applied online three months ago. My two sons have got theirs, but I've not received mine yet. I went to Tynecastle on Friday and there were a lot of angry people."

John Borthwick, secretary of the Federation of Hearts Supporters Clubs, said dealing with more than 13,500 season ticket requests was a "major problem" for the club. He added Hearts told him two weeks ago the delay was due to the ticket office being too small - but he blamed it on a shortage of staff.

He said: "The club could have got temporary staff in to deal with the problem. Over the last two seasons there have been similar problems."

Mr Borthwick said tickets were supposed to be sent out in the first week of July after people began applying at the end of May.

Derek Watson, secretary of the Hearts Supporters Club, added: "This has been an ongoing problem. Hopefully, it should all be sorted out by Sunday, otherwise there are going to be huge queues of people at the ground demanding their tickets."

Comments on the jamboskickback website included one fan complaining about the fact he was the only one in his group to be without a ticket. He wrote: "I've not got mine. It is a false economy to understaff the ticket office."

Hearts FC put the following statement on its official website yesterday. It said: "Due to technical difficulties with multiple ticket purchases some season tickets may not arrive before Sunday's game against Celtic."

Hearts advised people who were waiting for category A tickets to go to the ticket office at Tynecastle with their customer reference number, photo ID, and receipt between 12pm and 5pm today or 7am and 1pm tomorrow to claim a voucher to allow access to their seats for the Celtic game. Category B ticket holders were told their tickets would be distributed next week.

Taken from the Scotsman