Ice Arena Wales

Thread starter #1
Well they certainly excelled themselves tonight. Treated smokers like cattle in a pen with NO ashbins, not allowing anyone out of the arena to go to their cars or to get/order a pizza. A friend of ours needed to get medication from his car but wanted to watch the rest of the game so he couldn't leave to get it he was referred to t&cs but nowhere does it state no re-entry. At the end of the 2nd interval another friend havin a ciggies nearly got locked out and was told he had to be in before the puck dropped OK I suppose but he got back to his seat well before that stage. Treating us like prisoners in the arena and a laughing stock in front of the away fans. You should be ashamed of yourselves couldn't organise a p*** up in a brewery
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#2
Also if you want to make a phone call you are now forced to join the smokers and if you just want a breath of fresh air you certainky will not get that
 
#4
IAW shame on you! Forcing us smokers into the naughty box. The entrance to our "box" was so tight that plumes of smoke were sent into block 4, no doubt the non smokers will not be happy ;) isn't it bad enough we have to freeze every week because your too tight to sort the climate control? Or put up with the ever shrinking portions of chips, now we can't even buy a pizza because you are holding us prisoner. If you can't run the rink sell up and ship out!
 

Ejercito Rojas

Well-Known Member
#5
I was told by the door supervisor that it was Todd that told them not to allow anyone back into the building if they leave to use a phone etc!
Apparently, he is worried about people passing tickets to others to gain free access to the building.
The ticketing and entry protocol at IAW has been a shambles since the building opened, please don't penalise your customers because of your own organisational inadequacies.
If you won't let people outside to make phone call, then you have a duty to provide phone coverage INSIDE the arena.
Tonight was a text book exercise in how to piss off your customer base.
 
Thread starter #6
I don't get it there were non of these problems in the BBT the crowd hasn't so must be the organisation at the arena. There are more security staff at IAW but they don't seem to be organised enough to be able to control ntry and exit so ergo they stop the crowd from exiting doh madness!!!
 
#7
Don't think the stewards and security changes have anything to do with IAW. It's all down to Todd Kelman, it appears he is paranoid about people using their tickets to smuggle others in. My first game tonight and wasn't impressed that if you left the arena by the main entrance you were told you wouldn't be allowed back in until after the game has finished. Jamming 100 smokers into a tiny area with no stewards or the 2 guys, security I think, checking tickets as they came back in. I saw 2 people leave to get things from their car via the smoking cattle pen and saw a few people open the barriers and walk into the arena via the cattle pen with nobody checking to see if they had tickets. Also when the incident happened at the Blaze bench the security removed one guy but left the guy who was hanging over the barriers trying to get at Brian Stewart alone. Fair dos to Taz, he was the first one there and was asking people to move away from the Barrie's whilst the girl steward looked petrified and was then sent away by the 2 security guys without them even asking her what she had seen.
Question for the Devils organisation.
Why did you get rid of RAS security who knew what they were doing and why did you get rid of the previous stewards who were all trained and loyal Devils fans ?
Todd you may know what you are doing when it comes to the organisation side of the Devils business but you don't know about security and stewarding and stopped using an experienced security company and loyal trained stewards and brought in a bunch of amateurs
 

Finny

Well-Known Member
#8
I'm afraid Todd's fears over people using tickets to smuggle others in isnt paranoi. I heard loads of stories during the BBT years of this happening. Somebody I work with went to a couple of games a season and never paid once.
From what I've seen the security company appear to be experienced at big events, but are still learning the finer details for Ice Hockey. They're getting better but mistakes will still happen.
Were RAS responsible for the stewards in the BBT? I thought that was separate? I remember a stage where they were asking for stewards ahead of each game.

I know the phone signal issue has been brought up again, but I struggle to see why this is such a problem. We survived the WNIR years without mobile phones. Are we really that dependant on them now?
And the same with food. I know I'm going to be somewhere for 3 hours where the food is crap. So I eat beforehand. If I go to a gig in the CIA I don't expect to be allowed to order a dominos and bring it in. It's a sports event not a restaurant.
 

Electro

Active Member
#9
I agree, everybody should just get it, sit in your seat, never move from it, switch off your, phones, don't eat or drink and just accept the situation.

The game is the entertainment, you've paid for it, all the rest is a luxury, you don't need.

My god some are just selfish.


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pjj365

Well-Known Member
#10
I fully accept the "free entry" issue but every other arena in the country manages it. You have a ticket - keep it and show it for re- entry. Simple

Or hand stamp people on exit and check on return. Again simple

I am not sure that experience of hockey is relevant to the security company's ability. It looks like lack of training - so many stewards (recruited and paid as ushers I am told) look like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights. Door staff throughout the high street hospitality industry cope with venue exit and re-entry every weekend throughout the country. It really is simple in concept but requires training and management

On the phone issue I tend to agree with Finny but we are in 2016 not late 20th/early 21st century. So, if you need to make a call/catch up on other games then nonsmokers should not be forced into an unhealthy environment

I also agree on the food front but having eaten at about 5pm in order to get to the game a pizza after game is sometimes welcome. Not being able to pre-order in the second period break is, to say the least, inconvenient. Others travelling from much further away (e.g. Mid Wales) and with children have a much greater need as an alternative to IAW rubbish or bringing a picnic

Finally (for now!) the fan dynamic has been degraded. It is not just smokers who congregate outside -both home and away fans. People mingle, groups form and re-form. All talking about the game and hockey in general. There is no scope for this in the cattle pen and above all else I missed this
 

Electro

Active Member
#11
My game night usually starts with a meal out and a few drinks. I'm not a mover during the game, I have that respect, but l have to have phone and net access, not for personnel reasons. I'm not a smoker, so l wouldn't go into that area. If internet access or phone access was needed outside and l was refused re entry, then yes there would be an issue.

The terms and conditions of events regarding re entry serve several issues, an important one is protecting the food and drink part of the business within the event. If the IAW provided this then strict re entry rules could be justified, again if the arena had wifi as well.

Since the place is shambolic farce, enforcing strict entry rules because they designed a crap entrance, employed cheap staff, those rules should be fixed or made flexible.

Just more evidence of an organisation struggling to manage in an area of business it has no experience in.


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Slartibartfast

Well-Known Member
#12
Its ironic that I had just commented to my wife how much better it was entering the IAW than the BBT. No big queues and chaos in reception. Then I tried to enter the game from the bar only to find a big queue. People who had left the game area to get a drink and tried to reenter were being told they could not be scanned back in. They were told that there are bars around the rink so there was no need to come in and out of the main bar. What nonsense. The main bar is warmer and more comfortable and many people meet there for a chat.
Todd you have got this one very wrong. There are much better ways to prevent people trying to get in for free than this. E.g proper hand stamps and a system that spots a ticket scanned twice.
This was a return to the bad old days but we know this organisation listens to their fans so Im sure they will fix it.
 
Last edited:
#14
Its ironic that I had just commented to my wife how much better it was entering the IAW than the BBT. No big queues and chaos in reception. Then I tried to enter the game from the bar only to find a big queue. People who had left the game area to get a drink and tried to reenter were being told they could not be scanned back in. They were told that there are bars around the rink so there was no need to come in and out of the main bar. What nonsense. The main bar is warmer and more comfortable and many people meet there for a chat.
Todd you have got this one very wrong. There are much better ways to prevent people trying to get in for free than this. E.g proper hand stamps and a system that spots a ticket scanned twice.
This was a return to the bad old days but we know this organisation listens to their fans so Im sure they will fix it.
Was this before the start of the game as I went out to the bar during the second period and was able to walk strait back in without even being challenged? The table where they were scanning tickets on entry wasn't even there any more.
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
#15
What a complete overreaction on here. We managed for years at the WNIR without mobile phones and the need for a fag or a vape every five minutes.

The arena and/or the club reserve the right to excercise their terms and conditions. Thats what we sign up to when we buy tickets. We are not being 'locked' in the IAW....we can leave whenever we want!

As a smoker myself, I expect to be directed to a designated smoking area. If it is a pen, so be it. We should not get preferrential treatment. Just a smoking area designated by law.

Don't know about you, but most people go to the game to watch the hockey and enjoy match night entertainment IN the arena....that's what your ticket covers.

You don't see vast numbers of people streaming out of Old Trafford during a Premier League game during half time for a fag...a security nightmare!

If you can't go 3 hours without having a smoke or needing to use your mobile phone, then you really do have a problem.
 

Milky

Active Member
#16
I have no issue at all with the security. Can't think of having gone to a rugby match or premier league football match and leaving the stadium to go back in again. I seem to remember once you're in then you're in.

It is true about people getting in with other people's tickets. Anger should be at these free loaders not the security that has been implemented to try and stop it.

Unfortunately this is a by product of the poor design of the rink. I said in my observations of IAW on a pre completion visit that entry and security would be a joke. Hate to say I told you so.

With public access to the bar and other rink on game nights, id love to hear people's suggestions as to how you segregate the two groups and ensure security.
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#17
Can someone direct me to the terms and conditions made available to me before I purchased my ticket which thus formed part of my contract

This is mot sarcastic or intended to be stirring but if I agreed to terms I was not aware of (a doubtful concept in contractual law) I would like to know sooner rather than later
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#18
As a smoker myself, I expect to be directed to a designated smoking area. If it is a pen, so be it. We should not get preferrential treatment. Just a smoking area designated by law

Absolutely agreed BUT what was done last night went further than this affecting non-smokers with reasons to leave and then return

BUT let's not talk about the law and IAW when they do not exhibit any no smoking signs at the entrance, they have failed to provide litter bins outside the arena and they are extending their smoking area into a public access area
 

Russky

Well-Known Member
#19
The T&Cs used to be printed on the back of a ticket and it is implied you accept these by purchasing and actually receiving a ticket. Due to personal circumstances I am not able to get to the IAW as often as I would like so MNL is an absolute godsend. I have only been to the new Arena once so far but on that visit I didnt encounter any issues re admittance or exiting the arena just to go to the bar or to the lav.
 
#20
If you can't go 3 hours without having a smoke or needing to use your mobile phone, then you really do have a problem.

I'm sorry but I feel like have to speak up regarding this comment. I have extremely bad anxiety and I struggle a lot in the IAW, hence why I used to go outside and yes use and ecig to calm down, but being put outside in a pen was very unsettling and for medical reasons I really find it a problem. In regards to mobiles, some people have things going on outside of hockey where they may need to check up on things every so often. So I do feel for the people who want to go outside and get some fresh air and have a look on their phones and we are all crammed together in that 'pen' I don't see what the problem is with the way it was before!!




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