CAS Trust contacted the club last Thursday morning (5th January) to raise the matter of the £2.50 administration charge which is being levied on telephone purchases of tickets for the Millwall game.

The club have previously justified the charge by explaining that they are trying to encourage people to book on-line. Whatever view you take of this, the fact of the matter is that Millwall tickets are not available to be purchased online.

It therefore seems completely unreasonable to us that home supporters have to pay this surcharge.

We are disappointed that, three working days after raising the matter, we have had no response at all from the club. This poor customer relations is sadly predictable. Surely, dispensing with the charge would have been a good opportunity to show that the club listens to and values its supporters, and some good will could have been accrued. Continuing to levy the charge just encourages more negativity from fans at a time when the club desperately needs to get people on side.

A CAS Trust member has spoken to the ticket office (the manager?) today and has been reminded that the charge does not apply to personal callers. This response conveniently ignores the fact that a lot of supporters live some distance from The Valley and that most people have to go to work during ticket office opening hours. Buying a ticket on the day of the game runs the risk of long queues, missing kick-off and being charged the surcharge for late purchasing.

There are a number of Charlton fans who give the Millwall fixture a miss because of the aggravation which often surrounds it. Does it really help the team if further barriers to attendance are unnecessarily put in place?