[CMOTD]

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that Silverstone circuit is run by the BRDC for the sole benefit of the BRDC members and spectators are regarded as a necessary nuisance. 

The supreme example of this is the labyrinthine method of purchasing tickets which I have recently had to navigate for this weekend's event.

If you buy tickets for any MSV circuit such as Brands Hatch etc. then you log on, buy and they are emailed to you within five minutes. In case of any queries each circuit publishes its daytime phone number and email address. Simples.

Now try Silverstone - log on, buy and you get an email saying your tickets will be ready in your account a week before the event when you will get another email so you can log on all over again and print them off. WHY? Exactly what is wrong with immediate email despatch?

The plot now thickens, my tickets did not appear in the stated time frame so I needed to raise a query. This is what appears on the "contact us" page of their website:

"If you have a query that we haven’t been able to answer online, please use the enquiry form on this page. Our Customer Services team are available Monday to Friday and will reply within 5 working days. We’re really sorry – we don’t currently offer over-the-phone customer service."

The mind boggles - a business with no phone access and up to five days to answer a simple query. They really are about as much use as an origami condom. The page should really be named "don't contact us because we don't give a toss about paying spectators." 

My tickets have finally appeared after I sent them a somewhat terse communication. Thank goodness I only go there once a year.

[Anthony B]

I know your pain!!!  A suggestion - contact them via Facebook - I know I know you hate it - but social media does work when you complain.

I have an HP printer, and when I bought it I signed up for the 5 euro per month charge and free printing supplies as you use them? SOunds good? It is until...... they sent the replacement colour cartridge, insert it and ..... error message - cartridge is not communicating with printer. Now i faced what you faced - try and use their official page to correct? NOT A SAUSAGE!!! it took 4 months to fix and the big issue is you cannot go and buy a replacement cartridge from the local stationers as the software is set to HP supplied cartridge use only.

It was only when I went on to FB that i got response and the issue sorted. Hate this new fangled world sometimes

[Kevan]

A new fangled world that isn't going to change back, reliance on 'smart' phones for everything. 
As I approach mid 60's I'm feeling more irrelevant as each year passes. You reach an age where the world left you by and you didn't notice.

[CMOTD]

Two years on and they get worse! Went to Walter Hayes Trophy meeting recently, bought tickets online as usual and found when I went to download them that I couldn't print them out but was supposed to download the Silverstone app and tickets onto my (non existent) smartphone. None of this was mentioned on their website before buying the things!

I sent them a snotty email asking how the hell I was supposed to get my tickets when I didn't have a smartphone. Got a reply telling me to come to "customer corner" when I arrived and they would sort it out. Sure enough they sorted things out for me by printing the tickets from their computer when I got there. I enquired why I couldn't have done exactly the same thing at home without all the extra hassle and got a load of corporate gobbledegook in return. The mind boggles! I was not alone, there were at least another ten people in the queue with the same problem!