Flaws revealed in new SU feeder-bar system
Flaws in a new ‘feeder’ ticketing system pioneered by the SU were revealed on Saturday when hundreds of students, many of whom had queued over an hour, were denied access to Club D.
Students were told to arrive at Langwith at 8pm to pick up their tickets for the Derwent event Club D as part of the new scheme devised by the SU to increase the usage of campus bars before events. However tickets did not actually go on sale until 9.30pm.
Students were repeatedly reassured by megaphone that, once they had arrived at Langwith, tickets would be on sale until 10.30pm and that there were enough tickets available for everyone in the queue.
However at 9.45pm it was announced that tickets had sold out, leaving hundreds in the queue – many of whom were sporting elaborate beach-wear in aid of the Club D beach theme – unable to gain access to the event.
Rich Croker, next year’s SU President, denied claims by angry students that the system was “a shambles”, saying “Campus events are popular when they are done properly”.
He later acknowledged that the confusion was the result of “a flaw in the feeder system”, claiming that the new practice of issuing paper tickets instead of wristbands allows students to buy tickets in bulk for absent friends, leaving people behind them in the queue stranded.
Alcuin student Helen Tilley, one of the many disappointed on Saturday night, said “I can’t believe I’ve had to queue all this time for nothing. It really makes you lose your faith in the Students’ Union.
“They keep going on about campus bars being as good as town, but this kind of thing just proves that the systems can’t be relied on. Next time I just won’t bother.”
