British Grand Prix

[graememac]

Is anyone going?? whats the deal with the park and ride? do you need advance tickets or do you just turn up at the bus stop?? we will be heading in from brackley

[bigdods]

You can walk there from brackley in about an hour. Probably quicker than the traffic will be moving....

[graememac]

Sorry talking rubbish...i mean banbury!

[egomeister]

bigdods said:

You can walk there from brackley in about an hour. Probably quicker than the traffic will be moving....

Been there, done that (well to the Green Man anyway).

My advice, don't bother and find an alternative method of getting there!

[Slyjoe]

If you're not too worried about getting there in time to see the support races just cruise in at about 11.30ish. We did last year absolutely no problems at all.
Not sure about tickets on the gate though, I thought it had all sold out this year due to Lewis H being a bit good.

[graememac]

i mean advance tickets for the park and ride, i've heard something about needing passes for it? i have tickets for the race

[williamp]

When I ordered my tickets online, I had to take the park and ride- silvertsone did not offer me any other choice. I have a park and ride pass for the car and for us, but the park and ride is only in use on sunday.

[LittleBro]

Guys who've had problems with traffic, is that even since the road improvements? I've been since and been amazed at the difference in the flow of traffic....

[130R]

I have a car parking pass but I believe you only need it on the Sunday. So Friday and Saturday you can park in the car parks anyway.

Road improvements meant it wasn't that bad last year although getting out on Sunday was a bit of a PITA.

[clubsport]

I hoped to go along this Friday to catch some of the practice session.
It wasn't obvious on the website how I could get a ticket, only childrens individual day tickets were listed?
I phoned the ticket office to be told I had to buy a 3 day ticket, no individual days at all and the cheapest available were £199 !!!

At that price I would expect a tootle round in a Mclaren not just watching 45 mins of practice

[super7]

Theres a family ticket available on the gate, Two adults and two kids for fri/sat £79 and £139 respevctively.

Why don't people look on the website for tickets and car parking info.... a nobrainer if you ask me (You do have a brain don't you?)

Or even look at the documents that silverstone sent you with the tickets....

Or is it because people just can't be a**sed to look themselves

[Al Rush]

clubsport said:

I hoped to go along this Friday to catch some of the practice session.
It wasn't obvious on the website how I could get a ticket, only childrens individual day tickets were listed?
I phoned the ticket office to be told I had to buy a 3 day ticket, no individual days at all and the cheapest available were £199 !!!

At that price I would expect a tootle round in a Mclaren not just watching 45 mins of practice

I agree. The website was at best, confusing and badly presented. If the info isn't there to see quickly, its a bad site, and boy.. is that a bad site. I don't want to go with another adult and 2 children (school makes that a non starter). I want to go on my own or with a mate. After spending 5 minutes going around in circles and seeing a bewildering array of links and packages that would mean me taking out a second mortgage, and then spending another 8 minutes on the helpline (god, if there ever was an oxymoron..) I just gave up.

All I want to do is drive to the car park tomorrow, and walk in. I still don't know if I can do that, because I haven't summoned up the courage again to check. I feel the will to live draining at the thought of it.

[Marki]

Here you go you blind git

http://www.pistonheads.com/motorsport/default.asp?...

[super7]

Hey Al,

Just looking at the website, which is a well designed site for those who are literate, you will be able to see that you can turn up and get a family ticket on friday for £79ish. Just leave the family at home.......

Five years ago, if you wanted to go on Fri/Sat/Sun on a general admission pass, it would cost you £350.

If you wanted to go to Wimbledon last week, it would cost you £30ish

If you want to go to the cricket it'll cost you £30+ish per day

Why is £30 for you and your mate for a days F1 at Silverstone, 3hrs of it infact, expensive.

£99 for three days is exceptional value for money!

Edited by super7 on Thursday 5th July 13:32

[Al Rush]

It never used to be that complicated Marki. You could just turn up when you liked and get trapped in the mud without any problems.

Edited by Al Rush on Thursday 5th July 13:31

[Al Rush]

Thanks Super7, you're overlooking one thing. I log on with a hammer and I don't want to go to the tennis or the cricket (ok, thats 3). Decent website designers need to allow for the lowest common denominator (me). Think how much easier it would be if the person who designed that site actually knew what they were doing?

I would like a BIG banner that simply said: 'Sad git? No mates? No children in tow? Want to see FI on your own and pay next to nothing? Click here.'

[williamp]

super7 said:

Theres a family ticket available on the gate, Two adults and two kids for fri/sat £79 and £139 respevctively.

Why don't people look on the website for tickets and car parking info.... a nobrainer if you ask me (You do have a brain don't you?)

Or even look at the documents that silverstone sent you with the tickets....

Or is it because people just can't be a**sed to look themselves

Yeah, but whats the silverstone website. Is it silverstone.co.uk? I would look at google, but I dont know their address, either

[clubsport]

super7, are you involved in the website design or something?
It is not particularly clear and the packages don't suit everyone, I can't make Sunday and would prefer not to get involved in the corporate/media facade,,,just wanted to see and more importantly hear a few F1 cars round the track....clssic F1 meets it is then, far more accessible to motorsport enthusiasts

[Al Rush]

clubsport said:

.. I can't make Sunday and would prefer not to get involved in the corporate/media facade, just wanted to see and more importantly hear a few F1 cars round the track.

What he said.

[Al Rush]

clubsport said:

super7, are you involved in the website design or something?
It is not particularly clear and the packages don't suit everyone, I can't make Sunday and would prefer not to get involved in the corporate/media facade,,,just wanted to see and more importantly hear a few F1 cars round the track....clssic F1 meets it is then, far more accessible to motorsport enthusiasts

I've eventually spoken to a human being who told me that some tickets were available on a first come first served basis for tomorrow. I told him I just wanted a bog standard 1 day ticket, but he couldn't tell me the price. I asked him who might be able to tell me the price, and he said 'no one'. I resisted the temptation to ask how pricing was determined and asked if his boss might know.. then he said 'I don't know the prices, but they are just the 3 day passes, from £199'. If I had happily replaced the receiver and driven down without asking him about price, I would have got there at 0800 and be faced with a £199 take it or leave it option. It seems that they're all too busy there to know their products, or they're not particularly clued up when it comes to customer service.

The automated phone service is bizarre. I redialed 4 or 5 different numbers, each automated service eventually telling me I needed to dial a different number. I just wanted to know more about tickets, and I eventually spoke to someone on 08704 588300, although the website tells you to call (for any specific ticket queries) 08704 588 288. Other Silverstone numbers I wasted bucks on were; 08704 588260, 08704 588200 and the one suggested by the operator 01327 857271, which immediately tells you that the number is no longer in use. Could someone there who might be reading this and who has a couple of minutes to spare please tell BT then? Thanks.

They do nothing to make the whole thing accessible or inviting for the casual spectator or the semi interested fan who wants to dip his/her toe into the water and go along and watch their first GP. There must be loads of folk who are thinking tonight, 'Hey.. I've never been to a GP before and I've got tomorrow off, so why not go and have a look?'. Can they? Can they heck. Well, they can.. but they have to pay 200 sovs and god knows how much for nosh. Is that getting people interested in Motorsport?

I resent the hell out of being sent around the houses on some expensive automated phone service and when I do speak to someone, I expect to at least chat with someone who is polite, lucid, and who doesn't give me the impression he's doing me a favour by giving me a few moments of his valuable time.

So I'll just stay at home and watch it on telly and I'm going to go to Waitrose for some pre race tucker. To make the experience complete I'll insist to the girl on the checkout that I pay over the odds for my bog standard lager and that I'd like to pay at least £5.00 for a hot dog.. please. Then what I'm going to do when the race has finished is drive into the country and park up for 2 hours to simulate the customer leaving experience. Then I'm going to drive back home.

Honestly, this year (yup, because of LH) I was going to go back to my first UK GP since 1998.. I had summoned up the nerve to actually go to Silverstone for a major event (the small ones seem to be fine). Now I can't be arsed because and to be honest, I don't think I'll bother again. Perhaps it should go back to Brands, perhaps Silverstone would learn some lessons by seeing how its done overseas (Spa in particular). MSV might be a business first and foremost, and JP might be a stickler for the detail but at least MSV understands customer service and you don't have to jump through hoops to get there, to speak with a human being or to buy a ticket long before you know whether you want to go or not.