I'm Still Mad...

Okay, so I've already ranted about my distaste for the way the Atlanta Spirit Group lied about having no investors.

But now I have to voice my opinion on some other things that I am not thrilled about. Namely, the total disrespect for the fans and staff.

Yes, this will be an angry blog post.

The backhanded way they slimed out of telling us fans what was going on was appauling. The lack of giving us the "lies" says a lot. When the rumors were circulating like crazy throughout the season and especially in the weeks leading up to the sale, the front office remained mute to the rumors. There was a plea for a local buyer, but that's about it. I expected the lies about "We are familiar with the rumors regarding the sale of the Thrashers, but nothing is confirmed." or "We are exploring all options, but we still are working to have the team remain in Atlanta." or "There is a sale in the works. This was a very last resort and we will be announcing soon."

What did they do instead? They played stupid right up to the end. A Yahoo NHL Blogger, Puck Daddy, called the Thrashers one hour before the announcement the team was moving to Winnipeg. He called about buying season tickets. Read the full transcript of the call here.

The person on the phone did the whole song-dance about "where would you like to sit", "who do you come with", the whole schpeal. Finally, Puck Daddy asked the question about the upcoming sale announcement and the person from the ASG said they knew nothing about it.

Really?

There is no way the person didn't know. Fans knew. You would think someone who works for the team would know. Either they didn't know which really REALLY says a lot about the interest staff was taking towards the sale, or, they were reading off a script. I think it's natural not to jump the gun about talking about bad things. Teams do it all the time.

In baseball, there is a rain delay and fans start squawking about rain outs. The official response is that every effort will be made to resume the game as quickly as possible. But we do have reality in our answers and if the person persists on asking about rain policies and make up dates and stuff, we tell them if IF the game is not complete, check the website or come back to Fan Central, but hold on to the ticket.

It would have been perfectly acceptable to me if the Thrashers had responded, "Yes, I understand there is a press conference scheduled today. Unless anything is made official, we are still operating as normal. We are currently planning on the 2011-2012 season and we have great seats available. Should I perhaps call you back after the NHL Govenors meet?"

Boom. Acknowledge reality, give customer service, and still sell towards the positive without admitting defeat. If you say "I know nothing", you look like an incompetent boob. And I do feel it was a whole system error, not a rouge employee who didn't know what she was doing. This kind of event is going to attract media people, like Puck Daddy, so you need a unified response. Even if it was an employee just acting on her own, it was probably because she didn't know what to say officially.

Further proof. I give you Exhibit B . This one comes from the Philips Arena website, since there is no more Thrashers website. Atlantathrashers.com links you four pages. The infamous letter from the owners, the season ticket holder information, the nhl.com website, and the Winnipeg site.

This is what currently (June 28, 2011 at 8:49pm, 28 days after the sale and 7 days after the govenors approved the move) posted regarding season tickets.

"With the recent announcement that the Atlanta Thrashers have signed an asset purchase agreement with True North Sports and Entertainment for the potential sale and relocation of the team for the 2011-12 season, there are a number of important updates about your Thrashers account.

"The NHL Board of Governors still needs to approve the sale and approve the relocation of the Thrashers.

"Until the NHL Board of Governors votes, all new Thrashers season ticket sales have been suspended.

"Current payment plans have been suspended until we have the results from the June 21 NHL Board of Governors vote and the Atlanta Thrashers will honor the requests of those Season Ticket Holders who have asked that their 2011-2012 ticket purchases be refunded prior to the vote.

"In the event that the sale and relocation is not approved, payment plans will be extended by one month.

"If the NHL Board of Governors approves the relocation to Winnipeg and the Thrashers do not play hockey in Atlanta you will be able to obtain a full 100% refund at that point if you have not already requested one.

"Thank you for your patience during this process and thank you for your support of Atlanta Thrashers hockey. We know this has been a difficult time for our most valued and loyal supporters, and we want to show the same commitment to our customers and their wishes as they've shown to us over the years."

Okay. The Board DID approve the move. Not still needs to. And why are you talking about extending the payment plan still? At least you suspended the sale of new ticket sales.

But this is still dishonest. Granted, if you are a season ticket holder, you probably know what's going on with the new Jets, but the message is still not updated accurately. It still shows the lack of respect and interest the owners had towards the team. I can see a business that has season tickets not really following the sport getting confused as to what is going on. I would hope that the season ticket holders were contacted regarding everything.

Hold on Watson. There's a clue as to some dasterdly misdeeds in that letter.

"If the NHL Board of Governors approves the relocation to Winnipeg and the Thrashers do not play hockey in Atlanta you will be able to obtain a full 100% refund at that point if you have not already requested one."

It would appear that one had to request a refund and it was not automatic. And, dare I say, it would also look as though one was unable to receive one until said time.

By George, Holmes. I think you're right.

In fact, I know I'm right. You see, I am friends with Thrashers season ticket holders and, well, they have screwed them to end. You were unable to obtain a refund EVEN AFTER THE TEAM WAS SOLD TO TRUE NORTH SPORTS. It was only obtainable after the approval 21 days later. That is horrible customer service. Show the same commitment to our loyal fans as you have shown us my foot. It is not right for a failing business to not process their requests immediately given the circumstances. And what's more appauling is that you had to request it. It was not automatic.

More proof. The Atlanta Braves were offering complementary game tickets to all Thrashers season ticket holders and on-field batting practice access. The Thrashers season ticket people were to send out the invite to their clients and get the names and contact information back to the Braves. Some ticket reps were on top of it. Some were not and no Braves info distributed. This is just one thing I know about. Who knows what else is being mishandled, or has been all along.

Another point of interest. Game day staff have been given no notification of the team's departure. None. No information on the new owners. No, "hey, you might want to start looking for more work come October". Nothing. Why? I don't know, but if this were just a job for some people (and I know it was), then they probably don't keep track of the team in the off-season. The schedule comes back around in the late summer and sign up for games. Plus, if one were to have a greviance or a something, who do they take it up with? Who's in charge here? It may sound like a minor annoyance, but it, added to the other lack of respect dealings of the ASG show a clear trend.

And so, I'm mad at them. For lying over and over again and showing us such disrespect.

grrr.....