Received this email today about the coaches no show........
Hi John,
Following your email to Anna Burgess regarding your experience at our Europa League fixture against Beskitas in Istanbul on Thursday 26th February 2015, I wanted to write to you and advise you of further investigation we made into the matter.
Following an operational team visit to Istanbul, a practice which is undertaken by the Club ahead of all overseas fixtures, it was agreed with Beskitas that transport would be arranged in advance for our travelling fans.
These arrangements confirmed by Beskitas involved providing a safe coach service, manned by police officers for our fans from the city centre to the Ataturk Stadium at a cost of €10 per person.
Despite this pre-agreed arrangement, on the afternoon of the game it was confirmed to the British Consulate and Club representatives that no coaches would be provided for LFC fans.
The Club was disappointed that the pre-booked transport agreed in advance did not materialise ahead of the game and would like to apologise for any inconvenience and upset this may have caused you and/or your travelling party.
Due to the short timescale involved, the Club was unable to arrange transport to the game for fans but, in collaboration with Merseyside Police and the British Consulate a free coach service was arranged post-match for fans travelling back into the city centre from the stadium.
The Club communicated this information to fans via a tannoy announcement at the stadium, LFC representatives on the ground, and a message from Merseyside Police. A full apology from Beşiktaş was also published on the LFC official website.
A full investigation of the incident was carried out by the Club, which it has taken key learnings from including; making our staff on the ground more visible to fans, publishing our support liaison officer contact details more prominently as well as looking into booking transport independently for future games in remote or challenging locations.
Thank you for bringing this to the Club’s attention and again please accept our most sincere apologies.
Yours sincerely,
YNWA.
Yonit Sharabi
Customer Experience Manager