An Ed Sheeran fan who spent £720 on VIP tickets for him and his wife for one of the singer's UK gigs says he arrived to a puddle of vomit near their seats. James Collier said he was "highly dissatisfied" with the hospitality experience, which was marred by several other problems as well.
Mr Collier, a warehouse manager, bought the tickets for Sheeran's show at Sunderland's Stadium of Light as a Christmas present for his wife, Sue, 53. Wanting to give her a special experience, he bought the Riverview Restaurant hospitality package, reports TeessideLive.
However, aside from the vomit episode, Mr Collier also said that when they arrived at the stadium their restaurant seats could not be found and they had to wait 30 minutes for drinks. He claims that they missed the first act on the bill as they were waiting for their food.
And, when they finally took their seats in the stadium, they were met by a puddle of congealed vomit on the floor nearby. There was also sick on the back of a nearby seat, which Mr Collier said had been bought by former Sunderland footballer, Kevin Philiips.
Mr Collier, from Redcar and Cleveland, said the mess was eventually dealt with, but the smell remained. He has complained to Sunderland AFC.
The club told TeessideLive: "We have no comment. The club feels the situation has been dealt with."
Around 115,000 fans packed out the Stadium of Light over two nights to see Ed Sheeran, with many loving the gig.
Mr Collier paid a total of £720 for his hospitality package tickets at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, June 4. His tickets included seats in the West Stand director's area, food, a complimentary bar serving cocktails and table drinks service for the duration of the concert as well as the promise of pre-party atmosphere in the suite, which boasts 'private balconies and panoramic views across the River Wear'.
"We arrived at the Riverview Restaurant, the atmosphere was great, we went to be seated to be told that we were not on the seating plan and the members of staff seemed unsure where our reservation was, to be even asked had we arrived at the correct evening," said Mr Collier.
"After a few minutes of staff running up and down the corridor we were then told we were in the overflow. This, to start, didn't feel like the package was going to be a special occasion for my wife.
"We were booked in a room called the James Herriot room, the atmosphere was dreadful, there was no music or entertainment at this point, there was also no view of the Riverside in which our passes stated the Riverview Restaurant."
He said the bar was small with one barman and not enough stock to accommodate requests and at the start of the evening, the couple waited half an hour for their drinks. By the time the main meal was served, the first act was playing and they missed it.
"The meal finished and the second act was already playing, my wife went into the stadium as she felt we had missed so much and hadn’t soaked up the atmosphere, I went to get some drinks to take into the concert," he said in his complaint to Sunderland AFC.
"My wife told me to watch my feet, as there was a puddle of congealed sick on the floor next to her seat - the smell was unbearable and was making her feel nauseous, there was also a splattering of sick on the back of one of the empty seats. Ironically this was Kevin Phillips the footballer’s seat. This was clearly from the night before, she also pointed out that there was another puddle of dried up sick four seats down from us, obviously the stadium hadn’t been cleaned," he said.
He says he raised the matter with the catering manager, who was the only one available, and eventually the area was cleaned. It took 45 minutes, he says, and they missed the rest of the second act with the area still smelling of vomit.
"So far I have had nothing from them and as you can see what I went through for £720 was a rip off and I missed the beginning of the show, the smell for the rest of the show was horrible, not to mention I warned Kevin Phillips and his girlfriend to be careful of the seats because they had sick all over them before they came to sit down. I had to get the cleaners in to clean it before they came in," he said.
He wrote in his complaint: "So, as you can appreciate, we are severely disappointed and highly dissatisfied with the whole hospitality experience and feel the amount of money that was spent £720 does not warrant the experience we have received."
