The £3 Booking Tax

[The9]

The UK is no longer in recession. The figures for the first quarter of this year showed positive growth.

 

I shall bear this in mind whilst not being able to sell my house at £60k less than it was worth in 2008, with a hugely reduced overdraft.

[Chez]

Just had it confirmed, the £3 booking fee will apply to away tickets as well. Christ.

 

Steve, do you know if season ticket holders be charged £3 fee for away tickets?

 

Also I usually fax across an order for away tickets, will we still be allowed to do that and will there be a fee?

[dune]

we appear to have come a long way from last summer when fans were dipping into their pockets to try and keep the club afloat.

 

The Germans said similar in the 1930's. Just because we are now financially stable doesn't mean we cannot criticise what is a kick in the teeth and a rip off.

[Saint Fan CaM]

The Germans said similar in the 1930's. Just because we are now financially stable doesn't mean we cannot criticise what is a kick in the teeth and a rip off.

 

Instead of getting all lathered up over this, why not check out Pompey's pricing structure? If it's cheaper and they have a payment plan, then you have an option right?

 

If however, you wish to support a well run, financially sound football club that's going places then I would suggest Saints is the club for you. Which in turn means you've really got little cause to complain fella. Get with the program.

[stevegrant]

Steve, do you know if season ticket holders be charged £3 fee for away tickets?

Yes, if they're booked via the phone or online.

 

Also I usually fax across an order for away tickets, will we still be allowed to do that and will there be a fee?

No idea.

[Chez]

The Germans said similar in the 1930's. Just because we are now financially stable doesn't mean we cannot criticise what is a kick in the teeth and a rip off.

 

check my recent posts, I'm as narked as anyone at the introduction of a £3 charge for online transactions, but searching for the most costly transaction method for the club is just silly. Fair enough look for ways round the charge...

[Chez]

Instead of getting all lathered up over this, why not check out Pompey's pricing structure? If it's cheaper and they have a payment plan, then you have an option right?

 

...Get with the program.

 

the old if you don't like it go and support the club down the road arguement...bollicks mate.

[dune]

check my recent posts, I'm as narked as anyone at the introduction of a £3 charge for online transactions, but searching for the most costly transaction method for the club is just silly. Fair enough look for ways round the charge...

 

I will be buying away tickets on the day where possible, i.e for Northern games where there will be loads going, but for games where I have to pay the ticket tax i'll be paying by credit card so it costs the club more. If Cortese thinks it's ok to rip me off then I think it's ok for me to do my best to make sure they get the minimum profit from it.

[The9]

I'm perversely looking forward to the spin in the announcment about memberships, which at the moment looks like a charge to be given the right to pay one of two additional taxes on the announced price of a ticket.

 

On the bright side, there are going to be a lot of empty seats.

 

I'm starting to think my Saturdays will consist of going to the pub with my match-going mates, then going home again. Because when it comes down to it, do I really give a toss about watching Saints play Hartlepool at St Marys again ? Especially if it's expected to be a foregone conclusion and I have to roll up on the day and pay per match because the club has made getting an ST awkward, or pay extra online pay per-booking charges ?

 

Kinda strange that I'm more likely to boycott this crappy situation than I ever was when Lowe was running the club into the ground in 2008/9. Anyone would think it was financially motivated, rather than a protest...

[Chez]

I will be buying away tickets on the day where possible, i.e for Northern games where there will be loads going, but for games where I have to pay the ticket tax i'll be paying by credit card so it costs the club more. If Cortese thinks it's ok to rip me off then I think it's ok for me to do my best to make sure they get the minimum profit from it.

 

Fax your order. Hopefully that option will stay open.

[dune]

Fax your order. Hopefully that option will stay open.

 

I haven't got a fax machine.

[Ewell]

The question is does the match ticket advanced purchase tariff include the fee already? The reason I ask is it quite clearly states in the article that there is a £2 surcharge on tickets purchased on the day and the match day purchases tariff is £2 more than the advanced purchases tariff. I hope that makes sense.

 

If the fee is included already then that would suggest the fee is per ticket and that we have had a price reduction (not including fees) on last year.

 

What I do not get is why do one tariff with the fee and one without unless I have got it all completely wrong!

[ST Randy]

I can’t really see the problem seeing that most places charge you a booking fee. Nobody complains when ticketmaster or Odeon charge it when you buy tickets with them but as soon as Cortese (who appears to be the new Paul Wotton) introduces it every seems to be complaining. Its £3 per order get over it

[miserableoldgit]

I can’t really see the problem seeing that most places charge you a booking fee. Nobody complains when ticketmaster or Odeon charge it when you buy tickets with them but as soon as Cortese (who appears to be the new Paul Wotton) introduces it every seems to be complaining. Its £3 per order get over it

You`re right. I booked two tickets for the cinema online last week and that included a booking fee.

[Kingsland Nick]

Steve, do you know if season ticket holders be charged £3 fee for away tickets?

 

Also I usually fax across an order for away tickets, will we still be allowed to do that and will there be a fee?

 

If you are a season ticket holder you will go to most/all home games, so the cheapest way would be to buy your away tickets before home games.

[Sour Mash]

I can’t really see the problem seeing that most places charge you a booking fee. Nobody complains when ticketmaster or Odeon charge it when you buy tickets with them but as soon as Cortese (who appears to be the new Paul Wotton) introduces it every seems to be complaining. Its £3 per order get over it

 

Yep, I f*****g complain, hate booking fees for anything, its a complete rip off. Also, all it will achieve is more work for the ticket office, as there will be massive queues on home match days with people buying their tickets then.

[Sour Mash]

I'm starting to think my Saturdays will consist of going to the pub with my match-going mates, then going home again. Because when it comes down to it, do I really give a toss about watching Saints play Hartlepool at St Marys again ? QUOTE]

 

Know a fair few lads who do that already, such is modern football and all its costs.

[Legod Third Coming]

We should pool all our money on here and then buy our matchday tickets in one transaction

 

LOL - what a brilliant idea. I am actually all up for this.

Right then, we'd like to buy 3,211 tickets... hahahahah!!

[RonManager]

LOL - what a brilliant idea. I am actually all up for this.

Right then, we'd like to buy 3,211 tickets... hahahahah!!

 

Fine, but who pays the £3?, or do we split it between us!:cool:

[JRM]

so to summarise there are a fair few of us who:

 

a) seriously considering whether or not to renew season tickets. / stay in the pub for most home games.

 

b) will pay on the day for most away games next season (anywhere other than Dagenham, Exeter, Brighton, Yeovil, Bournemouth should be ok)

 

I wonder if they will come up with any other daft charges for their "postal applications" fiasco which they will no doubt do again.

 

in the finance industry they are obsessed with add ons charges which supplements profit, but are blatantly just price increases. I think we can all see straight through this profiteering and it will put quite a few off.

[saint.tom.clancy]

If you are a season ticket holder you will go to most/all home games, so the cheapest way would be to buy your away tickets before home games.

 

I seem to remember numerous occasians last season they were only selling "tickets for todays game" as the queues grew and a huge walk up was expected... What happens then? We're forced to go home and order online and pay an extra £3!! Never!:smt072

[stevegrant]

I seem to remember numerous occasians last season they were only selling "tickets for todays game" as the queues grew and a huge walk up was expected... What happens then? We're forced to go home and order online and pay an extra £3!! Never!:smt072

Or they'd put tickets for a popular away game on sale on the Monday immediately after a home game...

[wheels]

The question is does the match ticket advanced purchase tariff include the fee already? The reason I ask is it quite clearly states in the article that there is a £2 surcharge on tickets purchased on the day and the match day purchases tariff is £2 more than the advanced purchases tariff. I hope that makes sense.

 

If the fee is included already then that would suggest the fee is per ticket and that we have had a price reduction (not including fees) on last year.

 

What I do not get is why do one tariff with the fee and one without unless I have got it all completely wrong!

 

I have e-mailed both Mr Luker and the club and asked them to make it clear on the OS, but to no avail :smt105

[JRM]

Or they'd put tickets for a popular away game on sale on the Monday immediately after a home game...

 

Last season they seemed to be particularly slow putting away tickets on sale, sometimes details appeared only a couple of weeks before the game.

 

the only good thing about being in the f*cking 3rd division was to get away from all the commerial rip offs and visit some proper old football grounds.

 

i'll pay on the gate where possible away next season

[Andy_Porter]

I assume the £3 booking fee won't apply on away games if the tickets are bought from the ticket office?

 

Bit of a shame the club have done this as buying online was perfect before, I guess now it's just a case of going to the ground again when convenient and picking up tickets for the months away games for you and the group you're travelling with all at once.

 

It's a shame the club have had to resort to this scheme as along with the lack of an installment plan I think it will really hinder ticket sales and leave a bad taste with a lot of fans.

[Jonnyboy]

I can’t really see the problem seeing that most places charge you a booking fee. Nobody complains when ticketmaster or Odeon charge it when you buy tickets with them but as soon as Cortese (who appears to be the new Paul Wotton) introduces it every seems to be complaining. Its £3 per order get over it

 

i complain about booking fees in all their forms, thank you

[Andy_Porter]

I can’t really see the problem seeing that most places charge you a booking fee. Nobody complains when ticketmaster or Odeon charge it when you buy tickets with them but as soon as Cortese (who appears to be the new Paul Wotton) introduces it every seems to be complaining. Its £3 per order get over it

 

This is such a flawed viewpoint, just because others do it doesn't make it right or in anyway good value.

 

I spent around £800ish on Southampton tickets last season, I don't want to add an extra £3 on to every ticket if I want to purchase online. If they introduced it last season it would have cost me around £100 simply on booking fees which is ridiculous.

[Faz]

Frankly they could offer them for free, on a stick, and some people would still complain.

 

Yes they could have added it to the cost of the ticket but, arguably, this is far more transparent.

[Michelle]

If they still take cheques they will undoubtedly be a pain in the arse to administer, so will hit them in the pocket.

 

But they'll probably soon withdraw that option...

 

Cheques will be off the radar nationwide by 2012...

[Legod Third Coming]

Frankly they could offer them for free, on a stick, and some people would still complain.

 

Yes they could have added it to the cost of the ticket but, arguably, this is far more transparent.

 

Bloody hell, I'm a Tory through and through but this kind of attitude is what got us a bad name.

 

"More transparent??"

 

Windows are fecking transparent mate and that's all.

 

This is a fiddle. A fix. A bad apple.

 

If you need to cover your costs and make a bigger margin, grow some fecking bol locks and put your prices up.

 

That's how it used to be, that's how it should be.

 

Every time someone tells me they've changed pricing structure for my benefit.

 

Guess what??

 

That's right, it costs me more fecking money!!!

 

Hell's bells, I lived my life making a profit. It's how the wealth countless governments have spunked away has been created!

 

But you cannot buy a pig, dress it in clover and call it a fairy. It's a fecking pig!

 

Rant over...

[Plumstead_Saint]

i complain about booking fees in all their forms, thank you

Too right - it's a bl**dy con, whoever is dong it. :mad:

[Chez]

If you are a season ticket holder you will go to most/all home games, so the cheapest way would be to buy your away tickets before home games.

 

eh there will be a big old queue for tickets won't there?

[Hedgehog]

Emailed Saints with regard to booking fee for tickets, and the fact that it was cheaper to buy a ticket on the day, rather than having to cough up the £3 online. Reply was as follows:

 

We can see that the majority of tickets purchased are in groups of 2 or more, therefore the booking fee of £3 (for the order) will still work out better value to the supporter than paying £2 per ticket on the day of the game

 

regards

 

David Luker

 

Head of Supporter Services

 

Southampton Football Club

[SET]

So i was going to get a season ticket this season for me and my daughter.

 

But to be honest, I aint going to bother as i would have used the payment plan.

 

Dont live in Southampton so rolling up to the ticket office is not easy for me, so i'll be forced to pay £3 for matches over the phone/online as we pick and choose matches.

 

I just wont bother and fall back to getting the result and match review of Dad.

[Thedelldays]

So, all those hoolier than thou fans are actually not so brillaint after all

[FMPR]

Funnily enough this kind of thing happened with pompey too, go figure

[dune]

I've just checked the LUFC website and even Ken Bates only charges a £1 ticket tax. I could understand paying a £1 premium to cover postage costs, but £3 is nothing but profiteering and taking the p*ss out of us. Cortese clearly thinks we're all mugs there to be made fools of. I sincerely hope attendances drop next season and the club makes less money as a result of this con.

[oldskoolsi]

I've just checked the LUFC website and even Ken Bates only charges a £1 ticket tax. I could understand paying a £1 premium to cover postage costs, but £3 is nothing but profiteering and taking the p*ss out of us. Cortese clearly thinks we're all mugs there to be made fools of. I sincerely hope attendances drop next season and the club makes less money as a result of this con.

 

Good work on this. I've tried to do a bit a research about boooking charges for other clubs but not having much luck. WHen fixture list is announced and clubs start selling tickets it will interesting to see how much they charge and then we will more ammunition to complain or instead keep schtum and count our blessings it's not more.

[dune]

We can see that the majority of tickets purchased are in groups of 2 or more, therefore the booking fee of £3 (for the order) will still work out better value to the supporter than paying £2 per ticket on the day of the game

 

regards

 

David Luker

 

Head of Supporter Services

 

Southampton Football Club

 

But what David Luker fails to mention is that most other clubs that charge a ticket tax of £1 per ticket. Therefore anyone ordering less than 3 tickets at a time will taxed more than fans of other club that profiteer with their version of this dispicable scheme.

 

When Tottenham played in the FA cup semi final the club got ticketmaster to organise the distribution and the spurs fans got charge a ticket tax of £2.50 per ticket + £4.95 postage - 10% extra on top of the ticket price.

 

I think Cortese used the JPT final as a dummy run for this money grabbing scheme and I expect more instances in the future when the club stipulate online and telephone sales only to maximise the profits from this tax.

 

This scheme is probably here to stay now, but if you are as disgusted about it as I am i'd urge you to go out of your way not to pay this tax by adding to the queue's at the stadiums ticket office and by purchasing away tickets at the away ground when possible, but if you have to pay the ticket tax try to pay by credit card to minimise the profit to the club, or pay by cheque to create extra work at the ticket office.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

Of course not but my point was that everyone seems to be quoting £3.00 per ticket, which I don`t think that it is. Incidently if you buy theatre/concert tickets you invariably get charged for a "Booking Fee" AND a "Handling/Administration Fee". Now THAT is a rip-off but seems to be the norm.

 

It seems it was first brought in to cover the cost to the theatre of credit card fees. When they realised people put up with it, it got extended to become a booking fee. When everyone got used to that they added an admin charge to cover ticket agency fees, but if you book direct with the theatre they still charge it.

 

Cortese is just applying what he knows people will put up with, and I expect we'll find that the next step will be to reduce ticket office hours, or staff it with fewer people so we find it "more convenient" to book on-line.

 

We are just punters. He ain't here for fans or to restore its "family" atmosphere. He's selling a product, no more no less. "Supporting" a club is getting more and more anachronistic. When you go to watch a musical you don't march to the theatre singing "Come on you Welsh National Opera", clutching your adminfee-d-up-to-the-hilt ticket.

[trousers]

Why are some people so surprised that a successful businessman and his financial advisor are trying to make as much money out of their commodity as they can?

 

I guess some people thought Liebherr was a philanthropist rather than a businessman?

 

I kept telling people we should have gone for Paul Allen...

[dune]

I notice that in 2007 Ben Chapman MP brought the issue of ticket taxes up in the house of commons. Given that both Southampton MP's are Saints fan would it be worthwhile contacting them to see if they can re-raise this issue in parliament?

[stevegrant]

I've just checked the LUFC website and even Ken Bates only charges a £1 ticket tax. I could understand paying a £1 premium to cover postage costs, but £3 is nothing but profiteering and taking the p*ss out of us. Cortese clearly thinks we're all mugs there to be made fools of. I sincerely hope attendances drop next season and the club makes less money as a result of this con.

Unless of course the club's plan is to send all tickets by recorded delivery...

[SO16_Saint]

Stop f*cking moaning

[dune]

Unless of course the club's plan is to send all tickets by recorded delivery...

 

Well given we're paying an extortionate premium of £3 we should expect special delivery and if the tickets do not arrive promptly then i'll be on the phone pdq clogging up the lines to complain. Also i've had a look at the law governing postal sales and if the ticket does not arrive you are entitled to a refund of the ticket tax. Last season on two occasions tickets i'd ordered didn't arrive and I had to pick up duplicates at away grounds. It is my understanding that if this happens once the ticket tax is brought in you will be entitled to a refund of the tax. I'd urge anyone who's tickets don't arrive and have to picked up to contact the ticket office and request that the £3 fee is refunded. This will cause the ticket office lots of problems and it will make you feel better.

 

n.b if the club don't send the tickets by signed delivery i'm not sure how they could mitigate against unscrupulous fans claiming the tickets haven't arrived and thus sneakily recouping the £3....

Edited 3 June, 2010 by dune

[MorningtonCrescent]

Perhaps an organised effort targetting legal tax avoidance is in order?

 

One suggestion could be:

 

Someone sets up a bank account in the name of "Saints Tax Dodgers" and people all transfer their ticket monies into that each week. They then notify the scheme by e-mail the tickets they have deposited money for. Said scheme collates all ticket requirements for that week and a nominated local person heads off to SMS with a long list and a large cheque, preferably on the Friday before a home match. Tickets are purchased with no booking fees and collected on the matchday at a pre-determined meeting point. There could be a small "members" charge for the administration of the scheme.

 

This could work, and would be a very useful thing for an organised group to manage on behalf of Saints fans, wherever they may be. The sort of thing that a trustworthy organisation should be doing to demonstrate the folly of these charges.

 

If people responded positively to such a scheme, then perhaps it could extend to offering cost price guaranteed postage services for those who really wanted their tickets in advance?

 

If this were to happen, then I think that SFC would quickly act to change the arrangements. (probably in a negative way thought?! LoL . Maybe introducing a limit to the number of tickets that can be bought at the TO window, reducing the TO hours or charging for all orders over x number of tickets at the TO window?!)

 

This scheme could apply to home and away games.

 

????

[trousers]

Perhaps an organised effort targetting legal tax avoidance is in order?

 

One suggestion could be:

 

Someone sets up a bank account in the name of "Saints Tax Dodgers" and people all transfer their ticket monies into that each week. They then notify the scheme by e-mail the tickets they have deposited money for. Said scheme collates all ticket requirements for that week and a nominated local person heads off to SMS with a long list and a large cheque, preferably on the Friday before a home match. Tickets are purchased with no booking fees and collected on the matchday at a pre-determined meeting point. There could be a small "members" charge for the administration of the scheme.

 

This could work, and would be a very useful thing for an organised group to manage on behalf of Saints fans, wherever they may be. The sort of thing that a trustworthy organisation should be doing to demonstrate the folly of these charges.

 

If people responded positively to such a scheme, then perhaps it could extend to offering cost price guaranteed postage services for those who really wanted their tickets in advance?

 

If this were to happen, then I think that SFC would quickly act to change the arrangements. (probably in a negative way thought?! LoL . Maybe introducing a limit to the number of tickets that can be bought at the TO window, reducing the TO hours or charging for all orders over x number of tickets at the TO window?!)

 

This scheme could apply to home and away games.

 

????

Nice idea and well volunteered sir!

[trousers]

Just to clarify (sorry, haven't read all the bumpf about it), does the £3 apply to all online/tele sales regardless of whether they are being posted or pit aside for collection on match day. I usually do the latter. Cheers

[dune]

Just to clarify (sorry, haven't read all the bumpf about it), does the £3 apply to all online/tele sales regardless of whether they are being posted or pit aside for collection on match day. I usually do the latter. Cheers

 

The ticket tax applies to all transactions paid online or over the phone. You will be taxed even if you collect the tickets from the club. In effect you're going to be taxed £3 for the pleasure of speaking to a member of staff over the phone as oposed to through a window.

[stevegrant]

Perhaps an organised effort targetting legal tax avoidance is in order?

 

One suggestion could be:

 

Someone sets up a bank account in the name of "Saints Tax Dodgers" and people all transfer their ticket monies into that each week. They then notify the scheme by e-mail the tickets they have deposited money for. Said scheme collates all ticket requirements for that week and a nominated local person heads off to SMS with a long list and a large cheque, preferably on the Friday before a home match. Tickets are purchased with no booking fees and collected on the matchday at a pre-determined meeting point. There could be a small "members" charge for the administration of the scheme.

 

This could work, and would be a very useful thing for an organised group to manage on behalf of Saints fans, wherever they may be. The sort of thing that a trustworthy organisation should be doing to demonstrate the folly of these charges.

 

If people responded positively to such a scheme, then perhaps it could extend to offering cost price guaranteed postage services for those who really wanted their tickets in advance?

 

If this were to happen, then I think that SFC would quickly act to change the arrangements. (probably in a negative way thought?! LoL . Maybe introducing a limit to the number of tickets that can be bought at the TO window, reducing the TO hours or charging for all orders over x number of tickets at the TO window?!)

 

This scheme could apply to home and away games.

 

????

I think you have far too much time on your hands, Sir