Installment plans cost the club NOTHING

[StuRomseySaint]

Hi Stu - rest assured, I don't want to fall out over this as you are one of the posters I most respect on here, but I would be surprised if the lack of access to short term 0% credit applied to a "large majority of Saints fans"

 

I'd be interested to hear where you get your "large majority" stats from (genuinely)

 

Well generally speaking less than half of people would qualify for a favourable credit card such as 0% ( the better the deal, the higher the credit rating you need to have )

 

I was quoted a figure of about 30-40% by a friend who works within Risk Management for HSBC... I thought I would use 50% to be generous. :-)

 

The demographic of the people that are on payment plans will be much further down the adverse credit rating line than average.

 

The people that do not have £400 spare in their banks generally won't have a sufficient credit rating to allow them to obtain a 0% credit card.

 

It doesn't apply to a 'large majority of Saints fans' , for reasons stated about, it applies to a 'large majority of Saints fans who rely on the payment plans'

[Smirking_Saint]

They don't get their money from anywhere. They collect premiums in advance, take their interest and pay the club the rest.

 

They administer the payment plan, that is all.

 

This is why there is no credit checks, because the customer is not paying for goods in advance.

 

 

Sooo,

 

I admit i still don't quite understand.

 

So they don't get an administration fee, nor do customers pay interest on the repayments ??

 

So basically, we say to Zebra, 'Here, can you sort this lot out please ?'

 

and they do it for nothing ??

[Joensuu]

I have given reason on a number of occasions why credit cards are not an option for a large majority of Saints fans.

 

Bet that's inaccurate. Don't forget credit cards don't want customers who direct debit in full each month. They want to attract people with a middle to low credit history. My guess is, apart from children > 85% of Saints fans have a credit card. Still, I think thats an aside.

 

For me this debate all boils down to whether you can afford to purchase the product at the price the business are offering it. If you can't, then chose not to buy it. It's not like Council Tax (to use your analogy), you don't have to pay it. If you don't agree with the prices, don't complain on forums, vote with your feet and refuse to pay for the product.

[Avenue Saint]

What???

 

Football Clubs are a customer facing business... every bit of PR they do, every player they buy, every decision they make is in the public domain and the customer decides whether to buy into it.

 

A MASSIVE part of running a football club and making it successfull is doing what the fans want, more happy fans = more season tickets, more merchandise, more matchday tickets and in summary........ More Revenue!

 

whats your objective of bringing your information to this forum? do u want people to start getting ****ed off with the club? or just pat you on the back n "say we agree with you"? then where does that fit in with everyone pulling together to help this club back to where we want it to be?

 

Just inciting discord reallty aint it stuart? not as though cortese gonna change his mind so whats the product of it all?

[NorthamSteve]

0% CREDIT cards are great can someone find me one that stays at 0% for ever

 

No.

 

Anyway can someone lock this now I'm bored of it.

[StuRomseySaint]

Stu - so, with respect, are you suggesting that Cortese/Liebherr have no idea how to run a self-sustaining business and therefore that their recent pricing decisions are based on pure naivity?

 

No, they are a gamble based on the fickleness of football fans and the arrogance that we will walk this league next year.

 

Regardless of the business reasons for things, it doesn't mean we don't have a right as consumers to stand up against the money-grabbing.

[stevegrant]

I'm not 'rich' by any stretch of the imagination but whenever I move from one 0% credit card to another I typically get 'offered' £11k credit limit.

 

I would be surprised if any 'wage earner' would get offered a credit facility less than the price of an SFC season ticket

From what I know (a relative amount, given that my old man's worked for a bank for more than 30 years), the credit card application works out a rough figure in terms of "available" monthly cash - after you provide your salary and any other credit commitments - and comes up with a round figure (in thousands, I think my first card - a week after I turned 18 - had a limit of £500, but not heard of any limits as low as that since) that fits into their algorithm for "affordability", which has got much stricter in the last 12-18 months.

 

It then checks that amount against your credit rating. If it thinks you could afford the monthly repayments on the full balance (and it has to assume the worst-case scenario), it will let you have the card. If not, "access denied", etc, obviously. However, that's not a true reflection on the suitability of the applicant. While they may not be suitable for a credit card with a limit of, say, £5,000, they may be able to quite comfortably afford the repayments if the limit was £500, but the application doesn't test against that. There's no value in the credit card provider giving you a 0% deal on a credit limit that low.

[trousers]

Well generally speaking less than half of people would qualify for a favourable credit card such as 0% ( the better the deal, the higher the credit rating you need to have )

 

I was quoted a figure of about 30-40% by a friend who works within Risk Management for HSBC... I thought I would use 50% to be generous. :-)

 

The demographic of the people that are on payment plans will be much further down the adverse credit rating line than average.

 

The people that do not have £400 spare in their banks generally won't have a sufficient credit rating to allow them to obtain a 0% credit card.

 

It doesn't apply to a 'large majority of Saints fans' , for reasons stated about, it applies to a 'large majority of Saints fans who rely on the payment plans'

 

Cheers for the clarification and I genuinely feel for the people that fall into the latter category.

 

I guess the question to those in that category is:

 

Would you rather:

 

(a) a Saints team bobbing along in League One that you could afford to watch

 

or

 

(b) a Saints team storming towards the Premiership that you can't afford to watch.

 

Intersting conundrum

[Toomer]

Stu, as the clubs instalment plan was 6 months interest free, no extra cost to the ST holder the finance company would not do it for nowt so there must have been a charge made to the club for this service.

[Joensuu]

No, they are a gamble based on the fickleness of football fans and the arrogance that we will walk this league next year.

 

Regardless of the business reasons for things, it doesn't mean we don't have a right as consumers to stand up against the money-grabbing.

 

Yes you do. As a consumer you have the right not to purchase the product. If you object to the price, don't pay it.

[NorthamSteve]

No, they are a gamble based on the fickleness of football fans and the arrogance that we will walk this league next year.

 

Regardless of the business reasons for things, it doesn't mean we don't have a right as consumers to stand up against the money-grabbing.

 

Yes, but not enough people want to.

 

It's a silly decision but that's all.... It'll **** some people over in the short term but face it, as worrying as it is, I and I expect you and most other ST holders would walk over hot coals for a ST.

 

So just say ******** to it and move on, it's getting boring now.

[Katalinic]

whats your objective of bringing your information to this forum? do u want people to start getting ****ed off with the club? or just pat you on the back n "say we agree with you"? then where does that fit in with everyone pulling together to help this club back to where we want it to be?

 

Just inciting discord reallty aint it stuart? not as though cortese gonna change his mind so whats the product of it all?

 

What a ridiculous post - whatever happened to freedom of speech and the right to protest? I am delighted that we are moving in the right direction - that does not mean however that anyone at the club or anything that the club does is beyond question.

[stevegrant]

Stu, as the clubs instalment plan was 6 months interest free, no extra cost to the ST holder the finance company would not do it for nowt so there must have been a charge made to the club for this service.

Wasn't that just last season's one, which the club ran themselves, not as a proper "credit" facility, hence why it got abused?

 

I'm sure I remember the forms for the previous years (run by external companies) all had interest charged.

[StuRomseySaint]

Stu, as the clubs instalment plan was 6 months interest free, no extra cost to the ST holder the finance company would not do it for nowt so there must have been a charge made to the club for this service.

 

There was last season to get punters in, so they would have lost about £50 approx on the season ticket I estimate

 

There have been extra charges by way of interest or no early bird renewal installment plans previously.

 

Having said this, I haven't heard back from Premium Credit Ltd about their charges so I can't confirm what they would propose to charge.

[StuRomseySaint]

Yes, but not enough people want to.

 

It's a silly decision but that's all.... It'll **** some people over in the short term but face it, as worrying as it is, I and I expect you and most other ST holders would walk over hot coals for a ST.

 

So just say ******** to it and move on, it's getting boring now.

 

You have the luxury of using your birds credit card.

 

It's boring for you because you have the season ticket in your pocket.

 

There are hundreds, if not thousands of people who don't have that luxury and have been bullied out of having something that they have for years..... a season ticket.

 

If it bores you then don't come on the thread... it's pretty obvious what the subject is about.

[The9]

Steady on!

 

That's the problem though. I'm happy to go, hell I basically moved to Southampton from south Wales in order to watch Saints, but this stunt (and the booking fee) is SO at odds with the way I'd expect the club to extract funds from its fans that I'm really genuinely p155ed off, and considering other options.

 

I sat through the same crap you lot have over the past few seasons, we look to be turning the corner on the pitch and with a secure future, and BANG, unnecessarily provocative and ill-advised decisions like this start eroding away at the goodwill again.

 

How hard would it be to have put in a (free) instalment plan, put the prices up a bit in line with the VAT rise and considering our expected success (reasonable), and kept, say, online booking free, with a pay-on-the-day hike as other clubs do ? Or if they insist on getting rid of the instalments (for no good reason as far as I can see), how difficult would it have been to announce 6 months ago that the instalment plan was going ?

 

There's room for imaginative thinking in pricing, but there should also be an inherent appreciation for fans and their desire to come back and attend week after week - and make an investment long in advance of any signings or on-field results - and those who do that should be rewarded, not marginalised.

 

I WANT to have an ST for next season. I still want to get one. But I won't be paying any of the various types of Cortese Tax if the money's not there by June 30th.

[Avenue Saint]

What a ridiculous post - whatever happened to freedom of speech and the right to protest? I am delighted that we are moving in the right direction - that does not mean however that anyone at the club or anything that the club does is beyond question.

 

protesting about what exactly?? people coming in to save out club, wiping out millions of pounds of debt, spending millions on players, so now lets get on their back so that one day with enough bull****, they turn around n say **** this were off?!!

 

don't talk to me about the mechanics of democracy and protest, cause what we have here isn't anything even close to it. merely bull****..

 

so on your bike.

[Toomer]

Wasn't that just last season's one, which the club ran themselves, not as a proper "credit" facility, hence why it got abused?

 

I'm sure I remember the forms for the previous years (run by external companies) all had interest charged.

 

 

Steve, about 4/5 years ago when things were a bit tight I did it on the 6 months interest free, there was a form in the pack and you ticked for the interest free option and added your bank details. After about 3 weeks I got a letter from a finance company saying (can't remember how it was worded) that my application had gone through and the first payment would be taken, lets say 1st June for 6 months. All I paid was the face value of my ST so the club must have been charged for this service.

[JRM]

That's the problem though. I'm happy to go, hell I basically moved to Southampton from south Wales in order to watch Saints, but this stunt (and the booking fee) is SO at odds with the way I'd expect the club to extract funds from its fans that I'm really genuinely p155ed off, and considering other options.

 

I sat through the same crap you lot have over the past few seasons, we look to be turning the corner on the pitch and with a secure future, and BANG, unnecessarily provocative and ill-advised decisions like this start eroding away at the goodwill again.

 

How hard would it be to have put in a (free) instalment plan, put the prices up a bit in line with the VAT rise and considering our expected success (reasonable), and kept, say, online booking free, with a pay-on-the-day hike as other clubs do ? Or if they insist on getting rid of the instalments (for no good reason as far as I can see), how difficult would it have been to announce 6 months ago that the instalment plan was going ?

 

There's room for imaginative thinking in pricing, but there should also be an inherent appreciation for fans and their desire to come back and attend week after week - and make an investment long in advance of any signings or on-field results - and those who do that should be rewarded, not marginalised.

 

I WANT to have an ST for next season. I still want to get one. But I won't be paying any of the various types of Cortese Tax if the money's not there by June 30th.

 

 

very well said, exactly how i feel mate

[Katalinic]

protesting about what exactly?? people coming in to save out club, wiping out millions of pounds of debt, spending millions on players, so now lets get on their back so that one day with enough bull****, they turn around n say **** this were off?!!

 

don't talk to me about the mechanics of democracy and protest, cause what we have here isn't anything even close to it. merely bull****..

 

so on your bike.

 

OK so maybe "question" rather than "protest" would have been a better phrase. You are also confusing a number of issues - I don't think there is anybody who isn't grateful the club was saved or that we are spending money on players but that does not mean that as fans we have to accept every decision without question every time - and you need to calm down dear.

[StuRomseySaint]

protesting about what exactly?? people coming in to save out club, wiping out millions of pounds of debt, spending millions on players, so now lets get on their back so that one day with enough bull****, they turn around n say **** this were off?!!

 

don't talk to me about the mechanics of democracy and protest, cause what we have here isn't anything even close to it. merely bull****..

 

so on your bike.

 

It is attitudes like that, that will let the club take the p!ss.

 

Yes thankyou Cortese and Liebherr for 'saving' our club... or more to the point, seeing an investment opportunity that ( wait for it ) was made attractive simply because of the infrastructure Lowe and his cronies set up ( I don't like Lowe, but if it wasn't for SMS and Staplewood Marcus would not have touched us... Lowe was responsible for both )

 

When do we stop our blind loyalty towards Cortese?

 

Yeah nice one for buying Saints... and I am sure they will get a return on their investment, which is why they are here, not as saviours... you are naive if you think otherwise.

 

If you let them take the p!ss now, P*rtsmouths Premiership prices will look like a snip compared to ours when we get there.

[Colinjb]

If you can't afford a season ticket then maybe you shouldn't have one. Pay on the day or avoid the need to pay on tick by saving up through the year (360 quid.... tenner per week) to ensure you can buy in one go.

 

Runs and hides.

[Smirking_Saint]

Stu, as the clubs instalment plan was 6 months interest free, no extra cost to the ST holder the finance company would not do it for nowt so there must have been a charge made to the club for this service.

 

Thats the point i was trying to make :smt069

[StuRomseySaint]

Steve, about 4/5 years ago when things were a bit tight I did it on the 6 months interest free, there was a form in the pack and you ticked for the interest free option and added your bank details. After about 3 weeks I got a letter from a finance company saying (can't remember how it was worded) that my application had gone through and the first payment would be taken, lets say 1st June for 6 months. All I paid was the face value of my ST so the club must have been charged for this service.

 

I was aware for most seasons that we couldn't pay the early bird price but had to pay the standard renewal so the fees were hidden in this way.

 

Anyway, regardless of the past, there is an option available NOW for the club to give us the installment plan at no cost to themselves.

 

The club have stated the costs have prevented them from offering the plan... and I have found them one for FREE!

 

This will put that excuse to the test.

[Thedelldays]

I was aware for most seasons that we couldn't pay the early bird price but had to pay the standard renewal.

 

Anyway, regardless of the past, there is an option available NOW for the club to give us the installment plan at no cost to themselves.

maybe they dont want to..

 

what are you going to do about it..?

 

 

organise a facebook group or march to the stadium to demand cortese to resign..?

[NorthamSteve]

You have the luxury of using your birds credit card.

 

It's boring for you because you have the season ticket in your pocket.

 

There are hundreds, if not thousands of people who don't have that luxury and have been bullied out of having something that they have for years..... a season ticket.

 

If it bores you then don't come on the thread... it's pretty obvious what the subject is about.

 

That's my point you see, I don't think that there is. By June 30 people would have found a way and all this will blow over.

[Avenue Saint]

It is attitudes like that, that will let the club take the p!ss.

 

Yes thankyou Cortese and Liebherr for 'saving' our club... or more to the point, seeing an investment opportunity that ( wait for it ) was made attractive simply because of the infrastructure Lowe and his cronies set up ( I don't like Lowe, but if it wasn't for SMS and Staplewood Marcus would not have touched us... Lowe was responsible for both )

 

When do we stop our blind loyalty towards Cortese?

 

Yeah nice one for buying Saints... and I am sure they will get a return on their investment, which is why they are here, not as saviours... you are naive if you think otherwise.

 

If you let them take the p!ss now, P*rtsmouths Premiership prices will look like a snip compared to ours when we get there.

 

 

You think what you wanna think n do what you wanna do about it. i'm sure everyone else is capable of making their own minds up and will do likewise.

[stmusicdude]

maybe they dont want to..

 

what are you going to do about it..?

 

 

organise a facebook group or march to the stadium to demand cortese to resign..?

 

TDD thats the point he is actually making though

that actually they want less ST so they can make more money on the ticket so to speak

If they push on towards this even more so next season, & then season after the groundwork already done, they can rub their hands with glee while a huge amount of season ticket holders by then are paying well in excess OR cant get them because they are limited so as to encourage more ticket purchases.

[stmusicdude]

That's my point you see, I don't think that there is. By June 30 people would have found a way and all this will blow over.

 

I dont disagree that the season tickets will prob NOT be down, might even be up

However there was a good good chance they could of been up a HUGE amount

[trousers]

If you can't afford a season ticket then maybe you shouldn't have one. Pay on the day or avoid the need to pay on tick by saving up through the year (360 quid.... tenner per week) to ensure you can buy in one go.

 

Runs and hides.

 

......^

This ¦

 

Whilst having a relatively well paid job I have yet to get to the point where I can justifity buying a Football Club season ticket over and above other higher priority family budget items.

 

This is despite, in the general scheme of things, the cost of a season ticket being relatively trivial compared to some family budget items.

 

I am therefore happier paying a 'PAYG' premium for match day tickets as it fits in better with my lifestyle.

 

If people can't afford a season ticket then perhaps consider a more prgamatic lifestyle such as the one I have adopted?

 

(sorry, that sounds a little patronising but have left it in my post as the sentiment that I'm trying to convey is valid)

Edited 4 June, 2010 by trousers

[Thedelldays]

TDD thats the point he is actually making though

that actually they want less ST so they can make more money on the ticket so to speak

If they push on towards this even more so next season, & then season after the groundwork already done, they can rub their hands with glee while a huge amount of season ticket holders by then are paying well in excess OR cant get them because they are limited so as to encourage more ticket purchases.

so what if they do..?

just go week by week, simple as that..that way you can go on holiday, miss a midweek game and not worry that your ST is being wasted..

 

simple thing, the club wants to be self sustaining...UEFA are going to make clubs do this...we want CCC standard players/league 1 best players

 

IT COSTS MONEY

 

I dread to think when we are pushing on in the CCC and we need new players...this place might as well close down

[NorthamSteve]

I dont disagree that the season tickets will prob NOT be down, might even be up

However there was a good good chance they could of been up a HUGE amount

 

That's true, however it's only really the renewing people this effects. If others now have until August, then it may not effect it at all....

[Toomer]

I was aware for most seasons that we couldn't pay the early bird price but had to pay the standard renewal so the fees were hidden in this way.

 

Anyway, regardless of the past, there is an option available NOW for the club to give us the installment plan at no cost to themselves.

 

The club have stated the costs have prevented them from offering the plan... and I have found them one for FREE!

 

This will put that excuse to the test.

 

 

Stu, the one time I did it I paid Early Bird price! Thank puck I don't have that problem now to find £300.00 in one hit is not a problem anymore I count myself lucky.

[Redondo Saint]

The installment plan was a 'perk'.

 

Funny how BA crew are getting slagged off for striking about a lack of perks by the same people on here who have lost the 'perk' of installment payments.....

[stevegrant]

maybe they dont want to..

 

what are you going to do about it..?

If they don't want to offer a payment plan, why not say so, rather than lie (there's no other way of describing it, as Stu's enquiry to Zebra proves) and hide behind "administration costs"?

 

I've no real issue with them removing the option, that's entirely up to them -although IMO they either dropped a bollock by not giving notice that it was happening or it was done intentionally to forcibly reduce the number of "discount" supporters - but the attempt to pull the wool over fans' eyes and to then either offer no explanation or give a cut-and-paste response that, to be honest, is an insult, is not a particularly good way of keeping the fanbase onside.

 

They might get away with it if we start the season well and then run away with the league. After all, football is like no other business, customers don't just take their business to their competitors. However, for it to make those who have been loyal season ticket holders in the past (particularly in the last 6 years of utter turd) seriously consider whether they might have better things to spend their money on, that's quite staggering.

[Smirking_Saint]

FFS, don't get taken in by the so called Cortese tax (lol) and the fact that apparantly some credit company will do this for free.

 

Truth is, they won't, there is no way a company will do the administration for free, and no, it is not as cheap as people are making out.

 

Someone said earlier about the fact that the club has struggled to get sponsors etc and will probably struggle with finance as we currently have a poor credit rating, this i can believe.

 

Cortese diliberately reducing STH's i do not, at all.

 

I can however agree with The9 that ideally this should have been addressed before and there could have been a warning etc, but then what would that have done ?? people would not have 'saved' for it, we would just have had earlier threads like this one.

 

Get over it, there are options out there, you can get 0% credit cards, i did before and i had no credit history and was given a 1k limit and still manage to get 0% credit cards if and when i need one.

 

And no, we are not blindly following NC into the flames but there is a difference between that and deliberately winding people up and getting on the mans back because of things that may or may not be true.

[trousers]

simple thing, the club wants to be self sustaining...UEFA are going to make clubs do this...we want CCC standard players/league 1 best players

 

IT COSTS MONEY

 

 

+1

 

Whilst Liebherr may well be a billionaire (according to popular concensus) he is trying to run the club on a self-sustaining basis both for his own benefit and that of any future owner.

 

He and Cortese will thus be setting up the 2010/11 budget accordingly.

 

No more, no less.

[stmusicdude]

so what if they do..?

just go week by week, simple as that..that way you can go on holiday, miss a midweek game and not worry that your ST is being wasted..

 

simple thing, the club wants to be self sustaining...UEFA are going to make clubs do this...we want CCC standard players/league 1 best players

 

IT COSTS MONEY

 

I dread to think when we are pushing on in the CCC and we need new players...this place might as well close down

 

But the silly thing is they COULD of charged up front for all this... & with notice people would of ( and will) pay it

 

I agree with you re funds

 

BUT why do people keep missing the fact if thats the case why remove the half season ticket? there fore losing a revune chance

 

I have no issue with the increase really .. & i'm kinda lucky re MY ST but thats NOT the point I do understand why this has upset people.. & the is NO need pre planning COULD of generated the same income if not more

 

lets be fair they had a year!

[Minty]

maybe they dont want to..

 

what are you going to do about it..?

 

organise a facebook group or march to the stadium to demand cortese to resign..?

 

That kind of response is silly. I've not agreed with Stu on a whole host of things in the past, but on this subject I think he is right to question the decision and look at the other options that the club could've made available.

 

The9's post earlier is spot on, as is Katalinic's... the club may be a business, but beneath it all, it is OUR club and we have a right to challenge and question decisions if we feel it right to do so. As Stu highlights above, praise of the new regime should not automatically be the default position, just like criticism of Lowe and the previous regime should not have been the default. They did some good things, and the new regime will make mistakes. So far, thsi most certainly looks like one. Judge each action independently.

 

Ultimately, this HAS denied some fans the chance of getting a season ticket. It's as simple as that. Further than that, for me it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the community aspect of a football club. SFC is about us, the fans, and any custodian of the club should be doing everything it can to help fans attend matches and show their loyalty.

 

I obviously recognise that the running of the club must be done on a sound financial footing, but each decision should be taking with the fan in mind as far as is reasonably practical, and without further explanation, this smacks of a decision made purely on financial grounds.

 

And for the record, I feel eminently qualified to comment because I am in the same position as NC. I run a Doctors surgery. It is a private business, with a multi-million pound turnover, but if I were to make a decision purely on financial grounds and without sufficient justification to our patients, I would be heavily, and rightly, criticised IMO. We primarily exist to provide medical services to the public. I have to manage costs and make decisions accordingly, but they are ALL made with the patient foremost in my mind, and not the Partners' profits.

[Smirking_Saint]

If they don't want to offer a payment plan, why not say so, rather than lie (there's no other way of describing it, as Stu's enquiry to Zebra proves) and hide behind "administration costs"?

 

I've no real issue with them removing the option, that's entirely up to them -although IMO they either dropped a bollock by not giving notice that it was happening or it was done intentionally to forcibly reduce the number of "discount" supporters - but the attempt to pull the wool over fans' eyes and to then either offer no explanation or give a cut-and-paste response that, to be honest, is an insult, is not a particularly good way of keeping the fanbase onside.

 

They might get away with it if we start the season well and then run away with the league. After all, football is like no other business, customers don't just take their business to their competitors. However, for it to make those who have been loyal season ticket holders in the past (particularly in the last 6 years of utter turd) seriously consider whether they might have better things to spend their money on, that's quite staggering.

 

Number 1, there is no way Zebra would do this for free.

 

Number 2, How are they discount supporters ?? And if they struggle so hard to afford it, surely they can't justify it ??

[Thedelldays]

But the silly thing is they COULD of charged up front for all this... & with notice people would of ( and will) pay it

 

I agree with you re funds

 

BUT why do people keep missing the fact if thats the case why remove the half season ticket? there fore losing a revune chance

 

I have no issue with the increase really .. & i'm kinda lucky re MY ST but thats NOT the point I do understand why this has upset people.. & the is NO need pre planning COULD of generated the same income if not more

 

lets be fair they had a year!

 

 

well, I guess they waited to see what league we would be in before looking at it..

 

maybe, this is the cost of NON promotion after a year of huge, HUGE league 1 spending..??????

[trousers]

And for the record, I feel eminently qualified to comment because I am in the same position as NC. I run a Doctors surgery. It is a private business, with a multi-million pound turnover, but if I were to make a decision purely on financial grounds and without sufficient justification to our patients, I would be heavily, and rightly, criticised IMO. We primarily exist to provide medical services to the public. I have to manage costs and make decisions accordingly, but they are ALL made with the patient foremost in my mind, and not the Partners' profits.

 

Agree. In other words, Cortese would be mad to jeopardise the business he runs by hacking off his profit making customers....

Edited 4 June, 2010 by trousers

[stmusicdude]

well, I guess they waited to see what league we would be in before looking at it..

 

maybe, this is the cost of NON promotion after a year of huge, HUGE league 1 spending..??????

 

But as I keep saying, I accept the cost as do most people. I dont think I have seen anyone post otherwise.

 

This could of been handled better.

OK re the payment plan BUT notify people in feb / march & give them longer to renew ( 29 days? for many to find over £1000 ..) even if we say it was poor planning on their part , it was also very poor planning by the club.

[stevegrant]

Number 1, there is no way Zebra would do this for free.

Did you read the opening post? They've already said they operate many schemes which are at zero cost to the football club - they make their money on interest payments and late payment charges, etc.

 

Number 2, How are they discount supporters ?? And if they struggle so hard to afford it, surely they can't justify it ??

I used the term "discount" in terms of how Cortese may view season ticket holders. While they're there for every game and give the club more money in advance (and, for me, are right at the top of the tree in terms of their worth to the club), over the course of the season they do get a substantial discount on the matchday ticket price.

[Minty]

Deleted, sorry, misread something.

[Smirking_Saint]

Did you read the opening post? They've already said they operate many schemes which are at zero cost to the football club - they make their money on interest payments and late payment charges, etc.

 

Exactly my point, thank you.

 

So they don't cost the club, however will end up costing the fans extra ??

 

How is that any better ?

 

I used the term "discount" in terms of how Cortese may view season ticket holders. While they're there for every game and give the club more money in advance (and, for me, are right at the top of the tree in terms of their worth to the club), over the course of the season they do get a substantial discount on the matchday ticket price

 

Ok, i agree with this entirely..

 

Also, how do you know the club itself is not blacklisted ?

[StuRomseySaint]

Number 1, there is no way Zebra would do this for free.

 

Number 2, How are they discount supporters ?? And if they struggle so hard to afford it, surely they can't justify it ??

 

1) Can you please read back through the thread... or maybe even just the OP, I have explained it on several occasions how Zebra take their fees, and it is not through the football club.

 

2) Do you really need explaining that?

[stevegrant]

Exactly my point, thank you.

 

So they don't cost the club, however will end up costing the fans extra ??

 

How is that any better ?

Being able to afford a season ticket under a pricing option, even if you pay 5% more (10% APR, over 6 months, an extra £16.40 on a £328 renewal) is infinitely preferable to not being able to afford a season ticket under any price option, IMO.

 

Season ticket holders are the best gauge for football clubs budgeting for a season. They are guaranteed revenue which the club already has in the bank at the start of the season, regardless of how the season then pans out on the field. Matchday sales are totally variable, based on a multitude of factors, and therefore are very difficult to confidently predict (unless you're Arsenal, Man United, etc). It's a hell of a gamble by the club to isolate a significant number of its core support. I genuinely hope it doesn't backfire on them, but can't help but feel that it might.

[Smirking_Saint]

Being able to afford a season ticket under a pricing option, even if you pay 5% more (10% APR, over 6 months, an extra £16.40 on a £328 renewal) is infinitely preferable to not being able to afford a season ticket under any price option, IMO.

 

Season ticket holders are the best gauge for football clubs budgeting for a season. They are guaranteed revenue which the club already has in the bank at the start of the season, regardless of how the season then pans out on the field. Matchday sales are totally variable, based on a multitude of factors, and therefore are very difficult to confidently predict (unless you're Arsenal, Man United, etc). It's a hell of a gamble by the club to isolate a significant number of its core support. I genuinely hope it doesn't backfire on them, but can't help but feel that it might.

 

I just want to put to you and Stu where i am here. I have not been a STH for 3 seasons now, which coincided with taking my new job and so taking the pay cut that went with it (sometimes you need to go backwards to go forwards). However i agree and always have that STH's should be rewarded for what is an important income at an important stage of a football clubs financial year.

 

I do genuinely believe that NC has f*cked up with the lack of payment plan, and the club could have handled it better.

 

I do not concede to the thought that he is intentionally trying to reduce STH's and thus p*ss off the fans. That idea is crazy, i can see where it has come from however. I do believe that there are genuine reasons why this scheme has not been used, this being that the club has been blacklisted for its administration.

 

Also as far as the £3 booking fee is concerened, yes it is a tad excessive but fair play for being honest and saying 'this is what it is and this is why' instead of hiding it by blanket raising prices for all tickets to cover this cost which would have been done previously.

[StuRomseySaint]

Also, how do you know the club itself is not blacklisted ?

 

Because once again, as I once again have stated a zillion times. Zebra is not a credit finance company, they are not lending anyone any money, they are administrating premium collections in advance.

 

Nobody, not the consumer or the football club need to be credit checked.