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Rip-off ticket tax strikes again!


Michelle

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shush now, you're not allowed to moan about high prices or booking fees on this website, if either are a problem I think the normal advice given is to go to less games or quit your job and get one where you earn more.

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shush now, you're not allowed to moan about high prices or booking fees on this website, if either are a problem I think the normal advice given is to go to less games or quit your job and get one where you earn more.

I don't have a problem with a genuine transaction fee, where it is representative of the actual cost. But the charges from the club are a blatant rip off in certain cases, while fair in others.

 

Pay cash at the TO, no booking fee. fair. But a booking fee per ticket is a shameless rip off, it should be by transaction. Also, pay by debit card at the TO and the fee is exactly the same as purchasing online, which requires the extra expense of a stamp and an envelope. At least try to make it seem fair.

 

I have little problem paying for a transaction fee, but it needs to be applied fairly and justifably. SFC's system isn't, its just an excuse to milk more money on the sly. And they should rightly receive criticism for it, especially when the online booking system is so utterly sh*t that it doesn't work properly half the time.

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That won't help anything, companies will just raise the 'face value'. I don't see how paying the same amount as a ticket + booking fee costs now will be so much better.

 

I might be wrong about this, but I have a feeling that the clubs make more profit out of charging it as a ticket tax rather than adding it to the face value of the ticket price, as the ticket tax is possibly exempt from VAT, meaning that the clubs don't have to pay 20/120 of its proceeds from ticket tax over to HMRC in VAT.

 

Apologies if this is incorrect, probably should have checked on the HMRC website first.

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I might be wrong about this, but I have a feeling that the clubs make more profit out of charging it as a ticket tax rather than adding it to the face value of the ticket price, as the ticket tax is possibly exempt from VAT, meaning that the clubs don't have to pay 20/120 of its proceeds from ticket tax over to HMRC in VAT.

 

Apologies if this is incorrect, probably should have checked on the HMRC website first.

 

This wouldn't be a surprise for me. Also if we charge ticket tax on away tickets it means we get some money out of away sales rather than 100% of it going to the home club.

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This wouldn't be a surprise for me. Also if we charge ticket tax on away tickets it means we get some money out of away sales rather than 100% of it going to the home club.

 

Just checked. Looks like I wasn't completely wrong (warning, some people may find this link incredibly dull......)

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vatfinmanual/vatfin2320.htm

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I don't have a problem with a genuine transaction fee, where it is representative of the actual cost.

 

Me neither, given that the cost per transaction will barely be pence as part of the everyday running costs they incur whether selling tickets or not.

 

There's also the argument that the club wants to sell their tickets to make their profit, and should rightly incur the natural cost of doing so. They basically want their cake (ticket profits) and eat it (ticket selling profits). On the flip side, with the tv deal now worth far more than matchday revenues, they could easily absorb the cost OR they could make tickets ridiculously expensive or cheap if they wished because the money isn't a significant revenue stream in the grand scheme of things.

 

I'd be thinking if they wanted to expand their customer base to as many people as possible, customer-facing policies and no antagonising those who are already customers would be a good place to start.

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I'll be stopping going... once I've been to Man City and Arsenal.

 

I also haven't paid a car parking fee since it came in, and didn't pay a booking fee for the entire of the past 2 seasons by a combination of going to the TO and just not going to certain matches, but they've now eradicated every possible avenue of doing that except turning up on the day and paying in cash - which presumably is how they keep this side of "legal". I don't expect the club to change it, that doesn't remove my right to complain that it is misleading and unclear and should be fixed, but hopefully the government has that one in hand.

 

But wouldn't you incur the match day surcharge of £2.

 

I presume the rules are different for league games as I bought 8 tickets for the Ajax game and was only charged £1.50 in total booking fees?

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I might be wrong about this, but I have a feeling that the clubs make more profit out of charging it as a ticket tax rather than adding it to the face value of the ticket price, as the ticket tax is possibly exempt from VAT, meaning that the clubs don't have to pay 20/120 of its proceeds from ticket tax over to HMRC in VAT.

 

Apologies if this is incorrect, probably should have checked on the HMRC website first.

 

No idea about the Premiership, but I think in the FL and the FA Cup a percentage of the ticket money goes into a big pot for redistribution. Not sure why the tickets aren't therefore 99p and the booking fee £35.

 

Booking fees **** customers off. Why do it when you can just add a little to the overall ticket price and fans will swallow them without comment?

 

Can someone tell me why Tesco etc. don't add a fee for the services of their till operators?

 

Roughly £33k made from ST booking fees, but there is a massive £142,500 to be made from booking fees when selling the remaining 5000 seats in each Prem game (if its £1.50 per ticket rather than transaction).

Edited by Chez
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Guys it is quite simple - I'm not sure how so many of you can afford the Man City tickets never mind moan about another £1.50 booking fee!

 

I will be chosing my live action very carefully in line with what I can afford at the time...I didn't mind paying rip off prices for a Cup Final in Cardiff all that time ago, but I will not pay £50 to visit a ground I have been to before, with zero infrastructure for a good day out. It's not long away - football will be a past time for the elite, prawn sandwich munching types, and true football lovers will sit on a sofa or go down the pub for SKY or go down the park (not Fratton!) and watch the local team.

 

Grass roots football will never die - but I fear for the future of the game at the highest level. Still whilst there are thousands of people happy to pay whatever is asked without saying diddly-squat...then you only have yourselves to blame.

 

Never a more fanatical Saints fan than me...but even I will draw the line and perhaps invest in Saints Player like my overseas colleagues!

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Can someone tell me why Tesco etc. don't add a fee for the services of their till operators?

 

Roughly £33k made from ST booking fees, but there is a massive £142,500 to be made from booking fees when selling the remaining 5000 seats in each Prem game (if its £1.50 per ticket rather than transaction).

 

Tesco's do. Or rather they charge you if you choose to use home delivery.

 

Fundamentally the cost won't change because the costs that SFC incur will be the same. They have to be paid for somehow either through the ticket price, through a booking fee or (in case we're making a profit on the ticket tax) through reducing other costs (eg. Lambert's wages).

 

I do agree with the charge being different depending on what channel you're using (i.e. it cost more to speak on the phone to a person than a computer). It is harder to justify the 'per ticket' nature of the charge but I suspect that is because the number of tickets they are selling has dropped significantly due to the increase in season ticket holders.

 

The costs they'll incur (servers, phone lines, credit card machines, printers, people) may reduce a bit, the majority will the same but the take from a transaction based booking fee would be well down on last year.

 

The bottom line is I'd prefer to pay an explicit charge, rather than one baked into the price of the ticket.

 

Like being a transvestite prostitute. It doesn't matter how you dress it up, you're still being taken for money.

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But wouldn't you incur the match day surcharge of £2.

 

I presume the rules are different for league games as I bought 8 tickets for the Ajax game and was only charged £1.50 in total booking fees?

 

No, I didn't go on match days, that would be REALLY stupid.

 

Yes, they were different rules.

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That would show them; being a pain in the arse for ticket counter staff who have no say whatsoever in setting club policy.

 

I think it was the likelihood of just inconveniencing the people in the queue behind us that was what swung the decision not to do it.

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That won't help anything, companies will just raise the 'face value'. I don't see how paying the same amount as a ticket + booking fee costs now will be so much better.

It is all about transparency. The price advertised is the price you should pay - no hidden compulsory charges. Yes of course they will up the price to its "true" level but at least you then know what you are going to pay. In my opinion this practice is a form of (currently legal) fraud - but one that is widely practiced. It is time it is stamped out - but don't expect Saints to stop doing it until everyone else does.

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It is all about transparency. The price advertised is the price you should pay - no hidden compulsory charges. Yes of course they will up the price to its "true" level but at least you then know what you are going to pay. In my opinion this practice is a form of (currently legal) fraud - but one that is widely practiced. It is time it is stamped out - but don't expect Saints to stop doing it until everyone else does.

 

I don't see why I should subsidise people who insist on using the telephone - and if you're insistent on inflating the per ticket price to cover all booking methods that is what will happen.

 

As it stands I can buy a ticket at the office and pay a fee that covers that type of purchase (i.e. face to face pays the wage of the person behind the counter who sits there whether I buy a ticket or not), buy it online (my assumption is those web servers plus a stamp cost less than a person behind a counter) or by phone (person + postage).

 

The current way is fairer than adding on the cost per ticket (although less fair than having a fee per transaction, rather than per ticket).

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you go to PL football, you get ripped off. Sad but true.

 

The only thing to do is take it on the chin, and make a sensible choice as to how to spend your money.

 

Its pretty rubbish , though, if you have supported the club loyally through the bad times.

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Pay cash at the ticket office and you don't pay the £1.50

 

We know that NOW, it was not turning up at the TO with £350 in cash in the first place because the club hadn't said there was a DD card charge that was the main problem...

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