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No more programme sellers


ladysaint

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First, I don't much mind either way how I buy my programme, but a quick thought for some people on here:

 

To have no respect for anyone in any form of paid work (however menial you consider it to be) who is let go with no notice and at no fault marks you out as a grade 1, class A, C U N T.

 

And that is a word I use extremely rarely and only with a deal of thought. So well done.

 

Agree I suppose that's what people are like nowdays

 

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Just thinking about how they might go about selling programmes now, I expect they'll just sell them from the catering outlets in the concourses.

 

Naturally that'll make it really easy for people to buy because there are never any ridiculous queues there :thumbup:

 

Um, so, the OS has updated.

 

Programme Sellers map : http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/documents/sfc-stadium-plan-with-crosses148-409790.pdf

 

"This includes all stadium catering outlets before the game and at half time as well as in the megastore before and after the game, as well as roaming sellers."

 

Not sure this isn't a good move. Would have preferred the bikini cannons though.

 

Looks like Stevegrant hit the nail on the head......

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Have not bought a programme since the mid 90s

 

What a waste of money..... My friends have now and then and just leave them under their seat after an our 10 mins read

 

No point reading the managers or captains comments as they are so lame and nice about the opposition

 

I could not care less who sponsors what player... Or what local club won an award and I don't need to look at pictures from our previous game

 

Complete waste of money and not surprised this has happened

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Um, so, the OS has updated.

 

Programme Sellers map : http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/documents/sfc-stadium-plan-with-crosses148-409790.pdf

 

"This includes all stadium catering outlets before the game and at half time as well as in the megastore before and after the game, as well as roaming sellers."

 

Not sure this isn't a good move. Would have preferred the bikini cannons though.

 

According to the map, the outlet in the Family Section, isn't selling them.

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Have not bought a programme since the mid 90s

 

What a waste of money..... My friends have now and then and just leave them under their seat after an our 10 mins read

 

No point reading the managers or captains comments as they are so lame and nice about the opposition

 

I could not care less who sponsors what player... Or what local club won an award and I don't need to look at pictures from our previous game

 

Complete waste of money and not surprised this has happened

 

Horses for courses. Stattos like them and also nice bit of memorabilia for kids or a distraction technique if their concentration wanes.

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Have not bought a programme since the mid 90s

 

What a waste of money..... My friends have now and then and just leave them under their seat after an our 10 mins read

 

No point reading the managers or captains comments as they are so lame and nice about the opposition

 

I could not care less who sponsors what player... Or what local club won an award and I don't need to look at pictures from our previous game

 

Complete waste of money and not surprised this has happened

 

My feelings exactly. I even received a complimentary programme at the villa game and still couldn't be @rsed to read it.

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Horses for courses. Stattos like them and also nice bit of memorabilia for kids or a distraction technique if their concentration wanes.
Exactly. They're not for me, but a lot of the older generation of fans still buy them, kids get them autographed, people that don't go often get them as a souvenir etc.
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Exactly. They're not for me, but a lot of the older generation of fans still buy them, kids get them autographed, people that don't go often get them as a souvenir etc.

 

They can still buy them can't they? Thought someone said that they will be available in the concourses?

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Am I being an idiot? Why haven't the old seller just been made to the roaming sellers? Do we know that they weren't offered this?

The seller I know said the first he knew of the new plans was when a letter dropped on his doormat yesterday informing him that his services were no longer required with immediate effect. It does seem odd that they didn't just ask the old sellers whether they'd be happy to be a bit more mobile, I don't think any of them would have taken offence to it.

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The seller I know said the first he knew of the new plans was when a letter dropped on his doormat yesterday informing him that his services were no longer required with immediate effect. It does seem odd that they didn't just ask the old sellers whether they'd be happy to be a bit more mobile, I don't think any of them would have taken offence to it.

 

Maybe they outsourced it? Part of the deal with the printing company?

 

I think the national lottery put an end to my raffle ticket selling days. I didn't even get a letter dropped on my door matt or a refund of my wasted bus fair into town that day or entry to the ground that day. It appears NC has made some improvements on the old way of doing things.

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So, after much debate on this thread, we can now unpackage the facts. In summary SFC are redeploying programme sellers (that suggests some existing sellers)and making programmes available in different places to make it easier for punters to purchase them. It would seem that one or more existing programme sellers have been informed that their services are no longer required, which is of course highly regrettable for those individuals. Programmes will still be available, there will still be sellers outside the ground, but now you can purchase inside as well.

 

An awful lot of fuss about almost nothing except for the caveat about sellers who no longer have a job on matchdays (which may amount to 1 person, because that is all we know about for sure). I know my daughter will be a little upset, although she had already remarked that our preferred programme seller (outside the Chapel) has not been around this season, but then we now more often that not arrive via the Northam end so would have transferred our loyalty anyway.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/location-location-location-409792.aspx

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Maybe they outsourced it? Part of the deal with the printing company?

 

I think the national lottery put an end to my raffle ticket selling days. I didn't even get a letter dropped on my door matt or a refund of my wasted bus fair into town that day or entry to the ground that day. It appears NC has made some improvements on the old way of doing things.

 

You should sue for unfair dismissal and the obvoius anguish and stress you seem to have suffered everyday since this terrible incident ....if you win you might end up with Gaston as your house boy...........

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So, after much debate on this thread, we can now unpackage the facts. In summary SFC are redeploying programme sellers (that suggests some existing sellers)and making programmes available in different places to make it easier for punters to purchase them. It would seem that one or more existing programme sellers have been informed that their services are no longer required, which is of course highly regrettable for those individuals. Programmes will still be available, there will still be sellers outside the ground, but now you can purchase inside as well.

 

An awful lot of fuss about almost nothing except for the caveat about sellers who no longer have a job on matchdays (which may amount to 1 person, because that is all we know about for sure). I know my daughter will be a little upset, although she had already remarked that our preferred programme seller (outside the Chapel) has not been around this season, but then we now more often that not arrive via the Northam end so would have transferred our loyalty anyway.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/location-location-location-409792.aspx

 

Phew my lucky programme seller is still there. I don't buy a programme from him I just rub his baldy head.

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So, after much debate on this thread, we can now unpackage the facts. In summary SFC are redeploying programme sellers (that suggests some existing sellers)and making programmes available in different places to make it easier for punters to purchase them. It would seem that one or more existing programme sellers have been informed that their services are no longer required, which is of course highly regrettable for those individuals. Programmes will still be available, there will still be sellers outside the ground, but now you can purchase inside as well.

 

An awful lot of fuss about almost nothing except for the caveat about sellers who no longer have a job on matchdays (which may amount to 1 person, because that is all we know about for sure). I know my daughter will be a little upset, although she had already remarked that our preferred programme seller (outside the Chapel) has not been around this season, but then we now more often that not arrive via the Northam end so would have transferred our loyalty anyway.

 

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/location-location-location-409792.aspx

 

It's just another thing some of fans want to beat Cortese for.

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You should sue for unfair dismissal and the obvoius anguish and stress you seem to have suffered everyday since this terrible incident ....if you win you might end up with Gaston as your house boy...........

 

I have thought about this many times but it was a long time ago. I think Guy Askham was the boss back then. I could take a personal claim out against him or tell watchdog but I think they have bigger fish to fry.

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Personally I am gutted about this. I have a mini programmes collection for all the key matches in my saints lifetime, as in the last game at the dell with the FA cup paged singed by Laurie M, games we got promoted from both division, fa cup, jpt etc etc, they are memories. I hope this does not make it much harder to buy them, also what was the comment about "they will no longer be able to get season tickets so they are screwed? did they get free entry for selling them?

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Personally I am gutted about this. I have a mini programmes collection for all the key matches in my saints lifetime, as in the last game at the dell with the FA cup paged singed by Laurie M, games we got promoted from both division, fa cup, jpt etc etc, they are memories. I hope this does not make it much harder to buy them, also what was the comment about "they will no longer be able to get season tickets so they are screwed? did they get free entry for selling them?

 

Why are you "gutted"? You can still buy programmes inside and outside St Marys

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The seller I know said the first he knew of the new plans was when a letter dropped on his doormat yesterday informing him that his services were no longer required with immediate effect. It does seem odd that they didn't just ask the old sellers whether they'd be happy to be a bit more mobile, I don't think any of them would have taken offence to it.

surprised he didn't have to go the stadium to collect the letter.

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Personally I am gutted about this. I have a mini programmes collection for all the key matches in my saints lifetime, as in the last game at the dell with the FA cup paged singed by Laurie M, games we got promoted from both division, fa cup, jpt etc etc, they are memories. I hope this does not make it much harder to buy them, also what was the comment about "they will no longer be able to get season tickets so they are screwed? did they get free entry for selling them?

He singed it?? Blimey what did you do to upset him??

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The seller I know said the first he knew of the new plans was when a letter dropped on his doormat yesterday informing him that his services were no longer required with immediate effect. It does seem odd that they didn't just ask the old sellers whether they'd be happy to be a bit more mobile, I don't think any of them would have taken offence to it.

 

 

maybe the new sellers are a load of dolly birds in lingerie and on roller skates.

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Oh... Having paid £35 to get in.... £5. Or so for parking... Fuel costs and a drink...

 

 

You can kiss my arse if I am spending more money at rip off prices for a booklet of adverts

 

I generally never buy one, but I did for the Villa game as it was my boy's first game. Of the 76 pages, only 13 or so were adverts so it's not that full of them.

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Well if my maths is right and the seller quoted as saying you could sell 800 programs each at a prem match, then thats 48 quid per seller + 30 odd quids worth of free ticket. Ten agency staff at two hours will cost the club 9 pound an hour (tops) totalling 180 quid for all of them.

 

Certainly not big money, but definatley savings to be made which if there were ten program sellers previously would work out at 300 quid a match, plus the extra money they will get from any of them that now buy a ticket

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Well if my maths is right and the seller quoted as saying you could sell 800 programs each at a prem match, then thats 48 quid per seller + 30 odd quids worth of free ticket. Ten agency staff at two hours will cost the club 9 pound an hour (tops) totalling 180 quid for all of them.

 

Certainly not big money, but definatley savings to be made which if there were ten program sellers previously would work out at 300 quid a match, plus the extra money they will get from any of them that now buy a ticket

 

I think you might need to revisit some maths there. 20 staff have been let go, 800 programmes sold each is 16,000 programmes sold. Just for the staff who've been let go.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-19848963

 

Whatever you think of the decision, the manner in which these people have been told their services are no longer required is completely unprofessional and direspectful.

 

Oh do give it a rest Kraken. We are a forward thinking business, we are in the Prem now and sentimentality doesn't come into it. I applaud the decision and TBH it's a shame we didn't get these spongers off the gravy train sooner.

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Oh do give it a rest Kraken. We are a forward thinking business, we are in the Prem now and sentimentality doesn't come into it. I applaud the decision and TBH it's a shame we didn't get these spongers off the gravy train sooner.

 

Best in service both on and off the pitch. I'm trying to get on board with that Hypo but my Dell-sized mentality keeps getting in the way.

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I think you might need to revisit some maths there. 20 staff have been let go, 800 programmes sold each is 16,000 programmes sold. Just for the staff who've been let go.

 

I was trying to be conservative; 16,000 is one in every two of a full house buying a program, which seems unrealistic to me

 

If it is 8,000 sold in total (regardless of how many previous sellers there were), then the total would be 480 quids worth of commission as opposed to the 180 it will cost then to sell through agency staff.

 

It's fag packet maths, but probably not a million miles out.

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I was trying to be conservative; 16,000 is one in every two of a full house buying a program, which seems unrealistic to me

 

If it is 8,000 sold in total (regardless of how many previous sellers there were), then the total would be 480 quids worth of commission as opposed to the 180 it will cost then to sell through agency staff.

 

It's fag packet maths, but probably not a million miles out.

 

Hmmm. I did bucket rattling down at St. Mary's before the Villa game, I started around 1ish and went up to kick off. I was right by a programme seller; there was never a queue for the time I was there. He didn't sell very many programmes at all compared to total attendance. The 800 programmes sold mentioned was, I'm guessing, not entirely accurate. There's simply no way that the chap I was by sold any more than 50 programmes on his own.

 

Your fag packet maths suggest around 1 in 4 people buy a programme. Nope, I can't see it being anywhere near that figure. Do a straw poll on here for how many people buy a programme, I'd be surprised if it was 5%.

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I think you might need to revisit some maths there. 20 staff have been let go, 800 programmes sold each is 16,000 programmes sold. Just for the staff who've been let go.

To be fair, I'd imagine that some sellers sell more than others depending on where they're positioned. Those on the four corners of the stadium (particularly those in the Northam/Itchen corner outside the ticket office and away end) would surely sell many more programmes than those halfway along any of the stands or those inside the ground. For most fans, I would imagine it's a case of you either want a programme or you don't, and you make that decision at the first point you see a seller, which would be at one of the corners of the ground due to the access routes. The last time I heard (a number of years ago, admittedly), the club printed the equivalent of 20% of the expected attendance (therefore max 6500 for a sell-out).

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To be fair, I'd imagine that some sellers sell more than others depending on where they're positioned. Those on the four corners of the stadium (particularly those in the Northam/Itchen corner outside the ticket office and away end) would surely sell many more programmes than those halfway along any of the stands or those inside the ground. For most fans, I would imagine it's a case of you either want a programme or you don't, and you make that decision at the first point you see a seller, which would be at one of the corners of the ground due to the access routes. The last time I heard (a number of years ago, admittedly), the club printed the equivalent of 20% of the expected attendance (therefore max 6500 for a sell-out).

 

OK, I'll defer to better information. Must admit I'd not thought it would anywhere near that number, but there we go.

 

In any case, my initial comments were not about whether the decision to get rid of the staff was the right one or the wrong one, merely the manner in which it was conducted.

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In any case, my initial comments were not about whether the decision to get rid of the staff was the right one or the wrong one, merely the manner in which it was conducted.

 

Completely agree, there are ways of doing these things and this certainly wasn't the best way

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Completely agree, there are ways of doing these things and this certainly wasn't the best way

 

I know it was done at very short notice, which is not the way the those being laid off would want to hear the news, but the contents of the letter (printed in the Echo article I linked above), is polite.

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I know it was done at very short notice, which is not the way the those being laid off would want to hear the news, but the contents of the letter (printed in the Echo article I linked above), is polite.

 

Sorry just so I understand. Do you think that laying someone off who has more than 20 years service with a bland letter is acceptable, and that SFC needn't have wasted their time telling them face to face?

 

Sorry, I think that's a p*ss poor way to do business.

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OK, I'll defer to better information. Must admit I'd not thought it would anywhere near that number, but there we go.

 

In any case, my initial comments were not about whether the decision to get rid of the staff was the right one or the wrong one, merely the manner in which it was conducted.

 

 

Casual staff? A well written letter, thanking them for their loyalty and committment? NOt really sure how else this should have been done... all personnally invited into Corteses office for tea and cakes? Come on, its no fricken wonder there are accustaions of 'agendas' flying around when every issue is blown up to such proportions by the same characters - I am not surprized though... seem to recall saying the 'goodwill' factor after Markus bought the club would not last 5 seconds as there are always those who have an 'issue' with something - at most clubs its the shiedt on the pitch, but we aint been able to complain about that the last few years... Jeez, what the flying feck do people really expect - perfection? and whose idea of perfection are we talking about anyway? I suspect if asked we would get 32000 variations.... Yes there are several SMALL things that we can point to and say in an ideal world would have been handled differently - no argument there - but set against hat has been achieved... they are trivial, and if given a choice of the most fan friendly chairman or one that gets results on the pitch, I know whch one I'd chose - expecting that you can have and deserve both is naive IMHO, such folk are a rare breed.

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Good rant Frankie. Answer the question I posed above you, would you?

 

Do you think that laying someone off who has more than 20 years service with a bland letter is acceptable, and that SFC needn't have wasted their time telling them face to face?

 

If they had been full time employees 40 hours + a week, I would agree, but 60 minutes a fortnight and a decent letter, well not sure where you are going with this - big difference, and you are employing the old journalist trick of selecting the best example and using words to make your point sound so much worse...

 

20 years loyal service.... er doubt many will have been doing it for 20 years +, and secondly that comment makes it sound like they were full time... rather than 60 mins a fortnight

 

Secondly, the word 'sack' is emotive suggesting poverty and hardship to follow - when for most it was a hobby and a way of getting a free ticket

 

Finally, why do folk assume its Cortese? Do they think he spends his time on these things?

 

Jeez...

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Well if my maths is right and the seller quoted as saying you could sell 800 programs each at a prem match, then thats 48 quid per seller + 30 odd quids worth of free ticket. Ten agency staff at two hours will cost the club 9 pound an hour (tops) totalling 180 quid for all of them.

 

Certainly not big money, but definatley savings to be made which if there were ten program sellers previously would work out at 300 quid a match, plus the extra money they will get from any of them that now buy a ticket

The match ticket is only at a cost to the club of £30 (or whatever) if every seat had already been sold and there was demand for these seats. As that hasn't been the case at all this season, its not really valid to count it as a cost to the club now. Some of these people were selling right throughout our lowest points, with small crowds, if one sold 200 (a fair amount), that's £12, absolute peanuts. What is the incentive for agency staff, paid by the hour, with no long term affinity to the club, to sell as many as they can and help maximise income for the club?

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