"Renewal forms will not be sent out to supporters unless specifically requested."
I was about to post this.
Season tickets are now on sale with application forms being available from the Valley Ticket Office. Alternatively fans can download an application form by clicking here and return it in the post or in person. Renewal forms will not be sent out to supporters unless specifically requested.
Not all season ticket holders will be aware of this as they do not use the internet, nor buy a programme.
The club will argue, reasonably, that it has four matches to create awareness before April 10th and that existing holders will be there. Just to mail ST holders is going to cost about £10k and you would usually target other supporters, so could easily spend £15-£20k. However, I think a minority of people will expect the club to have the courtesy to contact them in return for a purchase of several hundred pounds and the club may find it becomes the tipping point if those people are already doubtful about renewing. You can also never underestimate how hard it is to get to 100 per cent of purchasers - and certainly to would-be purchasers.
The club is in possession of season ticket holders' email addresses (for the vast majority?). Would it not actually be prudent to send out a pdf application form attached to an email? They send us all sorts of other guff electronically don't they?
A majority, easily, although there will be plenty of exceptions. Within that, however, you will have people who take exception to being asked to - or simply can't - print it out and won't buy online. You are relying on them to be proactive. Most will be, some won't.
I can see where this is coming from, but the value of the sale is such that it looks like a saving too far to me. What should be looked at as an opportunity to sell not just the season ticket but the club as a whole is instead being treated as another cost-cutting opportunity - and the messages around the offer to date haven't been good enough by a long distance.
'To ensure best value for money fans should submit their application forms before Friday, April 10th which is the deadline for the first phase of season-ticket prices.'
This suggests that the price might go up after 10th April. However, they haven't said it will which gives them the scope to make up their mind once they get to the 11th and see what the take up is.
The front page of the pdf says "Buy early for the best value. Prices will rise after April 10th" (my emphasis).
Yes, I spotted that. But didn't they say that last year and then extend the deadline anyway? They could also argue that August is "after April 10th".
So here's an idea - how about only mailing out the forms to those season ticket holders for whom the club does not have an email address? Win/win - club saves money by not mailing everyone, but those not online still get their postal application. Too simple?
So here's an idea - how about only mailing out the forms to those season ticket holders for whom the club does not have an email address? Win/win - club saves money by not mailing everyone, but those not online still get their postal application. Too simple?
Sounds reasonable, although I think it is more complicated than it sounds because the club will have some email addresses within households and not others, especially around U18s.
The club is in possession of season ticket holders' email addresses (for the vast majority?). Would it not actually be prudent to send out a pdf application form attached to an email? They send us all sorts of other guff electronically don't they?
I should imagine that the demographic who aren't up for renewing online or downloading a PDF from the website probably aren't going to be willing/able to deal with emailed PDFs either. That also assumes the club have actually managed to do a data cleansing operation to correct the issues that dogged last seasons mailout - was it just postal addresses that were incorrectly linked to red card numbers, or were the email addresses wrong too?
Is this stuff being written in Belgium and translated back? There are typos and it all reads very oddly (and the introduction from Katrien Meire on the PDF doesn't even say who she is).
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
Well. This season my seat in A Block cost me £110, because I am over sixty. Using the information in yesterday's programme, my season ticket will cost me £175, because they have increase the concession to 65+. That is a more than 50% increase. Immaterial really because I have made up my mind not to renew. Does that count as a revenue loss to the club. If you sell up Roland, do it once I'm 65.
So if you were to renew how much more would you be paying against last seasons price?
Well. This season my seat in A Block cost me £110, because I am over sixty. Using the information in yesterday's programme, my season ticket will cost me £175, because they have increase the concession to 65+. That is a more than 50% increase. Immaterial really because I have made up my mind not to renew. Does that count as a revenue loss to the club. If you sell up Roland, do it once I'm 65.
So if you were to renew how much more would you be paying against last seasons price?
It would cost him / her £135 (£25 more) because they have said they will honour the 60+ rule from last season for those holding STs
So Katrien lied at the East Kent meeting which no-one wants to talk about?
No I don't believe she lied. She certainly wasn't correct in what she said but I think there's a fair explanation. When she made the invitation to Barnie, she copied the Development Officer who replied to tell her he could join the regular meeting I already have with her. She's busy and I imagine Barnie declining might have had a bigger impact on her than the fact it was already happening, given the context.
Had she recalled that mail, she'd know that her words could simply be debunked, so I'm happy to believe she'd forgotten she'd been told that, or simply missed it in what I'm sure is a full postbag.
@Henry Irving To answer your question as far as I believe I'm free to, I've personally met a couple of times with various people involved in club development, and there's more in the diary now KM's given the green light to us working at this level. It's below the strategic level we feel supporters should be involved, the level you were once involved indeed. After all these guys have to work with the challenges that come with misaligned if well-intentioned business decisions - not easy to sell a season ticket to someone feeling disenfranchised, for example - but it's fair to say it's also a level above where the Fans' Forum is working to. For the avoidance of doubt, it is definitely not supplanting or undermining the FF and that's something I'm determined to avoid. It's been relatively informal to date to be fair, we've discussed some initiatives and some challenges - but it is early days.
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
The '4 month' finance deal is promoted as '0% finance' - but with a £16 arrangement fee per application; which is effectively a pretty hefty 'interest rate' over 4 months, particularly if you annualise it.
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
The 4 month deal is stated as being interest free (+ £16 arrangement charge)
I've just seen my seat in block M West Upper has been "frozen" at just £75 more than I paid last season thanks to the zone change! Wow. Thanks Katrien.
Quiet happy with the deal, VG discount in place means I'll pay £160, if the Mrs can change her hours, then I'll get to more games, if not, I don't mind paying that amount for 13-16 games a season.
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
The 4 month deal is stated as being interest free (+ £16 arrangement charge)
...meaning that it is not in fact "interest free" at all as additional (unavoidable) charges are supposed to be included in the calculation of the total charge for credit and therefore the APR. Always have been.
TBF this is not the first time this particular misleading statement has been made and I suspect it is something that has been passed on to the club by the finance company rather than the club designing their own misleading credit adverts.
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
The '4 month' finance deal is promoted as '0% finance' - but with a £16 arrangement fee per application; which is effectively a pretty hefty 'interest rate' over 4 months, particularly if you annualise it.
Or, of course, you could pay as you go and then the payments are spread over a 13 month period with rebates for every game you don't go to, and a discount for 'promotional' games like football for a fiver.
You probably wouldn't get a snazzy credit card ticket, but if the football is so bad that you choose not to you you could well pay a lot less.
Also it appears to me that the '4 month' finance deal is calculated wrong when it states the total amount due! It still states the original total price rather than the total inc interest. OR is it just me being stupid?? The ten month deal seems correct.
The 4 month deal is stated as being interest free (+ £16 arrangement charge)
I'm sure it will say that the form needs to be completed in black ink. Maybe a bic would be a better idea. It would also give those still at school something to burn over the bunsen burner when the Chemistry teacher turns their back on them.
Not sending out the forms is not allowing people to be people.
The forms arrive. You open them. They are usually colourful and eye catching. You put them on the kitchen surface with the other stuff. You frequently see them and think 'yeah I must get that done' Then you do it when you have a moment.
If they're not physically there as a reminder, then human nature being what it is you forget to do it, and soon enough (on this occasion April 10th) you think, 'drat, I've missed it, oh well never mind I'll get round to it eventually', and then real life crowds in, and the physical reminder is not sitting there.
Also the forms are usually over complicated to fill in, if they have the details already then lets hope they are user friendly, because my experience is the forms are created by somebody who inhabits a parallel universe, who finish the design and say to themselves 'that should work'.
Should?
If it doesn't work the easy thing to do is blame the supporter rather than the crap design.
Open them, look at the pretty marketing pictures, then put them on the table where they are buried under all the other stuff I should bin, shred or file.
Go on the website at some point before the deadline and renew my season ticket.
Find the forms several months later and throw them in the recycling bin.
I see that you can still not see the new season ticket prices at cafc.co.uk, and on the 'buy season ticket' link they are still showing half season tickets.
I have a feeling that there might be a development on this, in light of the 'frozen' promise that is not, realistically, what they said it is.
Think you could be correct, kha.
From a phone conversation with the Ticket Office manager this morning, responding to my e-mail to KM, the news story on S/T prices was instructed to be published on the OS at 9.00am Saturday.......finally appeared mid-morning Monday! A supplementary question regarding the offer to VIP members at the recent Q&A meeting resulted in the preparation and distribution of the e-mail which VIP folk on here will have received around 1.30pm today, with a hard-copy version being mailed to those without email.
Just had an email from the club to tell me that, as a VIP, I will get a 10% discount off my renewal. This on top of £15 Valley Gold discount. I'm happy with that.
I have looked at the application form online, and can't see the bit that says if you're already an over 60 concession and are renewing, then tick this box, it simply doesn't exist. So what box are you supposed to tick? Should there also be terms and conditions online?
Comments
I can see where this is coming from, but the value of the sale is such that it looks like a saving too far to me. What should be looked at as an opportunity to sell not just the season ticket but the club as a whole is instead being treated as another cost-cutting opportunity - and the messages around the offer to date haven't been good enough by a long distance.
Will this be the long-awaited loyalty scheme towards away ticket sales for high demand games do we think??
- Katrien's signature is easily copied
- Match day programmes are not going down in price next season
- The example credit card style ST shown is in the name of John Smith - racist and assumptive in my opinion
- VG discount of £15 seems to apply
- I would hope that Crossbars should at least now get busy every game which will upset any who don't get in - capacity ?
- Those worried on behalf of others about the lack of forms being posted out should print some and take them along to hand out along with a pencil The 4 month deal is stated as being interest free (+ £16 arrangement charge)
TBF this is not the first time this particular misleading statement has been made and I suspect it is something that has been passed on to the club by the finance company rather than the club designing their own misleading credit adverts.
You probably wouldn't get a snazzy credit card ticket, but if the football is so bad that you choose not to you you could well pay a lot less.
The forms arrive.
You open them.
They are usually colourful and eye catching.
You put them on the kitchen surface with the other stuff.
You frequently see them and think 'yeah I must get that done'
Then you do it when you have a moment.
If they're not physically there as a reminder, then human nature being what it is you forget to do it, and soon enough (on this occasion April 10th) you think, 'drat, I've missed it, oh well never mind I'll get round to it eventually', and then real life crowds in, and the physical reminder is not sitting there.
Also the forms are usually over complicated to fill in, if they have the details already then lets hope they are user friendly, because my experience is the forms are created by somebody who inhabits a parallel universe, who finish the design and say to themselves 'that should work'.
Should?
If it doesn't work the easy thing to do is blame the supporter rather than the crap design.
Open them, look at the pretty marketing pictures, then put them on the table where they are buried under all the other stuff I should bin, shred or file.
Go on the website at some point before the deadline and renew my season ticket.
Find the forms several months later and throw them in the recycling bin.