Ticket Exchange Non Use Penalty - £10 Per Printed Ticket "Policy Change" Now In Place

[Waynflete]

It comes down to what the club would prefer. Does it want a large number of STHs, something that we're collectively very proud of, with the acceptance that people will informally share tickets?

Or does it want to control the ticketing more tightly by making it more difficult/expensive to share tickets? If they do that then the number of STHs will inevitably fall. I can't believe that all the 20,000 plus STHs all go every single week, so they won't renew if they can't share.

It's okay at the moment as people can share smart cards but I wouldn't be surprised if they tighten that up in future. And the exchange clearly isn't the complete answer as you can only swap for sold out games and it obviously doesn't let you share with a friend/family.

 

[Waynflete]

Double post

 

[El Presidente]

Ticket Exchange Non Use Penalty - £10 Per Printed Ticket "Policy Change" Now In Place

But then you didnt have me next to you gobbinng off at Ryan Harley BOTTLING challenges.

True!

But I did prevent you ending up in the WSL when Harley's Larry Grayson style tackle took place!

 

[Bozza]

A replacement smartcard currently costs £25.

This is yet another non-communicated change that I am viewing with no small amount of cynicism.

Last season it was £10. More interestingly, in the Club Charter for 2012-13 it says the replacement charge is £10 too. Charter attached.

View attachment bhafc 2012-13 club charter.pdf

6.12 Issue of Replacement Cards

Lost or stolen cards may be replaced at a charge of £10. On the day of a match, a duplicate ticket may be issued at the Club’s discretion for misplaced tickets/cards. The ticket/card will subsequently be cancelled for that match only. The duplicate ticket, if issued, will always take precedence. A non-refundable charge of £3 will be payable.

 

[clippedgull]

My policy last season was to charge people I didn't know £10 on top of the agreed ticket price and give them my smart card. Upon return of the card the £10 was refunded. Didn't need to involve the club at all.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Another fuss about nothing imo. The club have to look at every avenue to raise revenue at the moment if they are to progress further up the league, and they do appear to be taking this very seriously indeed. If I cannot make a game I will hand my ST to a friend for free, I'm not fussed about any recompense for a game I cannot attend. If however I went down the printed alternative I'd pay the £10 and charge that to the recipient, who still gets a cheap seat.

 

[Razi]

Well, that screws my family over a bit.

We have 2 season tickets shared between 3 people in my family - me (luton), my dad (newick) and my brother (brighton). When we bought the season tickets at the start of last season, they confirmed at the point of sale that there was no problem sharing the ticket between members of the family. This season we've been using the printed ticket option successfully and the club have had no problem in doing this - always asking what name I wanted to be on the collection (so they are well aware that the replacement wasnt for me). Now, at £10 a ticket, we'll have to resort to posting the season ticket.

And for the people who are suggesting that the Ticket Exchange system is a much better option for people who want to sell their ticket - remember that this only applies IF the game is sold-out. If the game does not sell out, then the exchange is not activated and therefore people have no other option...

 

[Uwinsc]

My policy last season was to charge people I didn't know £10 on top of the agreed ticket price and give them my smart card. Upon return of the card the £10 was refunded. Didn't need to involve the club at all.

This

 

[Pantani]

Well, that screws my family over a bit.

We have 2 season tickets shared between 3 people in my family - me (luton), my dad (newick) and my brother (brighton). When we bought the season tickets at the start of last season, they confirmed at the point of sale that there was no problem sharing the ticket between members of the family. This season we've been using the printed ticket option successfully and the club have had no problem in doing this - always asking what name I wanted to be on the collection (so they are well aware that the replacement wasnt for me). Now, at £10 a ticket, we'll have to resort to posting the season ticket.

And for the people who are suggesting that the Ticket Exchange system is a much better option for people who want to sell their ticket - remember that this only applies IF the game is sold-out. If the game does not sell out, then the exchange is not activated and therefore people have no other option...

Why don't you leave the season tickets with your brother? He lives in Brighton, where we play, handily, so you can pick them up from him on the day of the match.

 

[Razi]

Why don't you leave the season tickets with your brother? He lives in Brighton, where we play, handily, so you can pick them up from him on the day of the match.

I wouldn't use the word "handily" in that phrase. When coming down by train from Luton, I go straight to Falmer (where we play) via Brighton. That would then mean having to get a bus from the station to his house (assuming he'll be there to pick it up from), and then get a bus from his house either back to the station or to the ground. That's not all that convenient, nor handy. It was far more handy to be able to call the ticket office, and 30 seconds later have a printed ticket ready for him to collect from the ground.

 

[Bozza]

My policy last season was to charge people I didn't know £10 on top of the agreed ticket price and give them my smart card. Upon return of the card the £10 was refunded. Didn't need to involve the club at all.

Will you be asking for a £25 deposit now that the replacement card fee has mysteriously increased by 150% completely unannounced?

 

[Gazwag]

This is yet another non-communicated change that I am viewing with no small amount of cynicism.

Last season it was £10. More interestingly, in the Club Charter for 2012-13 it says the replacement charge is £10 too. Charter attached.

View attachment 34655

But that says "On the day of the match" therefore nothing to do with paper tickets being requested before the day of the match.

I did post when the ticket exchange was set up that it wouldn't surprise me that the club would stop letting fans get paper tickets issued ofr matches they couldn't attend, the massive increase in the charge is effectively doing this.

 

[Pantani]

I'm with the club on this one. It is your season ticket, for you to use. Not your season ticket to sell as you see fit when you cannot attend. If you trust someone enough to give them your card (for example, family, close friends) then you can share a season ticket, that is fine. If you do not trust someone enough to give them your smart card then you are just reselling your seat which the club do not have to support and is illegal (rightly or wrongly). They should have communicated the price rise for reprinting better (or at all) but this is the only thing wrong with this decision.

 

[Notters]

out of interest, has anyone bought a ticket through the exchange yet?

 

[Bozza]

But that says "On the day of the match" therefore nothing to do with paper tickets being requested before the day of the match.

I did post when the ticket exchange was set up that it wouldn't surprise me that the club would stop letting fans get paper tickets issued ofr matches they couldn't attend, the massive increase in the charge is effectively doing this.

I know, which is why I wasn't commenting on the paper replacement fee in this instance. I'm passing comment on the apparent increase in cost from £10 to £25 for a replacement smartcard. An increase which is in complete contravention to the club charter published for this season.

 

[Pantani]

I wouldn't use the word "handily" in that phrase. When coming down by train from Luton, I go straight to Falmer (where we play) via Brighton. That would then mean having to get a bus from the station to his house (assuming he'll be there to pick it up from), and then get a bus from his house either back to the station or to the ground. That's not all that convenient, nor handy. It was far more handy to be able to call the ticket office, and 30 seconds later have a printed ticket ready for him to collect from the ground.

Is he not coming to the game? There are three of you and two season tickets, one of you who attended the previous game must be attending the next one, let that person keep the season tickets. Some of my friends live up north and share a few season tickets, they manage to get the smart cards to the correct people for every game using this method.

 

[Simster]

As I said when he was appointed (and was mocked in some quarters), Barber had a reputation at Vancouver for maximising short term revenues with little regard for the long term future. As a direct consequence of some of his blatant money grabbing there, season ticket holder numbers went from 18,000 in season one to about 15,000 this season (their second in MLS).

Some of the ideas implemented so far seem reasonable - the early bird offers in the concessions are a good example of the club trying to stagger the flow of people to and from the stadium. Equally, I'm not too unhappy with the commercial mascot idea (although the prices seem ridiculous) because the free lottery idea remains in place.

But this is completely absurd. £10 for a paper ticket - do me a favour. And £25 for a replacement plastic card? For FUCKS sake. If that was a bank sending a replacement bank card, you could imagine the uproar. It is completely inexcusable given that the club was encouraging season ticket take up only last season, and if that meant sharing season tickets then this too was unofficially being encouraged at the presentations, and that is a fact. To change policy direction with no word of explanation with fans now fully on board with season ticket take up is very poor form.

Printing tickets do obviously incur an overhead to the club, so I think the club should offer a season long administration option where people like the OP can pay a one-off fee to cover the season to cover all forms of ticket administration, that means lost tickets, replacement tickets, and perhaps postage correspondance are all coverd in advance.

As it is, they just look like money grabbing twats, and when the club's fortunes on the pitch take a down turn, and the cold wind blows with Barber long gone, we'll see banks of empty seats and people sticking two fingers up at the club asking why they should commit when they were shafted in the good times.

 

[upthealbion1970]

Ticket Exchange Non Use Penalty - £10 Per Printed Ticket "Policy Change" Now In Place

The cynic in me thinks that all of the unreported price increases aren't done by mistake, we've had the whole mascot thing where it wasn't openly stated about the GG and AITC places, the £1 increase on pie & pint deal which was then decreased by 50p after it was decided it was a "mistake", the massive increases for a paper ticket and smart cards. Does whoever is responsible think that we fans won't notice,or is someone doing a really poor job?

 

[Gazwag]

I know, which is why I wasn't commenting on the paper replacement fee in this instance. I'm passing comment on the apparent increase in cost from £10 to £25 for a replacement smartcard. An increase which is in complete contravention to the club charter published for this season.

Oh ok, as far as that is concerned I agree its wrong to make this increase (if its true) without notifying fans

 

[Bozza]

Anyway, the obvious way around this is that instead of arranging paper replacements for an exorbitant £10 what you do is this...

1. Advertise the ticket on the NSC ticket exchange.
2. Find a buyer, and collect payment electronically either via bank transfer or Paypal.
3. Do NOT phone the club and request a paper replacement.
4. Your buyer goes to the Amex on match day, goes to the ticket office, gives your name and seat number and say you left your smart card at home.
5. The ticket office give your buyer a paper replacement for the Club Charter specified price of £3.

Obviously, some highly technical biometric identification system - fingerprints and or retina scanning - will be introduced in order to stop the nefarious Albion fans who use this easy loophole.