E-cash discount

[Greavsey]

I'd be interested to see how long this bubbling resentment lasts for.

TBH, other than my season ticket I really can't see myself putting anything extra in the club. It's a odd feeling. Barber wants customers over fans - and I'm not knocking that per se. From a financial perspective, and let's be realistic it's all about the £££, it makes sense. The problem is, Biscuit the Fan spends a LOT more money on things he loves than Biscuit the Customer. I'll now not buy the club shop tat because it's supporting my club, I'll look at the tat and make a very informed decision on whether it's something I want to spend my hard-earned on. More often than not that'll be a 'nope.'

As a say, not a dig as I understand if we want to compete, we need to pay for it. If Barber wants a customer, he's got one. Only a customer IMO spends significantly less than a loved, appreciated fan will.

Great post. This pretty much sums up my feelings. When we first moved to the stadium there was a feeling of a premium (or at least a unique) match day experience, from the Seagull branded pie boxes to, in this instance, the 10% discounts, that made me feel proud as a fan and appreciated by the club.

This is slowly getting eroded by the cost cutting excercises. The focus on money constantly is taking away some of the romanticism of the club/fan relationship for me.

Will of course still go to every game with relish and consume a similar amount of pies and beer, so no biggie, just a shame!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Will there be many like me? Maybe not, but I now dread getting promoted as I fear that I will be completely priced out of watching the team I've supported all my life.

I don't buy food anyway but getting to that point myself.

 

[jgmcdee]

I'd love to see a cap on footballers' wages and a proper FFP across all leagues. I'd also like to see a massive rebalancing of the revenue that comes in from Sky, and many more Championship and league 1 games for the money. A lot of the reason that people grow up as Manchester United fans is because that's who is on the telly and so that's who they watch; if their local teams were on a bit more then I think it would help everyone.

All that said, this isn't the world that we live in and although I'd rather I was rewarded with 5% cashback on my purchases it's not going to be a deal-breaker for me when I want to pick up a pre-match pie or get my daughter something to drink at half time. At the end of the day we can all see where the money goes and it's not lining anyone's pockets except the players. That's what you have to consider when you're thinking about buying or not buying food or merchandise at the AmEx; if you're happy with it then great, if not then fair enough, but let's be clear about where the money goes and all this moaning about Barber seems to me just misplaced.

 

[Brovion]

I'd be interested to see how long this bubbling resentment lasts for.

TBH, other than my season ticket I really can't see myself putting anything extra in the club. It's a odd feeling. Barber wants customers over fans - and I'm not knocking that per se. From a financial perspective, and let's be realistic it's all about the £££, it makes sense. The problem is, Biscuit the Fan spends a LOT more money on things he loves than Biscuit the Customer. I'll now not buy the club shop tat because it's supporting my club, I'll look at the tat and make a very informed decision on whether it's something I want to spend my hard-earned on. More often than not that'll be a 'nope.'

As a say, not a dig as I understand if we want to compete, we need to pay for it. If Barber wants a customer, he's got one. Only a customer IMO spends significantly less than a loved, appreciated fan will.

It's a good point, but I can turn it on it's head slightly. I know we've had the whole 'fans or customers' debate (and we all pretty much agreed that we were both) but in some ways I'd rather be a customer than a fan. A 'customer' implies that my business is sought-after and not taken for granted, whereas from a business perspective a 'fan' can be viewed as blindly-loyal, brain-dead mug punter who can be mercilessly fleeced (or 'monetised' to use the current jargon) for every penny - and indeed wants to be mercilessly fleeced as they believe they're helping the club.

(Note I said 'from a business perspective'. Before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick I'm not saying that people necessarily ARE all brain-dead mug punters)

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

What are people going to be like in the ground with 3+ pints in them

Speaking for myself; asleep.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It's a good point, but I can turn it on it's head slightly. I know we've had the whole 'fans or customers' debate (and we all pretty much agreed that we were both) but in some ways I'd rather be a customer than a fan. A 'customer' implies that my business is sought-after and not taken for granted, whereas from a business perspective a 'fan' can be viewed as blindly-loyal, brain-dead mug punter who can be mercilessly fleeced (or 'monetised' to use the current jargon) for every penny - and indeed wants to be mercilessly fleeced as they believe they're helping the club.

(Note I said 'from a business perspective'. Before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick I'm not saying that people necessarily ARE all brain-dead mug punters)

Barber is treating us as fans then.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

I am most disappointed about losing the general 10% off stuff. I feel like I've always had it (definitely throughout Withdean, at Goldstone but this may have been as a Junior Seagull rather than STH, pretty sure at Gillingham) so I am a bit resentful to start paying full cop.

Also it seems quite reasonable to me that fee paying "members" (as we now are) pay a little less than the general public - which is how any club outside of football tends to work.

 

[brightn'ove]

Be interesting to see how it all pans out. I am starting to wonder if all of these sudden and severe price hikes etc will drive custom away. It will be ironic if Barber loses us more money.

Unfortunately, I believe this is what Barber's reign will bring. Bigger losses, and less fans attending.

 

[NS Herald]

As others have said, there is an erosion of the ‘feel-good’ factor around The Amex which is a very fine line to tread when the potential downside can be severely amplified if events on the pitch don't go well.

Barber certainly is very clever when he speaks and is quite open that fans will be affected by such changes and the reasons for it. Many of those same fans seem quite happy that players are overpaid and thus you would expect they are also happy to be commercially exploited at every opportunity to fund those excessively high wages.

I for one find the principle of this change and others that have happened to be distasteful and am not convinced by their supposed merits - time will tell. Like many others I had already reduced expenditure on club match day facilities and will continue to do so as I resent being fleeced for every penny.

I am surprised that when The Albion is enjoying such success and attracting so many more fans that the club decide to take such measures and hope they don't bite them on the arse if things go badly on the playing side - now that would be tricky for Barber to deal with as if he's already doing his best to maximise income from 30k fans so how will the club cope with FFP with say 20k which by Championship standards still a good attendance. I hope for his sake Oscar and the team deliver the goods or there will be trouble at Mill!!

 

[The Legend that IS Lawro]

As others have said, there is an erosion of the ‘feel-good’ factor around The Amex which is a very fine line to tread when the potential downside can be severely amplified if events on the pitch don't go well.

Barber certainly is very clever when he speaks and is quite open that fans will be affected by such changes and the reasons for it. Many of those same fans seem quite happy that players are overpaid and thus you would expect they are also happy to be commercially exploited at every opportunity to fund those excessively high wages.

I for one find the principle of this change and others that have happened to be distasteful and am not convinced by their supposed merits - time will tell. Like many others I had already reduced expenditure on club match day facilities and will continue to do so as I resent being fleeced for every penny.

I am surprised that when The Albion is enjoying such success and attracting so many more fans that the club decide to take such measures and hope they don't bite them on the arse if things go badly on the playing side - now that would be tricky for Barber to deal with as if he's already doing his best to maximise income from 30k fans so how will the club cope with FFP with say 20k which by Championship standards still a good attendance. I hope for his sake Oscar and the team deliver the goods or there will be trouble at Mill!!

Very much this

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

As others have said, there is an erosion of the ‘feel-good’ factor around The Amex which is a very fine line to tread when the potential downside can be severely amplified if events on the pitch don't go well.

Barber certainly is very clever when he speaks and is quite open that fans will be affected by such changes and the reasons for it. Many of those same fans seem quite happy that players are overpaid and thus you would expect they are also happy to be commercially exploited at every opportunity to fund those excessively high wages.

I for one find the principle of this change and others that have happened to be distasteful and am not convinced by their supposed merits - time will tell. Like many others I had already reduced expenditure on club match day facilities and will continue to do so as I resent being fleeced for every penny.

I am surprised that when The Albion is enjoying such success and attracting so many more fans that the club decide to take such measures and hope they don't bite them on the arse if things go badly on the playing side - now that would be tricky for Barber to deal with as if he's already doing his best to maximise income from 30k fans so how will the club cope with FFP with say 20k which by Championship standards still a good attendance. I hope for his sake Oscar and the team deliver the goods or there will be trouble at Mill!!

Agree with this. Barber's approach does seem very focussed on the short term and squeezing the fan base whilst were doing well. Success will not happen every season and I worry for the seasons when we struggle.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

As others have said, there is an erosion of the ‘feel-good’ factor around The Amex which is a very fine line to tread when the potential downside can be severely amplified if events on the pitch don't go well.

Barber certainly is very clever when he speaks and is quite open that fans will be affected by such changes and the reasons for it. Many of those same fans seem quite happy that players are overpaid and thus you would expect they are also happy to be commercially exploited at every opportunity to fund those excessively high wages.

I for one find the principle of this change and others that have happened to be distasteful and am not convinced by their supposed merits - time will tell. Like many others I had already reduced expenditure on club match day facilities and will continue to do so as I resent being fleeced for every penny.

I am surprised that when The Albion is enjoying such success and attracting so many more fans that the club decide to take such measures and hope they don't bite them on the arse if things go badly on the playing side - now that would be tricky for Barber to deal with as if he's already doing his best to maximise income from 30k fans so how will the club cope with FFP with say 20k which by Championship standards still a good attendance. I hope for his sake Oscar and the team deliver the goods or there will be trouble at Mill!!

Barber is very clever when he speaks but it always reminds me of a politician, which is one reason why I don't trust him.

 

[keaton]

Barber is treating us as fans then.

Indeed. If we were properly customers we'd get inducements to renew our season tickets or freebies. We seem to be getting less and less for more money spent now.

I was worried last season if we didn't do well we'd lose a lot of support and we'd be in financial trouble.
This year I worry that if we're just solidly mid-table and lose 6-7 games at home we'll lose a lot of season ticket holders.

 

[Manx Shearwater]

The way I see it for me, is this. I will largely be at the ground during 5% and 0% times, and while I welcomed the topping up of my card to achieve a 10% discount/cashback/whatever, there seems little point in tying up £40 or so on my card for something in between 0% and 5%.

So I will be paying cash from now on, and my card will have a zero balance. Apologies to anyone behind me in the queue.

Not sure if this is what that nice Mr Barber wants, but hey ho, he sets the rules, I abide by them.

 

[mac04]

I think the notice on the club website has been updated. It now says that "The cashback timescales for season-ticket holders paying by e-cash in the store or kiosks:

- Gates/store open to 60 minutes before kick-off - 15% cashback
etc,etc.

So if you get there early on matchdays you can pick up "cheap" items from the store.

 

[mac04]

Also, note to HKFC who (I think) thought you could pay with cash and still get the cashback added to your card;

*Please note that the cashback offer is only available to season-ticket holders who pay with their smartcards using e-cash.
Read more at http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/article/e-cash-changes-971099.aspx#EAvtw5CE13sZ7icv.99

 

[Hotchilidog]

The main point of the changes seems to be encourage people to get to stadium early and a 15% discount is actually pretty bloody generous imo. The 10% then comes into effect until half hour before kick off, and then as it is time to take your seat it goes down to 5% which is still better than poke in the with a sharp stick. As for 0% at half time I doubt those who are desperate to brave the queues are going to be too bothered.

Once again I see elements of the fan base getting in a state over the club offering them a service which they are under no obligation to do. The cash back is still a very good deal imo, get to the ground early and get 15% off a shirt, and the head into the ground for a cheap pie and pint and then relax and enjoy the game.

 

[Gordon Bennett]

I've just compared my smart card spending over the past 2 seasons (I always use it at the ground) and it was down 10% last year on the year before. Maybe the first year at the Amex meant that I spent more because it was new and exciting but this year I know that the way things are financially I will definitely be a bit more careful in how I spend my money and the general increase in prices/changes to the e-cash purchases are going to do nothing to change my attitude, so in that sense the changes will have the desired effect of helping to reduce queues!!

 

[MattBackHome]

If you feel that you're becoming disenfranchised by the way the club is trying to commercialise then that's (obviously) completely fair enough - but it has nothing to do with being a 'fan' or a 'customer'.We are all fans and we are all customers. For me they exist as two sides of the same relationship; we are fans of the team we love and the club has a duty to treat us like customers if they want us to keep coming back.

It seems that some people (not all!) still see 'customer' as a dirty word - when in fact it implies a level of service, respect and fostering on behalf of the club that we never used to see in the old days. More listening, more interaction, more chances for us to feedback and try and continuously improve our experience.


Having said that - removing the 10% on non-matchdays sits a bit uneasy with me.

 

[NS Herald]

I think the notice on the club website has been updated. It now says that "The cashback timescales for season-ticket holders paying by e-cash in the store or kiosks:

- Gates/store open to 60 minutes before kick-off - 15% cashback
etc,etc.

So if you get there early on matchdays you can pick up "cheap" items from the store.

While this 'improvement' to 60 minutes is sensible, it's so typical of the clubs poor/indecisive communication at the moment, that it's changed at all so soon after being notified in the first place - kind of makes you think they haven't thought this through?

Note the "Full-time onwards - minimum 5% cashback" - what's all that then? How about just keeping things simple as all this does is cause confusion. As for "The new system is aimed at reducing store and kiosk queue and waiting times at busier periods
" - let's just wait and see shall we.