Re: Closure of NSC ticket exchange

[Westdene Seagull]

Seems to me people are jumping on absolutely every little thing to slag of the club. Could this be the hangover from last Saturday?

I'm not usually someone that slags the club off - normally the exact opposite but in this case I find it hard to believe Sussex Police or Trading Standards would really waste the resource worrying about such a minor thing. It smacks of commercialism through and through.

Of course, I could be wrong but PC Balkham hasn't answered the question on "Ask the Police" despite having answered another question after I posted my question and Bozza has been unusually silent despite being "at'ed" by a number of people. That leaves people to jump to the logical conclusions.

 

[Steve.S]

I'm not usually someone that slags the club off - normally the exact opposite but in this case I find it hard to believe Sussex Police or Trading Standards would really waste the resource worrying about such a minor thing. It smacks of commercialism through and through.

Of course, I could be wrong but PC Balkham hasn't answered the question on "Ask the Police" despite having answered another question after I posted my question and Bozza has been unusually silent despite being "at'ed" by a number of people. That leaves people to jump to the logical conclusions.

I think people thought that about standing. Then we have people removed. Who is to say that they do not do the same with STHs..They only have to catch a few and take ST off them and it will then make people think twice

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

This is a dark week for the tone our club seems to want to take in the future.

Profiteering at the expense of customers is clearly the motivator here.

1. sell expensive seats before allowing access to cheaper areas

2. Completely reject safe standing because it may lose revenue (even though people may be prepared to pay the same)

3. Prevent fans from reselling unused tickets.

Whoever is making these decisions has lost the plot. Short term profiteering will not deliver long term revenue, it will drive it away. Developing and improving the customers experience in a fair way will increase loyalty and long term revenue benefit. Simple stuff that any decent brand understands.

This is a an accurate and worryingly sad reflection of where we are now.

 

[HHGull]

I'm not usually someone that slags the club off - normally the exact opposite but in this case I find it hard to believe Sussex Police or Trading Standards would really waste the resource worrying about such a minor thing. It smacks of commercialism through and through.

Of course, I could be wrong but PC Balkham hasn't answered the question on "Ask the Police" despite having answered another question after I posted my question and Bozza has been unusually silent despite being "at'ed" by a number of people. That leaves people to jump to the logical conclusions.

I think he has answered now

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Just how many tickets passed through NSC?

A pretty small number really and surely not worth all the fuss the club may be making.

 

[Brovion]

Just how many tickets passed through NSC?

A pretty small number really and surely not worth all the fuss the club may be making.

I was thinking that. To be honest in terms of revenue it's not going to make much difference either way as there were only, what, a few dozen tickets going through the Exchange at any one time - in total! Sure you can juggle the numbers and argue about whether having a reduced number of fans paying full price to the club is better that having a greater number attending and using their cash to buy food and merchandise (and maybe enticing them back as full customers another day if they enjoyed it), but the overall balance either way is peanuts.

What it HAS done though is piss people off - even people who didn't use the exchange. Currently the club believes it is at a stage where it can afford to do this, but they'll come a time when they may regret being quite so penny-pinching. Consequently I would like to know the real reasons behind the decision (maybe it's not the Demon Barber after all) and if they would continue to turn a blind eye if we operated an unofficial exchange with people just informally posting threads on the Big Board saying 'Spare ticket wanted/available for Saturday'

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Re: Closure of NSC ticket exchange

I think he has answered now

Indeed. The fact that he says it wasn't him more or less confirms it was the club.

Also his attitude to it seems like he would take a pretty poor view of any attempt by the club to enforce this.

Seems like bozza has rolled over on this.

 

[El Presidente]

Re: Closure of NSC ticket exchange

Indeed. The fact that he says it wasn't him more or less confirms it was the club.

Also his attitude to it seems like he would take a pretty poor view of any attempt by the club to enforce this.

Seems like bozza has rolled over on this.

Anyone in breach of the law faces a fine and a potential lifetime ban from football, so if you were the owner of NSC would you want that?

There are some people who are very anti NSC.........perhaps it was one of them who stirred this particular pot?

 

[Steve.S]

Seems like bozza has rolled over on this.

Why do you not set your own scheme up then, nothing stopping you. I would think Bozza does not want the threat of court action or a life long ban from the club.

 

[Steve.S]

I was thinking that. To be honest in terms of revenue it's not going to make much difference either way as there were only, what, a few dozen tickets going through the Exchange at any one time - in total! Sure you can juggle the numbers and argue about whether having a reduced number of fans paying full price to the club is better that having a greater number attending and using their cash to buy food and merchandise (and maybe enticing them back as full customers another day if they enjoyed it), but the overall balance either way is peanuts.


What it HAS done though is piss people off - even people who didn't use the exchange. Currently the club believes it is at a stage where it can afford to do this, but they'll come a time when they may regret being quite so penny-pinching. Consequently I would like to know the real reasons behind the decision (maybe it's not the Demon Barber after all) and if they would continue to turn a blind eye if we operated an unofficial exchange with people just informally posting threads on the Big Board saying 'Spare ticket wanted/available for Saturday'

What's the problem then, if its only a small number. So why the fuss. I think you will find that maybe its not a small as you think. People forget that last year people were getting tickets printed. The club have obviously seen that it is a lot, hence at the start of the season they put up the cost of printing tickets. Someone has seen that a lot of revenue is being lost. If it was only a few the club would still turn a blind eye. It's like the standing in the north. I have noticed that over the last few home games more and more were standing, which has forced the club to take action. But again we have people moaning on here about how unfair it is. If everyone read the T&CS of their ST, it is all their about not passing the ticket on, so why moan about it. The club have got Barber in to make money, the first thing you do is to find out where you are losing money

 

[Brovion]

What's the problem then, if its only a small number. So why the fuss. I think you will find that maybe its not a small as you think. People forget that last year people were getting tickets printed. The club have obviously seen that it is a lot, hence at the start of the season they put up the cost of printing tickets. Someone has seen that a lot of revenue is being lost. If it was only a few the club would still turn a blind eye. It's like the standing in the north. I have noticed that over the last few home games more and more were standing, which has forced the club to take action. But again we have people moaning on here about how unfair it is. If everyone read the T&CS of their ST, it is all their about not passing the ticket on, so why moan about it. The club have got Barber in to make money, the first thing you do is to find out where you are losing money

No, it's small. Although I'll grant you that the phenomena of mates lending mates tickets (outside of NSC) is probably widespread, indeed it's how I get to most games. And we know it happens at every club in the country. And I know from reading your previous posts that you DON'T see the problem, or the bigger picture, in the club clamping down on this so it's utterly pointless me or anyone else going through it again. All I'll say is that I'm not going to stop doing it (and I never used NSC but I thought it was a great facility), so sue me.

 

[El Presidente]

The NSC ticket exchange probably dealt with 20-30 tickets per match, so the club isn't going to make any significant income from that, so there is nothing to be gained from putting pressure on it to be closed down.

The fact that the Palace BBS continues to do a similar operation without interference perhaps indicates that we have some enemies within the camp, who have their own agenda.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

I wonder if Paul Barber is writing his next essay on this issue...

 

[Beach Hut]

Seems a shame but if it means heads could roll best shut down and besides it is not hard to offer your ticket to a mate if you cannot make a game.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Anyone in breach of the law faces a fine and a potential lifetime ban from football, so if you were the owner of NSC would you want that?

There are some people who are very anti NSC.........perhaps it was one of them who stirred this particular pot?

Why do you not set your own scheme up then, nothing stopping you. I would think Bozza does not want the threat of court action or a life long ban from the club.

The NSC ticket exchange probably dealt with 20-30 tickets per match, so the club isn't going to make any significant income from that, so there is nothing to be gained from putting pressure on it to be closed down.

The fact that the Palace BBS continues to do a similar operation without interference perhaps indicates that we have some enemies within the camp, who have their own agenda.

I don't blame Bozza at all - he's the one at risk of prosecution. All I want to know is who it was so I know who to direct my complaints to. In the absence of any viable information I can only conclude it's Paul Barber / the club. I'll certainly be making my feelings known especially as, while by the letter of the law, it is illegal, even Sussex Police admit it isn't in the spirit of the law.

I'd also encourage everyone ( except Bozza ) to ignore this law ( and yes, I realise I've just broken the law ! ).

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Anyone in breach of the law faces a fine and a potential lifetime ban from football, so if you were the owner of NSC would you want that?

There are some people who are very anti NSC.........perhaps it was one of them who stirred this particular pot?

I suppose I would weigh up the risks of prosecution against the impact it would have. In my view the risks are pretty low (taking into account the attitude of the police, the fact that this activity is not what the law was set up to prevent, how long its been going for and the huge negative publicity it would attract to the club) and it will have an impact.

It might well not be the club, but you would have thought that there would have been a denial by now if it wasn't.

Perhaps being harsh on Bozza as clearly not something he wanted to do but felt he had to. Contrary to what he said though, this doesn't seem to be an issue about the club getting big, it's an issue with NSC getting big and having links to the club. E.g. if NSP or Brightonfans did this there wouldn't be a problem.

It's of course open to the club if they want to make this all above board. Give NSC written authorisation to resell tickets. Even charge NSC a token yearly fee as it seems like the forum is doing pretty well at the moment.

 

[Brovion]

The NSC ticket exchange probably dealt with 20-30 tickets per match, so the club isn't going to make any significant income from that, so there is nothing to be gained from putting pressure on it to be closed down.

The fact that the Palace BBS continues to do a similar operation without interference perhaps indicates that we have some enemies within the camp, who have their own agenda.

Indeed. I don't blame Bozza at all for shutting it down as it's his bollocks on the line, but I would like to know who, er, 'brought it to his attention'. Especially as the Palace equivalent of NSC operates a similar scheme.

 

[34064 Fighter Command]

The problem is essentially that the club does not want ticket touts getting hold of tickets for games that have the potential to sell-out.

I can understand why they want to stop any avenue that this can occur, the problem is that NSC isn't just about STH's offering their Smartcard to a friend, it allows anyone who has a printed ticket to offer it to anybody else. And that's exactly how touts get hold of their tickets. Anybody can come on to NSC claiming to be a fan desperate for a ticket, when in reality they are a tout looking to make some money.

 

[Driver8]

Re: Closure of NSC ticket exchange

The problem is essentially that the club does not want ticket touts getting hold of tickets for games that have the potential to sell-out.

I can understand why they want to stop any avenue that this can occur, the problem is that NSC isn't just about STH's offering their Smartcard to a friend, it allows anyone who has a printed ticket to offer it to anybody else. And that's exactly how touts get hold of their tickets. Anybody can come on to NSC claiming to be a fan desperate for a ticket, when in reality they are a tout looking to make some money.

I'm not sure that's the issue. Only one game has sold out this season and that was only a day or so before the game.

 

[c0lz]

The NSC ticket exchange probably dealt with 20-30 tickets per match, so the club isn't going to make any significant income from that, so there is nothing to be gained from putting pressure on it to be closed down.

The fact that the Palace BBS continues to do a similar operation without interference perhaps indicates that we have some enemies within the camp, who have their own agenda.

And this is where the club have not thought this through, many supporters have still brought season tickets even thou they knew they would not make every match and that they could sell/pass on there tickets, now next season will those still be willing to purchase a season ticket know knowing they can no longer do this.