[Albion] Season Ticket Farce @PaulBarber

[NorthstandRacoon]

I’m guessing this topic will rumble on for a while yet and I have to admit I think the club may have got the feelings over this wrong.

However, having said the above I wonder what the stance would be (actually I don’t), if people were sharing their train season tickets?

Completely different.

 

[NorthstandRacoon]

They don't sound like casual fans, they sound like people who will only turn up if it's for free. I mean, whatever, give it away for free if that floats your boat, but why not being able to do so is worthy of a moan on here i do not know.

As for the ground being less than full, I couldn't give two shits if the empty seats would only be full of casual so-called 'fans' who wouldn't even consider coming along if they actually had to pay any money for the ticket.

If instead there's more opportunity for actual real fans to buy tickets in the better parts of the ground, if we're not left scrabbling for the last remaining £50 tickets down in the SW corner next to the away fans, then maybe more of us would come along instead, then maybe my Dad and other real Albion fans who don't want to go to every game but would like to have a decent experience when we do shell out 50 quid for a seat would come along more often, rather than spending 90 minutes getting abused by away fans and having a shit view, whilst your mates who couldn't be arsed to buy a ticket themselves sit in the prime seats.

You are completely missing the point and some. Barber, is that you?

 

[FloatLeft]

Is it £20 per game or once you’ve paid £20 for the ability to share your STH then you’re good to go?

 

[BN41Albion]

I emailed him about it (might have to again now given the ‘rules’ over what happens with postponed games). I got a resolute defence of the scheme and how good it was and a triumphant line about how many were signed up for it and no real answers the the questions I asked

The empty seats will be simply brushed off as ‘covid’. Test will be what gets done for next season I guess.

That's a shame, but entirely predictable.

But also very wrong; I know of a lot of cases this season where seats have gone unoccupied because of this scheme, and because of the exchange being left far too late to be opened after there being just single seats left for weeks, putting off groups of 2 or more from buying tickets and then it being too late.

But, of course, the club are never wrong

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Is it £20 per game or once you’ve paid £20 for the ability to share your STH then you’re good to go?

£20 to register a person for the season. 1 person as opposed to 20 for free at Liverpool. To further add insult to injury, the person who is added has to buy an Albion + membership which was £25 for the season. I put my son on my brother's ticket as it looked like my brother may miss a number of games. He hasn't and I will not bother next year if they continue with the scheme. It is too expensive for one-off occasions. My seat and my brother's seats were unoccupied for Wolves due to self-isolation, there would normally be a bunch of people who I would have no problem passing the tickets to. Not this year, no-one is going to pay that sort of money.

It is the club's loss, I would never ask for money from a friend for my tickets, but the club would lose out on bums on seats and beer and pie money, small change in the grand scheme, but it is a very bad look for the club to have the East shown game after game with swathes of empty seats across it. I am not having a dig at the East as I now sit in West Upper, and there have also been plenty of spaces throughout the season.

 

[Fat Boy Fat]

Completely different.

Why?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Why?

Because traditionally, if you had a theater or cinema ticket or just about any sporting ticket and then couldn't go for some reason, you would pass it on to a friend so it didn't go to waste. If I was a commuter, I can't imagine anyone I know, were I sick or on holiday, being interested in the 7:30 to Victoria.

 

[Ken Newbury]

£20 to register a person for the season. 1 person as opposed to 20 for free at Liverpool..

That's not actually correct though is it! It's one payment of £20 to make a season ticket a "sharing season ticket". Then it can be shared for free to anyone on your friends and family list if they are a member.

But let's not let an agenda narrative get in the way of actual facts.


A one-off payment of £20 is perfectly reasonable to be able to share your ticket. A one-off payment of £25 is perfectly reasonable to have the opportunity to be given a free ticket perhaps three times a season and get to PL football for £8.33 a game instead of £50 a game.

If a casual person isn't willing to pay £8 to watch a football match then they shouldnt't even be there in the first place.

I'm sure that next season it will be announced as "free", but of course it won't actually be free because EVERY season ticket will be £45 dearer to cover it, just because a few people are moaning about it.

 

[amexer]

Where Barber is in a spot the sharing scheme, albeit at a cost is ideal for those that cant afford it and want to share cost and those that through work or family reasons commit to all games. However is no good for those that unexpectedly miss a few games.
Have no idea of numbers but if the former attracts say 2000 sharers and new members this will bring in an additional £90k which club will not want to give up. If they are going to keep people happy they will have to come up with another scheme for the latter. That should not be difficult.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

That's not actually correct though is it! It's one payment of £20 to make a season ticket a "sharing season ticket". Then it can be shared for free to anyone on your friends and family list if they are a member.

But let's not let an agenda narrative get in the way of actual facts.


A one-off payment of £20 is perfectly reasonable to be able to share your ticket. A one-off payment of £25 is perfectly reasonable to have the opportunity to be given a free ticket perhaps three times a season and get to PL football for £8.33 a game instead of £50 a game.

If a casual person isn't willing to pay £8 to watch a football match then they shouldnt't even be there in the first place.

I'm sure that next season it will be announced as "free", but of course it won't actually be free because EVERY season ticket will be £45 dearer to cover it, just because a few people are moaning about it.

Well I stand corrected then as I believed it was £20 a person. You are entitled to your opinion, but I do not find it reasonable as a scheme. I would often phone people at the last minute on the few occasions I was unable to go since the Amex opened. Getting them all to join for £25 on the off-chance they may on day be offered a ticket is not feasible or desirable.

And why the snarky tone? You talk about facts, but I have never missed 3 matches in a season. At most 1 or maybe 2. Your 'facts' are quite wrong and therefore so is your maths. I suspect some on here do have an anti-club agenda, but it is specious to suggest all of us are like that. I reiterate what I have said plenty before, there is much to admire about the way the club is run, I am truly proud of it. That does not mean that I and others with a like mind are unfair in our comments about the perceived attractiveness of this scheme nor the view that the club is sometimes unnecessarily petty in matchday conditions, i.e flasks and bottle-tops.

 

[Lower West Stander]

Of course…….so everyone saying the limited checks are a ‘waste of time’ are missing the point. The vast majority will have complied

Well sort of.

Most people will exercise common sense as they will in everyday life. We just don't need Barber talking crap on the radio about it!

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Bored of this now. It's clearly a balls up, a process that works for those who share a ticket but not for those who like to give their ticket away to friends/family/colleagues.

Barber isn't going to back down, he never does.

At best, there will be a new ticket sharing process packaged as 'benefit' next year, probably alongside a price increase. Can't wait.



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[sparkie]

That's not actually correct though is it! It's one payment of £20 to make a season ticket a "sharing season ticket". Then it can be shared for free to anyone on your friends and family list if they are a member.

But let's not let an agenda narrative get in the way of actual facts.


A one-off payment of £20 is perfectly reasonable to be able to share your ticket. A one-off payment of £25 is perfectly reasonable to have the opportunity to be given a free ticket perhaps three times a season and get to PL football for £8.33 a game instead of £50 a game.

If a casual person isn't willing to pay £8 to watch a football match then they shouldnt't even be there in the first place.

I'm sure that next season it will be announced as "free", but of course it won't actually be free because EVERY season ticket will be £45 dearer to cover it, just because a few people are moaning about it.

Well I'm moaning about it for sure.

The £20 to make the ST sharable isn't the problem.

All my F&F are already STs.

Getting someone to sign up to be a member and pay the joining fee has been impossible. Besides, I am not an Albion+ sales agent - so I'm personally not going to go out of my way with the sales pitch.

A simple registration of the ticket user for covid reasons should be enough. Let the albion then do the Albion+ selling.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Bored of this now. It's clearly a balls up, a process that works for those who share a ticket but not for those who like to give their ticket away to friends/family/colleagues.

Barber isn't going to back down, he never does.

At best, there will be a new ticket sharing process packaged as 'benefit' next year, probably alongside a price increase. Can't wait.



Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

If there was a £10 rise for this alone I would be happy with that, provided the person I share to only has to have a FAN number and not be required to be MyAlbion+

 

[dazzer6666]

I'm moaning about it for sure.

The £20 to make the ST sharable isn't the problem.

All my F&F are already STs.

Getting someone to sign up to be a member and pay the joining fee has been impossible. Besides, I am not an Albion+ sales agent - so I'm personally not going to go out of my way with the sales pitch.

A simple registration of the ticket user for covid reasons should be enough. Let the albion then do the Albion+ selling.

Same. We have two STs, both of us make the vast majority of games. If one of us can’t go, the other would normally take a pal - say 2/3 games each, so 4/6 occasions per season. Previously this would have been 4-6 different people, and it would likely be the only game they attended. They’re not going to sign up for membership on that basis. For repeated sharing to the same people (ie people who genuinely ‘share’ tickets), the scheme is a good one. For occasional sharing, it’s not effective and is resulting in empty seats.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

It’s not a massive ball ache. It’s meant people have used my ticket this season (including last night) while I’m not prepared to take the risk.

Takes a couple of minutes to transfer once the person is added to friends and family, which also isn’t a difficult operation.

The reason there were so many empty seats last night is because more people are doing the right thing and avoiding big gatherings, not because of this system.

I can't speak on behalf of everyone else, but I can tell you that the new scheme has made it very much harder for me to share my ticket (which I know was theoretically not allowed).

My great friend and I bought tickets next to each other from Day One with the express purpose that we could lend the seat to each other if we couldn't attend. In previous seasons, my daughter, friends, work colleagues, visitors from abroad and many others have had the opportunity to sit with me at the Amex. All have been impressed - all have gone on to spread the good word about our club far and wide. It was incredibly easy to do and many people across the decade have taken advantage of it.

It is completely impractical for me to get each of these people registered as members (for 20 quid). Logistically it's a pain and from a cost pov, it seems unreasonable given the seat is already paid for by my friend (via his season ticket payment). I know the apparent need to keep track of everyone, I know the club worry about rogue elements getting in - but was there ever really an issue before?

It's a layer of (considerable) friction that is just innecessary and it has meant my seat (or my frends) being empty on a fair few occasions this year. I come from a fair distance (6 hours travelling) to get to the Amex and I'm starting to feel that the return is less and less worth the effort.

I love this club, but this seems like shooting ourselves in the foot for no real reason and it's so damn avoidable.

 

[dazzer6666]

I can't speak on behalf of everyone else, but I can tell you that the new scheme has made it very much harder for me to share my ticket (which I know was theoretically not allowed).

My great friend and I bought tickets next to each other from Day One with the express purpose that we could lend the seat to each other if we couldn't attend. In previous seasons, my daughter, friends, work colleagues, visitors from abroad and many others have had the opportunity to sit with me at the Amex. All have been impressed - all have gone on to spread the good word about our club far and wide. It was incredibly easy to do and many people across the decade have taken advantage of it.

It is completely impractical for me to get each of these people registered as members (for 20 quid). Logistically it's a pain and from a cost pov, it seems unreasonable given the seat is already paid for by my friend (via his season ticket payment). I know the apparent need to keep track of everyone, I know the club worry about rogue elements getting in - but was there ever really an issue before?

It's a layer of (considerable) friction that is just innecessary and it has meant my seat (or my frends) being empty on a fair few occasions this year. I come from a fair distance (6 hours travelling) to get to the Amex and I'm starting to feel that the return is less and less worth the effort.

I love this club, but this seems like shooting ourselves in the foot for no real reason and it's so damn avoidable.

Agreed, but it’s £28, not £20. You pay £20 to activate it, they each pay £28 (incidentally the A+ membership fee has been reduced from now until the end of the season to £18)

 

[Bold Seagull]

Well I'm moaning about it for sure.

The £20 to make the ST sharable isn't the problem.

All my F&F are already STs.

Getting someone to sign up to be a member and pay the joining fee has been impossible. Besides, I am not an Albion+ sales agent - so I'm personally not going to go out of my way with the sales pitch.

A simple registration of the ticket user for covid reasons should be enough. Let the albion then do the Albion+ selling.

Exactly as I said post #14. If it’s good enough for the club to sell tickets to ‘purchase history / fan number’ then it should be good enough for ST holders to share their tickets to them. I wouldn’t begrudge the £20, or dare I say it a bit more at £25 or £30 IF it meant I could share with anyone with a fan number.

I would think many ST holders would actually share with people who aren’t supporters. My brother-in-law is a case in point, came along to a few games, now wants his kids to support the club and is a new ST holder and supporter with 2 kids who’ll both be fans for life. That came about because he shared some season tickets between me and some mates. Not sure that would have happened under the current scheme.

 

[el punal]

When are the club going to realise this new season ticket scheme of having to pay to pass it on to a friend/family is an absolute f**king farce!?

It's shameful we are charging hard working loyal fans to pass on their ticket which they have rightly paid for. In any other case this is usually not allowed, so why are we any different?! Once you've paid for it, it's yours to pass onto who you please.

This better stop and stop soon.

Tonights attendance was the face of this shite scheme. 100% there would have been more bums on seats and more money for the club being spent on the concourses etc.

I rate Paul Barber and the team highly, but they've f**ked up here royally.

How dare you steal my rant!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I think what this thread clearly shows is that few people, including myself, have actually checked the cost and process before posting. The received wisdom is that it's unfair, unreasonable, time consuming and expensive to pass what we've already paid for to a mate. It's uncomfortable asking a friend or relative to go through a process and ask them to pay towards going, so the S/T holder either pays for a mate or sits next to an empty seat. I have no answers, but I think I'm beginning to understand the question better.