My opinion is that an increase of ticket prices on the day makes perfect sense to me. They obviously would prefer not to have a last minute rush, the queues get quite large and means people collecting tickets they've bought can often wait large amount of time while people pick and choose seats etc. To charge people extra for popping down during the week when it's not busy and would have to have staff members there is absolutely outrageous, what sort of moron even thought of that idea.
The point is that it is an active disincentive to your 'customer base'. It may not affect a huge number of people but several on here have said its the last straw and will give up. Even if it makes some kind of business sense which I think is your point then it is a swings and roundabout gamble because someone posted earlier that those going to the ground to get tickets may well go into the club shop and make a purchase there - if they now don't go to the ground for tickets then there is a consequent potential sales loss.
IMO this a just represents a further move towards a disconnect between the Club and the fans without any recognisable business gain (there will still need to be people manning the box office during the times in question) .
More widely, those driving these initiatives appear to wish to create a compliant, idealised fan base, all registered with the Club and all prepared to buy in (literally) to the match-day add ons - particularly the in-house dining. This adds up to the vision they seemingly have of families of adults and 2.4 children and friends meeting up and enjoying the 'match day experience'. Nothing wrong with the latter but do we really need to have this forced upon us and to be treated as micro-managed, electronically accounted numbers on a spread sheet.
Someone said earlier that this latest announcement is no big issue. I agree. on its own it isn't but it is symptomatic of the way the Club views some of its customers/fans if they don't fit in with Katrien's rosy picture - with indifference bordering on contempt.
Haha if they increase the base price of the ticket and everyone has an aneurysm, or they slap on a surcharge for booking/on the day tickets and everyone has an aneurysm. They could do absolutely nothing different to last season, and everyone would have an aneurysm. Thought everyone is boycotting anyway, so what's the issue?
Again, it's not so much WHAT they are doing but HOW and WHY.
I'm all for on-line purchases, I use them all the time but when I book a cinema ticket i don't have to register all the other people I'm buying for, They remember me, I can pick my seats and it is easy to use and quick to use.
All the things Charlton's system is not.
And the cinemas still allow me to turn up and pay on the day because they want my business.
And they aren't newly relegated clubs desperate to get fans in.
To clear, this isn't about ease of use for fans, it's about cutting staff costs to make Uncle Roland happy. That's WHY
Then we have the HOW. Have they made an annoucement, explained how it works in one clear document, spelt out the benefits to purchasers, tried to overcome people misgivings?
No, they sneaked it out in an announcement about Bury tickets and in the T & Cs of ticket sales.
They let T20k defend it and even they said they don't support it. Cahones won't come out and defend or explain it as that is beneath him.
It's a good idea badly thought out and badly executed.
Even @Covered End admits to subverting the on-line sales by ringing up and saying the on-line system doesn't work. What does that say if one of the biggest advocates of the on-line system on here doesn't use it because it is easier to ring up? Not a dig at you Steve but you see the contradiction.
Just for once Katrien, try and see the fans as your allies not your enemies or mere "customers" to be treated with disdain.
As far as the ticketing website is concerned it is Sh***. I have been unable to buy tickets on the website for more than 18months. When I try too it does not recognise me. When I try to register on the site it says I already exist, and the club have done nothing to help me. That is how much they think of customers, they are the Gerald Ratners of football clubs.
Gerald Ratner's 'crime' was to tell the truth and say the silver plated tray his company was selling its customers was crap. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe the boss at Charlton has said the product they sold its customers was crap.
Clicked the link in the Bury article that said 'buy tickets here', takes me to a page to buy home tickets for pre-season games. No away section in site. Useless.
As far as the ticketing website is concerned it is Sh***. I have been unable to buy tickets on the website for more than 18months. When I try too it does not recognise me. When I try to register on the site it says I already exist, and the club have done nothing to help me. That is how much they think of customers, they are the Gerald Ratners of football clubs.
Gerald Ratner's 'crime' was to tell the truth and say the silver plated tray his company was selling its customers was crap. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe the boss at Charlton has said the product they sold its customers was crap.
He doesn't have to his actions speak louder than words and even a blind man can see it is! Still there's none so blind as those who will not see. Did I miss your response to Grapevine's excellent post on this regime being worse than previous ones?
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
I often decide last minute to attend games and this will make me much less likely to go to do so. It already costs quite a bit when you factor in trains etc. when you are on a budget, so although £3 isn't that much in the grand scheme of things, it adds up. Even if I did attend I would probably offset the extra cost by not buying a programme/coffee in the ground, so they would end up getting less money in the long run whatever way you look at it.
Just yet another thing to tell us, the fans, that we are not important.
Target 20k are a joke and surely should just be ignored and not engaged with in any way?
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
Was waiting for someone to confirm this before adding my bit. So for me I work most Saturdays and never know what time I will finish depending on the work load for the day. Sometimes it can be 1pm, other times 3pm. As I live in broadstairs it can take a good 1hour 30 to 2 hours depending on traffic so at times just about make kick off when I finish early enough. So now I'm going to be charged a piss take fee on top of an already expensive day out for what?! Absolute bollocks.
I hate this regime and everything it has done to our club and just gives another small reason not to bother going to the club I love. Roland doesn't care about us fans or Charlton yet I still see his apologists on every thread. Hope you all enjoy your 'match day experience'
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
So my point to Covered End is correct. You will not be able to avoid the £3 surcharge by buying online on your phone. That was bound to be the case because it is likely to be technically impossible.
You will not be able to avoid the booking fee on coach booking because the club is too lazy to set up and manage home or away travel booking online, despite the fact it was available previously for years.
At the least the club should waive any booking fee for things that cannot be bought online. It cannot argue that charges are levied to encourage people to go online and then not offer what they want to purchase.
I cannot believe it is stupid enough to charge both a booking fee and a £3 surcharge for items bought over the counter, but the stupidity of Ms Meire constantly surprises me. I doubt she is even aware of the limitations of the online system.
The club needs to explain its position, because once again its communication of these issues has been pathetic.
Yesterday i managed to register online to the ticket office website [at the3rd attempt] & ordered a ticket for the Bury match. as to avoid paying any extra admin costs,i chose the ticket collection option.This morning i went to the Valley to collect my ticket & was told they had posted it to me in error.I have just arrived home to find my ticket on the mat. Whilst waiting in the queue at the ticket office i overheard a couple of things which may be helpful,junior or disabled ticket options do not seem to be available for the Bury game have to be booked over the phone or bought at the Valley will not incur any admin charges. The ticket website is not fit for purpose.
I think the only Charlton home game I will bother to come over for is Chesterfield and I will ask my cousin if he can get me complimentary tickets for players.
I thought most clubs charged more at the gate than buying in advance.
Except Charlton are charging more than face value for buying in advance. Unique.
Is this correct ?
Home tickets - If you buy online (presuming it works) you don't pay extra, unless you are calling the £1 postal charge extra & it's fair enough that they don't lose money on the postage.
If you print your own ticket it costs nothing.
If you collect your ticket it costs nothing. No difference collecting or buying imo.
I presume everyone on here can work out how to buy online can't they ? (presuming it works).
Away tickets - buy online & pay the £1 postage.
It all seems pretty standard to me. No different to cricket or racing .
I'm all for getting the regime out, but this site is fast becoming a whinge fest.
£2.50 if you buy at the ticket office
£3 extra per ticket plus £2.50 if you buy at 1.05pm on a Saturday. So a dad, mum and two kids pay an extra £14.50. Or they could try and buy on line while in the queue, hope the wi-fi and the ticket system is working, pick tickets on a phone when they don't know the stands well and hope they get four together.
Or a club with under 6k STs and likely to have 17k empty seats could just get a real human being to say "Yes, we'd love to sell you a ticket to see our team, where would you like to sit? no extra charge as we really want you to come back again and again".
And all this when we know the on-line booking system isn't fit for purpose.
Last season you could not buy online on the day of the match. Don't know if this is going to change this season.
Of course what the club could have done is encouraged people to buy early or on line by offering a small discount rather than highlighting the extra charge for buying late (even if that meant slightly increasing the original ticket price)
Would it simply not be easier to make the actual ticket price higher and let that cover the staffing and processing and match day selling and all that kind of stuff, or is that too simplistic? They can price a ticket at, say, £23 instead of twenty, and then the messing around from the fan point of view can be avoided. Indeed if they also keep the smartphone/online/print at home option then each time that is used, they will make extra money because of expense avoided. They might also try friendly persuasion and encouragement to get people to use a system the club would rather prefer. The central issue using this method would be the specific price to pitch the ticket at.
It would, but unfortunately the stick is more effective than the carrot in this scenario.
No it isn't. I'm all for using technology. But the club's on-line ticketing site is not fit for purpose. Trying to link tickets/individuals/block/seat numbers is a total waste of time. Completely frustrating.
So, in this case the "stick" just serves to drive even more weird customers away. The Club has been a disaster in terms of customer relations (and pretty much everything else) over the last couple of years. In the circumstances it should be trying its utmost to make itself as user-friendly as possible to weird customers of every ilk.
So, I've binned my season ticket (x2), not renewed (obviously) my West Stand Car Park place (£800) but was thinking about popping over from deepest Essex every now and again. It might be a decision I want to leave late as I sometimes have an appointment in Eltham on Saturdays. In those circumstances, I'm not going to pre-book on the off chance and potentially waste my money am I? And I sure as hell am not going to pay extra for the privilege if it's othwise impossible or impractical for me to pitch up before 1pm.
Equally some people have circumstances which preclude making an early decsioin to attend a match, might find it difficult to book while at work (employer imposed restrictions) for a mid-week game and find it equally impossible to get to the ground before 5:45pm. So what do you think those people might do instead?
So, it's an easy if reluctant decision for them and for me. I won't be going. At all. Ever.
Now, maybe, the "stick" might work if the "carrot" had previously failed. But in this case, if there ever was a carrot it must have been this one:
To quote that wise sage, Homer Simpson, "Oooh, why does everything I whip leave me?"
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
Except the website is shockingly bad and not everyone can or wants to buy online.
Of course what the club could have done is encouraged people to buy early or on line by offering a small discount rather than highlighting the extra charge for buying late (even if that meant slightly increasing the original ticket price)
Exactly what I thought. Lots of places offer discounts for buying online. Surely they should have marketed it that way? Ticket price X but a £2.50 'discount' if bought online. Then people think they've got a bargain by purchasing online
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
Except the website is shockingly bad and not everyone can or wants to buy online.
Latest ONS stats:
10.2% of the adult population has NEVER used the internet. That figure increases to 12.1% who haven't used it in the last three months. 25% of disabled adults have never used the internet. 14% of households do not have internet access. But perhaps the most telling: in 2015, 76% of adults bought goods or services online. Thus indicating that 24% do not avail themselves of this service. It seems neither the club, nor Target 20k, are at all interested in a quarter of its potential customer base.
Of course what the club could have done is encouraged people to buy early or on line by offering a small discount rather than highlighting the extra charge for buying late (even if that meant slightly increasing the original ticket price)
Exactly what I thought. Lots of places offer discounts for buying online. Surely they should have marketed it that way? Ticket price X but a £2.50 'discount' if bought online. Then people think they've got a bargain by purchasing online
That would involve intelligent thinking which it appears none of our SMT are capable of
Ha, ha very good CE, but lets not let anything get in the way of a good old moan at the regime eh!
Maybe its the club's way of getting back at the protesting fans that are not renewing!
And it's really easy to make light of the difficulties this will create for others.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to
For those arguing this is in some way illegal are wrong. The club have the right to do this. They are arseholes but well within consumer law.
Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
My understanding is online sales will be available until 1pm on a matchday.
Except the website is shockingly bad and not everyone can or wants to buy online.
I totally agree with you. Last night I tried to buy tickets for Bury online and it wouldn't let me buy them because I was unable to link the other person going with me who was already in the database when asked to fill in their details.
I find it amazing the club make it so difficult for them to take your money.
Comments
IMO this a just represents a further move towards a disconnect between the Club and the fans without any recognisable business gain (there will still need to be people manning the box office during the times in question) .
More widely, those driving these initiatives appear to wish to create a compliant, idealised fan base, all registered with the Club and all prepared to buy in (literally) to the match-day add ons - particularly the in-house dining. This adds up to the vision they seemingly have of families of adults and 2.4 children and friends meeting up and enjoying the 'match day experience'. Nothing wrong with the latter but do we really need to have this forced upon us and to be treated as micro-managed, electronically accounted numbers on a spread sheet.
Someone said earlier that this latest announcement is no big issue. I agree. on its own it isn't but it is symptomatic of the way the Club views some of its customers/fans if they don't fit in with Katrien's rosy picture - with indifference bordering on contempt.
I'm all for on-line purchases, I use them all the time but when I book a cinema ticket i don't have to register all the other people I'm buying for, They remember me, I can pick my seats and it is easy to use and quick to use.
All the things Charlton's system is not.
And the cinemas still allow me to turn up and pay on the day because they want my business.
And they aren't newly relegated clubs desperate to get fans in.
To clear, this isn't about ease of use for fans, it's about cutting staff costs to make Uncle Roland happy. That's WHY
Then we have the HOW. Have they made an annoucement, explained how it works in one clear document, spelt out the benefits to purchasers, tried to overcome people misgivings?
No, they sneaked it out in an announcement about Bury tickets and in the T & Cs of ticket sales.
They let T20k defend it and even they said they don't support it. Cahones won't come out and defend or explain it as that is beneath him.
It's a good idea badly thought out and badly executed.
Even @Covered End admits to subverting the on-line sales by ringing up and saying the on-line system doesn't work. What does that say if one of the biggest advocates of the on-line system on here doesn't use it because it is easier to ring up? Not a dig at you Steve but you see the contradiction.
Just for once Katrien, try and see the fans as your allies not your enemies or mere "customers" to be treated with disdain.
I very often these days decide on the morning of the match whether I can go or if someone is coming with me. I don't live far from The Valley so I generally roll down there at about 10:30 and get my tickets. If I'm right that the match that day will be taken offline it means I have to know the day before. What on earth has made the club decide to Likewise I as a customer have the right to say "up yours" with your policy. They want my business ? Then make it as easy for me as possible to spend my money not as difficult as possible.
These people are raving lunatics.
Just yet another thing to tell us, the fans, that we are not important.
Target 20k are a joke and surely should just be ignored and not engaged with in any way?
I hate this regime and everything it has done to our club and just gives another small reason not to bother going to the club I love. Roland doesn't care about us fans or Charlton yet I still see his apologists on every thread. Hope you all enjoy your 'match day experience'
You will not be able to avoid the booking fee on coach booking because the club is too lazy to set up and manage home or away travel booking online, despite the fact it was available previously for years.
At the least the club should waive any booking fee for things that cannot be bought online. It cannot argue that charges are levied to encourage people to go online and then not offer what they want to purchase.
I cannot believe it is stupid enough to charge both a booking fee and a £3 surcharge for items bought over the counter, but the stupidity of Ms Meire constantly surprises me. I doubt she is even aware of the limitations of the online system.
The club needs to explain its position, because once again its communication of these issues has been pathetic.
as to avoid paying any extra admin costs,i chose the ticket collection option.This morning i went to the Valley to collect my ticket & was told they had posted it to me in error.I have just arrived home to find my ticket on the mat.
Whilst waiting in the queue at the ticket office i overheard a couple of things which may be helpful,junior or disabled ticket options do not seem to be available for the Bury game have to be booked over the phone or bought at the Valley will not incur any admin charges.
The ticket website is not fit for purpose.
So, in this case the "stick" just serves to drive even more weird customers away. The Club has been a disaster in terms of customer relations (and pretty much everything else) over the last couple of years. In the circumstances it should be trying its utmost to make itself as user-friendly as possible to weird customers of every ilk.
So, I've binned my season ticket (x2), not renewed (obviously) my West Stand Car Park place (£800) but was thinking about popping over from deepest Essex every now and again. It might be a decision I want to leave late as I sometimes have an appointment in Eltham on Saturdays. In those circumstances, I'm not going to pre-book on the off chance and potentially waste my money am I? And I sure as hell am not going to pay extra for the privilege if it's othwise impossible or impractical for me to pitch up before 1pm.
Equally some people have circumstances which preclude making an early decsioin to attend a match, might find it difficult to book while at work (employer imposed restrictions) for a mid-week game and find it equally impossible to get to the ground before 5:45pm. So what do you think those people might do instead?
So, it's an easy if reluctant decision for them and for me. I won't be going. At all. Ever.
Now, maybe, the "stick" might work if the "carrot" had previously failed. But in this case, if there ever was a carrot it must have been this one:
To quote that wise sage, Homer Simpson, "Oooh, why does everything I whip leave me?"
10.2% of the adult population has NEVER used the internet. That figure increases to 12.1% who haven't used it in the last three months. 25% of disabled adults have never used the internet. 14% of households do not have internet access.
But perhaps the most telling: in 2015, 76% of adults bought goods or services online. Thus indicating that 24% do not avail themselves of this service. It seems neither the club, nor Target 20k, are at all interested in a quarter of its potential customer base.
I find it amazing the club make it so difficult for them to take your money.