Season Tick Renewal - What's Going On!

[Royal Lady]

Yes, if you can afford to pay for it earlier and earlier every season!

I don't recall many, if any, on here questioning who will be in the team. And, tbh, if people don't renew their STs, they aren't saying they're never going to matches again - so I'm not sure where you're coming from in your "argument" Gordy.

[Gordons Cumming]

Yes, if you can afford to pay for it earlier and earlier every season!

I don't recall many, if any, on here questioning who will be in the team. And, tbh, if people don't renew their STs, they aren't saying they're never going to matches again - so I'm not sure where you're coming from in your "argument" Gordy.

Some people are waiting to see if we're promoted, what investment the club make in players etc and all this will affect whether they buy a season ticket next season.

It makes no difference to me.

Hope that's clear.

[westendgirl]

We have tried to offer a positive proposition by holding adult prices despite the VAT increase and reducing concession prices, keeping u16s at £99, including a free members pack and doubling the RFC voucher from £10 to £20.

When the VAT rate went down to 15% a while ago, I asked the club if I could have a refund on my season ticket for that service and got told no. So, if prices don't go down when VAT decreases then surely they don't go up when VAT increases? Unless - heaven forbid - it's a smokescreen of bullshit behind which the club can hide

Sorry it is not bullshit but applying the rules of VAT. It is the rate of VAT that applies at the time - when it went down the game by game tickets went down but the ST was bought at a time when the rate was higher and that was the correct VAT rate to apply.

[weybridgewanderer]

Some people are waiting to see if we're promoted, what investment the club make in players etc and all this will affect whether they buy a season ticket next season.

i don't believe that I have ever known by season ticket renewal deadline day what investment the club will make in players.

transfer window closes after the season starts

season ticket renewal deadline is usually before the season starts

[Schards#2]

Yes, if you can afford to pay for it earlier and earlier every season!

I don't recall many, if any, on here questioning who will be in the team. And, tbh, if people don't renew their STs, they aren't saying they're never going to matches again - so I'm not sure where you're coming from in your "argument" Gordy.

Some people are waiting to see if we're promoted, what investment the club make in players etc and all this will affect whether they buy a season ticket next season.

It makes no difference to me.

Hope that's clear.

[Gordons Cumming]

Yes, if you can afford to pay for it earlier and earlier every season!

I don't recall many, if any, on here questioning who will be in the team. And, tbh, if people don't renew their STs, they aren't saying they're never going to matches again - so I'm not sure where you're coming from in your "argument" Gordy.

Some people are waiting to see if we're promoted, what investment the club make in players etc and all this will affect whether they buy a season ticket next season.

It makes no difference to me.

Hope that's clear.

Agreed. It's laughable.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Does anyone on HNA actually know if the club are reconsidering their position with the season ticket renewal date or are they still going with Thursday 28th April?

[Royal Lady]

Does anyone on HNA actually know if the club are reconsidering their position with the season ticket renewal date or are they still going with Thursday 28th April?

From Howe's reply to me, I'd say they're not budging.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

The Real Sandhurst Royal wrote: Does anyone on HNA actually know if the club are reconsidering their position with the season ticket renewal date or are they still going with Thursday 28th April?

Royal Lady wrote :From Howe's reply to me, I'd say they're not budging.

Thanks RL. A compromise by RFC would have been nice (mid May) as this date is after the current season had finished!!

[RoyalBlue]

Things changed somewhat once clubs (not just RFC) declared they were businesses and started treating their supporters as customers - often without much customer service or care.

If you were a customer of another business, would you be happy to pay good money up front for a product if there was quite a strong likelihood that the business would change the spec and subsequently deliver you a product of significantly lower quality than that previously enjoyed?

However, for me and many others, that is the lesser issue. The bigger concern, as frequently repeated, is that the club are telling us that we have to renew a month earlier in order to keep the same seats that many chose at the time of the move to the Mad Stad.

As for the extra inducements/offerings, are they really going to be worth much?

Forgive me but aren't you missing the point of supporting a football club?
It's not like any other business.

Precisely! But those who now run them (not just RFC) want to run them just like any other business and treat their supporters as ordinary customers (but lacking the customer service and care that really good businesses offer).

Despite this changed approach, they then want the best of both worlds by expecting their customers to donate and/or keep spending more even when the product offering is reduced in quality or completely crap!

If they desire such a hybrid model, then they need to change their approach somewhat and start looking at things a bit more from the supporters' perspective, not purely from a hard-nosed (perceived as uncaring) business way. In short they need to do more to show that they really do value their supporters and don't just regard them as cash cows.

[RoyalBlue]

Well, well, postman just delivered me a letter from Nigel Howe

"Thank you for taking the time to write to us concerning the season ticket renewal deadline.

As you have already been made aware, the basis for our decision to bring the renewal deadline forward by 5 weeks is that research shows that the earlier season tickets go on sale, the more supporters take up the offer,

That argument appears somewhat lacking in logic. In his own words the research shows that the earlier that the season tickets go on sale, the more supporters take up the offer not the earlier the deadline, the more supporters take up the offer!

It will now be interesting to see what their own experience (as opposed to research)shows them and whether enforcing an earlier renewal deadline is as effective in boosting season ticket sales as opposed to just putting them on sale earlier.

[Royal Lady]

Basically, current ST holders have to renew earlier than usual, with prospective new ST holders being able to buy earlier - I still don't see how that encourages MORE people to buy though. The other clubs, Crystal Palace being a case in point, open up the ST sales around November time - but offer an inducement of a large monetary saving if you do so. I think someone at the club has cocked it up a bit tbh.

[Hoop Blah]

Gordon, I don't really care what division the clubs in or how much they invest in the squad as I'll always be a Reading fan. I might be a disgruntled fan or a disappointed fan or even a generally happy or shocked fan. I'll always be a fan.

I've renewed by season ticket every year for the best part of 20 years because I knew I'd use it, I knew it made sense for me to get it and I knew it helped the club getting all that cash in over the summer.

What really puts my nose out of joint is the way the club have done this and the way they've treated fans over the last few years. No longer do I feel as much a part of the club as I used to. No longer do I enjoy watching and supporting my team as I used to.

Setting me an ultimatum like this to cough up my hard earned money in advance of this season ending and making out their doing me a favour in demanding my money almost 4 months in adance of the first game I'll be getting and benefit from it has just got under my skin.

This looks like ending my time as a STH. Without my ST I may even become just an occassionaly attendee too. That's not because I'm bothered what league we're in or how much they've spent on players, it's down to way their running the club and treating me as a customer.

[Gordons Cumming]

Gordon, I don't really care what division the clubs in or how much they invest in the squad as I'll always be a Reading fan. I might be a disgruntled fan or a disappointed fan or even a generally happy or shocked fan. I'll always be a fan.

I've renewed by season ticket every year for the best part of 20 years because I knew I'd use it, I knew it made sense for me to get it and I knew it helped the club getting all that cash in over the summer.

What really puts my nose out of joint is the way the club have done this and the way they've treated fans over the last few years. No longer do I feel as much a part of the club as I used to. No longer do I enjoy watching and supporting my team as I used to.

Setting me an ultimatum like this to cough up my hard earned money in advance of this season ending and making out their doing me a favour in demanding my money almost 4 months in adance of the first game I'll be getting and benefit from it has just got under my skin.

This looks like ending my time as a STH. Without my ST I may even become just an occassionaly attendee too. That's not because I'm bothered what league we're in or how much they've spent on players, it's down to way their running the club and treating me as a customer.

Good point, well said.

[Terminal Boardom]

Gordon, I don't really care what division the clubs in or how much they invest in the squad as I'll always be a Reading fan. I might be a disgruntled fan or a disappointed fan or even a generally happy or shocked fan. I'll always be a fan.

I've renewed by season ticket every year for the best part of 20 years because I knew I'd use it, I knew it made sense for me to get it and I knew it helped the club getting all that cash in over the summer.

What really puts my nose out of joint is the way the club have done this and the way they've treated fans over the last few years. No longer do I feel as much a part of the club as I used to. No longer do I enjoy watching and supporting my team as I used to.

Setting me an ultimatum like this to cough up my hard earned money in advance of this season ending and making out their doing me a favour in demanding my money almost 4 months in adance of the first game I'll be getting and benefit from it has just got under my skin.

This looks like ending my time as a STH. Without my ST I may even become just an occassionaly attendee too. That's not because I'm bothered what league we're in or how much they've spent on players, it's down to way their running the club and treating me as a customer.

Which is one of the reasons why I did not renew my ST for the start of this season. There is only so much that the average punter will condone. When the likes of HB start taking this approach, surely the club must see that something is fundamentally wrong with the way that the customer is beig treated.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Royal Lady wrote:
Well, well, postman just delivered me a letter from Nigel Howe

"Thank you for taking the time to write to us concerning the season ticket renewal deadline.

As you have already been made aware, the basis for our decision to bring the renewal deadline forward by 5 weeks is that research shows that the earlier season tickets go on sale, the more supporters take up the offer,

Ah.......Famous last words from Nigel Howe "more supporters take up the offer".

RFC have scored a big own goal with the season ticket renewal deadline so I suspect renewals for the 2011/ 2012 season will be down by a least 10% on last season if not more!!

[Maguire]

This is a big thread and I'm not reading it all.

Can someone tell me if anything's actually happened other than Miss Marple dusting off her typewriter and harrassing some poor cow in the RFC mail room.

[Stuffed Crust Pizza]

The club's attitude towards its most loyal supporters is absolutely disgraceful. This sort of treatment is the exact reason why I gave up my season ticket of twelve years during the summer and no longer watch the team play. I now coach a team in the Reading Football League and the enjoyment and involvement far outweighs anything that modern football can offer. I still consider the club "my team" and follow with great interest from afar but enough is enough and I must say I do not miss the Mad Stad matchday experience one jot.

Oh how I long for an "AFC Reading" to be born in the ilk of AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester, where real passionate fans can watch a team that represent them and they can feel very much a part of by owning a stake and having their say. Perhaps a pipe dream yes, but just imagine standing up drinking a beer and watching YOUR Reading team play without being hassled by safety stewards. A real club for real fans.

But so long as Reading fans continue to offer up their hard earned cash to support the club its never going to happen.

And what annoys me the most is these happy-clappy splastics that phone in BBC Radio Berkshire and preach that if you don't renew when the club demand then you are not a real fan! JUST FCUK OFF!

[Silver Fox]

But you're allowed to say what a real fan is though?

[weybridgewanderer]

The club's attitude towards its most loyal supporters is absolutely disgraceful. This sort of treatment is the exact reason why I gave up my season ticket of twelve years during the summer and no longer watch the team play. I now coach a team in the Reading Football League and the enjoyment and involvement far outweighs anything that modern football can offer. I still consider the club "my team" and follow with great interest from afar but enough is enough and I must say I do not miss the Mad Stad matchday experience one jot.

Oh how I long for an "AFC Reading" to be born in the ilk of AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester, where real passionate fans can watch a team that represent them and they can feel very much a part of by owning a stake and having their say. Perhaps a pipe dream yes, but just imagine standing up drinking a beer and watching YOUR Reading team play without being hassled by safety stewards. A real club for real fans.

But so long as Reading fans continue to offer up their hard earned cash to support the club its never going to happen.

And what annoys me the most is these happy-clappy splastics that phone in BBC Radio Berkshire and preach that if you don't renew when the club demand then you are not a real fan! JUST FCUK OFF!

Do fans on hob nob want the club to show ambition and make it to the higher levels of football

or do we want the team to go backwards to the leagues where you can stand and have a beer?