Did cot rip us off?

[Myles Francis]

If the club try and make money, they get criticised for &quotfleecing&quot fans, when they're just doing what every other business in the land does (and not enough if you look at my comment on another thread about 08 numbers for ticket offices at other clubs).

Of course the club is about making money, and it would be remiss of them not to maximise income where they can. But you don't make money by alienating your customers and making them feel like they are being fleeced - and people are starting to feel that way.

I have a real issue with the way booking fees have been introduced this season. One of the ways a company ensures increased profitability is to reduce costs, and the introduction of a decent online booking system would seem to be a sensible way of doing that. So why then does it cost £1 more to book online? Then add on the extra 50p for postage and people may as well just turn up on the day.

And why did it cost me an extra £5.50 to renew my season ticket? I've effectively been penalised for living 80 miles away from the ground - going there in person and paying with the same debit card would have incurred no additional cost. And EVERYONE gets their season ticket posted out to them, so their is no additional cost to the club. Like Slappy, I don't mind paying a reasonable amount to cover postage etc, but £5.50? As Tom says, this is more like a forced donation.

Don't renew your season ticket then. Oh, you have done despite the charge therefore market forces say that they CAN charge an additional £5.50 because people will pay it. It's simple business, isn't it? If it put people off buying a season ticket, then the club would be foolish to do it. But it doesn't, so they can.

But it leaves a feeling of resentment which means my spend on other OUFC products this season will be lower, so the club does lose out in the long run.

[Baboo]

[You're not wrong. I'm increasingly getting the feeling that the fans are now getting milked for every possible penny - it's almost as if OUFC are morphing into a football equivalent of Ryanair.

Funny you should say that Myles. The last thing I was looking at before I opened up ROline was details for tomorrow - web check in and admin fee come to more than the flight. Guess where the flight is to?

[Baboo]

Anyway, Didcot did rip me off. Game supposed to kick off at 7.30, didn't start til at least 7:45. Had to leave before the game finished to make my train home and missed 2 goals. Where do I apply for my three pound refund?

Didcot?

[Myles Francis]

[You're not wrong. I'm increasingly getting the feeling that the fans are now getting milked for every possible penny - it's almost as if OUFC are morphing into a football equivalent of Ryanair.

Funny you should say that Myles. The last thing I was looking at before I opened up ROline was details for tomorrow - web check in and admin fee come to more than the flight. Guess where the flight is to?

It it's Ryanair, probably nowhere near the headline destination!

[slappy]

Don't forget last year we had new home and away kits because of change in manufacturer. Even though the club would have known the kit sponsor presumably had one year left on it's contract. Two new kits this year, and KT confirmed at the forum the home kit would only be for a year too. I know people don't have to buy them, but even the Engalnd team only has two kits each lasting 2 yeR
.

[Old Abingdonian]

I would apply the 'market forces' argument to some aspects of the club, but not others. The club is not simply a business, although it is a business. Like every other club, it has expected (and got) loyalty through the bad times, on the basis of 'you're a supporter, not just a customer'.

So with regard to replica kit, my son still has 'Yemi' on his back, and may do so for another season. I don't particularly resent high prices / new kit options, because I don't have to buy replica kit to be a supporter, and the prices are clear to everyone.

However, the 'booking fee' issue is different, because it looks devious, and therefore supporters feel tricked, which in turn may alienate them. The fee purports to compensate the club for some penalty (which may indeed involve staff time) that they have incurred additional to the normal cost of providing the service. I was foolish enough to get an AmEx card, and I quite accept that, because its charges for retailers are higher than standard, shops won't accept it. Fair enough, and I should get another credit card. But if the peripheral fees are too high, and / or unavoidable, then it would be simpler and more honest to raise the prices, surely.

[SmileyMan]

There's one thing missing from the Market Forces analysis, however. With pretty much every other product on the market you have a choice between one product and another. The buyer has to go through the process of weighing up the price/use value variables and then make their choice. The point is (and this point has been made before) that football fans do not make a choice based on quality like other products. If that was the case I would have started supporting Reading years ago. No, we're stuck with our clubs for better or worse and therefore we have no 'choice.'

Not quite - since supporting football is (despite what we might try and convince the missus) a luxury item (no-one died from not going to a match, that I know of) then you have the choice of purchasing or not purchasing the product.

[Baboo]

Diddy is £9 adults and £2 kids, so it works out the same as Winchester

But only a fiver yesterday in Scotland.

[Dr Bob]

I may live well outside the county, but at least I return regularly to do my sonly duties and so can pop into the stadium if a ticket needs buying or collecting.

What really p'd me off is the news that, this season, I shall only be able to listen to Radio Oxford commentaries online through Yellow Player. This is appallingly discriminatory against those who cannot receive RadOx via the aerial. So as well as buying a season ticket in the knowledge that I cannot attend every home match for various reasons (which I willingly accept), I now have to pay extra to listen online to the matches I cannot attend.

[bspittles]

Do the club pay/charge VAT on P&ampP charges? If not, it's a very tax efficient way of bringing money into the club.

[Beach Road End]

I may live well outside the county, but at least I return regularly to do my sonly duties and so can pop into the stadium if a ticket needs buying or collecting.

What really p'd me off is the news that, this season, I shall only be able to listen to Radio Oxford commentaries online through Yellow Player. This is appallingly discriminatory against those who cannot receive RadOx via the aerial. So as well as buying a season ticket in the knowledge that I cannot attend every home match for various reasons (which I willingly accept), I now have to pay extra to listen online to the matches I cannot attend.

Are you serious??!! Not read that anywhere before. Moving away for uni in sept so would like to be able to listen to the games where possible.

[headless_pnub]

I may live well outside the county, but at least I return regularly to do my sonly duties and so can pop into the stadium if a ticket needs buying or collecting.

What really p'd me off is the news that, this season, I shall only be able to listen to Radio Oxford commentaries online through Yellow Player. This is appallingly discriminatory against those who cannot receive RadOx via the aerial. So as well as buying a season ticket in the knowledge that I cannot attend every home match for various reasons (which I willingly accept), I now have to pay extra to listen online to the matches I cannot attend.

Are you serious??!! Not read that anywhere before. Moving away for uni in sept so would like to be able to listen to the games where possible.

Unfortunately this is due to league regulations and the PTV that the football league tied most clubs into nearly 10 years ago. The club has no choice and neither do BBC Oxford.

It was the same last time we were in the league (when I was at Uni), I guess in the four years of exile more people are now using BBC online, so this will affect more people. I do remember FA Cup games are exempt though, which might be worth remembering.

[JoeyBeauchamp]

I may live well outside the county, but at least I return regularly to do my sonly duties and so can pop into the stadium if a ticket needs buying or collecting.

What really p'd me off is the news that, this season, I shall only be able to listen to Radio Oxford commentaries online through Yellow Player. This is appallingly discriminatory against those who cannot receive RadOx via the aerial. So as well as buying a season ticket in the knowledge that I cannot attend every home match for various reasons (which I willingly accept), I now have to pay extra to listen online to the matches I cannot attend.

Is this for real??? So you can't listen on the web to Radio Oxford any time there is a game on?

[Kernow Yellow]

I may live well outside the county, but at least I return regularly to do my sonly duties and so can pop into the stadium if a ticket needs buying or collecting.

What really p'd me off is the news that, this season, I shall only be able to listen to Radio Oxford commentaries online through Yellow Player. This is appallingly discriminatory against those who cannot receive RadOx via the aerial. So as well as buying a season ticket in the knowledge that I cannot attend every home match for various reasons (which I willingly accept), I now have to pay extra to listen online to the matches I cannot attend.

Is this for real??? So you can't listen on the web to Radio Oxford any time there is a game on?

Yep, as pnub says, 'twas ever thus for real league games. I'd forgotten though, and the reminder is not a pleasant one. Might even consider getting yellow player. Unless anyone knows any good ways around it?

[Swissbloke]

Jack FM have a streaming android and iphone app..