Sheebo
Well-known member
- Jul 13, 2003
- 29,287
Hi all - Just thought i'd share these emails with the club re our pricing band for 'match by match' tickets being moved fromthe cheapest band to the same as the WSU. I guess we will have to wait til the first normal cup game vs a Champs or Prem team to see what the score is here - i'm sure we could end up being stung if they choose to make it a 'Cat A Normal matchday prices' match (not v fair) but i guess the big worry for us is whether our STs go up to the same as the central blocks... I was v pleased with the clubs quick response and to be fair they offer a good answer that essentially SHOULD mean we stay in the cheaper band.
Sorry if the letter is written waffeley - i didnt have much time etc. Hope I covered all the points for us all?
Thanks
Sheebo - PS i've put my emails in bold and the clubs replies not in bold to hopefully help reading of this...
Hi Paul - I'm writing to you re the price changes to W3A W3I (some of W3B & W3H too) - ie the West Upper Wings. I must say I was hugely disappointed to see on match by match tickets you'd moved these tickets from the cheapest band (same as the north stand) to the same as the whole WSU. For a Cat A game this will result in an £8 increase for a ticket - 28.5 % for the SAME seat at the SAME match - is this acceptable?
That aside the major, major worry for STHolders in these West Upper Wing blocks (many have spoken out of this concern on the internet etc) is that you're going to price up the WSU Wing Season Tickets in the same band as the rest of the WSU from next season. This would obviously cause huge annoyance amongst the people who have WSU wing Season Tickets. The price has already risen £60 over the last 2 seasons (incidentally something that doesn’t affect me at all as i don't use public transport to get to games but that's a different matter and i can appreciate why you had to do these price increases) and if you decide to drop these reduced price (zone A) WSU wing STs that will be an additional £80 - so £140 increase in 3 seasons for the same seat in the same division (assuming we're in the Champs next season)? I don't need to point out how unfair that would be if it were to be the case... A 35.4% increase I believe...
I'd also like to point out many STHolders in these WSU wings chose these seats PURELY because of the reduced prices initially - many like myself who were regulars at Withdean could have chosen more central and better views that were on offer but chose seats in the wings for affordability reasons. So if you were to band these WSU wing STs into the same band as the rest of the WSU our Withdean loyalty and offer to choose the better seats early would then become a farce (think it was 12 yrs of campaigning for the new stadium at Falmer!) I do not want to leave my seat I chose (front row as it goes) and was able to choose because of my previous loyalty, because you decide to increase the seat price by 35% over 3 seasons!
I really hope your answer to this email is that Season Tickets in the WSU wings will remain as zone A prices - otherwise you'll lose an awful lot of Season ticket holders there...
I look forward to your reply.
Thanks
Thank you for your email.
I'm currently travelling overseas so I've copied Jenny Gower who will reply on my behalf.
Regards, Paul
Sent from my iPhone
----------------
Thank you for your email.
I understand that you are concerned by the changes to our match ticket pricing, in particular the pricing of the West Upper wings, with the removal of the entry level North Stand pricing.
Firstly I would like to assure you that the changes to the banding for matchday prices has been done for simplicity for staff and supporters alike, part of the consideration here was that there are very few matchday seats available in the West Upper corners, as the area is practically sold out to season ticket holders. I would like to assure you that the flat matchday price in this area is purely our way of pricing league match tickets. Cup game prices can be set differently in agreement with the away club; this is also not a hint of what is to come on season tickets as pricing for the 2014/15 season has not even begun to be looked at.
Kind regards
Jenny Gower
Head of Ticketing & Supporter Services
Thanks for the reply Jenny...
I am pretty sure pricing for a normal cup game for example the arsenal one would be normal match prices band a so I would be paying £8 more this season than last season. As far as I can understand you're saying our seats for some cup matches have been increased 28% ONLY for our area because it's easier for the ticket office staff?! Or to make it simple for us we have to pay a higher band ticket? I don't think there was ever confusion here for us... I don't see why us fans who chose the cheaper seats should suffer financially for this?
So are you saying that as like last yr, WSU wing season ticket holders will pay he same rate for cup matches as the north stand like it's always been?
As for next season's prices, I do hope emails like this and the general worry amongst WSU wing STHs should be enough to make you realise if you hike the prices to the same as the rest of the WSU you would be badly letting down the fans who pump lots of money every year into the club. Many wouldn't renew. All I ask is you take comments like these on board...
Thanks for your time.
Thanks for your email ******. I will certainly keep your comments in mind when it comes to pricing.
With regards cup games we may have priced some cup games at league prices last season but this is not something we have to do in cup competition rules. Therefore we will look at each cup game on its own merits and consider the STH price bands in place when it comes to setting prices. Newport for example is one flat price across the stadium. I can only assure you that these match day prices were set with league games this season in mind, nothing more.
Jenny
Sorry if the letter is written waffeley - i didnt have much time etc. Hope I covered all the points for us all?
Thanks
Sheebo - PS i've put my emails in bold and the clubs replies not in bold to hopefully help reading of this...
Hi Paul - I'm writing to you re the price changes to W3A W3I (some of W3B & W3H too) - ie the West Upper Wings. I must say I was hugely disappointed to see on match by match tickets you'd moved these tickets from the cheapest band (same as the north stand) to the same as the whole WSU. For a Cat A game this will result in an £8 increase for a ticket - 28.5 % for the SAME seat at the SAME match - is this acceptable?
That aside the major, major worry for STHolders in these West Upper Wing blocks (many have spoken out of this concern on the internet etc) is that you're going to price up the WSU Wing Season Tickets in the same band as the rest of the WSU from next season. This would obviously cause huge annoyance amongst the people who have WSU wing Season Tickets. The price has already risen £60 over the last 2 seasons (incidentally something that doesn’t affect me at all as i don't use public transport to get to games but that's a different matter and i can appreciate why you had to do these price increases) and if you decide to drop these reduced price (zone A) WSU wing STs that will be an additional £80 - so £140 increase in 3 seasons for the same seat in the same division (assuming we're in the Champs next season)? I don't need to point out how unfair that would be if it were to be the case... A 35.4% increase I believe...
I'd also like to point out many STHolders in these WSU wings chose these seats PURELY because of the reduced prices initially - many like myself who were regulars at Withdean could have chosen more central and better views that were on offer but chose seats in the wings for affordability reasons. So if you were to band these WSU wing STs into the same band as the rest of the WSU our Withdean loyalty and offer to choose the better seats early would then become a farce (think it was 12 yrs of campaigning for the new stadium at Falmer!) I do not want to leave my seat I chose (front row as it goes) and was able to choose because of my previous loyalty, because you decide to increase the seat price by 35% over 3 seasons!
I really hope your answer to this email is that Season Tickets in the WSU wings will remain as zone A prices - otherwise you'll lose an awful lot of Season ticket holders there...
I look forward to your reply.
Thanks
Thank you for your email.
I'm currently travelling overseas so I've copied Jenny Gower who will reply on my behalf.
Regards, Paul
Sent from my iPhone
----------------
Thank you for your email.
I understand that you are concerned by the changes to our match ticket pricing, in particular the pricing of the West Upper wings, with the removal of the entry level North Stand pricing.
Firstly I would like to assure you that the changes to the banding for matchday prices has been done for simplicity for staff and supporters alike, part of the consideration here was that there are very few matchday seats available in the West Upper corners, as the area is practically sold out to season ticket holders. I would like to assure you that the flat matchday price in this area is purely our way of pricing league match tickets. Cup game prices can be set differently in agreement with the away club; this is also not a hint of what is to come on season tickets as pricing for the 2014/15 season has not even begun to be looked at.
Kind regards
Jenny Gower
Head of Ticketing & Supporter Services
Thanks for the reply Jenny...
I am pretty sure pricing for a normal cup game for example the arsenal one would be normal match prices band a so I would be paying £8 more this season than last season. As far as I can understand you're saying our seats for some cup matches have been increased 28% ONLY for our area because it's easier for the ticket office staff?! Or to make it simple for us we have to pay a higher band ticket? I don't think there was ever confusion here for us... I don't see why us fans who chose the cheaper seats should suffer financially for this?
So are you saying that as like last yr, WSU wing season ticket holders will pay he same rate for cup matches as the north stand like it's always been?
As for next season's prices, I do hope emails like this and the general worry amongst WSU wing STHs should be enough to make you realise if you hike the prices to the same as the rest of the WSU you would be badly letting down the fans who pump lots of money every year into the club. Many wouldn't renew. All I ask is you take comments like these on board...
Thanks for your time.
Thanks for your email ******. I will certainly keep your comments in mind when it comes to pricing.
With regards cup games we may have priced some cup games at league prices last season but this is not something we have to do in cup competition rules. Therefore we will look at each cup game on its own merits and consider the STH price bands in place when it comes to setting prices. Newport for example is one flat price across the stadium. I can only assure you that these match day prices were set with league games this season in mind, nothing more.
Jenny
