Time Cheltenham men please....At HomeV,Cheltenham at the completely Bolton Stadium Sat 4th feb 3-0'clock.

[GhostoftheBok]

The hit to the club, is apparently around £45,000 to subsidise the Bus service

Around 400 people use the matchday buses, down from about 1000 a few years ago (due to price increases)

Honestly, that's pathetic.

So all they have to do is get ridership back up towards historic levels and find a sponsor for it to not only break even but make a profit.

Talk about not trying.

[Worthy4England]

I'm not sure GOTB - Our CEO wants to marginalise fans even further by getting rid of all transport links to the stadium, in order to maximise the car park revenue

Car Park revenue they've put on an app. First question I ask myself on match day is "Can I be arsed with at that clunky mother"...

[BWFC_Insane]

The hit to the club, is apparently around £45,000 to subsidise the Bus service

Around 400 people use the matchday buses, down from about 1000 a few years ago (due to price increases)

Let's say half of those 400 won't renew season tickets (the 14 of us who attend each week probably won't renew)

£200 x an average of let's say £200 for the ST's = £40,000 lost Season Ticket revenue

That leaves the club £5k better off for an entire year. Until you take out how many beers, hot dogs etc will be paid for and consumed.

On the flip side, you could keep the buses, keep those fans in the ground and release one of the B Team players who will NEVER get into the 1st team and will NEVER generate a fee for the club

Those numbers really show quite how stark the club have made this. 1000 down to 400 due to the ridiculous pricing and now trying to phase it out.

The fact is that as has been said they should be finding more ways to get there not fewer. For the sake of £5K as you say…keep the things and try and lower the costs especially for families or parents taking their kids.

[Bruce Rioja]

Also, there may well be only 400 users against the 1,000 or so of a few years ago, but aren't we now only running four services?

I seem to recall we were running several more a few years ago so where's the pro-rata?

[Prufrock]

I'm not sure GOTB - Our CEO wants to marginalise fans even further by getting rid of all transport links to the stadium, in order to maximise the car park revenue

Car Park revenue they've put on an app. First question I ask myself on match day is "Can I be arsed with at that clunky mother"...

Having worked on the appeals side of the "industry" the short term cash gain from contacting out parking services is never ever worth it. They're all absolute cnuts, make it deliberately hard to pay (download one of our 48 apps), and their entire business model is based on giving the business a good deal to suck them in and then sting the customers. And people *hate* it.

Honestly think I could set up one of those Ted-talk business schools that was just teaching that point.

[Worthy4England]

I'm not sure GOTB - Our CEO wants to marginalise fans even further by getting rid of all transport links to the stadium, in order to maximise the car park revenue

Car Park revenue they've put on an app. First question I ask myself on match day is "Can I be arsed with at that clunky mother"...

Having worked on the appeals side of the "industry" the short term cash gain from contacting out parking services is never ever worth it. They're all absolute cnuts, make it deliberately hard to pay (download one of our 48 apps), and their entire business model is based on giving the business a good deal to suck them in and then sting the customers. And people *hate* it.

Honestly think I could set up one of those Ted-talk business schools that was just teaching that point.

Yeah, just wait until they start issuing £100 fines etc. For supporters. That'll go down really well! I'm not going to be sat there thinking "well they'll put it towards that new CB we need"...

[Prufrock]

"If you pay it within 14 days we can only get half as good a CB"

[BWFC_Insane]

I found the car parking change pretty distasteful. And unnecessary. I’d rather that they invested in some contactless readers so people can just pay as they enter if they really wanted to start to prepare for a cashless world with the option still to pay by cash.

Fans have already been fined I think, usually cos the system itself hasn’t worked.

[Worthy4England]

"If you pay it within 14 days we can only get half as good a CB"

[Worthy4England]

I found the car parking change pretty distasteful. And unnecessary. I’d rather that they invested in some contactless readers so people can just pay as they enter if they really wanted to start to prepare for a cashless world with the option still to pay by cash.

Fans have already been fined I think, usually cos the system itself hasn’t worked.

I'm generally "cashless." This is just a shit implementation. I was rushing to first match of season, had glance at sign, pay on exit, so went to watch game. Came back and yeah pay on exit, but you needed to register time of arrival...so I just coughed whatever 3 hours was (or somesuch) from the time I actually left...broken...

[dave the minion]

the parking system is terribly implemented - so much so that I'm amazed its an actual car park company doing it and not just the club winging it.

I drive every time we come to watch as I live out of the area. I was always annoyed, but comfortable with the cost of £8 as it was easier with the kids to just park at the ground.

Downloading/registering with the app is a mess, so I've given up on the route. I've created an account on t'internet, but it doesn't recognise me arriving and therefore doesn't automatically charge my credit card like its supposed to.

Half the time half of the pay machines are bust or there are massive queues in the cold and rain at the end.

Despite the promise on entry that you can pay immediately or after the game, if you try to pay before, it tries to charge you for 2 hours and not 3, so you wouldn't pay the full amount

The last few games we've had stuff on in the evening so have needed to make a quick getaway - i've not paid at the ground and then logged in via the internet at home to pay. Following the instructions from the club meticulously, the web site insists on charging you the going rate for just entering the car park at that time, which means you end up paying £3.20 instead of the match day price of £8.

I'm not trying to avoid the £8, but seem to have no choice but to only pay £3.20. Clearly I'm not complaining (unless there's a stack of parking fines somewhere that I've not received yet!), but I wonder whether its then the club or the parking company that are taking the hit on the chin??

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm generally "cashless."

Me too. Widespread adoption of cashless transfer is an unforeseen pandemic bonus - although obviously not everybody can do it, it's much easier if possible, and if the systems work.

But it does have its drawbacks. The other week, I had to pay some money to the DVLA, and they wouldn't accept a bank transfer. I haven't got a chequebook anymore because it's not the 1990s, so I had to get a postal order because it's apparently the 1970s. Queued for more than my lunch break, got to the front and they sheepishly announced that for postal orders they only accept cash, because it's apparently the 1950s.

Anyway yeah. Long-term, if we (BWFC) disincentivise public transport then we're on the wrong side of history. If we disenfranchise fans then we might be on the wrong side of hysteria.

[GhostoftheBok]

Fans have already been fined I think, usually cos the system itself hasn’t worked.

You can put me on that list. £100 fine because my wife followed the instructions on a leaflet she was given, which were wrong. Complained to the company and pointed out she had an account with them and had clearly gone through the steps - they deleted her account off the system and said "We have no record of an account under that name." Literally was logged into it one minute talking to them, refreshed and was signed out. Account gone.

I know 3 other people with similar experiences, so I assume there are plenty more. One of those mates won't attend games now (usually did 10-15 a season). Others are still going, but won't park there.

I did try to speak to the club, but there was no interest in that discussion. Same experience for a couple of the others. They apparently wrote to the club and didn't get replies.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I'm generally "cashless."

Me too. Widespread adoption of cashless transfer is an unforeseen pandemic bonus - although obviously not everybody can do it, it's much easier if possible, and if the systems work.

But it does have its drawbacks. The other week, I had to pay some money to the DVLA, and they wouldn't accept a bank transfer. I haven't got a chequebook anymore because it's not the 1990s, so I had to get a postal order because it's apparently the 1970s. Queued for more than my lunch break, got to the front and they sheepishly announced that for postal orders they only accept cash, because it's apparently the 1950s.

Anyway yeah. Long-term, if we (BWFC) disincentivise public transport then we're on the wrong side of history. If we disenfranchise fans then we might be on the wrong side of hysteria.

The downside of cashless is the cost to small business. The various fees work out higher than the charges to bank cash. On top of that, the cost of the paper rolls has risen dramatically in the last few years. I'm definitely many thousands down each year because of the switch

[Prufrock]

Fans have already been fined I think, usually cos the system itself hasn’t worked.

You can put me on that list. £100 fine because my wife followed the instructions on a leaflet she was given, which were wrong. Complained to the company and pointed out she had an account with them and had clearly gone through the steps - they deleted her account off the system and said "We have no record of an account under that name." Literally was logged into it one minute talking to them, refreshed and was signed out. Account gone.

I know 3 other people with similar experiences, so I assume there are plenty more. One of those mates won't attend games now (usually did 10-15 a season). Others are still going, but won't park there.

I did try to speak to the club, but there was no interest in that discussion. Same experience for a couple of the others. They apparently wrote to the club and didn't get replies.

The contracts often take any discretion away from the (here) club. Hospitals were the worst, but they sign up to the contracts blinded by £ and then realise they don't have scope to cancel them, it becomes a mini PR nightmare and then they stick their head in the sand.

[GhostoftheBok]

The contracts often take any discretion away from the (here) club. Hospitals were the worst, but they sign up to the contracts blinded by £ and then realise they don't have scope to cancel them, it becomes a mini PR nightmare and then they stick their head in the sand.

Oh, I understand that the club probably has no say in what goes on; but the total lack of any engagement is, as you say, head in the sand stuff. Especially after there was an article in the local paper about it.

I think if they'd responded at all to my mate who will no longer be going to games he'd still be going. The fact he got no response to (I think) two or three emails was for him more annoying than the fine.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'm definitely many thousands down each year because of the switch

Don't think they call it Switch any more, you're showing your age

[BWFC_Insane]

Fans have already been fined I think, usually cos the system itself hasn’t worked.

You can put me on that list. £100 fine because my wife followed the instructions on a leaflet she was given, which were wrong. Complained to the company and pointed out she had an account with them and had clearly gone through the steps - they deleted her account off the system and said "We have no record of an account under that name." Literally was logged into it one minute talking to them, refreshed and was signed out. Account gone.

I know 3 other people with similar experiences, so I assume there are plenty more. One of those mates won't attend games now (usually did 10-15 a season). Others are still going, but won't park there.

I did try to speak to the club, but there was no interest in that discussion. Same experience for a couple of the others. They apparently wrote to the club and didn't get replies.

I’m beginning to think Hart might have been a mistake.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I'm definitely many thousands down each year because of the switch

Don't think they call it Switch any more, you're showing your age

The amount of grey is probably highlighting my age even more

[Bertie Wooster]

I’m beginning to think Hart might have been a mistake.

I don't think he's liked by many fans. However I'm sure that FV approve everything that he introduces therefore they must agree with him.