Cash Gates

[QXBoy]

Possibly this subject has been raised (and explained) before on this forum, but here goes..

Why do some football clubs insist on this policy of not providing "on the day" access (Cash Gates or Ticket Booths) for those people who, for whatever reason, only decide belatedly that they would like to go to "a gemme"? 

Yesterday was a classic example. Cappielow - lovely open end (with the certainty of getting soaked if it rains - so you don't pay in advance). Fortunately the sun shone on us in more ways than one.

I know 2 pals of mine who would have gone had they been able to just turn up on the day. How many more might have done? How many neutrals might have fancied it if they were in the area?

I know Thistle provide the ability to buy a ticket for the JHS, but no chance for visiting fans. Last season we were able to pay cash at Hamilton, so what's the difficulty for others?.

Ah cannae get ma heid roon' it!

 

 

 

[lady-isobel-barnett]

Not really answering your question in general.

But as a specific Morton obviously hold away supporters in total disregard. As you point out you have to check a weather forecast before going. Unless you're Ronnie Corbett sized and don't mind a restricted view the stand is out. So if raining you get soaked and if you sit you have to mind to bring paper towels. Supporters can still get drenched even if they're in that DVT Stand, assuming they take the hike to the toilets and/or are keen to try the local cuisine on offer outside the toilet. Where I was positioned yesterday it was obvious just how many fans missed a Jags goal most likely down to taking that downhill trek. 

All in all Cappielow is a horrendous ground especially for the elderly and less mobile. To cap it all they charge roughly the same price as other clubs. Yesterday over and above the result, Morton must have been additionally upset to see away fans basking in the sun.

Apologies for the slight hijack, QX Boy. Rant over.  

 

[Lenziejag]

I agree with you 100%, but I think the perception is that most people use their phones to buy stuff all the time, so even doing it on the day isn’t a problem. Therefore the cost of having someone physically on hand for walk ups would outweigh the benefit of the number of tickets sold.

[Auld Jag]

I have said a number of times now. Don't have a smartphone, never used one. I buy my season ticket via a landline phone call and use the credit card type ticket.

Next week i will buy my ticket at the ticket office behind JHS as i do with all games not covered by season ticket. 

I realise that i am in the minority.

[P-R]

It's an absolute joke - having to create yet another online account with some duff platform (I came across a few bugs on their password checker...) just to get a ticket and then there was no official way to have an "offline" ticket. A lot of people don't have "smartphones" or google wallet - ended up using the browser to print out a cobbled together set of QR Codes. Absolute nonsense given that you could pay by cash last year without any of this faffing about.

Get to the ground, get searched, get into ground, get told by steward that seating was for infirm people. Baked in the sun and moved over at half time seeing as there were plenty of seats available.

At least the result was good 😀

 

[JeanieD]

1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

Not really answering your question in general.

But as a specific Morton obviously hold away supporters in total disregard. As you point out you have to check a weather forecast before going. Unless you're Ronnie Corbett sized and don't mind a restricted view the stand is out. So if raining you get soaked and if you sit you have to mind to bring paper towels. Supporters can still get drenched even if they're in that DVT Stand, assuming they take the hike to the toilets and/or are keen to try the local cuisine on offer outside the toilet. Where I was positioned yesterday it was obvious just how many fans missed a Jags goal most likely down to taking that downhill trek. 

All in all Cappielow is a horrendous ground especially for the elderly and less mobile. To cap it all they charge roughly the same price as other clubs. Yesterday over and above the result, Morton must have been additionally upset to see away fans basking in the sun.

Apologies for the slight hijack, QX Boy. Rant over.  

 

Speaking as someone of - to be euphemistic -" compact stature," the stand at Cappielow doesn't really bother me but I acknowledge others will be suitably inconvenienced.

As regards Cappielow generally - it surely has one of the more contrasting/interesting outlooks of any ground in Scotland. I remember my late father used to stand at the back of the "Wee Dublin" gazing out toward the hills of Cowal and Argyll and Bute (he was a Sunday hill-walker which often compensated him for the misery he endured supporting Thistle on the Saturday)  - the views were generally more captivating than the football on offer I can assure you. In contrast I used to take the opportunity to see what shipping was resting in James Watt Dock - again often preferable to what was going on pitch-wise.   

To get back to on-topic, the pandemic has obviously accelerated the demise of cash and the move toward electronic payment - something that perhaps militates against a "spur of the moment" decision to attend any match - especially given the vagaries of weather, potential travel issues/road disruption and perhaps even health and illness.  Other forms of "entertainment" (cinema, indoor sporting events etc.) are probably more predictable and , as such, are perhaps more suited to electronic pre-purchase. Having said that it's difficult to see a change to the current situation happening as it almost certainly reduces costs for the clubs, better guarantees a certain level of income and can also offer savings for fans who purchase season tickets (although this has always been the case for season ticket purchase).     

[MarciaBlaine]

It needn't even be cash really. If clubs had a way of tapping your card to a contactless reader to get in, they'd get the automation (and hence cost-cutting) benefits while not inconveniencing most people. I know a further minority would only pay actual cash but it seems like a no-brainer to let people tap their debit card for entry.

[Fearchar]

Surely football clubs are just blindly following the example of big corporations, which have seen that collecting and analysing some data can boost their turnover even if they exclude the outliers, e.g. the disabled, the elderly and the security conscious. IMHO this only leads to putting off potential customers for the future, especially the young, who often prefer spur-of-the-moment decisions to attend events, and they don't have the steady income stream to buy, say, season tickets. Disregarding the needs of disadvantaged groups only leads to rancour, and a flight to the two rancid clubs in Scotland that can afford to provide decent faciclities for the disadvantaged.

FWIW, I've long believed that all football entry should include a minimal proportion of ticket sales (1%?) that goes into a trust that supports clubs to fund improvements, e.g. the toilets at Cappielow - with funds provided on the basis of need and lack  of ability to pay. Standards for all, including visiting fans, could gradually be raised throughout the game, while the wealthier clubs would hardly even notice the sums involved.

[Lambies Lost Doo]

You can turn up on the day. 

Pay it electronicall v8a the ticket portal..  It's no big deal.  My inlaws are in their 80's and have (smart) phones.  They are now just phones.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

1 hour ago, Auld Jag said:

I have said a number of times now. Don't have a smartphone, never used one. I buy my season ticket via a landline phone call and use the credit card type ticket.

Next week i will buy my ticket at the ticket office behind JHS as i do with all games not covered by season ticket. 

I realise that i am in the minority.

You may be in the minority on this issue. You'll no doubt be in the majority on other issues. It should be both the duty and commercial common sense of businesses to offer choice whenever practical.. Alas following a football team exposes the fan to being exploited by his/her blind loyalty. An easy touch, which many football clubs are party to exploiting. 

[Jaggernaut]

57 minutes ago, Fearchar said:

 Disregarding the needs of disadvantaged groups only leads to rancour, and a flight to the two rancid clubs in Scotland that can afford to provide decent faciclities for the disadvantaged.

 

Frankly, I'd be impressed, even astounded, if either of the rancid sisters had facilities for disabled people, with no season ticket. to turn up on the day at a match and be treated somehow better than at Firhill.

I was labouring under the idea that PTFC did pretty well in providing "decent" (compared to non-disabled supporters) facilities for disabled supporters. 

Can you give examples of the "rancour" of disabled people who've turned up on matchday at Firhill only to be denied entry, which is where this topic started`?

[QXBoy]

2 hours ago, Lenziejag said:

I agree with you 100%, but I think the perception is that most people use their phones to buy stuff all the time, so even doing it on the day isn’t a problem. Therefore the cost of having someone physically on hand for walk ups would outweigh the benefit of the number of tickets sold.

THE PERCEPTION? Gie us a break!

THE COST OF SOMEONE? (one) How much would someone be paid? Gie us another break!

[Rid Skwerr]

Morton had a steward outside the turnstiles holding up a board with a large QR code on it which you could scan to make an online ticket purchase.

To my mind she would have been better employed running a cash turnstile.

and while I am at it.....

£22 is a ridiculous price for an uncovered terracing behind the goal.

Ripoff merchants!

[Woodstock Jag]

One small observation.

No cash turnstile… but the burger van (such as it was) was cash only!

[Lenziejag]

3 hours ago, QXBoy said:

THE PERCEPTION? Gie us a break!

THE COST OF SOMEONE? (one) How much would someone be paid? Gie us another break!

You don’t need to try to convince me. I made the same argument last season and that was the reasoning I was given.

[Barney Rubble]

Any business that chooses not to accommodate cash payments deserves to go bust.

 

[Dick Dastardly]

4 minutes ago, Barney Rubble said:

Any business that chooses not to accommodate cash payments deserves to go bust.

 

I don’t know for sure, but I would suspect that there is an economic reason for not taking cash. Scottish clubs are generally not in any position to turn down easy cash, so with so many not doing it, there must be a very good reason 

[Lenziejag]

10 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

I don’t know for sure, but I would suspect that there is an economic reason for not taking cash. Scottish clubs are generally not in any position to turn down easy cash, so with so many not doing it, there must be a very good reason 

The economic case would be different for each club, I would guess. 

[Barney Rubble]

27 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

I don’t know for sure, but I would suspect that there is an economic reason for not taking cash. Scottish clubs are generally not in any position to turn down easy cash, so with so many not doing it, there must be a very good reason 

Not in any way having a go at you DD, because you raise a very good point.

What possible reason is there for a business to refuse custom on the basis of non-digital (i.e. cash) payments? Is it moral or even acceptable to do so?

People may not have bank accounts, or be in town for a few days from a foreign country without access to digital payments, or just prefer to pay cash anyway. And they are entitled to do so if that is their choice.

What the **** is it with this big brother attitude that has clearly been accelerated by the pandemic?

 

[Auld Jag]

I do think that in general the use of cash is being discouraged. But i do not understand how people are quite willing to walk about with a lot of personal and financial info on a phone in their pocket. Without even thinking about losing it or the phone being stolen, there is data breaches and the cons that are getting more and more elaborate. 

[ChiThistle]

The trend is a cashless future wherever possible and automation of lower level tasks for operational efficiency.

I’m sure if there were an automated way to deliver pies and bovril and snacks, we’d be doing it already.

That said, it would make sense to at least have an automated ticket kiosk to pay at the gate.

 

[Aliballibee]

So how did you get the cash in your pocket? More than likely with a Debit card used in an ATM. The same debit card could be used to pay for you contactless bus or train journey to Cappielow. As noted earlier in the thread a contactless payment gate would seem a logical step.