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[RFCSinceBury1971]

I buy all my away tickets at the away grounds. The club do not know I do this. Will they beleive me so that I can get an away ticket. Otherwise it would not be fair.

Why on earth do you do that?

[Hoop Blah]

I have asked for suggestions for a 'fairer' way but have not had any yet. I am not sure how offering an incentive is blackmail.

The system should be in place to recognise and reward the fans that make the effort to go to games. Having such a massive number of points for a single game means that you have to go to keep up your points in comparison to other fans. This is flipping the system round, ie using it to make the tickets more attractive (in this case a must have) instead of just rewarding those loyal fans.

As there are obviously a large number of fans and members of STAR that feel strongly about this subject. With that in mind, are STAR going to act on behalf of those members or just go along with the clubs arguement of the club needs to rape the fans for as much dosh as possible because there's another willing fan to take my seat now that we're in the Prem so we can.

[RFCSinceBury1971]

I can't see that you have not had a reply maybe just not the reply you want.

From the beginning the points system was devised as a way to reward those who help the club make money. .

Can I get Royalty points if I stay at the hotel or buy a beer at the ground then? After all this is helping the club to make money....

That was certainly the intention at the start of the process but for some reason it has not got beyond tickets for day to day expenditure. It may be because the guy who set up the system was only employed for the season and so there is not the bandwidth for anyone else to develop it further as he was not replaced and all his work has had to be spread around the rest of the small staff there.

As has been pointed out RFC intentions are to reward fans in all sorts of ways including one day, going as far as buying a pint of beer.
So its not a loyalyty system but a rewards system. More money spent more points. More help more points.
What a load of crap. As a supporter of this club ( I hope there are others out there who will agree with me) we do not want a rewards system but a loyalty system that is fair to everyone.
Points SHOULD be awarded for games attended and NOT for anything else. Does any other club have a system in place like RFC?
If RFC want to attract people to a friendly then they should make the price for a ticket attractable and not give out loads of extra points. That will then mean more people attending and more pints of beer sold.
Easy isnt it?

[STAR Liaison]

As has been pointed out RFC intentions are to reward fans in all sorts of ways including one day, going as far as buying a pint of beer.
So its not a loyalyty system but a rewards system. More money spent more points. More help more points.
What a load of crap. As a supporter of this club ( I hope there are others out there who will agree with me) we do not want a rewards system but a loyalty system that is fair to everyone.
Points SHOULD be awarded for games attended and NOT for anything else. Does any other club have a system in place like RFC?
If RFC want to attract people to a friendly then they should make the price for a ticket attractable and not give out loads of extra points. That will then mean more people attending and more pints of beer sold.
Easy isnt it?

At the risk of annoying Finch in sounding like STAR CAMPAIGNS; the system is one started by RFC because it achieves what they want so the fact that you do not want a rewards system is slightly irrelevant as that is exactly what RFC do want.

It may not suit everyone in the way it allows the club to differentiate between different supporters but it has done what the club wanted so it is unlikely to be changed drastically so that is why I have asked for suggestions for adjusting it.

[RFCSinceBury1971]

It may not suit everyone in the way it allows the club to differentiate between different supporters but it has done what the club wanted so it is unlikely to be changed drastically so that is why I have asked for suggestions for adjusting it.

I would love to hear JM view of this.

As for suggestions ive already said reward fans fairly.

[Hoop Blah]

At the risk of annoying Finch in sounding like STAR CAMPAIGNS; the system is one started by RFC because it achieves what they want so the fact that you do not want a rewards system is slightly irrelevant as that is exactly what RFC do want.

It may not suit everyone in the way it allows the club to differentiate between different supporters but it has done what the club wanted so it is unlikely to be changed drastically so that is why I have asked for suggestions for adjusting it.

The club may indeed want a system whereby they can encourage spending with the club by rewarding those higher spenders with a greater chance of getting a ticket.

I think the point you are missing is that this isn't what suits the fans most, and isn't what the fans want as a method distributing tickets in the fairest fashion.

Are you, as the body supposedly representing the fans actually trying to get this message across to the football club?

It certainly doesn't seem as though you are, you are just making excuses that the club never intending the scheme to be anything more than a segmentation and revenue generating device.

[Dirk Gently]

The points system may not be perfect, but I think you are very much in the minority of fans in saying that it

isn't what the fans want as a method distributing tickets in the fairest fashion.

And how do you think you can make such a glib statement on behalf of other fans? You certainly don't represent my views, for instance!

Remember the old days of trying to get tickets when queues stretched all the way round the stadium (Wolves play-off tickets, for example)?

Without something like points to distinguish between different levels of attendance then all ST holders would have equal priority, like in the old days. How would that be with 18000 ST holders?

[Hoop Blah]

The points system may not be perfect, but I think you are very much in the minority of fans in saying that it

isn't what the fans want as a method distributing tickets in the fairest fashion.

And how do you think you can make such a glib statement on behalf of other fans? You certainly don't represent my views, for instance!

Remember the old days of trying to get tickets when queues stretched all the way round the stadium (Wolves play-off tickets, for example)?

Without something like points to distinguish between different levels of attendance then all ST holders would have equal priority, like in the old days. How would that be with 18000 ST holders?

Sorry, you misunderstand what I meant. I don't think the system is bad, I'm all for as system that monitors attendence and allocates tickets accordingly. The problem I have, and this is a view held by the majority of fans that I've spoken to, is that the club are using this system to drive revenue and not to recognise loyalty and thus distribute tickets accordingly.

I also have an issue with the supporters group that don't represent the feelings of its members in favour of pandering to the football club in order to stay pally pally*



* I recognise that this might not be the case and acknowledge that STAR have worked hard in other areas to improve the relationship between the club and supporters, however, this is the impression I've created over number of instances like this.

[Dirk Gently]

Sorry, you misunderstand what I meant. I don't think the system is bad, I'm all for as system that monitors attendence and allocates tickets accordingly. The problem I have, and this is a view held by the majority of fans that I've spoken to, is that the club are using this system to drive revenue and not to recognise loyalty and thus distribute tickets accordingly.

Was this ever open to question? Surely it's a matter of open record that this is a CRM system first and foremost, so that the club can record customer transactions in order drive revenue.

Driving revenue is what the club exists for - they are a business, that's what they do! The word "club" in the title is just an accident of history.

There is just no way that the club would have invested what was (for them) a signifcant sum on a computer system that benefit the supporters more than the club itself. The points / "loyalty" (and I use the word in its loosest sense) system is just a by-product of the customer transactions being recorded - not the reason for this system.

Were people really naive enough to think otherwise?

[STAR Liaison]

Sorry, you misunderstand what I meant. I don't think the system is bad, I'm all for as system that monitors attendence and allocates tickets accordingly. The problem I have, and this is a view held by the majority of fans that I've spoken to, is that the club are using this system to drive revenue and not to recognise loyalty and thus distribute tickets accordingly.

I also have an issue with the supporters group that don't represent the feelings of its members in favour of pandering to the football club in order to stay pally pally*



* I recognise that this might not be the case and acknowledge that STAR have worked hard in other areas to improve the relationship between the club and supporters, however, this is the impression I've created over number of instances like this.

I don't doubt that the majority of away going fans agree and I do understand where you are coming from but I repeat (as echoed by DG) that the system is for the club not for the supporters and they recognise loyalty by that very revenue generated and not by how many away games you attend, how loudly you chant or if you ever boo the players - all of which could be indicators of loyalty.

The lack of challenge of the royalty point is that although it is a blunt instrument it is certainly better than any previous system. In addition it is not a desire to stay pals but acknowledgement of mixed feedback - it has not all been anti.

Finally RFCSinceBury1971 has suggested they reward fans fairly but that is not specific enough as if you ask 20 fans what is fair you will probably get 10 different answers (and each is likely to be biased towards their own experience as that is human). Can anyone suggest specific changes rather generalisations? To put forward suggestions we need to be specific and postive not just negative.

[RG30]

Allocate Away Tickets on previous away games atteneded. Simple. Many other clubs use this method and seems to work fine.

[Finch Royal]

Sorry, you misunderstand what I meant. I don't think the system is bad, I'm all for as system that monitors attendence and allocates tickets accordingly. The problem I have, and this is a view held by the majority of fans that I've spoken to, is that the club are using this system to drive revenue and not to recognise loyalty and thus distribute tickets accordingly.

I also have an issue with the supporters group that don't represent the feelings of its members in favour of pandering to the football club in order to stay pally pally*



* I recognise that this might not be the case and acknowledge that STAR have worked hard in other areas to improve the relationship between the club and supporters, however, this is the impression I've created over number of instances like this.

I don't doubt that the majority of away going fans agree and I do understand where you are coming from but I repeat (as echoed by DG) that the system is for the club not for the supporters and they recognise loyalty by that very revenue generated and not by how many away games you attend, how loudly you chant or if you ever boo the players - all of which could be indicators of loyalty.

The lack of challenge of the royalty point is that although it is a blunt instrument it is certainly better than any previous system. In addition it is not a desire to stay pals but acknowledgement of mixed feedback - it has not all been anti.

Finally RFCSinceBury1971 has suggested they reward fans fairly but that is not specific enough as if you ask 20 fans what is fair you will probably get 10 different answers (and each is likely to be biased towards their own experience as that is human). Can anyone suggest specific changes rather generalisations? To put forward suggestions we need to be specific and postive not just negative.

i will post my suggestion later.

[Hoop Blah]

Was this ever open to question? Surely it's a matter of open record that this is a CRM system first and foremost, so that the club can record customer transactions in order drive revenue.

Driving revenue is what the club exists for - they are a business, that's what they do! The word "club" in the title is just an accident of history.

Firstly it's not open record that the motives of the club was to drive revenue. This was promoted as being a system to recognise loyalty amongst fans. Obviously we all know what it's real use is to those inside the club

Secondly, The club exists because the fans want it to be there and thankfully Mr Madejski is willing to bank roll it's existance. Without both of these parties the club wouldn't be here. The fact that the club is run to try and maximise it's revenue is a by product of modern football and the constant pursuit of success.

Looking after those loyal supporters that are the heart and soul of the club should be a top priority for the future of the club because it can't guarantee a 'customer' base to sustain it when the 'product' deteriates.

There is just no way that the club would have invested what was (for them) a signifcant sum on a computer system that benefit the supporters more than the club itself. The points / "loyalty" (and I use the word in its loosest sense) system is just a by-product of the customer transactions being recorded - not the reason for this system.

Were people really naive enough to think otherwise?

No, not niave enough to think otherwise, but that doesn't stop us trying to the club to use the system in the way that most benefits the fans at the same time as driving revenue. Now that the club want to stretch the limits to which they use the system, in my opinion to the lengths of blackmailing fans into buying a ticket, I believe it is time for the fans to let the club know that they've over stepped the mark. The supporters groups are supposedly the voice of the fans but too often it looks like they're just another marketing tool for the football club.

[Forbury Lion]

So you can now in effect pay £1 per royalty point?

Even cheaper if you buy a ticket for the home friendly as you get 20 for that.

[RFCSinceBury1971]

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/pa ... 06,00.html

What they say and what they mean are 2 different things then?

Also if there is more silver games then platinum then a non season ticket holder can obtain more points than a season ticket holder.