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Same old Leicester - Taking the Piss |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 30 November 2006 |
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Leicester City have today announced their new "Teamcard" discount scheme. If you just read the headline on the official Leicester City website you might think supporters are getting a good deal - but, as with previous club announcements, the spin hides the true nature of this scheme.
The teamcard is a loyalty card that allows supporters to earn points when they spend money in various shops - typically one point for every pound you spend. Collect a hundred points and you can get a pound off your next season ticket. Collect less than a hundred points and you don't get anything.
The range of shops in the scheme is very limited at the moment though. There's a branch of Boots - in Bolton. Specsavers - in Croydon. The Cheesecake shop - in Ipswich. Get the picture?
You can also earn two points for every pound you spend in the club shop.
So what is so bad about the scheme, apart from the lack of local stores taking part?
It's the way
 season ticket holders have been screwed yet again 
season ticket holders have been screwed yet again - but you have to read the small print to find out.
With the launch of the teamcard they've taken away the 10% discount season ticket holders get in the club shop - a discount that has been running for as long as I can remember.
So instead of, for example paying £31.50 for the current home shirt, season ticket holders will now have to pay £35, and with the Teamcard points earned they may be able to get 70p off a future purchase.
To make matters worse is the lack of notice given. They announced the new scheme on the last day of November, and the small print said the following about the existing season ticket holders discount: "The current season ticket discount scheme will end on December 1st and be replaced with the TeamCard loyalty scheme."
So all those season ticket holders who had planned to do their Christmas shopping at the club shop have been given a day's notice that they will no longer get the discount they've been getting for years.
Jamie Tabor, City's Marketing Manager, said: "Season-ticket holders always have and always will be our most valued customers. The TeamCard programme is a great way for supporters to help provide new revenues for the club whilst returning real value to themselves at the same time. It's a win-win initiative."
That's nonsense. The club sees season ticket holders as easy targets to make money, they take advantage of our loyalty. This is the latest in a series of moves the club has made which have devalued season tickets.
This season many supporters have questioned the point in getting a season ticket when so many match tickets are available at heavily discounted prices - or even free.
A few years ago the club announced that season ticket prices had been frozen - but at the same time they removed nearly all the benefits that season ticket holders had received previously - such as tickets for a pre-season match, cup matches, free entry to reserve games, free credit, discounts on extra match tickets etc. For a loyal supporter this meant a huge increase over the course of the season.
The only extra benefit left after that time was the 10% discount in the club shop. Now they've taken that away.
I for one have become totally disillusioned with the way the club is treating its most loyal supporters. We're the ones who turn up every week, no matter how bad performances are on the pitch. If the club continues to treat us with contempt they could be faced with a massive drop in season ticket sales in the summer.
Talk about this on our forum |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 30 November 2006 )
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