Sour Taste

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Sour Taste

Thanks for the advice guys but it will be a bit late to make a difference seeing as GF pre-registration is tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about your plight Slapper - but as a few have have already suggested try and contact Campbell Rose here is his email address - Cam.Rose@westernbulldogs.com.au and just explain it to him, you never know. Pop off an email to him now. You have until 2.00pm to get a reply from him before the P1 Registratatin closes. Good Luck.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

Hi Slapper

I feel really bad for you and for what it is worth I don't think it's too late. Yes, the Western Bulldogs are a business, but first and foremost they are a club, and a club that owes its existance today to its supporters and members.

I am not associated with the club (apart from being a member), but I have worked in complaint resolution for a number of high profile companies and know that when you are unhappy with an aspect of the service they provide, they place value on receiving your feedback and will do their best to rectify their image and turn your experience from negative to positive.

Surely a club values its members much more highly than a company values its clients, especially this club, considering its history. Call the club direct tomorrow (first thing) and I'm sure you'll get a much kinder response than the AFL cronies at membership HQ. It's not too late, registration ends at 2 but it might just take one keystroke to allow you to register.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

Might take more than that as in my fury I told her to stick the membership and cancelled it as well as a few more choice words.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

Slapper how much do you need to pay?

[The Coon Dog]

Re: Sour Taste

I actually contacted the club over this issue for 2 reasons;

a) After hearing Slapper's story I genuinely felt for him, &

b) I hate seeing the club portrayed in a negative light.

I received a response, to which some of the key points addressed were:

* Simply, if you don’t pay your membership, there is no way we can make exceptions as the pressure on us for tickets is extreme and we have to draw a line somewhere

* When it comes to members wanting something when they have failed and often repeatedly failed to meet the terms and conditions that they have entered into, then they decide to turn against the Club.

* The staff in the membership department & personally well known to the club & always look to treat members with respect. Unfortunately sometimes members can become extremely aggressive on occasions & both parties attitudes harden somewhat.

* We obviously feel for people under financial pressure in the current economic climate, however as stated by a couple of members on the forum, we are just trying to run a business.

* Finally, saying we don’t remember where we came from, a number of us used to work in a fire escape for almost seven years, we certainly remember where we came from, and part of that is remembering that we can’t give things away for free.

Unfortunately, it is not what Slapper wanted to hear. I guess there are always two sides to every story.

[Mantis]

Re: Sour Taste

Slapper,

How are you going to be able to afford a GF ticket which may cost you $250 when you can't afford the $40 to keep up your monthly payment for your membership?

Look you have yourself in a bad situation, but I don't think the club can make exceptions to you or anyone else. Everyone is aware of the rules and while we don't like to see anyone going thru tough times I don't see what other option the club had.

[Topdog]

Re: Sour Taste

It is unfortunate. However from the clubs standpoint I can understand it aswell.

This would be the last 2 months of the monthly payments. They specifically introduced this kind of membership so that people who can't pay at once are able to spread the payments out over the year and be able to avoid financial hardship from members paying for the memberships. This is not like a bank where they then have the option of taking something that you own and the club have no guarantees that you will sign up again next year or even pay the rest of the membership off in the next 2 months.

Having said all that I am very sorry to hear that this has happened to you. I too would have done what gogriff suggested and skipped the PF to pay for the membership. Although the tickets for the GF are probably going to be $150 so this would again cause more problems.

BTW did you tell the membership department that you are going to the PF?

[Hot_Doggies]

Re: Sour Taste

2 points-

-Sorry to hear you are struggling Slapper and you had a run in with Doggies staff.


-You are struggling financially but can still shell out for Foxtel, that made me chuckle. The modern way i suppose

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

I actually contacted the club over this issue for 2 reasons;

a) After hearing Slapper's story I genuinely felt for him, &

b) I hate seeing the club portrayed in a negative light.

I received a response, to which some of the key points addressed were:

* Simply, if you don’t pay your membership, there is no way we can make exceptions as the pressure on us for tickets is extreme and we have to draw a line somewhere

* When it comes to members wanting something when they have failed and often repeatedly failed to meet the terms and conditions that they have entered into, then they decide to turn against the Club.

* The staff in the membership department & personally well known to the club & always look to treat members with respect. Unfortunately sometimes members can become extremely aggressive on occasions & both parties attitudes harden somewhat.

* We obviously feel for people under financial pressure in the current economic climate, however as stated by a couple of members on the forum, we are just trying to run a business.

* Finally, saying we don’t remember where we came from, a number of us used to work in a fire escape for almost seven years, we certainly remember where we came from, and part of that is remembering that we can’t give things away for free.

Unfortunately, it is not what Slapper wanted to hear. I guess there are always two sides to every story.

Boy, if this is their response then they are thicker than I could ever imagine.

Being a 'business' does not automatically invalidate them from being human. After all, what is a business but a service/product provided to people? The 'we're a business' line is trotted out by the AFL and the clubs anytime they want to stooge the average Joe for more stuff -- if I hear the Dogs cry poor any more times I will seriously spew. Isn't the next TV contract we keep hearing about supposed to be close to a billion dollars or so?

Whatever it is, most of us in the corporate world know that the real movement in business is towards people now -- even beyond corporate social responsibility, being flexible, compassionate and people-oriented is a huge branding issue, as well as THE 21st century way of doing business (in an era of instantaneous information transfer and social networking, a complaint can be heard by millions almost instantly). I have to say that having worked with some of the largest corporates from around the world, we do it worst here in Australia -- our large conglomerates (Telstra, Qantas, the banks etc.) are laggards as far as customer service and flexibility goes, because we really are a small pond here and they can get away with treating most of us like crap.

Similarly, the AFL know that they have a captive audience in Melbourne, so are able to treat their marginal customers with disdain as it is not under any real competitive pressure (the competition with soccer etc. is nothing compared to real commercial competition most global firms experience).

What really sticks in the maw is that in this case, Slapper, a long-term, high-value customer, has paid essentially 80+% of his membership fee, but is tossed aside for what could be a very short-term adjustment (spreading payments over next few months, rolling it into next year's lower membership tier). The fact that they are not even set up to do this is an indictment on the professionalism and competence of this so-called 'business'. If banks or credit card companies worked like this their default rate would go through the roof.

Bad customer service is also a massive branding risk -- we are already the lowest membership base in the AFL, you would think that we would be doing everything in our power to keep those that we already have. Instead, we do our best (we really do) to alienate them, and one irate customer (like Slapper) is enough bad publicity to put off a bunch of other people. I, for one, can reel off a name of former members who, in the last 5 years, have become similarly irate (over other issues) and never bothered to renew.

All I can say is, if the Bulldogs are fair dinkum about being a 'business', they better pull their socks up, because their membership department is about as unprofessional as they come. And if I hear one more complaint from Smorgon about non-renewing members before they fix their own backyard, I will personally tear my own membership (Silver Reserve + Social Club) up and send it to him in the mail, and my wife and I will just have to get by on our MCC memberships.

--

Ps. Working in a fire escape is an excuse for now treating your customers like dirt? Wouldn't that mean all the more that you want to keep your members instead of chasing them away, since that is the fastest way BACK to the fire escape? It's a really small town mentality and tells me that, with all due respect, we have precisely the wrong people in those positions.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

Slapper,

How are you going to be able to afford a GF ticket which may cost you $250 when you can't afford the $40 to keep up your monthly payment for your membership?

Look you have yourself in a bad situation, but I don't think the club can make exceptions to you or anyone else. Everyone is aware of the rules and while we don't like to see anyone going thru tough times I don't see what other option the club had.

Businesses who rely on long-term relationships (mobile phone contracts, credit cards, house loans etc.) make exceptions all the time -- most of them have systems set up precisely to handle exceptions, and will do everything in their power to not lose a customer as they rather risk some short-term loss (especially in difficult economic circumstances) instead of having their customer go to a competitor. It's called good business.

The Dogs know that we won't change our allegiance to another club, so are complacent in this regard. 8,000 non-renewing members should be a wake-up call, but clearly isn't.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

If we win this week, I'm gonna send the club a sob story about how I knew I couldn't afford social club membership and wasn't sucked in by monthly payments. Then start a thread on here on how I've been hard done by so I get some sympathy votes. Meanwhile, I'll just upgrade my internet capacity and change my foxtel to include movies. If I can't pay the internet or Foxtel, I'm sure they will keep me connected for as long as I please.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

If we win this week, I'm gonna send the club a sob story about how I knew I couldn't afford social club membership and wasn't sucked in by monthly payments. Then start a thread on here on how I've been hard done by so I get some sympathy votes. Meanwhile, I'll just upgrade my internet capacity and change my foxtel to include movies. If I can't pay the internet or Foxtel, I'm sure they will keep me connected for as long as I please.

ES, you make good points, but Slapper's case isn't an isolated one. I'm not even supporting him specifically, but if your reaction is going to be the same as the Dogs' membership department, then you and I can't complain about 8,000 non-renewals NEXT year.

We have the lowest membership base, we have the supporters with the lowest income base, it's been a difficult year economically. If we have to be more sympathetic or flexible than the average club in order to keep our members, so be it. Beggars can't be choosers, is all I'll have to say to.

Ps. It's more than that -- we claim that we are a 'community club'. We pay lip service to some high-faluting set of values. Is this real, or is it just feel-good customer-hoodwinking mumbo-jumbo that so many businesses put on their websites? If it's just rubbish, and in reality the Dogs worship the almighty dollar, then we support a dead, commercial entity that might as well be called a franchise and be shipped off to Western Sydney tomorrow for all I care.

[neodog]

Re: Sour Taste

ES, you make good points, but Slapper's case isn't an isolated one. I'm not even supporting him specifically, but if your reaction is going to be the same as the Dogs' membership department, then you and I can't complain about 8,000 non-renewals NEXT year.

We have the lowest membership base, we have the supporters with the lowest income base, it's been a difficult year economically. If we have to be more sympathetic or flexible than the average club in order to keep our members, so be it. Beggars can't be choosers, is all I'll have to say to.

Ps. It's more than that -- we claim that we are a 'community club'. We pay lip service to some high-faluting set of values. Is this real, or is it just feel-good customer-hoodwinking mumbo-jumbo that so many businesses put on their websites? If it's just rubbish, and in reality the Dogs worship the almighty dollar, then we support a dead, commercial entity that might as well be called a franchise and be shipped off to Western Sydney tomorrow for all I care.

Western Sydney , Western bulldogs....oh dear

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

ES, you make good points, but Slapper's case isn't an isolated one. I'm not even supporting him specifically, but if your reaction is going to be the same as the Dogs' membership department, then you and I can't complain about 8,000 non-renewals NEXT year.

We have the lowest membership base, we have the supporters with the lowest income base, it's been a difficult year economically. If we have to be more sympathetic or flexible than the average club in order to keep our members, so be it. Beggars can't be choosers, is all I'll have to say to.

Ps. It's more than that -- we claim that we are a 'community club'. We pay lip service to some high-faluting set of values. Is this real, or is it just feel-good customer-hoodwinking mumbo-jumbo that so many businesses put on their websites? If it's just rubbish, and in reality the Dogs worship the almighty dollar, then we support a dead, commercial entity that might as well be called a franchise and be shipped off to Western Sydney tomorrow for all I care.

Ok the club should just give out social memberships free next year to those that can't afford them.
We might be a community club but we aren't a charity. 8000 didn't renew but 28K did make the financial sacrifice to keep this club here.

I doubt I'm the only member at this club or any other that couldn't afford social club upgrades and will be spewing next week if the team makes it. Am I intitled to whinge, moan and demand more respect from the club too?

My question is as far as I'm aware social club membership is capped, are those that made a commitment but didn't follow that committment financially taking away spots from others?

[LostDoggy]

Re: Sour Taste

What about the upto date prority 2 member that could potentially miss out. Sorry to be devils advocate but September why should they be punished when they are up to date.