Rip Off French Fuckers

[crowie]

Traeth,

Yep, Scotland game is on the 12th.

We had hoped that we would be in SDF as our game was 5 days after the France v Argentina game and 2 days before the England game but knew that the RWC took precedent and they might not been keen having different pitch markings etc. However we are playing in PDP 3 days after a RWC game.

We can't really complain about PDP as its the next biggest stadium in France that we could have been in bar Marseille, which is hosting a RWC game on 12th anyway. Difference between the 2 grounds is only a couple of thousand seats anyway and given that choice I would rather be in Paris than Marseille in slightly smaller stadium.

The allocation isn't great though. By UEFA rules we are officially only entitled to 5% (2,300) tickets but France were only entitled to that at Hampden (52,000 cap) and they got approx 5,000. FA's normally reciprocate this when/if the away side then wants a bigger allocation than the minimum in the return game. Thats not really happened here. They have given us more but we are paying through the fucking nose for them.

The thing that is most fucking is the price though. £25 (40 Euro) for a ticket for the game at Hampden, 60 or 120 Euro for a ticket for the Paris game. Thats dearer than the UEFA Cup final tickets FFS! Don't know what the prices were for the WC (2006) just passed but doubt there was many bog standard seats at 120 Euro a pop. And I can guarantee that the £82 tickets will not be in some plush part of the stadium as the price would suggest, will be directly next to the £41 seats.

The thing is though, the French FA don't give a fuck, they know all the tickets will be sold even with daft prices.

Cunts.

[crowie]

Originally Posted by bonehead

Crowie, have you got any idea how many points are likely to be needed to get a ticket?

No idea mate. I am really guessing by saying 3 should get me a ticket. I would say 4 and above will guarantee but hoepfully 3. I think 2 will be a ballot.

Last 10 aways, oldest to most recent, and rough away supports

Austria - 800
Norway - 2,000
Slovenia - 2,000
Bulgaria - 800
Japan - 800
Lithuania - 3,500 (?)
Ukraine - 2,000
Italy - 4,500 via SSC
Austria - 800
Faroe Islands - 800

I would reckon that the 5 "800" games will be from a group of roughly 1,000 people who got to practically all the games. So they will always get a ticket.

Means approx 2,500 left for the rest. Take off the 1,000 regulars and your looking at 1,000 extra in Norway, Slovenia, Ukraine and 2,500 in Lithuania. I reckon that might cover be covered by about 2,500 people in total (I was at 2 from 4, one of my mates was at a different 2 from 4 etc) so add them to the 1,000 regulars and your up to 3,500. Give or take a few hundred here or there and thats how I reckon you need to have 3 points at least to be getting one here, basically Italy away and a couple of the others which didn't include the smaller games.

Might be a ballot for 3 points but I reckon a (very) large % of 3 pointers would get tickets then.

[bonehead]

Pretty much what I thought. I'm on 2, so maybe a slim chance in a ballot. I'd always been led to believe that we had to get 10% so I thought I'd be ok, but obviously that's not the case. I'll look into ways of getting a ticket for the home end, otherwise I'll just need to find a good pub somewhere in Paris.

[Winrew]

The thing is though, the French FA don't give a fuck, they know all the tickets will be sold even with daft prices

I bet they wouldnt charge the same prices if it was a less well supported team , robbing sods.

[all_funkt_up]

England are worse.

[Wittmann 44]

No offence Crowie but you’re being a bit naïve here not to expect the French FA to do what is best for itself and not for Scottish fans. They know that they can charge silly prices because Scottish fans will pay silly prices. As part of their finance role is maximising revenue if they feel they can get any extra amounts then they are bound to look after their own interests as best they can – the additional amount on the 1,200 tickets comes to a very tidy £49,200. You'd expect any business to do the exact same thing. Shunting that for example back into French grass roots football can only be a good thing for French football if not for your pocket. I’m sure a meeting was held somewhere and they wondered how much the Scottish fans would pay and this was the figure they reached. They probably could have charged more if what you say re numbers is true.
fficeffice" />
It is supply and demand in action. Football seats are a commodity as much as gold, silver etc. Maybe if Scottish fans voted with their feet and stayed away from this game they might get a better deal in future games.
The day when football fans start acting as consumers rather than blindly shelling out cash for overpricd jerseys, satellite subscriptions and ticket prices is the day they’ll start getting a better deal from the footballing authorities not just in France but worldwide. It was very noticeable how quickly ticket prices in ffice:smarttags" />England changed for clubs this season that were showing drops in their crowds.

Incidentally the word “rip off” in your post title implies something dishonest – there’s nothing dishonest in changing prices that are not controlled. It might be morally dubious and extremely bad value for the consumer but it is not a “rip off”. You the consumer has to make a conscious decision to purchase or not purchase a ticket based on your own financial circumstances and what you feel is value. I sold something on ebay last month for 3 times more than the average selling price because 2 people bidding against each other were foolish enough and impatient enough not to wait for a better deal – did I rip the final buyer off? Hardly. If anything he “ripped” himself off.

[crowie]

Originally Posted by Wittmann 44

No offence Crowie but you’re being a bit naïve here not to expect the French FA to do what is best for itself and not for Scottish fans. They know that they can charge silly prices because Scottish fans will pay silly prices. As part of their finance role is maximising revenue if they feel they can get any extra amounts then they are bound to look after their own interests as best they can – the additional amount on the 1,200 tickets comes to a very tidy £49,200. You'd expect any business to do the exact same thing. Shunting that for example back into French grass roots football can only be a good thing for French football if not for your pocket. I’m sure a meeting was held somewhere and they wondered how much the Scottish fans would pay and this was the figure they reached. They probably could have charged more if what you say re numbers is true.
fficeffice" />
It is supply and demand in action. Football seats are a commodity as much as gold, silver etc. Maybe if Scottish fans voted with their feet and stayed away from this game they might get a better deal in future games.
The day when football fans start acting as consumers rather than blindly shelling out cash for overpricd jerseys, satellite subscriptions and ticket prices is the day they’ll start getting a better deal from the footballing authorities not just in France but worldwide. It was very noticeable how quickly ticket prices in ffice:smarttags" />England changed for clubs this season that were showing drops in their crowds.

Incidentally the word “rip off” in your post title implies something dishonest – there’s nothing dishonest in changing prices that are not controlled. It might be morally dubious and extremely bad value for the consumer but it is not a “rip off”. You the consumer has to make a conscious decision to purchase or not purchase a ticket based on your own financial circumstances and what you feel is value. I sold something on ebay last month for 3 times more than the average selling price because 2 people bidding against each other were foolish enough and impatient enough not to wait for a better deal – did I rip the final buyer off? Hardly. If anything he “ripped” himself off.

Ehhh, thanks for the economics lecture

I am not saying I expected to get in cheaply but 120 Euro is a rip off.

If, as you pointed out, the FFR had a long hard think about ticket prices and how they could maximise their profit then surely they would have made the pricing similar for the France v Italy game. You know, last September, the repeat of the World Cup final, in Stade De France, France desperate for revenge, a GUARANTEED sell out.....ohh and top price of 75 Euro a ticket.

Hey, if they were the economics experts that you seem to think they are then why didn't they bump up every ticket by 25 Euro, they would have still sold out, and make, mmmm, let me think, ohhh yeah, an extra 2m Euro. Where was their "maximising revenue" and "looking after their own interests" then?

The word rip off is in the title because they are ripping us off. Rip off, among many other things can mean "exploit" and thats what exactly they are doing here, ripping us off, exploiting us as they know we want tickets.

[Wittmann 44]

Ehhh, thanks for the economics lecture

fficeffice" />
Sorry if you think I was patronising you. It wasn’t my intention.

If, as you pointed out, the FFR had a long hard think about ticket prices and how they could maximise their profit then surely they would have made the pricing similar for the ffice:smarttags" />France v Italy game.

I’d suspect that the average Italian football fan would balk at paying out £120. Scottish fans are as fanatical as it gets in Europe in terms of supporting their team and I would think the average Scottish fan has probably more disposable income than the average Italian fan.

Hey, if they were the economics experts that you seem to think they are then why didn't they bump up every ticket by 25 Euro, they would have still sold out, and make, mmmm, let me think, ohhh yeah, an extra 2m Euro.

You’re putting words in my mouth here. I didn’t say anywhere they were economics experts. I’d suspect someone probably after the event realised that like you say they probably should have charged an extra 25 Euros a ticket and that after that horse had bolted so to speak they decided to jack up the ticket prices on the additional tickets. Personally speaking I’ve little time for the French and I’d rarely suggest anything efficient at all in the way they do their business. I think what they’re doing in the long run is incredibly stupid and just storing up bad feeling. I’m a great believer in what goes around, comes around so hopefully the French FA will get some payback.

The word rip off is in the title because they are ripping us off.

Rip off is in the eye of the beholder in my opinion. Using the word “exploited” in terms of being overcharged on a ticket that you are willing to pay for is over the top. People working for a $ a day might be exploited. I don’t think you are.

For what its worth I think they’re taking the piss and you’ve every right to be aggrieved. Surely though the fans and the SFA should be doing something about it rather than getting worked up and still going? If I was as annoyed as you are about say the price of a Wimbeldon ticket I wouldn’t pay no matter how badly I wanted to go.

[crowie]

No problems with the "patronising" bit, I was just in a mood yesterday afternoon

Going back to the France v Italy game though, there wasn't a lot of Italian fans there AFAIK, they rarely travel in big numbers, but the French sold out, and were always likely to. My point was that if FFR had wanted to make extra money/more money then they could have set the ticket prices higher (say 25 Euro like I mentioned) and I don't doubt would have still sold out. If your going to pay 75 Euro, you will pay 100 Euro.

That would have been the ideal game to make a bit extra money if they had wanted to, making an extra £50k from Scottish fans is small fry in comparison.

The other annoying thing is they got nearly 5,000 tickets for Hampden, when we only needed to give them about 2,500, and were charged a flat £25, same as Scotland end, across the board. It was my understanding that there is usually a "gentlemans agreement" on these sort of things ie we give you 5,000, you give us 5,000 for the return. The French have backed out of that in this case as far as I can see.

The SFA have noted their displeasure at the French pricing but they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They need the extra tickets as there is demand but if they had turned them down due to the cost then they would have had umpteen moanings about why didn't they take the extra tickets.

The other way we are caught is that the vast majority of us have already booked hotels and paid for flights. You try and do this as early as possible to get the best deal, cheapest flights. If you hung around until ticket prices were announced then you would be screwed on flight costs.

It would be good, as a matter of principle, if we told them to stick their tickets, no one turned up but thats never going to happen as there is always someone who will pay. Plus its not very good economic sense to write off £150+ in flights and hotels because tickets are £82. Basically we have to buy them otherwise the only people who are out of pocket are ourselves, thats the grating thing about the whole issue.

[crowie]

French end tickets went on sale on Monday, starting at 20 Euros a pop. Soon sold out though, seems like everyone who is going from Scotland bought one Will either be one empty stadium if they don't let TA in the French end or one heaving stadium, with Scotland fans everywhere.

Just bought 3 40 Euro tickets myself, still considering whether to apply for their overpriced 120 Euro tickets for the Scotland end.