Fees going up

inthecup

inthecup

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Just had a letter through in the post informing us that our fees will be going up and we will have to pay a levy. Aparantly we dont have enough members and to make up the shortfall each member has to pay a portion of the missing fees. Could be more than £100 per member.

Now I'm all for helping the club out if its strugling but surly we should be encouraging people to join by bringing the fees down, dropping the joining fee etc. All the other clubs in the area are dropping all their prices to try and get people in.

I know of at least 7 people who say they are off if this happens.

Anyone else got these problems?
 
First time I've heard of a levy to help shore up the subs side of things. We've had a levy when we had our new clubhouse built, might even still be paying it I'm not sure.

If there is a need for a levy to shore up a dwindling membership, then there's something seriously wrong IMO.
 
Not too clever on the timing front; wait until the weather closes in, winter greens and tees are established, people are less inclined to be thinking of golf, Chistmas is weeks away.. whack up the fees. That'll keep 'em.
 
Not good news. Is the levy in the form of a bar levy on your members card or a straight additional deduction over and above the annual fees. I don't know your club but I know that if that came in at my place a lot more than 7 members would walk
 
Surely the timing is not the main factor, every golf club in the land will be issuing their subs notices for next year/season some time in the next two or three months. It just depends on when their financial year runs from.

The main issue has to be just what the levy is for and how much and for how long.
 
What course are you at, cos I got a similar letter from mine, they are rushing through changes at a hastily arranged EGM, in which they propose to introduce a Revenue Levy to make up the shortfall in income from subs. Worse still is that its only full and associate members who will have to pay.
Quite a large number of us are going to leave if its passed.
 
Just heard this week of a similar membership levy being imposed at a club in the area which is apparently struggling. The fees for new members has been reduced but the existing members have to pay any shortfall in membership numbers via a levy to which new members are excempt.

Cannot imagine that sort of scheme going down too well and could well backfire on the club.
 
Ours has went up by 3.05% We are also finally getting to vote on being allowed to wear denim in the clubhouse, funny that its only been asked to be put to vote now that funds are looking to drop with around 14 members resigning.
 
Dreadful timing. Really is a backwards panic stricken step on the face of it.
Obviously they are looking at the bottom line and seem to be taking the easy way out, which would cause me to leave unless they had tried other strategies to increase income (dropping foining fee, new member open days etc...)
 
Yes its bad news. I just dont think I could afford the additional costs or want to pay them for that matter, especially when our fees are due in Feb just after Christmas. I dont think they have thought this through properly.

Where do you play WhoGivesA? Might be the same cub.
 
IT will be interesting to see how many leave as a result of this. They'll end up with a handful of members each paying £5k!!

If this happened at mine I'd be looking elsewhere before the envelope got to the recyling bin.
 
Sounds like a crazy idea, surely levying the existing members for dwindling numbers will only make things worse. Penalising existing members for the clubs shortcomings in not recruiting new members is harsh to say the least.

How are the club going about seeking new members ? have they waived joining fee's? lowered fee's ? offered trial memberships etc ?
 
That really strikes me as a backwards idea. Surely raising fees in that way is only likely to put even more people off paying another years subs or even joining in the first place.

Why not asked those who are leaving WHY they are leaving, offer discounted membership for weekend only and maybe summer time memberships. Don't raise the cost by making existing members pay for a clubs failure to attract new members!
 
If I was going to sign up on such a basis I would certainly want some agreements in place for future benefits when the club is back up to reasonable membership levels. If I am paying extra now then I would want guaranteed discounts in the future once income reached a suitable level.

Out of interest, are the club officials given free membership for their time and if so, have they agreed to pay for the coming year as they have steered the club into this position.
 
My old club lost 90 members last season (End of September)and had to make some serious decisions. In April they dropped the joining fee to £100 and halfed the fees to £362 for the remaining 6 months. Result 114 new members!

I resigned in September so don't know how many of the 114 new or for that matter existing members left at the same time. I know the fee's have never changed for the last 3 seasons so it's not just increasing fee's that drive members off.

I understand why clubs don't want to do away with joining fee's, they feel new members are more likely to stay if they have just paid a hefty joining fee. This is right to a point, but if clubs around are not charging a fee then they don't get the new members in to start with.

Shark
 
In the current climate and given your location this is a very brave or stupid decision :mad: would walk as there are always clubs wanting new members offering no joining fees and reduced green fees for certain age groups.
I also wonder if you are snow affected which also reduces your usage of the course. Golf Monthly highlighted many ways of varying membership and fees but this revelation has got to a first. Good luck for the future I think the club will need it if to survive. :D
 
I have seen the letter in question, informing patrons that it is membership responsibility to cover any shortfall in fees caused by a lack of members.

I cannot agree that this is the way forward, particulary when many of it's members will also be under financial pressure in the current climate.

I work in sales and recognise that if a customer is thinking about going elsewhere then i have to look at incentives to keep them on board- raising their prices will hardly be effective.

Nothing has been confirmed yet i may add, but it looks grim at the moment.

I appreciate that the club finds itself in a very difficult position, but golf clubs are climbing over one another at the moment for new members. The simple fact is that the members who are not willing to contribute to the levy, which is through no fault of their own, can get far better value for their money elsewhere should this go ahead.

As mentioned, there are numerous ways to intice new members, and i feel these should have been tried first.

This all seems to be a last ditch attempt to recoup some funds and i would hate to see this backfire on a great club
 
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