Membership Deal

[IanM]

When I first saw the thread title, I thought there's no way they'll have @Crazyface in Royal Cinq Ports!

 

[Crazyface]

Just a fact of life I'm afraid

Not a betting guy but I’d wager a pkt of pink castles you are already paying more for products than other blokes. Whether its insurance, sky, smartphone, holidays or just a cheeky wee nandos etc etc etc, someone you know is getting a better deal

And whatever club you go to next... someone will be on a better deal

I'll wager they are not. I'm the king of deals.

 

[Crazyface]

I’d feel the same with sky, mobile phones, insurance etc, and would gladly chop and change companies every year if it was cheaper. But not golf membership and especially if I’d previously benefitted from a similar introductory offer. I mean, they’re not doing it to make more money, they’re offering it in the hope that they’ll stay, enjoy the club and sign up for another year.

Part of me thinks you’re on a wind up here.

Nope. If the course was as good as it was when I first joined 10 years ago I would be glad to cough up but unfortunately it's not. See I've added another variable in. Sorry.

 

[LincolnShep]

Ten years! You've been there ten years and you're upset that they're offering introductory deals? Sorry, but in my opinion, that's bizarre. Are the friendships you've established over that time not worth anything to you?

 

[Crazyface]

Noooooooo. I was there ten years ago, left due to course problems, went elsewhere but came back due to problems at other place. Love the course, but it really struggles for members. When it' was good 10+ years ago it was awesome, but now it's a shadow of what it could be. Many have left due to this and the difficulty of the course.

 

[Orikoru]

Noooooooo. I was there ten years ago, left due to course problems, went elsewhere but came back due to problems at other place. Love the course, but it really struggles for members. When it' was good 10+ years ago it was awesome, but now it's a shadow of what it could be. Many have left due to this and the difficulty of the course.

It struggles for members, but when they do a special offer to attract more, you're up in arms? You really are a baffling person.

 

[Crazyface]

As for friends, I've got very good friends there but to part with best part of a grand because your mates play there..... I play golf to enjoy my golf and I can't do this knowing others are there paying less. Have you seen adverts for this type of thing? It's what they play on. They can offer a cheaper deal, so you can feel smug and the other,s feel annoyed at your good and savvy saving

 

[Crazyface]

It struggles for members, but when they do a special offer to attract more, you're up in arms? You really are a baffling person.

Golly. Really? You like paying more for something other get for less? If the off was to take them to the renewal time, April, then I'd be all for it, great idea. Get them in see if they like the course they get six months on a cheap rate and then we hopefully retain them in April on full rates. But a 20 month deal??? That is alarming. And shows the club finances are not where they should be.

 

[Orikoru]

Golly. Really? You like paying more for something other get for less? If the off was to take them to the renewal time, April, then I'd be all for it, great idea. Get them in see if they like the course they get six months on a cheap rate and then we hopefully retain them in April on full rates. But a 20 month deal??? That is alarming. And shows the club finances are not where they should be.

Your club is struggling so badly they need to do special offers to get new members in - and your first thought is to try and make it worse for them and better for yourself? If I was in your shoes I'd be happy enough as long as my sub doesn't go up by a huge amount. If I can keep paying the same then it's no skin off my nose, and I don't really care what they have to offer anyone else to get more people through the door.

 

[simsini]

Golly. Really? You like paying more for something other get for less? If the off was to take them to the renewal time, April, then I'd be all for it, great idea. Get them in see if they like the course they get six months on a cheap rate and then we hopefully retain them in April on full rates. But a 20 month deal??? That is alarming. And shows the club finances are not where they should be.

Would you rather they offered no deals at all, considering their financial position, and they subsequently went bankrupt?

 

[IanM]

Would you rather they offered no deals at all, considering their financial position, and they subsequently went bankrupt?

That's what I was thinking. Trying to drum up new business might be the difference between having a golf course and not having a golf course.

Although "cheap intro offer" members tend to jump clubs if the deal ends!

 

[Slab]

Golly. Really? You like paying more for something other get for less? If the off was to take them to the renewal time, April, then I'd be all for it, great idea. Get them in see if they like the course they get six months on a cheap rate and then we hopefully retain them in April on full rates. But a 20 month deal??? That is alarming. And shows the club finances are not where they should be.

0ften its the market that will dictate the strength of the offer at any particular time. Sometimes an offer for say 3 or 6 month just isn’t gonna cut it meaning something better has to be offered

Or it may be that a stronger limited time offer works better than a smaller offer running for weeks i.e offer a 20 months deal but it expires in 7 days so must grab it now, then the club can quickly revert to its standard pricing instead of making smaller offers available month after month
(look at the sofa/kitchen/carpet sales that seem ever-present because the retailer doesn’t actually want all its peak sales to come in a single month, it couldn’t cope with supply)

A golf club type of business might get wind of an opportunity to attract a good number of members in a very short space of time but they need to react with a strong offer before that windows closes

 

[Robster59]

Yes, yes I realise that I'm being a bit (lot) selfish. But really would you honestly pay more for any product that you knew a bloke next door got cheaper?

Yes, it happens all the time. Lots of companies provide an introductory offer to get people in, and then the prices go up to normal afterwards. It happened with my Audible account for example, or new subscribers to Sky, Netflix, Prime, etc.
The issue I would have is not the offer, but the length of the offer. 20 months seems crazy long and is more likely to tick off existing members.
It sounds like the club is desperate for new members and is trying to get more in. The nett result of this is normally that they take in transient members who will join on the special deal and then go elsewhere when a better deal offers iteself. A bit like yourself really.

 

[Crazyface]

Yes, it happens all the time. Lots of companies provide an introductory offer to get people in, and then the prices go up to normal afterwards. It happened with my Audible account for example, or new subscribers to Sky, Netflix, Prime, etc.
The issue I would have is not the offer, but the length of the offer. 20 months seems crazy long and is more likely to tick off existing members.
It sounds like the club is desperate for new members and is trying to get more in. The nett result of this is normally that they take in transient members who will join on the special deal and then go elsewhere when a better deal offers iteself. A bit like yourself really.

Exactly !!!

 

[Robster59]

Exactly !!!

So what's your issue? You know the score, you play the same game. Stay or go.

 

[DPapas1982]

Hang on, 35 people are joining the club en masse and you are upset with their "special treatmeant0=). I'd wager that over the 20 months they are gonna be worth in excess of £50k to the club, but no, lets make sure all individuals get the same. Economy's of scale work in every industry.

Do you buy your bogroll from the factory to save a few quid now that's gone up in price?

 

[HeftyHacker]

Do you buy your bogroll from the factory to save a few quid now that's gone up in price?

Don't give him ideas!

 

[richbeech]

If you play golf thinking about how much someone else has paid for their membership compared to you and worried you’ve not got the best deal then I’d suggest membership golf is not for you. Try looking on tee off times.

 

[JayB]

You say the standard has dropped from 10 years ago, ever thought the money generated from this kind of offer could help the club return to these levels?

Also I get the concern regarding transient members who just follow the deals but I see a 20-month offer as more of a calculated risk, hoping a number of the new members develop strong ties at the club over a longer period of time and end up staying.

 

[Crazyface]

Strange how saving money stirs up so much in people on here. Yet, I know for a fact people are quick to announce they have saved money by buying X from another supplier, be it food, ,car tax, cars, petrol, etc etc. But say that a person is expected to pay more for their golf than others and it's a race to condemn. The extra dosh is apparently required to cover mismanagement of funds and subs for this year. There has been discussion amongst member about this, and I'm not in the minority at my club. Yet again it's the absence of information from the new committee about this that's the biggest problem. The extra cash will only keep the place afloat, not pay for much needed work to at least tidy the course up. A few simple drainage bits of work would help the course, but nothing ever gets done until it's too late and members have gone to never return. I actually have returned but have been bitterly disappointed with things, far too many to mention, but the lads have made me feel part of the place again, and I would like nothing better than if it did get back to where it was years ago, but I fear this will not happen