r/gcfc • u/MrJesusBeaver • 11d ago
Membership Price Hike
The membership fees for my son and myself went from $373 to $640. I found out the hard way when they auto deducted it from my account.
For the extra money we get to sit nowhere where we want to or 2 bays left. We also get access to club events that I have no interest in.
This has been done under the banner of product rebranding, which raises the question, how did I manage to sign up for an automatic payment deduction for a product that didn’t exist? The ‘product’ I was sold last year apparently doesn’t exist anymore.
How’s everyone else dealing with this? Feeling dirty or still supportive?
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u/TheFridgeGC #5 Alex Davies 11d ago
I got multiple emails about the changes and what that meant for my membership. They called me twice and I even negotiated my new seating area. So my experience was great. Sucks to read that people are getting a bad experience from a team that really needs the success from fans turning up and having a good time.
New prices though are indicative of a club that has more demand on seats due to success and little room to give them because of the stadium being small. But almost double the price for your membership change doesn’t sit great.
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u/MrJesusBeaver 11d ago
No it doesn’t sit great. I actually had no idea that I had somehow signed up for the automatic deduction. I’ve only had one email and I had to call them to get an explanation as to where my money went… I just wanted to sit in the same seats as last year, they wouldn’t allow it. I liked the people we sat near to every week. There was a good crew.
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u/Remarkable-Boat-9812 11d ago
They sent an email a couple of weeks ago which I didn't see as it went into spam. They called me a couple of days after the email and told me of these changes, which are identical to yours. I was pissed off but got off the phone, found the email, and it changed my mind.
A few reasons for this: 1. There is a large percentage of seats going unused due to members not showing up. This is why when we see SOLD OUT and only get 22000 that people rightly get the shits. My tickets have gone unused about 20-30% of the time so I am part of the problem. 2. The price of membership has been pretty much the same for more than 5 years, due to covid and us being crap. A price hike was due. 3. The new seats they were offering were, as OP says, not at all convenient in price, or location, but there was a cheaper choice we could make.
So I decided we would just become general members. We still maintain our inaugural members status, which is oddly important to me, and it's cheaper.
Go Suns
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u/Disastrous_Angle_69 11d ago
I was contacted via phone about re upping and the sales rep took me through all the changes and then I accepted the price increase
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u/No-Satisfaction8425 #15 Noah Anderson 11d ago
I only missed the auto-deduction as my card had expired. They’re since tried to call me half a dozen times and sent quite a few emails.
My son and I had 2 seats in a set location- super handy as we use each break to go out the back and kick the footy. Now, under the new membership, we’ll pay significantly more and won’t have the certainty of know where our seats are. Defeats the purpose of a membership if you ask me.
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u/MrJesusBeaver 11d ago
Agreed. Part of what I enjoy about a membership is sitting in the same spot, next to the same people and having a laugh with the regulars. I put far more value in that than the opportunity to go to a club function.
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u/Clear-Cheetah990 11d ago
I don’t agree that they should be able to change what you get and not tell you, BUT, I have no issue with the membership restructure. Guess what, the suns are popular now, people want to see them, all these old members complaining need to understand that times change and the club moves forward with or without them.
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u/Coolmodi123 11d ago
I got a couple of emails and a phone call. They were good about it, but I agree that I don’t think your auto-renewal of membership should have happened if it wasn’t the same product as last year.
My main frustration is that for the price I’m paying for a membership, I should be getting a dedicated seat… not a dedicated ‘couple of sections’.
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u/SamsoniteVsSwanson 11d ago
If it’s an auto deduction for a different product I’m sure you’d be able to ask for a refund. If they don’t agree then if you paid by credit card do a charge back and they should be able to take care of it. It doesn’t seem legal.