Ok - Where to start!?
I was very upset reading the hurt in all the various threads on recategorisation of certain seats - particularly in the East Stand, so I picked up the phone and have been in touch with the club who I promise you, never ever meant for this to cause such distress.

They ask PLEASE, if you have had a recategorisation or large scale increase to call Supporter Services. They cant call you because under our various pseudonyms, they dont know who you are. Otherwise they would have done! But they promise they will help. Last week, unfortunately they had not been briefed and the prices were made visible before any kind of support plan had been put in place. Now they have been and they want to straighten things out.

If you remember what Edward said at the beginning of the journey which ended with the opening of Allianz Park, we have all been hoping and working for the day when we could fill the stadium to support the boys - and there was no advantage to cherry picking games. Yesterday - and other days, we have had a full stadium with no spare capacity - how amazing! Who would have thought it only three or four years ago! If you phone they will explain - and try their best to find a solution. The number is 0203 675 7200 - there are about ten people waiting to help sort this out now. I promise you all, they absolutely do care. If you cant - leave a message with your name and phone number. If they dont call you back - PM me and I will take it upon myself to talk to the club to make absolutely sure someone does.

I know it hurts - especially when Sarries are so much part of your life, as they have been of mine, and there really have been times when I have wondered why I put so much time and emotion into a rugby club! But then there are those incredible moments when we all share small - and happily now, larger successes, and sometimes disappointments too, which just can't be put into words. It is that shared experience that makes it all so special. So just give them a chance at least. Sometimes we do fall out with family members, but the reason it hurts so much is because we all care.

If there is anything you think I can do to help - PM me. I promise I will do what I can.
BS

Well done BS.

Have you put this on the SOT and SSA pages on Facebook?
If you want and are Ok with it I can do it for you.

1876

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SUPPORT Help for Heroes:
Help for Heroes

please do 1876 - if you wouldnt mind.
That's very kind.
BS

Hi BS, I've already called and been told they can do nothing until they know the intentions of those currently occupying the seats we might like to move to. We are faced with potentially moving from the 10m line to the goal line and STILL face a price rise. There is nothing the good people in the TO can do to make the way Sarries have approached this whole episode taste any better. If we can be reasonably relocated we will get over it, but IMHO this is last chance saloon and any further messing about would see me and my party give up.

Re anything you can do....well, unless you have a way of talking sense into the management so they withdraw/postpone this scheme and think of a more equitable and less disruptive way of raising prices (there have been a number of reasonable suggestions on this board) then there probably isn't anything you can do.

We were not told about this when we changed seats earlier!!

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European champions 2016 & 2017

So it transpires that the early mistakenly visible prices are exactly the same as the actual correctly visible prices.

Well I'm sure that's a great comfort to us all.

And of course no one in the club cares. They are not there to "care", they are there to do whatever the people who pay their salaries tell them to do, just as we all are.

We will lose hundreds of ST holders over this and they will be replaced by wealthy bandwagon-jumping numpties. We are going to become like a mini Twickenham.

TOKS - did you phone them?

Yes I did. We are a group of 11 that will go to 8 so we too big to re-locate.

I certainly didn't get stroppy with them though, it's not their fault.

Been in touch with Supporter services, the woman I spoke to was very polite as was I to her, but the outcome was that she could not help me and if I wanted to stay in my seats it would be £1030, all that could be offered was to go on a list to be relocated. So please could you take this up for me. I will send you my details directly if you want them. I currently have three season tickets E4 ROW D 86.87,88.
Thanks

We phoned and there are no people set aside to specifically deal with anyone who has been reclassified so I’m gonna go with my relocation seats for next season

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European champions 2016 & 2017

Dear BS et al,
This seems to get more confusing by the minute.
I tried to call, but of course, supporter Services is very busy.
I sent the following email:
"I note that the email makes reference to “…there will also be concession prices available for this season in all recategorised seats, including Gold.”
Can you please advise what “concession prices” are available to me?" And received the following response:
"Thank you for your email,

To clarify the concessions prices refers to the concessionary prices to Over 65, Under 24 for NEW Gold category seats."

So, it seems it's pay the huge increase, move as an individual, or leave!

I have emailed them.

One of the worst things about this is splitting folks up.

Whilst this has been pitched about the success of the team to most people you don't go to to just watch the team on the pitch - It's the whole social aspect as well - that is being overlooked and eroded in my opinion

I could stay where I am and foot the frankly excessive bill but there are many folks I sit with and have done so for many,many years who simply can't and are either not renewing or looking to move.

So I could stay put and have a whole new bunch of people around me or move to sit with other folks I know,but availability is looking unlikely and we certainly can 't move en mass.

I'll wait and see what they come up with.

Its good to know that because of the club's success they want to milk us for more money. Their words if not phrased so directly.

When they build their new stand and increase the number of seats in the ground they can fill it with those you walk away this season.

Shortsighted money grabbing hawks. They will make a short term money gain but will never be trusted or believed again, suppotters will walk away because of this and not come back. The base of a club is the support and team not not the administration staff, but tell that to the suit who thinks he is the club. So much with the family rubbish, if family did this to you would never talk or see them again.

A admit I feel hurt and let down by the way they have done this. They have really tainted this season for me. Don't get me wrong I love my club but it hurts when you see how much they don't give a "flip" about me and others like me.

Whether you have been a season ticket holder for 1, 5 years or 20+ you would expect more respect than this.

I don't get the point of this thread. This is re-stating the "it will be alright on Monday when you get the email, it's all a horrible misunderstanding" line. No it isn't. All the relevant information is out there now. When I phoned the club I asked specific and explicit questions, none of which were open-ended. There was no wriggle room at all. I got the answers to the questions I asked. The outcome is simple. You either cough up, move to inferior seats (if you can) or leave.

I don't even blame the club. I fully understand why this is being done. But let's just take this on the chin and for god's sake not indulge in some kind of t@rd polishing contest.

Quote:

GazzaFez
I don't get the point of this thread. This is re-stating the "it will be alright on Monday when you get the email, it's all a horrible misunderstanding" line. No it isn't. All the relevant information is out there now. When I phoned the club I asked specific and explicit questions, none of which were open-ended. There was no wriggle room at all. I got the answers to the questions I asked. The outcome is simple. You either cough up, move to inferior seats (if you can) or leave.
I don't even blame the club. I fully understand why this is being done. But let's just take this on the chin and for god's sake not indulge in some kind of t@rd polishing contest.

Absolutely I’ve just had that conversation with the ticket office. I can more to an inferior seat in Silver, go Red & Black, cough up the increase in price from silver to gold or leave

Quote:

GazzaFez
I don't get the point of this thread. This is re-stating the "it will be alright on Monday when you get the email, it's all a horrible misunderstanding" line. No it isn't. All the relevant information is out there now. When I phoned the club I asked specific and explicit questions, none of which were open-ended. There was no wriggle room at all. I got the answers to the questions I asked. The outcome is simple. You either cough up, move to inferior seats (if you can) or leave.
I don't even blame the club. I fully understand why this is being done. But let's just take this on the chin and for god's sake not indulge in some kind of t@rd polishing contest.

Absolutely I’ve just had that conversation with the ticket office. I can more to an inferior seat in Silver, go Red & Black, cough up the increase in price from silver to gold or leave

My Silver is now Gold (What Alchemy!!)

So my £450(ish)ST is now a £ 700 (ish)ST. This season I will have made it to 12 out 16 'home' games ( Inc Twickenham and West Ham), 4 were missed because of holiday, illness and being physically unable to make the rescheduled Clermont match. This level of absenteeism is likely to be the case next season. Therefore at this run rate I am being forced to pay c£58
per game attended and, to be brutally frank, Anglo Welsh games are not top class Rugby.This exacerbates the injustice even further, £ 70 pro rata per 'first' class match is EXTORTION!!!!!!!!!

I have also 'press ganged' at least seven 'non-Rugby' spectators along to 'show piece' games at Twickenham and West Ham, last season that was a dozen as we made it to Murrayfield and I have been doing this for years.

Can they see the wood for the trees?????????

Wasps would give me some "free" food and alcohol and chance to hob-nob with players in a players lounge for what Sarries want for my "platinum" seat ...

3 of us like many other STH's have re-catergorised, in our case from Gold to Platinum. obviously we are going to have to consider our position in light of the substantial increase. Whilst I am very unhappy about the price increase my real beef is about the way in which it has been handled.

I think the least we can expect is for the club to formally apologize to us for the very poor communication exercise they have carried out. This request is made to the management team responsible rather than those in supporter services trying their best.

Been onto the ticket office and I feel sorry for them. My options are to pay an extra £800 for my two “Gold Seats” and accept the fleecing. Set up a direct debit so I don’t have to pay it all once, although still fleeced. Or go into pot for “New Gold Seats” if any become available ! What idiot at Saracens thought this shambles was a good idea ? 😡😡

Reply from the club to my email for what its worth:

Thank you for your email but unfortunately at the moment due to the high demand of calls, there is no one available to ring you.

The price rises have come from the fact that over the last 5 years at Allianz Park we have seen support for Saracens grow, this has obviously been wonderful for the club but has also created scarcity particularly in the East Stand where obviously the best seats of the stadium are located. In response to this and with the future of our club firmly in mind, approximately 25% of seats in the East Stand have been recatorgorised.

These changes are part of the commitment to develop our facilities, ensure that Saracens maintain its place at the top of European rugby and provide the best match day experience for every fan.

I hope this gives you an idea as to why the increase all of a sudden.

Regards
Linda

Not sure how to take that...


We see how to make more money from your seat, the one you have held for the last 5 years.
The fact you have held the seats since before we started to really win things or even looked like winning things. But there it goes. Give us more money or say goodbye.


When the bubble bursts and the rest of the league regularly catch up us with us and we don't regularly eat from the top table the club will be so screwed because none of the "new" money they aim to get next season will stick around.

I love the club but frankly that is insulting.

I understand the sudden increase - my club is now run by shallow money grabbing creatures without the balls to talk to supporters they are turning over. I wasn't a great fan of Good Old Ed Griffiths but at least he would talk to us and not hide behind Supporter Services.

I give up screw the lot of them. They win I'm beaten.

I think any club with any sort of competence would have sent an email out two months ago notifying people of changes afoot
If they had done that they could have also offered to try & relocate people who wished to move,and also helped groups continue to sit together
I find the timing of this incredible....to create so much discontent amongst supporters when most important few weeks of season are upon us...incompetence of highest order!

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European champions 2016 & 2017