Wednesday, October 19, 2016
A Letter to the Senators
First world problems indeed. I sent this to the Senators today. I sense in general terms, the fan base feels the team isn't really listening to them and makes a lot of decisions without considering how it would affect them:
I am writing this to you to share some experiences I've had in the last few months as a fan and former season seat owner of the Ottawa Senators. A friend of mine took me to last night's Coyotes' game and I was shocked to see the attendance at just over 11,000 fans. I don't think since the days of playing at the Civic Centre has it been that low. Because of this, I thought I'd write to tell you a handful of things that occurred to me as a customer and fan of the team and perhaps use my experiences to improve fan relations.
I bought a 20 game flex package in the Sport Chek zone last season. The price was really good, and I liked the flexibility of choosing your own games. I don't mind not getting to see all the "premium" games on the schedule, for the most part picking games that fit my schedule is more important. In any case, when the season ticket renewal campaign started in February/March, I was contacted by an agent about renewing for next year. When I expressed interest in renewing the flex pack, that's when I was informed this option is no longer available in the Sport Chek zone, the reason being that this section "is already discounted". I said "Oh, okay". The agent told me that the flex package was instead replaced by a 10 game pack game. This 10 game pack, however, was not available in the Sport Chek zone either. The agent suggested I can look at the sections that are available and make a decision.
I ended up not buying any more tickets for next year. From this call, and I never really thought about it until now, how come:
1) I wasn't given advanced notice that my flex package would not be available until this phone call?
2) The agent never suggested similarly priced options?
When I went to the website, I was frustrated that the 10 game pack or flex package (I'm actually confused about this point, because the flex package appears to be available and I don't see a 10 game pack option now) didn't appear to be available at similar prices, or at least one that I could find. So I didn't buy any.
Now once the Alfredsson retirement night game was announced, this renewed my excitement for the season and I wanted to go to that game. But I was disappointed to learn you had to become a 1/2 or full season ticket holder to be able to go, and no single tickets would be available. Any chance of me buying a flex pack/10 game pack ended because now you were telling me I couldn't pick a game that I wanted to go to, and I can't commit financially/time wise to being a 1/2 season or full season ticket holder (one day I hope to, but I can't for the moment). I certainly could understand a restriction such as if you buy a 20 game flex package, maybe you're limited to 2 tickets for the Alfie game, but being shut out altogether, I felt that my patronage isn't needed or wanted.
So I ended up dropping about $280 to buy a ticket on Stubhub to see this game, which is roughly 1/2 of my Sens ticket budget for a season. I will probably go to a few more games but not as many as I did last year. I only hope the ticket I bought won't turn out to be a fake as this is the first time \I've used StubHub, but I can't help but think sending money to this anonymous seller would have been better served being sent to the team. (I do see you now offer an 11 game Alfie pack, some of the games I would have been able to go to, some not, but I already bought a Stubhub ticket anyway).
My last experience I want to share with you revolves around your request to fans to send in items to donate or loan for the 25th anniversary of the team. Despite sending my item suggestion months ago, I still haven't heard one way or another if my item has been accepted. A few weeks after I sent my submission, I replied to a Facebook ad about this stating I hadn't heard anything. The person responded saying they have hundreds of items to review but they'll get back to me. At the end of July or August, I did get an email saying they have my submission and they'll let me know. As of today, I still haven't heard anything. I really shouldn't be too upset about it, and if the item (a goal puck scored by Cody Ceci from the Heritage Classic in Vancouver) isn't wanted that's okay, but I was willing to give you an item I paid about $250 US dollars for, and I'm having issues giving this to the team! I want to pay money for tickets, \I want to give you items from my collection...but it's been difficult for me to do so.
I hope you seriously look at my feedback and use it to help make the Senators give their fans the best experience possible.
- SBP
p.s. Hearing President Cyril Leeder state the team isn't considering TD Place as an option for an outdoor game if Parliament Hill doesn't work was deflating. No one expects team to win the Stanley Cup soon, so an outdoor game would be a very exciting game for fans to look forward to to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the very first NHL game played. Not going to TD Place for political reasons only hurts your fan base. Please, don't throw away an opportunity to create a memory that would last forever for Sens fans. Whether on the Hill or on Bank St, please make it happen.
I am writing this to you to share some experiences I've had in the last few months as a fan and former season seat owner of the Ottawa Senators. A friend of mine took me to last night's Coyotes' game and I was shocked to see the attendance at just over 11,000 fans. I don't think since the days of playing at the Civic Centre has it been that low. Because of this, I thought I'd write to tell you a handful of things that occurred to me as a customer and fan of the team and perhaps use my experiences to improve fan relations.
I bought a 20 game flex package in the Sport Chek zone last season. The price was really good, and I liked the flexibility of choosing your own games. I don't mind not getting to see all the "premium" games on the schedule, for the most part picking games that fit my schedule is more important. In any case, when the season ticket renewal campaign started in February/March, I was contacted by an agent about renewing for next year. When I expressed interest in renewing the flex pack, that's when I was informed this option is no longer available in the Sport Chek zone, the reason being that this section "is already discounted". I said "Oh, okay". The agent told me that the flex package was instead replaced by a 10 game pack game. This 10 game pack, however, was not available in the Sport Chek zone either. The agent suggested I can look at the sections that are available and make a decision.
I ended up not buying any more tickets for next year. From this call, and I never really thought about it until now, how come:
1) I wasn't given advanced notice that my flex package would not be available until this phone call?
2) The agent never suggested similarly priced options?
When I went to the website, I was frustrated that the 10 game pack or flex package (I'm actually confused about this point, because the flex package appears to be available and I don't see a 10 game pack option now) didn't appear to be available at similar prices, or at least one that I could find. So I didn't buy any.
Now once the Alfredsson retirement night game was announced, this renewed my excitement for the season and I wanted to go to that game. But I was disappointed to learn you had to become a 1/2 or full season ticket holder to be able to go, and no single tickets would be available. Any chance of me buying a flex pack/10 game pack ended because now you were telling me I couldn't pick a game that I wanted to go to, and I can't commit financially/time wise to being a 1/2 season or full season ticket holder (one day I hope to, but I can't for the moment). I certainly could understand a restriction such as if you buy a 20 game flex package, maybe you're limited to 2 tickets for the Alfie game, but being shut out altogether, I felt that my patronage isn't needed or wanted.
So I ended up dropping about $280 to buy a ticket on Stubhub to see this game, which is roughly 1/2 of my Sens ticket budget for a season. I will probably go to a few more games but not as many as I did last year. I only hope the ticket I bought won't turn out to be a fake as this is the first time \I've used StubHub, but I can't help but think sending money to this anonymous seller would have been better served being sent to the team. (I do see you now offer an 11 game Alfie pack, some of the games I would have been able to go to, some not, but I already bought a Stubhub ticket anyway).
My last experience I want to share with you revolves around your request to fans to send in items to donate or loan for the 25th anniversary of the team. Despite sending my item suggestion months ago, I still haven't heard one way or another if my item has been accepted. A few weeks after I sent my submission, I replied to a Facebook ad about this stating I hadn't heard anything. The person responded saying they have hundreds of items to review but they'll get back to me. At the end of July or August, I did get an email saying they have my submission and they'll let me know. As of today, I still haven't heard anything. I really shouldn't be too upset about it, and if the item (a goal puck scored by Cody Ceci from the Heritage Classic in Vancouver) isn't wanted that's okay, but I was willing to give you an item I paid about $250 US dollars for, and I'm having issues giving this to the team! I want to pay money for tickets, \I want to give you items from my collection...but it's been difficult for me to do so.
I hope you seriously look at my feedback and use it to help make the Senators give their fans the best experience possible.
- SBP
p.s. Hearing President Cyril Leeder state the team isn't considering TD Place as an option for an outdoor game if Parliament Hill doesn't work was deflating. No one expects team to win the Stanley Cup soon, so an outdoor game would be a very exciting game for fans to look forward to to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the very first NHL game played. Not going to TD Place for political reasons only hurts your fan base. Please, don't throw away an opportunity to create a memory that would last forever for Sens fans. Whether on the Hill or on Bank St, please make it happen.
# posted by SBP : 11:44 AM
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