I had to let my rep know im not wanting to renew without some assurances of some improvements to things, mostly off the court.
When i first became a season ticket holder, everything was paper. A hard pass with a lanyard to put around the neck and scan in when entering a physical parking pass could hang from my mirror, to low quick entry into the parking lots.
Over time, with everything going digital and their merge with ticketmaster, these went away in favor of apps to access these tickets and passes. There are some benefits to this: a larger pool to sell tickets to, no longer a need to carry extra things around or potential to lose them.
But it felt kind of special to walk around with a pass around my neck.
The negatives, however, have far outweighed the positives in my opinion. The app is largely inconsistent, at times not updating or allowing the ability to provide the details of the seats when wanting to sell them, which is crucial in selling tickets at certain prices. I have end of isle, middle court, with no one in front of me. Those details are important and when not being able to provide them, it detracts potential buyers Nd i know I've lost money due to it, having to sell at a lower price than i could have got if those details were clear.
Anyone who attends games knows how bad traffic is around the moda on game nights. The digital parking pass has now contributed to this. One must either pull up the app on the phone while driving, to get the parking pass out, or wait until they pull into the entry aNd then open it up and get to the pass to scan. This is a huge negative to me. Either you have to drive unsafe in heavy traffic, or you add to the traffic backup turning into the parking lot, further impacting the traffic on the road as lines back up.
Combining these with what feels like less value in the perks compared to years past, have led to a very hard decision. Gifts like tshirts, bobbleheads, etc, have diminished as well as the quality of the annual gift. just look at the 100pt game perk now having to be a buy something first to get something free. It used to just be free. All of these cost cutting decisions have left me feeling not valued as a loyal season ticket holder.
But really. The biggest issue to me is the app being inconsistent and unstable, and the parking pass issue.
After several discussion with my rep, I have been reassured that there will be an improved focus in the IT department to provide a more stable platform to access tickets snd info. The app has just been horribly inconsistent this year. I have been basically promised this will nit continue into next year.
She is working on the parking pass with the powers that be to see what can be don't. Point blank is it is unsafe or adds considerably to the traffic issues.
With these assurances, I have decided to renew.
I have great seats and don't want to lose them, plus i have built up loyal discounts i also don't want to lose.
I did find out i was wrong and that i did not have a ticket cost increase this year, but they also didn't go down snd I am still paying $45 per seat, without a discount for the poor play on the court.
It was a tough decision for me, and my decision is largely based on my faith that some things will be improved going into next season.
I will close with this last annoyance. I do not like that I have to make that decision before this season ends and a direction for the future is not established.
This was glaring to me when i renewed last year based on the team and Joe saying they were going to try to build a contender around Dame. Whether possible or not, they sold that direction. Then i renewed. Then they completely changed. As a customer, I felt betrayed as if it was a form of false advertising. We should have the ability to renew after the season is over Nd free agency has begun, so we can see the moves the team makes to know what they are doing. Forcing us to renew in the middle of the season, to me is a bunch of crap.
My rep has always been good even when slow to respond. But I feel the upper management just sees me as a number to make money off of and nothing more.
