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Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Gwreck Apr 12 2011 12:33 PM

Nothing major but the kind of things that make you shake your head in frustration. 1. Ticket service charges. The Mets very quietly added ANOTHER service charge if you buy tickets on the internet or over the phone. Let's say one wants to buy two Promenade Reserved Tickets (the cheapest ones in the park) for Tuesday, May 3rd against the Giants. Breaking it down: 2 tickets at $12/each = $24 Per-ticket fee: $3/each = $6 "Order fee": $5/order = $5 "Delivery fee: $4 for mail = $4 Total charge for your two $12 tickets is $39. That's right, buy 2 tickets for the price of 3. The new (and particularly offensive) charge, in case you missed it, is the "Order Fee." That's right, you now have to pay the Mets an additional $5 for the privilege of buying tickets from them. The per-ticket "service fee" and the "delivery charge" aren't enough -- you now also have to hand over $5 just for the hell of it. 2. Gate Opening Times and Batting Practice The Mets used to have one of the most fan-friendly policies in the league in this regard, opening the Rotunda gate -- and Gate C at Shea -- two and one-half hours prior to first pitch. At Shea, if you wanted to show up at 4:40 PM for that evening's game, you could watch the Mets starters take batting practice from the field level. When we moved to Citi Field, the gate opening time remained, but you were no longer allowed on the field level (except in the LF and RF corners) to watch batting practice. Now, for 2011? Gate opening times have changed, and gates only open two hours prior to first pitch. The practical effect is that fans can no longer see the Mets starters take BP -- only the Mets subs and opposing team will be hitting by the time fans are allowed in.

Ceetar Apr 12 2011 12:40 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

supposedly the gates only open 3 hours before the game now, as opposed to four (parking lot gates that is) the order fee was always there. The delivery charge is new though. The real annoying change is that they priced Brooklyn Brewery out of the stadium. They can no longer afford to provide their specialty beers to the four food stands in CF. [url]http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/2011/04/11/the-mets-and-brooklyn-brewery/ Which means the only localish beer is Blue Point's one tap at Catch of the Day. No other local NY taps at Citi Field.

Ashie62 Apr 12 2011 12:45 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Citifield is still sitting on an Indian burial ground.

Gwreck Apr 12 2011 12:45 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Ceetar wrote: the order fee was always there. The delivery charge is new though. I believe you have it backwards.

Willets Point Apr 12 2011 12:48 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Gwreck wrote: The practical effect is that fans can no longer see the Mets starters take BP -- only the Mets subs and opposing team will be hitting by the time fans are allowed in. It's to build the batters' confidence. No one wants to be booed while they're whiffing in BP.

Ceetar Apr 12 2011 01:01 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Gwreck wrote: Ceetar wrote: the order fee was always there. The delivery charge is new though. I believe you have it backwards. nope. 3/2/10 I paid a per ticket fee, an a $5 order fee. no delivery fee. Same on 3/8/9 I don't appear to have purchased internet tickets in 2008 (had a 15 game pack) Although I paid no order fee on the playoffs, but a $12 per ticket fee. I would've been sitting in section 12 of the Loge, row E. not bad. ($55+$12 for division series) in 2007 my per ticket fee was a quarter less and the order fee only $4.50 2006 per ticket playoff fee was only $10. in 2005 there appears to be no per ticket fee, and the per order fee was $3. that seems to be as far back as my emails go.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 12 2011 01:03 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Ashie62 wrote: Citifield is still sitting on an Indian burial ground. Huh! I thought it was sitting on the Shea Stadium parking lot!

Ceetar Apr 12 2011 01:05 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

ooh, found one from 2004 total Convenience Fee for 6 seats $30.00 $2.5 order fee

Willets Point Apr 12 2011 01:08 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ashie62 wrote: Citifield is still sitting on an Indian burial ground. Huh! I thought it was sitting on the Shea Stadium parking lot! The Mets were 2-1 against the Indians at Shea with a composite score of 14-13. A good job, but I wouldn't say that they really buried the Indians.

Ashie62 Apr 12 2011 01:16 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Well Played McBain.

Gwreck Apr 12 2011 01:17 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Ceetar wrote: 3/2/10 I paid a per ticket fee, an a $5 order fee. no delivery fee. Thanks for the clarification. My recollection (perhaps faulty) is that the order fee at that time varied based on the delivery method (it was different for print-at-home, vs. ballpark pickup vs. mail), as opposed to being the fixed $5/order that is is now, with the additional charge for mail, print-at-home, or UPS, etc. --- My takeaway of the added ticket charges, later ballpark opening times (and also later parking lot opening times) is an attempt to lower costs and raise revenues due to the financial problems the team is having.

Ceetar Apr 12 2011 01:21 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Gwreck wrote: Ceetar wrote: 3/2/10 I paid a per ticket fee, an a $5 order fee. no delivery fee. Thanks for the clarification. My recollection (perhaps faulty) is that the order fee at that time varied based on the delivery method (it was different for print-at-home, vs. ballpark pickup vs. mail), as opposed to being the fixed $5/order that is is now, with the additional charge for mail, print-at-home, or UPS, etc. --- My takeaway of the added ticket charges, later ballpark opening times (and also later parking lot opening times) is an attempt to lower costs and raise revenues due to the financial problems the team is having. I vaguely remember free to ship, but 2.5 to print, but I think that was in addition to the order fee? I only have the receipts, so don't know what my selections were. I know the per ticket fee varies based on seating location. A lot of this is MLB-issue, and it's why they can get away with not charging you those fees at the box office because there are different rules.

Gwreck Apr 12 2011 01:49 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

A lot of this is MLB-issue, and it's why they can get away with not charging you those fees at the box office because there are different rules. Not really. Advance single-game baseball ticket sales are handled by one of three different ways: 1. Team has a contract with Ticketmaster, Inc. for internet/phone sales. Ticketmaster gets the exclusive right to sell tickets at their stadium in exchange for a big bag of cash. Ticketmaster then gets to keep all of the surcharge and order fee revenue. Ticketmaster profits by collecting more in fees than they pay for the contract to the team. There are fifteen major league teams that use Ticketmaster. 2. Team sells their internet/phone tickets through Tickets.com. There is similar exclusivity (Tickets.com is the only internet/phone seller) but Tickets.com is owned by MLB Advanced Media, who collects the ticket fees and then distributes them to the selling club. There are twelve teams that have this method; it is speculated that once the Ticketmaster teams' contracts are up, they will move to this method. 3. Team sells their internet/phone tickets in-house, using a ticket system developed by the Paciolan Company. The three MLB teams that use this method are the Padres, Phillies and the Mets. The team purchases (or licenses) the ticket-selling software made by Paciolan and then uses it to sell the tickets directly. There are startup/license costs but the team can set their service-charge prices and then keep all of the money for themselves. The team can make out like a bandit in this case, as things are kept in-house. This isn't a secret; Paciolan advertises this specifically, noting that "Paciolan’s solutions will benefit you by empowering you to significantly increase ticket and transactional fee revenue." --- The takeaway, of course, is that when the ticket fees and surcharges on Mets tickets are raised, it's not because an evil corporation like Ticketmaster or MLB is doing it, it's because they themselves are trying to put more $$ in their pockets in a backdoor method (rather that simply raising the face-value of the tickets).

TransMonk Apr 12 2011 01:57 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

I think they would stand to lose money in concessions and merchandise by not opening the gates until later. Either way, it's dumb. BP is one of the best things about going to the game.

Ceetar Apr 12 2011 01:58 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Hmm, but I thought everything handled through the website is handled by MLB? Isn't that why the Mets require the season tickets holders that get fees waived and 10% discounts and all that to actually call the ticket office versus processing it online?

Gwreck Apr 12 2011 02:08 PM Re: Minor Annoying Changes Afoot at Citi Field

Ceetar wrote: Hmm, but I thought everything handled through the website is handled by MLB? Isn't that why the Mets require the season tickets holders that get fees waived and 10% discounts and all that to actually call the ticket office versus processing it online? Nope. While MLB Advanced Media runs every team's website generally, they don't control the ticketing except for the 13 clubs that sell through the Tickets.com platform. --- The Mets' waiving of fees for single-game purchaes by season ticket holders is at their discretion, and they can do it because they're the ones charging the fee. The reason you have to call to get that benefit as a season-ticket holder is that the Mets and Paciolan can't or haven't been able to implement a way for that to be done online. The ticket rep on the phone can override the charges when you call, the same way that they can pick and choose specific seats for you, rather that just taking the "best available" option at the online purchase point.