The end of free Thursday FOS tickets
Discussion
No ideas for a name said:
Martin315 said:
Suspect they will just brazen it out and replace those members who chose not to renew with more mugs.
You know those special tin cups with MM80 printed on them? This year they are going to do a series with our faces on.As Lincoln said:
“You can fool some of the people [GRRC] all of the time, and all of the people [GRRC and Fellowship] some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”.
The chickens are coming home to roost, Sarah Goodwood, Ian Wegg and friends, if you don’t sort this out. Hubris, Ratner, arrogance, complacency, call it what you will. It’s not a good look after we supported you through the pandemic (and then saw the multi million pound profits in your company accounts) for you now to be taking away yet more benefits with, no doubt, an increase in membership fees shortly to come.
Ean218 said:
The bit that makes no sense is this:
Thanks for sharing, vinidcates my decision to abandon GRRC membership 7 years ago and a 'Fellowship' a couple of years thereafter. When going to the Revival every year it was nice to be a member of the club, however as has been mentioned numnerous times, paying >£600 for an annual membership i'm going to use once a year at a race meeting at the other end of the country just got stupid in the end. For my usage the Fellowship seemed to be a reasonable solution, however in reality it merely illustrated how much of a waste my GRRC membership actually was; added to that the poor treatment outlined above and to be honest it's a God send having the meetings live streamed on YouTube now. Having seen everything in the first 15 years at FoS and 17 years of the Revival, the meetings appear to be moving away from the actual racing that drew me in the first place and heading towards some abortion of a 'Car Fest' wannabe. Duke of Richmond said:
Where previously we were able to absorb complimentary member tickets into the overall attendance number, this is no longer the case.
Because in the annual accounts published at the end of September this year, ie after FOS and all the cancellation problems that came with it, they say this re turnover and profits:GOODWOOD ESTATE COMPANY LIMITED said:
Goodwood road racing company contributed to £18.2m of the year on year increase, with growth in all areas, but particularly in Festival of speed, the Goodwood Revival and the GRRC club.
...
...
All businesses are trading well and at the time of writing this we have just concluded the Festival of Speed which has exceeded budgeted expectations. The forecast for both profit and cash for 2023 are very positive and Goodwood espects to continue to grow in all areas of the business in 2024 and beyond.
There is even more detail in the GRRC Ltd accounts, including that there are now over 13,000 "fellows" so I imagine if half the members vote with their feet the assumption is that there are more than enough suckers to take our place....
...
All businesses are trading well and at the time of writing this we have just concluded the Festival of Speed which has exceeded budgeted expectations. The forecast for both profit and cash for 2023 are very positive and Goodwood espects to continue to grow in all areas of the business in 2024 and beyond.
Prepared to eat my words and get back in the membership queue if they start cutting back on the slebs/hangers on just wanting to be seen at Goodwood and all that 'Over The Road' crap to focus more on the racing, but it'll never happen
You make a good point. The revival as an example has more posts these days about fashion than it does about motor racing, I wondered if that’s because the office predominantly like fashion over racing or if that’s the way the event is going.
I should add though that for me the racing comes second as the theatrics are what make the event so great and the live streams are much better than standing looking at one spot.
I should add though that for me the racing comes second as the theatrics are what make the event so great and the live streams are much better than standing looking at one spot.
This email in isolation isn't the end of the world but it appears to have triggered some introspection from a proportion of the membership who perhaps, like me, have been renewing our membership every year on autopilot whilst enjoying the Goodwood events that drew us into the GRRC in the first place less and less. My attendance at events has dropped over the years as numbers have increased and my enjoyment has fallen but never enough to consider dropping membership. As numbers attending the headline events has increased I have long thought and fed back to Goodwood that members needed to be treated better in the massive crowds with more dedicated space and services.
This email and the attitude really has made me think this year and at this point in time I am 90% likely to let my membership slip and perhaps this is actually the best thing both for me and for Goodwood. It will allow a fellow to take my place who will attend more events and thus spend more on event tickets over time and it will save me money every year without really impacting my attendance or enjoyment of my preferred events as tickets are sold to the public and/or on the secondary market anyway.
Has the illusion been broken or is it simply that my priorities have changed? I'm not sure at this stage but if the email hadn't been sent I would have simply renewed, as I have done every year, despite some reservations recently.
(edited for clarity)
This email and the attitude really has made me think this year and at this point in time I am 90% likely to let my membership slip and perhaps this is actually the best thing both for me and for Goodwood. It will allow a fellow to take my place who will attend more events and thus spend more on event tickets over time and it will save me money every year without really impacting my attendance or enjoyment of my preferred events as tickets are sold to the public and/or on the secondary market anyway.
Has the illusion been broken or is it simply that my priorities have changed? I'm not sure at this stage but if the email hadn't been sent I would have simply renewed, as I have done every year, despite some reservations recently.
(edited for clarity)
Edited by Hedgedhog on Wednesday 18th October 12:06
Hedgedhog said:
This email and the attitude really has made me think this year and at this point in time I am 90% likely to let my membership slip and perhaps this is actually the best thing both for me and for Goodwood. It will allow a fellow to take my place who will attend more events and thus pend more on tickets it will save me a fortune without really impacting my attendance.
Yes, think of all those extra joining fees along with a year's membership for those who wish to elevate from Assoiciates to full Members.GW actually win by having a churn of members.
I still see it as a Ratner moment - the pretence of quality has gone.
ecsrobin said:
You make a good point. The revival as an example has more posts these days about fashion than it does about motor racing, I wondered if that’s because the office predominantly like fashion over racing or if that’s the way the event is going.
I heard it alleged that her Ladyship is in to the fasion element and the Duke pushes that for her benefit - no idea if that is true, but sounds plausible.Don't forget there was a Fashion at Goodwood event some years ago that fell on it face and wasn't re-run.
It is more false history, playing to a period that never really was like that.
Some of it actually comes across as a bit offensive - the interviewers this year on about make do and Mend and how clever it is to sew a few buttons on to some second-hand clothes. The reality in period is that was all that could be done since everyone had been bombed for the last 5 years.
ch37 said:
Correct, you have to separately opt in to be on the waiting list, but this was not at all obvious, proved by the fact so many of us had absolutely no idea.
As mentioned I lost years, in fact I've been on the member in waiting list for the grand total of 32 days, despite putting hundreds of pounds into my Fellowship membership over the past 5 years.
I also still don't have my Saturday FoS refund, so my good will for Goodwood is currently at an all time low.
Good afternoon, As mentioned I lost years, in fact I've been on the member in waiting list for the grand total of 32 days, despite putting hundreds of pounds into my Fellowship membership over the past 5 years.
I also still don't have my Saturday FoS refund, so my good will for Goodwood is currently at an all time low.
I wanted to let you know that all of the FOS refunds have been processed, so please could I suggest you contact the Goodwood Ticket Office for clarification? Their telephone number is 01243 755055. It may be that the money has been credited to your account - but they will be able to clarify.
I'm sorry that you were not on the GRRC 'member-in-waiting' list - we do email all Fellowship members who are not on the list each year to ensure that this is the chosen status, but I apologise if somehow that has not been delivered. If you would like us to investigate, please do email the team at grrc@goodwood.com.
With best wishes,
Sarah
NickUSA said:
Milemuncher said:
Has the GRRC forum been suspended?
I can’t seem to log into it at all.
Nope it's still there and the [disappointed] sentiment is there too.I can’t seem to log into it at all.
Could someone post a link to the forum log-on page please?
On the issue at hand - I am extremely disappointed at both the actions taken to reduce member benefits (particularly with the support freely given to Goodwood by so many members during the pandemic) and the manner in which this has been justified - that email is shocking.
ecsrobin said:
Membership pricing is in for next year. Increased £20 to £335 for a single member.
Plus £30 for family membershipAdult £335.00
Family* £502.50
Young person (13 - 21) £135.00
Please note that family upgrades are currently on hold. We have a waiting list in place for family membership.
NickUSA said:
ecsrobin said:
Membership pricing is in for next year. Increased £20 to £335 for a single member.
Plus £30 for family membershipAdult £335.00
Family* £502.50
Young person (13 - 21) £135.00
- Please note that family upgrades are currently on hold. We have a waiting list in place for family membership.
ecsrobin said:
NickUSA said:
ecsrobin said:
Membership pricing is in for next year. Increased £20 to £335 for a single member.
Plus £30 for family membershipAdult £335.00
Family* £502.50
Young person (13 - 21) £135.00
- Please note that family upgrades are currently on hold. We have a waiting list in place for family membership.
Edit: If you now add the cost of Thursday FOS tickets [previously included in our membership benefits] at next year's anticipated cost of £60 for which next year we would pay [50%], so £120.
Our effective membership fee is now £622.50. Very nearly a 20% increase.
Edited by NickUSA on Wednesday 18th October 14:50
I have read the FAQs and most of them are We looked at other options but decided getting rid of the free tickets was better." Not much in the way of rationale. If its overcrowding then capping the number of people who can come is a better idea rather than just reducing those who can come free.
A ballot, a shorter window to get the free tickets, making sure the member actually attends, etc. The manufacturer stands have also been scaled back as well so I suspect they are less enthusiastic as well.
I would happily pay for Thursday tickets if we were going back to the quietish days which made it a different experience. But I expect it will be like the other three days just no free tickets.
A ballot, a shorter window to get the free tickets, making sure the member actually attends, etc. The manufacturer stands have also been scaled back as well so I suspect they are less enthusiastic as well.
I would happily pay for Thursday tickets if we were going back to the quietish days which made it a different experience. But I expect it will be like the other three days just no free tickets.
Edited by Graveworm on Wednesday 18th October 16:29
I know I seem to be a little more annoyed about this than some others, but I do take it as an insult to our intelligence. I also feel a little bad as I had told friends how good the club was and some joined the waiting list, then joined the GRRC and paid their cash for the priviledge. I now feel a bit responsible for them being done over too.
I saw the email come in earlier and genuinely thought it might contain something that recognised the anger and in some way tried to deal with that.
No, as mentioned it is just an effective 20% increase in fees.
The Duke may as well have recorded a video and said "Dear, valued Members, F*** Off"
I saw the email come in earlier and genuinely thought it might contain something that recognised the anger and in some way tried to deal with that.
No, as mentioned it is just an effective 20% increase in fees.
The Duke may as well have recorded a video and said "Dear, valued Members, F*** Off"
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