You should be impressed that TBF got that much info out of the mets.  I called today and, man, Obama would have no problems with leaks if Mike worked for him.  he gave me no indication of when the info was going out or what the plans might be.  He was, of course, defensive at any reference to the Yankees (well, aren’t we all).

I wonder if the Mets front office reads these things. MG and TBF, you both are my heros.

I would understand if somebody had ticket plans under a huge pile of things to do today but I think if that was the case, somebody would have let us know.

That they didn’t probably means they’re trying to wring out every season ticket dollar before they even care about us.

I can understand mention the Yankees irking them. Yankees Yankees Yankees.

I’ve honestly had mixed experiences with the Mets and Yankees ticket folks (well, my friend is a Saturday ticket plan holder for the Yanks, while I had one for the Mets). The refund slowness is prevalent on both sides. The Yankees have always sold their ticket plans earlier than the Mets as long as I can remember. The Mets finally got smart and introduced some level of ticket purchasing prior to the holidays to let people give gifts, which the Yanks have done for years. Not sure why there are difference here, but I think the refund policies and slow responses are typical from both sides.

For what it’s worth, even though that team in the Bronx has had their relocation guide out for some time, they have yet to let all persons with partial plans know of their location.  (I have a friend who put in for a plan, and is still waiting…).  The big fish get to eat first.

Knowing or not knowing what the details are is not going to make a difference.  I’d just like to know how much I am going to have to budget this season.

Cheers!
-Doug

Exactly—what I’d really like to know is whether we will have to pay more than we’ve already laid out. If there is a big increase I’ll probably just ask for my $758 back.

Well, for me it’s not a matter of if I am going to have tickets next year, it’s more a matter of how many.  My decision will be based on what types of plan is offered, where in the ballpark I will be seated—I’d love a tour similar to the one I got back in 1995—, and what kind of post-season opportunity will be made available.

I am almost certain that the ‘new ballpark’ factor will make it easy to sell tickets to games I cannot make.  And the fact that MLB is in bed with Stub-hub makes it that much easier.

I am waiting for the Mets to make a big FA signing… because THEN they will send out letters.  It’s much easier for them to ask for money when they can demonstrate that they have spent it already….

The Mets didn’t give the full season plan holders tours. They’ve said that they’re not available. And if they won’t give them to the people paying $5k, they’re not giving them to us.

Plus I think there are probably insurance issues they don’t want to deal with.

It’s great that some of you can afford to spend money without thinking about it. Most of us aren’t that lucky.

I concur with the insurance issue when it comes to tours of the new ballpark.  Since the ballpark isn’t complete yet, if you were offered a tour, you’d have to wear a hard hat and sign a waiver, that’s fir sure.  At least there is the virtual seat viewer.

I don’t spend money without thinking about it.  I make choices on how to spend my money (when I have it).  I will have to think hard about how I move forward with my ticket plan.  I made choices years ago (mid-late 90’s) that friends laughed at.  I won’t go into it here, but they aren’t laughing at those choices anymore.  It all comes down to looking at what you really need in your life, versus what you really want in life, balancing expenses between them, and not drinking the Kool-Ade that people put in front of you.  You’d be surprised how easy it is to get by with much less.

As the Mets go, I am just waiting to see what the offers will be.

It’s a little presumptuous to be lecturing people about choices or giving BUDGETING ADVICE without actually knowing those people, dontcha think?

I just believe that no one should be taking the attitude of just because they don’t mind that the Mets have their money that everyone should be okay with it. If you’re okay with it, great. But that doesn’t mean I or anyone else have to be.

The Mets are handling this wrong. At least that is my opinion. Which is why I am writing these pieces. If you think the Mets don’t have a problem, that’s great, but you should probably go to another blog because I’m going to spend a lot of time writing about how the Mets are handling this wrong.

You are right, Caryn, they have handled it wrong from the beginning and it is absurd. I’ve been coming here for updates since the Mets just ignore us—thanks for your hard work!

I agree that the Mets have handled this wrong.  That said, I think that partial planholders need to start forcing the issue by demanding their postseason refunds now.  As long as the Mets have some of our money, they have less incentive to release full details regarding partial plans.  Had enough partial planholders opted to receive their postseason refunds, the Mets would have had more incentive to get the partial plan info out there sooner rather than later because they would have had less of our money.

I do not feel that anything I posted is budgeting advice.  Nowhere did I state anything except that one needs to make a choice when it comes to tickets (what they want) and other expenses like mortgage / rent (what they need).  If my post came off that way, then I apologize.  That was not my intent.  I once demanded my refunds.  After two years getting refunds via two methods, I determined it wasn’t worth it.  I will discuss these fiascoes later.

I put in for my post-season tickets as soon as possible.  Had the Mets played the 4 games I had tickets to, that money would have been spent.  I wouldn’t be able to do something with it now, anyway.

Have the Mets handled this bad?  Let me think about it.

The Mets have done nothing different calendar-wise this season when compared to seasons past.  What is different this year are the unknowns going forward.  In the past, you knew why they were holding onto your money—you knew that you’d have your seats on your days next year.  This year?  Not so.  New park; new plans; different days; different seats.

If you want to argue that the Mets should have made Partial Plan Availability public sooner, you have a point there.  They were playing the ‘Chicken Little’ card ever since they broke ground on Citi, by making statements leading people to think that they’d have to upgrade to a full-season plan.  They used the new ballpark as an attempt to drum up new full-season subscribers.  I was not falling for such games.  Every statement they made read that the only “guaranteed” way to get in Citi was to upgrade now.  Nowhere did they say that if you didn’t upgrade at this time, you wouldn’t get in to Citi.

I had posted elsewhere that the Mets fall somewhere between the Nationals and the Yanks when it comes to season ticket subscribers.  The Nats had none, and therefore it was in their best interests to put relocation information on the street (full and partials that were generous in way of playoffs) as soon as possible in order to drum up some business.

The Yanks have a huge full and partial plan ticket base—exemplified by the fact that during their late 90’s run, they couldn’t seat all their partial plan holders seats for the playoffs as stated in their contracts, and had to be seated in the bleachers.  The following season?  Pre-sale only for playoffs for smaller plans.  They haven’t suffered in the sales department.  They would have no trouble selling seats.  Therefore, they can put all the info on the street they want—they aren’t going to hurt their business.  They will sell their desired amount of full-season plans.

The Mets, however, fall in between.  They chose to play their hand by remaining silent on Partials until they signed up every full-season subscriber they could, but knew they could always fill the rest of the park with partials if they had to.  However, if they tipped their hand early, it ruined the possibility of getting those extra full-season subscribers.  It is a catch-22 for them.

If you want to argue that the Mets shouldn’t be asking for money for things you aren’t going to use for 9 months, you have a point there, too.  It seems that the schedule for payments have moved to the left two months since I’ve been a plan holder.  Final payment used to be required in February.  Now, money is typically due at the end of December.  Happy Holidays!!  Now pay me.

Now here are my playoff refund stories, and the basis for my reason not to simply demand a refund.  When the Mets were making a run for the WC in 1998, I had to pay for possible post-season tickets via Certified Funds.  They accepted no credit cards for post-season play.  I had to run to my bank, get a cashier’s check, then deliver it to the Ticket Office.  I wasn’t going to trust it to the US Mail.  Of course, after the Mets failed to qualify, I asked for a refund when given the opportunity.  They were happy to give me one.  It took almost two months from the end of the season until I received my check back in the mail.  Two weeks for them to mail a letter.  One week for it to get back to them.  Two weeks to receive a check.  Then it took 10 working days for the check to clear.  Not three weeks from the time the funds were available, did my renewal letter show up in the mail.  The next year, they did make it, but took Credit Cards.  I charged them.  Unfortunately, by the time my refund was posted to my CC, and my CC’s billing cycle closed, it was time yet again to pay for next season.  After those experiences, I decided the ends didn’t justify the means, and if I was willing to spend money on playoff tickets, then my balance would roll forward to the following season.  I was never able to use those funds elsewhere.  That is how I developed my opinion about them holding my money.

You have a point, but when I inquired about the refund I was told that partial planholders who wanted their money back would then have to wait until next year to get a new plan if they wanted one. They made it sound like you would move to the back of the line. Anyway it is about time they let us know something.

Have the Mets handled this whole new ballpark situation bad?  There are two hats I need to put on for this one.

From a business point-of-view, nope.  I think the choices they’ve made were done to maximize their full-season ticket fan-base.  I understand their desire to do so, because it means less overhead for them all year round when it comes to ticket sales.

But from a fan’s point-of-view, have they done the right thing?  Of course not.  But I expect nothing less from any professional sports franchise today.  They all subscribe to the greater-fool theory.  That being the theory where if you don’t give them what they want, there is someone else behind you in line who is willing to give them what they want.  I am a part of their plan, just not the most important part.  Unfortunately, there are many of us who are not most important.

In an ideal world, if they want someone to commit to playoffs or a ticket plan, they should get a pre-authorization for your tickets, then only charge your credit card when the game(s) is(are) played.  The whole process would be automated.  But the world isn’t ideal..

Cheers!
-Doug

above comment was responding to JS.

it has nothing to do with ideal. it has to do with the fact that with all the technology in the world today, the mets can’t arrange it so that people can specify a billing and a shipping address.

they have money. they have staff. they could handle communications in a classy way. they chose to treat their paying customers like crap. i thought this only happened in the concert industry. right now, the mets are not any better than, say, ticketmaster.

the fan buying single seats today is the future season ticket holder tomorrow.

everyone’s entitled to their opinion. but you’re not going to convince me that they did this right.

Letter from Mets arrived today.  (11/22)

Plan Information to be made available online 11/26.  All that is written is that there are 2 40-gamers, and 5 15-gamers.

Sale begins 12/3.

Offers will be based on the plan you had in 2008.  No mention about seniority.  You will be permitted to buy the same number of seats in your 2008 plan, plus 2.  You can spread them across one or two plans.  You choose plan and seat category.  Two days later, you get invoice that needs to be paid in full 5 days later.