The lockdown must be getting to me, because I'm now reduced to reading The Post online. For those of you who live under a rock, or SOR, or maybe both, The Post is a scurrilous free newspaper based in Shenton Park. It generally devotes most of it's column inches to bashing Subiaco council, but the Anzac Day edition had this nugget:
‘Eagles clutch member’s cash’
Written by Bret Christian & published in The Post Newspaper, April 25th 2020
A West Coat Eagles member says the club has told him it will not return $32,000 he paid to the club for games he now cannot watch.
The member, who lives in Dalkeith, said he received a call on Friday from the club’s marketing department to say the board had decided not to reimburse people who had paid for premium hospitality packages.
“I told him I had signed up and paid for a service they can’t provide,” the member said.
“I can’t see how it would be legal to withhold the money.
“It’s certainly immoral. Even if games do re-start, we can’t attend.”
He said he was not offered a credit for next year, but the Eagles say the club has offered to hold credits for premium members for either this year, or next season.
The Eagles member said other club members he had spoken to were obtaining legal advice.
Tony Haselhurst, West Coast’s marketing general manager, said important decisions affecting all stakeholders would be made when there was some clarity around the structure of the rest of the season.
Possibly playing “hubs” either in three states including WA, or concentrating all clubs in Melbourne for games - with or without spectators - are under discussion. A decision may be announced next week.
Premium packages are a lucrative source of income for the Eagles, the AFL’s wealthiest club. Private suites start at around $60,000 for 10 seats, plus drinks and catering.
Open corporate boxes with about 8 to 10 seats start at $28,000 per season, plus drinks and catering.
The club charges $8690 per person for its Premiership Lounge, including catering, drinks, an extra-wide reserved seat and Range Rover-sized parking.
I wonder if any Dockers member is willing and able to sue the club over a non-refund? All I can currently afford is the price of a stamp on the letter I sent to the new CEO, which has gone unanswered.
