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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Help the Needy Give to the Greedy

While some of you may remember I renounced my BYU Football fanhood about 6 months or so ago but I would like to regress and talk about news I recently read. Please don’t think that this is a ploy to get my BYU fanhood reinstated as I won’t probable ever do that. The news I read was that Brigham Young University has decided to increase ticket prices to football games.

BYU’s official excuse is to renovate LaVell Edwards Stadium. The stadium is 43 years old with the last major renovation coming in 1982. My question is where has all the money gone that the stadium has made? Ticket prices, concessions and parking have all risen substantially since 2000. What about all the deep pocket Cougar Club Members? I guess there is no money left over from the “Temple” aka new practice facility and Golden Calf known as the BYU Hall of Fame built a few years ago as a celebration of BYU Atheltic idolotry. It seems like yesterday that my wife was a student and we were subject to the “sacrifice through donation” sales pitch and even more phone barrages by Multi-level marketing in training student salesmen begging for our donations so that BYU could get better recruits and not practice outside on the cold days. Or what happened to the golden egg deal with CSTV and the MTN network? What happened to their chunk of the $83 million? Lawsuits tying up the dough because most people couldn't get the games?

The news is that there will be a 7-30% increase in prices. These new prices aren’t really a shock and you may wonder my gripe so here it is part of it...

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe had the brass nuts to say, “Cougar football prices compare favorably to other programs. The typical BCS-caliber program charges not only a ticket price much higher than BYU’s, but also requires an unspecified donation as well.” The quote is from February 16th edition of BYU’s student newspaper The Daily Universe.

It turns out that BYU is different because it is upfront with the required donations and even advertises it in bold type the required donations. (See Cougar Club) Gee for mere price of a new economy car, the minimum gift of $18,000 (10k plus 1100 a ticket) will give you 6 season tickets. Then every year I spend $6600 for tickets and a $1000 reoccurring donation, it’s like a timeshare or the gift that keeps on giving. The rest of Holmos quote was “By comparison; the average price of public tickets at Ohio State is $413 plus donation. Louisville charges an average of $216 plus donation, Rutgers’ average is $240 plus donation, and Texas is $365 plus donation.” Oh so that makes it all right because everyone else is doing it. Hey Tom BYU is not even the scout team of Ohio State.

Holmoe also went on to state that BYU's athletes deserve a better experience and education. I guess free things like special tutors, clothing, food and easier classes just aren't enough anymore for the student athlete?

BYU used to be a great education that was affordable. BYU has since become a great education that comes with a nice upper tax bracket price tag. BYU has become the modern day moneychangers.

Recent Highlights of BYU Raising Student Costs:

BYU two-mile rule comes into effect this fall… This new rule makes BYU approved housing limited to a two-mile radius from BYU. This will reduce apartment availability and as a result will raise rents.

BYU bookstore decides to not release class book lists until the first day of class making it almost impossible to purchase your books from others students or gasp online instead you get the benefit of paying full price.

BYU donation callers increase frequency of calling and begging for money.


Do you think I am over reacting? Check out this letter to the Daily Universe?

Tickets Gone Too Quick

Over the weekend, once again, BYU Ticketing Office displayed its ineptitude at doing anything right. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate the BYU Ticketing Office as total baloney. Only a month after the bungled handling of the Vegas Bowl tickets, the ticketing office outdoes its past performance of financially gluttonous behavior. Selling out the stadium by pricing tickets at $1 apiece, they left hundreds of All-Sports cardholders out in the cold.

I am confused by the administration's indifference, and their lack of respect for students who paid good money to attend games. I don't want to hear about some clause buried in the All-Sports Pass agreement. I don't want to hear how it's within your legal rights to sell out the stadium and scam students for money. I do want to hear about how you feel you can ethically choose to maximize profits while exploiting students. I do want to hear about your hiring process, and how you seem to hire people who have absolutely no customer-relations skills whatsoever, cannot direct customers to management, do not even look at customers in the face when speaking with them and ultimately handled Saturday's mess very poorly.

I will not be purchasing an All-Sports pass next year, and while most students may just let it slide, I just don't feel like dealing with an organization that treats paying customers like garbage.

Ben Rotz

Orem

Go Ben Go!!!

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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Service is Not Dead

Why is it that some people have more trouble with their cars than others? I rarely have any trouble but my wife on the other hand attracts trouble like bees to honey. Last night she comes out to her car and it has a flat tire. I am home babysitting the kids Sydney and Zach. We have a foster child for any of those who didn’t know. I don’t have the car with the car seat so I can’t help. Luckily I was in the basement and didn’t hear my cell phone.

Today my wife works all day from 9 to 5. No biggie we will just change the tire after work. It then hits me that another wife car incident has rendered the spare tire and wheel unusable. My sister stops by so I beg and borrow her car to take care of this issue. My wife’s car is in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Happy happy joy joy I am there on a Saturday morning. To my surprise the parking spot next to her car is open. I pull up with Zach or as I like to call him “stand in my way please”. I open up my sister’s trunk and pull out my manly Craftsman 5 ton jack all the while people stare. Hello haven’t you seen a car with a flat tire before? I loosen the lug nuts as more passersby stare as if I am stealing the flat tire. I mean after all most thieves steal flat tires instead of good tires right? So I jack up the car and put a jack stand under the frame, a very common practice. For some reason this freaked some lady out. She asks, “Are you just going to leave it like that?” Um yes I am going across the street with the tire to get it repaired. Really I should have said Blank off you blankety blank blanker… but I didn’t. “It doesn’t seem safe.” It is but why if you don’t feel safe you don’t stand next to it.. “Well I don’t know…” Exactly you don’t know so shut up and go on about your way… Isn’t there someone else who needs chastisement more than I? Who honestly stands in the Wal-Mart parking lot heckling people change their flat tire? Granted it was Saturday Hell at Wal-Mart but give me a break.

I share with you this one story due to the service I received at Les Schwab Tires. I drove in with a tire my trunk on a Saturday morning. The place seemed busy but someone still greeted me at my car and asked what I needed. I was a little shocked since most businesses don’t really care. The tire person took my tire and said it would be 25 minutes. I told him I couldn’t wait but I would be back later. He took my phone number and I was off. I drove down the road and filled up the car with gas after I was done my phone rang and it was Les Schwab. My tire is fixed and ready to pick up. I stop back by and pick up the tire and then they didn’t charge me anything for it. Wow what a surprise? My point is service like this is what used to be the norm but now it’s the rare exception. So if you are looking to buy tires in Lehi or American Fork Utah, I would recommend Les Schwab.

Les Schwab of AMERICAN FORK
(801) 492-0538 485 N 900 W American Fork, UT 84003-5204

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