{"id":5462,"date":"2009-11-24T12:20:34","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T10:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=5462"},"modified":"2009-11-25T03:46:12","modified_gmt":"2009-11-25T01:46:12","slug":"match-responsible-for-price-gouging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/accommodation\/match-responsible-for-price-gouging\/","title":{"rendered":"MATCH responsible for “price-gouging”!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today we publish an anonymous letter, featured on Southern African Tourism<\/strong> Update<\/strong> on 22 November 2009, which supports the Whale Cottage accussation\u00a0that MATCH is responsible for rip-off pricing, and not the non-MATCH registered establishments!<\/span><\/p>\n

“It is my opinion that MATCH is also guilty of price gouging. I recently had an enquiry from one of my regular Mozambique corporate clients who wanted to put together an incentive for their top executives and clients.\u00a0 This was a group of 100 people.\u00a0 I managed to find reasonably priced accommodation and transfers for them in Cape Town.\u00a0 They were going to charter a flight from Maputo to Cape Town for the weekend.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The problem came in trying to purchase the tickets to the match.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was unable to purchase more than four tickets for the quarter final that was taking place in Cape Town.\u00a0 I was told by MATCH hospitality that they could only offer series tickets with a starting price of US$8 500 per person.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I eventually contacted FIFA in Switzerland as these clients did not want series tickets and MATCH could then “all of a sudden” help with a single ticket for the game that they requested.\u00a0 However, they would only offer a hospitality package the cost of which was US$2 500 per person.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
This includes a Category 1 ticket in the stadium, access to a hospitality tent, buffet lunch and beer, wines, soft drinks and a parking pass.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The online cost of a Category 1 ticket is US$300 per person.\u00a0 So they were charging US$2 200 per person additional just for lunch and drinks.<\/span><\/div>\n
If that is not price gouging then I don’t know what is!<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
There was\u00a0no option to just purchase normal Category 1 tickets and no way for me to do this.\u00a0 I tried a number of tour operators who told me that they were unable to assist with match tickets for non-SA residents.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Due to this I have lost a really lucrative booking as these clients have decided for\u00a0that amount of money they are not willing to travel to South Africa.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I must say that I am exceptionally disappointed that MATCH made no provision for incentive groups for the FIFA 2010.\u00a0 Due to this I have lost a booking in excess of R900 000<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Anonymous”<\/span><\/div>\n
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we publish an anonymous letter, featured on Southern African Tourism Update on 22 November 2009, which supports the Whale Cottage accussation\u00a0that MATCH is responsible for rip-off pricing, and not the non-MATCH registered establishments! “It is my opinion that MATCH is also guilty of price gouging. I recently had an enquiry from one of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,124,22,21,11],"tags":[32367,32366,32378,18,23,2143,2817,2816,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t