GolfNow Rewards and Loyalty 2015 (What a difference a year makes!)

[Rick Martin]

If you got a Christmas bonus last year, but now your boss stops paying you, are you going to keep working for them?  Or are you going to quit working for them.  And when you quit would you consider it a fair criticism for someone to say you just quit because  the well is dry?

In what world are people expected to not respond to incentives and disincentives?

If my boss doesn't give me a bonus, I sure won't go outside the front of the business and picket to trash his company especially if he's treated me pretty decently up to this point.

Unfortunately businesses provide a product but have to adjust what they charged based on market conditions - kind of like gas stations raise and drop the price for a gallon of gas.  Because I once paid 25 cents/gallon back in the day doesn't mean I can count on that forever.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

If you got a Christmas bonus last year, but now your boss stops paying you, are you going to keep working for them?  Or are you going to quit working for them.  And when you quit would you consider it a fair criticism for someone to say you just quit because  the well is dry?

In what world are people expected to not respond to incentives and disincentives?

If my boss doesn't give me a bonus, I sure won't go outside the front of the business and picket to trash his company especially if he's treated me pretty decently up to this point.

Unfortunately businesses provide a product but have to adjust what they charged based on market conditions - kind of like gas stations raise and drop the price for a gallon of gas.  Because I once paid 25 cents/gallon back in the day doesn't mean I can count on that forever.

But when a gas station selling the cheapest gas has to raise its price to about the same level as a couple of other stations which are more convenient to stop at, then most people will choose the more convenient option.  Back in the day some gas stations gave trading stamps (Green Stamps or Gold Bond Stamps) with each purchase, and I know my parents went out of their way to buy at those stations.  When the stamps were discontinued, the benefit was gone and so was the incentive to seek them out.

[isukgolf]

Exactly right. It's also entirely possible that it will turn out to have been a good decision for them too. If they can make more money using a relatively high fee per transaction/lower transaction volume model, good for them! If not, they will likely react and try something else.

While we are on the topic of companies changing their service/product provided, and the collective consumer voice making a company rethink its strategy ... didn't Coke try to change their formula back in 1985??

[dkolo]

Golfnow's pricing scheme is whatever they feel is best for their business long term so I don't get hung up over it. I think they overcharge and I don't see the benefit of their service when it's more expensive than showing up and paying sticker price most times, which is why I don't really use them often. But I do on principle object to them adding fees to the advertised price. It's dishonest. Tax is one thing, but what they charge for a hot deal and their fee is not logically separable and adding the fee at booking is just bait and switch. I also never understood why they considered each transaction one reservation as opposed to how many golfers you were paying for each being a reservation for their rewards purposes. Booking a foursome was less beneficial than booking four ones singles for the same tee time, even though you were paying the same amount in greens fees and booking fees. Yeah. I'm not a fan of their business. I never ride, so I have no economic incentive to book through them anyway.

[Rick Martin]

While we are on the topic of companies changing their service/product provided, and the collective consumer voice making a company rethink its strategy ... didn't Coke try to change their formula back in 1985??

Netflix did an about-face when they tried to charge more after a long period of time charging a nominal fee.

[RFKFREAK]

If you got a Christmas bonus last year, but now your boss stops paying you, are you going to keep working for them?  Or are you going to quit working for them.  And when you quit would you consider it a fair criticism for someone to say you just quit because  the well is dry?

In what world are people expected to not respond to incentives and disincentives?

If my boss doesn't give me a bonus, I sure won't go outside the front of the business and picket to trash his company especially if he's treated me pretty decently up to this point.

Unfortunately businesses provide a product but have to adjust what they charged based on market conditions - kind of like gas stations raise and drop the price for a gallon of gas.  Because I once paid 25 cents/gallon back in the day doesn't mean I can count on that forever.

[Jeremie Boop]

Just want to say, I just signed up for the golf18network after using golfnow a bit last year. I'm by no means a heavy user of these types of services but I'm already impressed by their rewards. Just for signing up and booking my first tee time I got $25 credit. If I catch deals right that's going to give me 3 rounds of golf for the $15 I paid for the first round. The rewards ramp up pretty fast and after 50 bookings it says no more fees ever? That's crazy, not to mention I'll have racked up $265 in credits by then... All I can say is, thank you very much @David in FL for mentioning the service.

[Abu3baid]

Just want to say, I just signed up for the golf18network after using golfnow a bit last year. I'm by no means a heavy user of these types of services but I'm already impressed by their rewards. Just for signing up and booking my first tee time I got $25 credit. If I catch deals right that's going to give me 3 rounds of golf for the $15 I paid for the first round. The rewards ramp up pretty fast and after 50 bookings it says no more fees ever? That's crazy, not to mention I'll have racked up $265 in credits by then... All I can say is, thank you very much @David in FL for mentioning the service.

Sweet.. We are actually going on an outing on Sunday and the rates on GN are amazing.. More than 50% discount.. Yeah we will pay I think 12$ in fees but we saved a 100$ ..

[Jeremie Boop]

Sweet.. We are actually going on an outing on Sunday and the rates on GN are amazing.. More than 50% discount.. Yeah we will pay I think 12$ in fees but we saved a 100$ ..

Yeah, as long as price + fees still work out to a discount then there's no losing.

[newtogolf]

If my boss doesn't give me a bonus, I sure won't go outside the front of the business and picket to trash his company especially if he's treated me pretty decently up to this point.

Unfortunately businesses provide a product but have to adjust what they charged based on market conditions - kind of like gas stations raise and drop the price for a gallon of gas.  Because I once paid 25 cents/gallon back in the day doesn't mean I can count on that forever.

I don't believe @David in FL lfNow, he's sharing his unsatisfactory experience as a long time customer  This mentality that one must be blindly loyal to a business is out dated and foolish.  The majority of businesses exist today to make money for their owners and/or shareholders and view their customers as necessary evils to achieve those goals.

GolfNow had a very customer friendly business model to attract new users to their site, once their customer base reached the target levels they raised their fees hoping that consumers would accept paying more for the same service.  The new competition to GolfNow will likely adopt GolfNows old pricing policies to attract customers away from GolfNow and we're seeing the impact here on this thread.  That's how business works.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Martin

If my boss doesn't give me a bonus, I sure won't go outside the front of the business and picket to trash his company especially if he's treated me pretty decently up to this point.

Unfortunately businesses provide a product but have to adjust what they charged based on market conditions - kind of like gas stations raise and drop the price for a gallon of gas.  Because I once paid 25 cents/gallon back in the day doesn't mean I can count on that forever.

I don't believe @David in FL is picketing GolfNow, he's sharing his unsatisfactory experience as a long time customer  This mentality that one must be blindly loyal to a business is out dated and foolish.  The majority of businesses exist today to make money for their owners and/or shareholders and view their customers as necessary evils to achieve those goals.

GolfNow had a very customer friendly business model to attract new users to their site, once their customer base reached the target levels they raised their fees hoping that consumers would accept paying more for the same service.  The new competition to GolfNow will likely adopt GolfNows old pricing policies to attract customers away from GolfNow and we're seeing the impact here on this thread.  That's how business works.

I agree with you, but I had to chuckle.  I think business has always been like this.  No bank ever was established to "Provide a service to the community" as their ads say.  They are there to make money.

Golfnow has to be careful because eventually, customers can move on.

[inthehole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abu3baid

That's very true a round of golf with GM is something that no one would have ever expected, plus it should buy a lot of good will. I wonder if the other 2 who played with GM are taking the same stance against GN?

Agree, and it did. All you have to do is read my "holy crap" thread to see that. But, just because a company (or person) treated you well in the past, doesn't mean that there aren't consequences to treating you poorly going forward.

I was a huge proponent of GN long before the McDowell round.because I found their service convenient and fairly priced. I now find that paying $10 simply for the "privilege" of using their site, when there are other options in the marketplace to do the same thing, to be a poor value. That's all there is to it. The free market at work.

Dave - you & I were golfnow power users (I still pretty much am as I haven't found anything better).   Disappointed in the lack of hot deals compared to a couple years ago & of course, the fee's.

Can you please list or PM me the online booking sites that you use now instead of golfnow ?      I've tried a few, but the web formats they use aren't as user friendly as golfnow & in my region, don't have anywhere remotely close to the number of tee times available as golfnow does.     Thanks

John

[David in FL]

Dave - you & I were golfnow power users (I still pretty much am as I haven't found anything better).   Disappointed in the lack of hot deals compared to a couple years ago & of course, the fee's.   Can you please list or PM me the online booking sites that you use now instead of golfnow ?      I've tried a few, but the web formats they use aren't as user friendly as golfnow & in my region, don't have anywhere remotely close to the number of tee times available as golfnow does.     Thanks John

Right now my favorite is Golf18 Network. Similar to GN in that they charge ($1.99 vs $2.49) the first 10 tee times, but like the days of old, once you surpass 10 reservations, you're pretty much fee free forever. They don't offer the rewards that GN does, but then again, at $10 per 4-some, all I'm doing is paying for those "rewards" in advance. Rewards that I really don't need and things that wouldn't buy if I weren't forced to. You're right. It's not as user friendly, nor does it have the number of courses that GN does, though it does have most of them here in central FL. They also don't always have access to the entire, real-time tee sheet for the course, which GN often does. So now, I still visit GN to view the available times, and then flip to G18 to actually book. I've also found that my 3 or 4 favorite courses will match the GN rate if I call them. I like the ability to book on line at my convenience, but if I can get a price match, and save a $10 booking fee, I'll pick up the phone. I was the biggest GN proponent in the world. I'd love to go back to them. If they change their model so that I'm not paying more for the privilege than I pay elsewhere, I will, but so far this year, using GN would have cost me $280 had I still been using them. Sorry. I've got better things to spend that money on....like my lost bets to my rat-bastard golf buddies! :~(

[inthehole]

Thanks David - I've used golf18network a few times - seems pretty good.

[wearegolfmiles]

I work for a company called Golfmiles.com . In a nut shell, you earn 1000s of airline miles every time you purchase a tee time. You should try it now and you’ll get 500 extra points this weekend!

[wearegolfmiles]

I work for a company called Golfmiles.com . In a nut shell, you earn 1000s of airline miles every time you purchase a tee time. You should try it now and you’ll get 500 extra points this weekend!