[SA Chris]

It's called market forces.

[magpie]

That's just how it works, surely?  If you're running a business where you essentially have a monopoly why would you charge people less, it doesn't make commercial sense, you charge as much as you can while still getting people in the door.  Once you have competition it makes sense to drop your prices so that you retain customers and are competitive.  They're businesses first and foremost, not charities or some sort of refuge for local boulderers. 

I'm quite surprised at how much more expensive TCA is compared to other big facilities (specifically The Works) for the yearly pass, and the fact it allows you into two venues is, as someone said up thread, a false economy and not much of a selling point, most people will be lucky to use it once or twice a year at their non-local site.

[SA Chris]

What she said, only with less words. It's called market forces.

[north_country_boy]

That's just how it works, surely?  If you're running a business where you essentially have a monopoly why would you charge people less, it doesn't make commercial sense, you charge as much as you can while still getting people in the door.  Once you have competition it makes sense to drop your prices so that you retain customers and are competitive.  They're businesses first and foremost, not charities or some sort of refuge for local boulderers. 

Drop your prices or raise your game? The bottom line is, the people who do value a good facility, service, atmosphere and everything else that goes with it, are prepared to pay for it.  I personally would rather pay the same or more and see improvements made to the existing facility, rather than have a few extra pounds in my pocket each month...

By lowering their prices they are acknowledging that they offer an inferior facility/product/service....lest not forget that its £7.65 to use the whole facility at GCC, which to me....is massively overpriced! Its more expensive that Ratho (without an Edinburgh leisure card)!!

[magpie]

What she said, only with less words. It's called market forces.

I was agreeing with you, in a long winded fashion that us ladies so enjoy. 

[SA Chris]

aka blethering.

Why use one word when a dozen will do the job just as well.

[magpie]

Well exactly!  I am glad to see you are well versed in the female way.

[bagger]

I think, what I was trying to say is that customers can be loyal, and maybe if GCC had invested in their facilities more over the past years then people would think twice before going elsewhere.

But, the TCA looks amazing - so maybe my theory is bollox.

[sxrxg]

That's just how it works, surely?  If you're running a business where you essentially have a monopoly why would you charge people less, it doesn't make commercial sense, you charge as much as you can while still getting people in the door.  Once you have competition it makes sense to drop your prices so that you retain customers and are competitive.  They're businesses first and foremost, not charities or some sort of refuge for local boulderers. 

Drop your prices or raise your game? The bottom line is, the people who do value a good facility, service, atmosphere and everything else that goes with it, are prepared to pay for it.  I personally would rather pay the same or more and see improvements made to the existing facility, rather than have a few extra pounds in my pocket each month...

By lowering their prices they are acknowledging that they offer an inferior facility/product/service....lest not forget that its £7.65 to use the whole facility at GCC, which to me....is massively overpriced! Its more expensive that Ratho (without an Edinburgh leisure card)!!

While i agree to an extent (and if the pass price was in line with other centres i would probably think the price was justified for the better facilities that will be on offer), it doesn't make any financial sense as in this case as you can buy a pass to GCC for 12 months and pay to visit TCA 19 times in the year and still be left with change... if you have money to burn then it is not a problem, however with rents and fuel prices going up and no pay increases in the pipeline for many the price issue is becoming more and more of a priority for lots of people.

[c.j.d.]

So, is it open yet?

Magpie, that's called long winded that is.  You should have children.

[magpie]

You should have children.

So I can bore them to death with my over enthusiastic and constant mum chat? :D

And no, I don't think it's opened yet? 

[Duma]

Saw Paul today and he said they're on track for opening next week, but are dependant on the developer finishing some work

[Cassidy]

sxrxg (thats a bit of a mouthful) I have had an idea!  You could always try bribing TCA to let you in more cheaply.

[sxrxg]

sxrxg (thats a bit of a mouthful) I have had an idea!  You could always try bribing TCA to let you in more cheaply.

I am sure TCA are above those kind of tactics 

Also not sure a cheap pass would be useful for me living 200 miles away, would be nice to give the girlfriend a cheap pass as a present though...

Anyway do you have a date for the opening yet? Hope the build is going well and you are open when i spend my next wet weekend in Glasgow.

[marty]

I had the privilege of checking out TCA-G today. The place looks totally awesome, and it is clear to see a huge effort has gone in to transform the building - good luck to the team for the launch!

I can't wait to start training!!!! 

[Paul T]

Thanks to everyone invited who came down yesterday afternoon to test the problems and give our new staff a dry run with the membership system and to help identify any teething issues. It was also good practice for their new found barrista skills.

At TCA we take our route-setting very seriously, as any of our Bristol members I'm sure will vouch, and we put as much effort into making our lower grade circuits as interesting and as high quality as our harder problems. Hopefully the negative comments made by those who have not actually experienced this at 1st hand will be dismissed with the due respect that they deserve.

Our pricing structure is set at what we believe to be good value for the facilities we provide. Our annual pass of £415 represents one visit at peak time per week. Most dedicated boulders will be having multiple sessions per week. It may cheaper to climb elsewhere but Glasgow now has the largest dedicated bouldering centre in the UK, with two amazing managers in Rob Sutton and Alan Cassidy, and provides arguably the best routesetting across the whole grade range of any facility of this type.

Everything we do at TCA is done firstly with the customer in mind, to give them good value for their hard earned money. We care about our climbing as much as our customers so please come and experience this before shooting us down.

To use an analogy, we also realise that some people will always buy Tesco value beans rather than Heinz on principle, and some people would still moan even if they climbed for free. We have to accept this fact of life and just acknowledge that they are missing out on something very special and move on.

We do take a very dim view of people who try to bribe or blackmail us, so sxrxg, you are right - we are above that, but rest assured we will ban anyone for life who might try such low tactics.

We're now pressing on with the last of the finishing work and looking forward to finally getting open for everyone later this week.

[rodma]

Does look good, and am suitably excited 

I just hope that the rumours circulating about the boulder problems being punter set are untrue, especially with such capable management.

Can someone please punter me for perpetuating such a bullshit rumour  I can't punter myself.

Thanks to everyone invited who came down yesterday afternoon to test the problems and give our new staff a dry run with the membership system and to help identify any teething issues. It was also good practice for their new found barrista skills.

At TCA we take our route-setting very seriously, as any of our Bristol members I'm sure will vouch, and we put as much effort into making our lower grade circuits as interesting and as high quality as our harder problems. Hopefully the negative comments made by those who have not actually experienced this at 1st hand will be dismissed with the due respect that they deserve.

Thanks for letting me come down yesterday and play on your superb problems.

It is clear that you have taken great care in the selection and training of staff and the setting is second to none, throughout the grade range. Am still  after yesterday. can't wait to visit again.

Superb value for money btw

[rodma]

Can someone please punter me for perpetuating such a bullshit rumour  I can't punter myself.

Thanks Chris 

[Duma]

Midday Friday apparently. Saw Paul in Bristol last night and he looks exhausted, but from the look of this it seems worthwhile:

[Fras]

Aargh, this is the slowest morning ever. I mean, just how long does it take to get to 12 o'clock? Not that I'm impatient or anything....