What's with suddenly ripping us off?

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Penno1
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What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Penno1 » Tue Jun 18, 2019 3:28 am

MA licence fee this year has increased a lot AND you don't even get an actual card licence anymore, you have to pay an additional $10 for that luxury!
Why the big increase?
This is not just an inflationary increase it's way way more than that.
As far as I know there is no insurance issue for trials so I cant see how insurance issues can be cited for the reason either.

Add to this a big increase in event entry fees and I can safely say I am out next year!
Entry to a recent Manly club level comp was $60!
Thats $10 more than they charged last year for the same events and that was $10 more than the previous year!
Clearly there is a lot more than inflationary increases going on here too.

We are getting ripped off by a very big percentage and we receive absolutely nothing more in return!
In terms of licencing we actually get less!!!

I cant justify all this ridiculous expense just to compete with friends about 5 or 6 times a year. I can have good rides with friends without actually doing competitions and having all that expense so why should I bother with all the expense and formality?

Unless things change and get cheaper again I am out!



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whitehillbilly
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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby whitehillbilly » Tue Jun 18, 2019 6:31 am

That way SQTA Club was formed.
Extremely well set up low cost, Non competitive Family Trials.

whitehillbilly



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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby pop » Tue Jun 18, 2019 7:48 am

MA trying to make profits, when it was all run by ACU I think it was[almost] non profit.



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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Jools » Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:25 am

Empire building.



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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Gary B » Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:53 pm

Hi Penno,
MA do have a "Reduced" cost Licence for Trials, did you get a "Restricted" (Trials only basically) or a full MA Licenece which is $330. I think the restricted one is $270.
Yes it is expensive (especially when Im paying for 3 licences) but we are all under an 'Umbrella' with MA as part of Motorcycle sport.

As for Manly charging $60 at the TROY round, they have to pay the owners of Pacific Park a fee for every rider.
There is also $5.00 a head for TROY rounds going towards a "Trophy Fund" for the series.

Trials is still by far & away the cheapest form of Motorcycle competition.
Jarad was paying $60 a few years back for Club MX events, he also had to flag marshall for a couple of hours during the day & if all went well he may have got 3 laps of practice & 3 eight laps races. All up he would put less than an hour on his MX bike each event.

We get to spend an average of 3-4 hours riding at each Trial, bang for buck Trials is still very good value.

I Road Raced for about 5 years back in the late 80's. That was like throwing $50 notes into a fire to keep warm.

Just my two bobs worth.

Regards,
Gary.


Gary B. from Wollongong MCC.
Now the Old Man in "Team Boniface"
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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby outforfun » Tue Jun 18, 2019 7:41 pm

When you add in all the background costs, plus the license fees etc. It's easy to see where the numbers are going from motorsport. In the current economic climate, people just can't afford it.

For myself to attend an event.
I'm 2 hours drive from my club rides, which are the closest events for me - open highway driving, no city traffic.
So you have at least $60 fuel for the ute, $7 fuel for the bike, plus entry fee. Plus the yearly license. More for Queensland series or titles etc. I'm not the only one in this boat either.

Then there's the mum and dad with any kids to pay for as well. Queensland has at least been able to help out with some of the fees for under 12's I think it is.

I have no idea why we also pay 2 fees for any transaction through MA either, so there's absolutely no way I'm going to pay an extra $10 for the small piece of plastic. I just crossed out the old expiry date and wrote the new one on my old license.

Then when that 4 letter word work means you can't get to events? Yup. It's not easy



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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Penno1 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:20 am

Yeah bla bla bla,... the cost has risen dramatically in the last year and I still dont see why.
To rub salt into the wound I just gave away a sunday shift (double pay) so I can go to one of the extra expensive TROY rounds just to find out when I got home that it has been postponed due to an unfavourable weather forecast that is 4 days away!
Even the weather beauro admits it is difficult to forecast accurately that far ahead!
The world is getting more ridiculous as I type!
In the 80s and 90s we rode in the rain, made it more interesting and even fun actually.



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Penno1
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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Penno1 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:34 am

Gary B wrote:Hi Penno,
MA do have a "Reduced" cost Licence for Trials, did you get a "Restricted" (Trials only basically) or a full MA Licenece which is $330. I think the restricted one is $270.

Regards,
Gary.


I had to pay $325 + $4.88 credit card fee (no other way to pay!) + $2.44 service fee(whatever that is?)
Total:$332.32
If coca cola can sell a chocolate bar from a vending machine with no credit card fee I think there is price gorging going on here.

The Receipt says "senior national" as the licence type but I think there is qualification process for a full racing licence isn't there?
Is it possible I have purchased a product I should not have been able to?

I might have to try and ring them again, maybe they owe me a refund?

Penno



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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Gary B » Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:29 am

Penno,
Senior National licence allows you to compete in EVERY form of Motorcyce racing in Australia, Road Racing, MX, Enduro, Trials etc.
Anybody can get one of these, you only need qualifications for Supercross.

A Restricted licence which is about $50 less allows you to only compete in Trials, Mini Moto & Fast 50'

The various state Trial committees fought hard for this a few years back as our insurance claims are much much lower than other forms of the sport.

The options for type of licence are shown on Ridernet when you do your licence application.


Gary B. from Wollongong MCC.
Now the Old Man in "Team Boniface"
:?

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Penno1
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Re: What's with suddenly ripping us off?

Postby Penno1 » Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:42 am

Gary B wrote:Penno,
Senior National licence allows you to compete in EVERY form of Motorcyce racing in Australia, Road Racing, MX, Enduro, Trials etc.

A Restricted licence which is about $50 less allows you to only compete in Trials, Mini Moto & Fast 50'

The options are shown on Ridernet when you do your licence application.


Yes I know.
The ridernet site is dodgy and it seems I might have bought the full licence somehow by mistake.
I am concerned though that the site is setup to sell anyone a licence even if it is illegal or unconstitutional.

I am no beaurocrat so correct me if wrong, but my understanding is that people can't just join a club and buy a race licence without going through a qualifying process.

At least that's definitely how it used to be.

So how is it that I might have mistakenly bought a full racing licence when all I qualify for is a Trials licence?




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