Things That Grind Our (And Your) Gears: Yankees-Steiner Cold Calls

Predictably, the most popular posts on weblogs are the negative ones. Along that line of thinking, we are going to start a new series of posts called: "Things That Grind Our (And Your) Gears." The rules are simple: any time something regarding the operational side of the New York Yankees frustrates one of our readers enough to email us, and that issue has bothered us as well, we will make a post about it.

Today we come to you with a complaint from "DaraGardensApartment" regarding Yankees-Steiner sales techniques:

Hey Ross.

I use this email address for NOTHING other than my Yankees account and other personal stuff..

I started getting emails rom Steiner Sports about buying my old seats and NOW Steiner (with permission from the Yanks or without) decided that they can start soliciting business from me

Thanks Mr. Trost!!!

Below the complaint was a forwarded Steiner Sports marketing email for Final Four merchandise. The Yankees had lent this person's email address to Steiner for marketing purposes. We feel for this person, as we too have received annoying marketing emails from Steiner, albeit only ones regarding the Yankees memorabilia sale. Apparently, being Yankees season ticket holders saddles us with the responsibility of having to opt-out of marketing emails from other companies. What an honor.

Sadly, spam in our email inbox is something we have grown accustomed to. However, what REALLY grinds our gears are the cold calls from these greedy bastards. Twice this week, some dude with a Long Island accent (something else that grinds our gears), called while we were at work and left messages ON OUR CELL PHONE. This salesman was calling from the Steiner Collectibles store in the Roosevelt Field Mall and didn't want to let us miss the amazing opportunity of buying our EXACT season seats from the old Yankee Stadium. That's right, for the low cost of $1999, we would have the once in a lifetime opportunity of purchasing the upper deck seats that we had enjoyed Yankees playoff failures in since way back in the Torre-era, 2005. Memories such as the the time we arrived to find those very seats soiled with bird feces would obviously be included, but we had to act fast because the offer expired on Friday, May 22.

Needless to say, we did not call Steiner back to jump on this amazing offer, although our first instinct was to call back and let them know how we felt about their cold-calling tactics. Then, we realized that New Stadium Insider is the perfect sounding board for this type of beef. Why call and yell at some minimum wage worker, when we could make a post like this and call out the idiots who decided this type of marketing was a good idea?

We were able to deal with John Sterling giving us an automated call on the day that the seats went on sale - its always good to hear from automated John. After all, we understand that every Yankee season ticket holder is not an obsessive Yankees news reader like we are, and might have missed the news about seats going on sale. What we can't understand is "opt-out" marketing phone calls and emails from Steiner. The Yankees simply gave Steiner carte blanche to email us or call us whenever they wanted, requiring us to "opt-out" if we wanted to stop them. Typically, reputable companies employ "opt-in" marketing procedures. Some people may have enjoyed Steiner calling them and pestering them to buy overpriced relics from the old Yankee Stadium, and those people could have easily asked for such calls via a portal in their Yankees Account.

We can't be the only ones who were really annoyed by these sales tactics. Let us hear your cold calling anecdotes in the comments. Read the full post, after the jump

The Yankees Are Trying To Move Seats - Old And New (Demolition & Ticket Pricing Updates)

A couple of quick notes on a busy Monday afternoon - before we head out to the stadium.


(photo courtesy of WCBS880.com)

The pace of demolition is accelerating at the old Yankee stadium, as seats are being being pulled throughout. Sales are brisk for the insanely overpriced seats, so the Yankees likely want to get those orders fulfilled before the inevitable buyer's remorse sets in and people try to get a refunds.


(screen grab courtesy of Yankees.com)

The Yankees are trying to sell seats at the new Yankee Stadium as well. In this case, they are trying to get fans to come to the seats, instead of the seats coming to them. According to a marketing email sent by the Yankees this morning, fans can "Save $40 on Batter's Eye seats May 18-21." The Yankees conveniently withhold the price of these seats throughout Yankees.com, so fans can't see the completely overpriced $125 face value. Even at $85 ($40 off) "catch[ing] the game perched atop the Batter's Eye and enjoy[ing] one of the most unique views in the Stadium" is not worth it. Buyer beware, and wait until they drop the prices to a more reasonable level of $45 - $50.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and if you are at the Yankees game tonight, come and visit us in section 428, row 10. Nick is making his new Yankee Stadium (regular season) debut, and shenanigans are sure to ensue. We'd love to meet our loyal readers (if such people exist). Come and say hello. Read the full post, after the jump

"Ruth Built It, Yankees-Steiner Took It Down!"

photo courtesy of Tom Kaminski, WCBS 880

It is a bittersweet day, as the pulling of the seats from the Old Yankee Stadium has begun. Before heading over to WCBS880.com to check out all of the overhead shots, direct your attention to this screen grab from SteinerCollectibles.com:


Screen grab courtesy of baseball-fever message board

There we have it, the Yankees and Steiner are boasting about completely selling out Yankees history (from trash cans to bat racks) , while somehow managing to rip off the city they call home. You stay classy, Yankees. Read the full post, after the jump

Old Yankee Stadium Memorabilia Prices Revealed

Following up a story in the NY Times, here are the prices to snag a pair of seats from the old Yankee Stadium:

Package A $1,950

-Generic Pair of Yankee Stadium Seats
-Derek Jeter Hand Signed Joe DiMaggio Thank the Good Lord Sign
-Yankee Stadium Final Game Ticket/Line Up Card Collage
-$100 Gift Certificate
-Yankee Stadium Free Gift

Package B $1,850

-Generic Pair of Yankee Stadium Seats
-Mariano Rivera Hand Signed Final Season Baseball Click Here To View
-Yankee Stadium Final Game Ticket/Line Up Card Collage Click Here To View
-2 Ball Final Season & Inaugural Season Set Click Here To View
-$50 Gift Certificate
-Yankee Stadium Free Gift

Package C $1,650

-Generic Pair of Yankee Stadium Seats
-Yogi Berra Hand Signed Baseball Click Here To View
-Joe DiMaggio Thank the Good Lord Sign (unsigned)
-Yankee Stadium Final Game Ticket/Line Up Card Collage Click Here To View
-$50 Gift Certificate
-Yankee Stadium Free Gift

Package D $1,800

-Generic Pair of Yankee Stadium Seats
-Derek Jeter Hand Signed Final Season Commemorative Baseball Click Here To View

Package E $1,500

-Generic Pair of Yankee Stadium Seats
-Yankee Stadium Free Gift

The official press release, with loads more info can be found here.

We were tipped off on these prices before they were made public by a reader of the blog, who happens to also be a sports memorabilia dealer. Since we have absolutely no perspective on these prices (and no interest in purchasing any of this crap) we will defer to our "source" for further insight into the pricing:

"It is funny that they are charging $1500 for seats that are from 'Yankee Stadium 2'... The original (and my opinion better ones) are still available for $1000-$1200 ...Wouldnt it make sense to sell the 'Yankee Stadium 2' seats for cheaper than the harder to find originals?

I also think it is a joke that they are throwing in yankees player autographs in some of the packages... $1950 for the stuff is over priced. The Jeter/ DiMaggio sign sells online for about $250-300...Mariano balls sell for $125-$175...

This Yankee Stadium final season ticket collage isn't even real... It is fabricated... It costs them barely nothing to make and their framing is only costing them $25..."

So there we have it. At this point, we should all expect that anything licensed by the New York Yankees will be completely overpriced. Buyer beware. Read the full post, after the jump