Skaters Who Don't Pay

[Query]

Almost every rink probably has this problem: Skaters who don't pay. You may have noticed them. They sneak in to the rink at other than the normal entrance, then do their best to avoid being noticed. Or they rush pass the person looking for admissions IDs too fast to be checked or stopped. They pass their admissions ID to a friend, or take one out of the trash, repairing it if needed. If the rink rotates colors, they keep a collection. They out-skate the rink guard, so they can't be caught. As a rink guard I've also heard a lot of excuses. They lost their ID. It fell off. The cashier forgot to give it them them. They don't have to pay. Sorry they just forgot, won't happen again (can even be true).

The problem is obviously not unique to ice rinks. Any facility or activity with paid admissions just have the same problem. Ice rinks have a special problem - hockey teaches kids to cheat. A significant part of hockey team play appears to be distracting the referees to look at one part of the rink, while people in another part cheat in one way or another. It's just another fun part of the game - but it teaches kids the value of breaking the rules whenever they can get away with it, which they happily apply to other aspects of life, including paying admissions. BTW, it's not just the hockey players who cheat admissions at ice rinks, or who look at cheating as a fun game to play.

Most businesses, including ice rinks, run close to the margins of economic viability, and are often a small step away from closing. Even community-subsidized facilities justify their budget in terms of the number of users - counted as customers who pay. So if, say, 10% - 35% of the skaters cheat, depending on factors like physical security, human security, the methods of evaluating whether the customer paid, and the enforced penalties, that can make a big difference in whether the facility can continue to run.

So, let's have a discussion here about practical, affordable ways a rink can use to get more customers to pay, and things they shouldn't do.

[AgnesNitt]

The wrist bands are crap. Really, worthless. I think they're probably the cheapest which means they're still used. They slip under sleeves and unless someone is stationed at teh gate, I've never seen them checked.

I prefer the stick on patches that are printed out at time of purchase with the date and session and have the color across the top. 

I skated at one rink where there were chronic cheaters who got banned. And a kid who was a guard kept letting his buds on. The Skating Director fired him when she stopped a kid w/o a band who said, "But Jimmy let's us on for free."

This is a business where you're selling 'time' not 'product'. And 90% of the staff is under 18 on the weekend.  It's really easy to let stuff slide.

And although I have heard no stories, I suspect that it's really easy to skim cash from the register, although wide spread use of credit cards is probably reducing that. Back office scams probably also happen.

[Doubletoe]

My old rink only had one entrance (there were 2 others but the alarm would sound if anyone used them).  The door to the rink would only be opened for you once you paid at the box office.  This was for public skate, which I'm assuming is what this thread is about.  I guess if you have more than one ice surface and/or a restaurant or other service that doesn't require an admission fee, it gets more complicated. . .

[AgnesNitt]

... This was for public skate, which I'm assuming is what this thread is about. . . .

We had 'mispaying' at freestyle. The club put a smack down on that in cooperation with the rink. They're *very* strict now.

[Query]

Stick on patches are constantly falling off, no matter what you do. It's even happened to me. Necklaces may be better than bracelets - but may be too easy to transfer.

As far as skimming registers - many businesses video employees and all public areas, and the supervisor uses the videos to watch employees (mostly in fast mode) in private. Especially if cash or responsibility is involved, or a theft occurs. So I doubt skimming is common anymore. At least not for long.

I may suggest to my supervisor that they watch a skating session that way, to get some idea how many skaters come on to the session, and compare that number to admission receipts, so we can see whether the problem is worth worrying about. But every solution I've thought of may cost as much money as it saves.

The idea occurred to me after a hockey team (age 5 - 7 ?) came onto the ice in full hockey gear. They broke every rule they could (starting with starting to sneak on 30 minutes early) and made it unsafe for other customers every way they could. (How can such little kids be so fast and such good skaters, especially right after a game? I could barely catch them. If they are H--- on ice now, wait til they reach high school.) The coach stood by the wrong entry door, helped kids get in and out by it, and was otherwise mostly silent. (The hockey team, in all that gear, was quite safe.) I do appreciate the time and coaching skill that produced such a group of fine skaters, and fully understand that it is just as hard for good hockey players to get anything out of a crowded public session as it is for high level freestyle skaters, but it really was hard to accommodate them on a crowded public session. After a bit, I started to realize that only a few had paid. One claimed the coach had said it was OK, because they had just rented ice for a game. (I told him to take it up with the front desk.) I like to help people who are having trouble with basic skating, sometimes help tying shoes, and otherwise make things pleasant for paying customers - but guards are really there to enforce rules, keep other people safe, and, yes, help the rink watch the bottom line.

[icedancer]

At our mall rink most of the regulars take a class - which gives you all of your public sessions for free.  I think this eliminates the non-payers among the regulars.

Just a guess.  We still have to sign in and get a wrist band... but if we forget to do that then I don't know what happens...

[lutefisk]

Our freestyle sessions are by sign-in, at which point you pay your fee or present a frequent skater card.  Each FS session has a different color sticker.  FS, while "busy" in the sense that skaters are going in different directions at the same time, is not overly crowded in terms of numbers of bodies so it's pretty obvious if someone is over-staying the time they've paid for during back to back FS sessions.  The skating director coaches at all of the FS sessions I've attended.  She has eyes like a hawk and immediately calls over skaters without the appropriate colored sticker. 

As for public sessions, I rarely see anyone without a sticker. The stickers do fall off.  At the end of some public sessions I come off the ice with multiple stickers slapped on my jacket--better to gather them up than skate over them.  The stickers tend to stay put on fleece, like polar-tech, but not so much on slippery nylon shelled jackets or warm up pants.  Perhaps fee cheats are more prevalent at some rinks than others? 

Random question: why is it that stickers land on the ice colored side down, thus making them hard to see?  Perhaps a corollary to the observation that a dropped piece of toast tends to land jelly-side down?

[sarahspins]

I prefer the stick on patches that are printed out at time of purchase with the date and session and have the color across the top. 

I like these better since the date of purchase is much more visible, but the stickers just don't stick to certain materials, so a lot of them fall off.  We use them for group classes as well, but not for freestyle sessions.

We don't really seem to have a problem with skaters not paying at my rink... but the staff does seem to keep an eye on that fairly closely.  I know when I became an employee at my rink (and no longer had to pay to skate most sessions), I would often get asked if I had paid, or I'd be reminded that my punch card account in the computer was "empty", and that went on for a few months until most of the people who worked the counter knew I was an employee.  My daughter also skates for free and as far as I know, no one has ever bothered her about it, but she does still have punch card credit on the computer.

And although I have heard no stories, I suspect that it's really easy to skim cash from the register, although wide spread use of credit cards is probably reducing that. Back office scams probably also happen.

Ha, well when I worked the counter as a teenager, we had 3 different managers who would often pull cash out of the register to go buy their lunch (this was almost 20 years ago when most places in the food court in the mall didn't accept debit/credit yet) and while they told me they'd pay it back, I suspect they just fixed the ledgers at the end of the day so no one ever knew about it.  Back then "most" people paid cash for admission, so it wasn't uncommon for there to be $800-1000+ in cash in the register on any given day - so being short $10 or $20 compared to what the register said it took in wasn't really going to set off any alarms.  Only once when a manager took out $500 in cash and forgot to record that they put it in the safe was I ever questioned about anything, but that money was found right where it should have been, so it wasn't exactly a problem.

[skategeek]

My main rink uses stickers and it seems to work pretty well.  (At the small adult public sessions I get mine but no one bothers to wear them.)  The other rink I go to uses hand stamps you show as you enter the rink.  Not a bad approach (it's not going to fall off!) but kind of a pain when you're wearing gloves and wrist guards.

[fsk8r]

My home rink is more old fashioned. It's a leisure complex so you have to pay at the front desk two floors up on the way in. They control entrance to the rink by having only one door unlocked (there are fire exits to outside before anyone worries). Post someone on the door blocking the doorway and therefore no one can get in unless they present a ticket to him. They've never had a problem not paying. They've a bigger problem with making sure the regulars swipe in for freestyle as they're on monthly pre-payment and if you're arriving early enough the front desk hasn't opened.

[twinskaters]

I don't know if our rink has a big non-paying problem. It doesn't seem that way, but I don't know how I would know. You pay at the desk, and for public you get a bracelet, and there's usually someone posted at the entrance. If you're wearing skates, they ask to see the bracelet. For freestyle, they don't do bracelets or have anyone checking, so I guess there could be some jerks sneaking on. There's a sign-in sheet at the desk and you pay there. There have been many occasions where I have gotten distracted by getting my kids on the ice and only remembered to pay at the very end of their hour, but I always pay eventually!

[Query]

Stickers, or bracelets don't solve the problem. There is no way to tell whether they are re-used from someone else. And they often aren't unique - and can be bought at a supply store. It costs more to make things unique, and to verify unique use. Of course, you could take the person's picture and put it on the ticket, but that adds money, and adds time to the checking process. And it doesn't stop people from sneaking in.

[AgnesNitt]

Ha, well when I worked the counter as a teenager, we had 3 different managers who would often pull cash out of the register to go buy their lunch (this was almost 20 years ago when most places in the food court in the mall didn't accept debit/credit yet) and while they told me they'd pay it back, I suspect they just fixed the ledgers at the end of the day so no one ever knew about it.  Back then "most" people paid cash for admission, so it wasn't uncommon for there to be $800-1000+ in cash in the register on any given day - so being short $10 or $20 compared to what the register said it took in wasn't really going to set off any alarms.  Only once when a manager took out $500 in cash and forgot to record that they put it in the safe was I ever questioned about anything, but that money was found right where it should have been, so it wasn't exactly a problem.

Yeah, that's known as 'testing the system to see how much I can get away with.'

I've handled valuable materials (not cash) and our mandated process was a receipt for every withdrawal. If I owned a business and found a manager was taking out lunch money from the till, he'd be out the door. Starts small and ends big.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Generally, we don't have a problem with non-payment that I know of. For public sessions, you pay at the front desk and receive a sticker that is printed with the date, time, and session that you paid for. They also provide plastic sheets with hangers that are made to go on zippers if your sticker is falling off. The stickers aren't something you can just make at home as they are on specifically colored paper, with the arena logo, information, safety information, etc. Additionally, if you rent skates (the majority of public skaters), the sticker shows that you have done so and you aren't getting skates without it (or there's a second sticker just for skates that collected, I forgot which as I haven't skated public in probably 5 or more years). There are guards on the ice checking stickers as well as for safety. Plus, some of the coaches teach on public, so you have a second set of eyes as well.

For freestyle, we are on contracts. You pre-pay for your specific sessions for the month online ahead of time. Each day there is a binder for each sheet of ice with papers with the session start and end time, the skaters who are on that session, and a check off for whether they attended or not. There's a monitor in the music box on most sessions doing the attendance (mom's get freestyle credit if they volunteer). Drop-ins can either be done in the online system by 5 p.m. the night before, or a ticket that you put your name on can be purchased at the front desk (if that's not open, then check or cash to the ice monitor).

[twinskaters]

Stickers, or bracelets don't solve the problem. There is no way to tell whether they are re-used from someone else. And they often aren't unique - and can be bought at a supply store. It costs more to make things unique, and to verify unique use. Of course, you could take the person's picture and put it on the ticket, but that adds money, and adds time to the checking process. And it doesn't stop people from sneaking in.

True but our rink switches bracelet designs at every session. You could conceivably put them on just loosely enough that you can slip them off, and then save a collection so you can match it each time you skate, but that's a level of commitment most people don't have. One of my girls actually does keep a collection of bracelets, but that's because she's an 8-year-old hoarder, not a low-level criminal.

[lutefisk]

Hey, I know--they could notch our ears like cattle.  That would overcome all the problems with these unreliable stickers and wrist bands.

[Query]

Hey, I know--they could notch our ears like cattle.

Some paid admissions business stamp your hand with an ink stamp. Alas, I've always hated having visible ink on my hand. (A few use ink that is only visible under UV.) Besides, we often cover our hands with gloves. No one is going to let you stamp their face.

I wasn't aware that some facilities date and time stamp purchase tokens. We do try to make people renting skates show the bracelets - but although that catches a few, who might or might not realize they have bypassed the intended payment place, it's mostly people who know the system, who have their own gear, who try to scam it. It's mostly people with hockey skates, though that is partly because there are more people with their own hockey skates than people with their own figure skates. My impression is that it really is something of a game for them, rather than primarily a way of saving money (especially for some little kids, some of whom constantly try to push what they can get away with - no surprise there, I've done volunteer skate instruction, where the same applies), so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they work hard to find ways to scam the system. It's not like we arrest anyone - they don't see the downside.

[rd350]

The Policy at The Ice House is if you get caught once, you get a warning, if you get caught twice (I think) you are banned for "x" amount of time.  Something like that.  Picturing Rink's Most Wanted posters....

[Meli]

I think we have more of an issue with the hockey players who don't think they have to pay for the public if they're on the ice for a game later... um, no.  I was on the ice one day (on a lightly populated public) and three guys broke out sticks and began messing around (no ice monitor) one of the moms in the stands high tailed it to the front desk to complain, and not only did the guys get chewed out about the sticks, but they also were busted for not paying.  Again, they "didn't think they had to."

Our sticker machine is constantly broken, but you usually see the gentleman from the front desk (who knows everyone) pop over and check to see who is on the ice during the course of the session.