I HATE Ticketmaster

fran441

So today is my Mom's birthday, and she decided she wanted tickets to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Giants Stadium in July. The shows happen to be at the same time as Macworld so it actually works out pretty well.



So at 9 AM, I had various computers going on ticketmaster.com and had two phone lines and a few cell phones trying to reach Ticketmaster. It's very hard to get tickets to see Springsteen no matter what venue he's playing so we had to be on the ball. His CBS special last night only fueled the chances that we wouldn't get tickets.



Immediately, all of my computers were placed in queues of 15 minutes or longer. After a while, they would time out, one by one, or would go down in time until it would reach 'less than one minute' when they would either shoot back up in wait time or give me some kind of bogus error.



My Mom was in a queue for about 40 minutes and it finally got down to 'less than one minute' when she got an error. When she refreshed the page, she was told tickets were sold out for the event. After sitting by the computer for 2.5 hours on your birthday to try and get tickets to a concert, only to come up empty handed, she was very upset.



She came into my room, very disappointed saying that she got the message that tickets were sold out. Just as I was about to close down, I got into the system. I scored 6 tickets in the nosebleed section (325) for Thursday night.



From what I've heard, New York radio stations were airing ads for some 1-800 ticket agency before the tickets were even on sale advertising that they had 'thousands of seats'. eBay auctions have sets of 2 seats together up for $1000.



But after trying non stop for 2 hours and 22 minutes, I finally got into the system and scored the tickets. It was almost a ruined birthday so I'm glad things worked out, but Ticketmaster has to get their act together because scalpers are scoring all of the tickets over regular people. To wait in a queue for an hour, only for it to shoot out an error is totally unacceptable.



The sad thing is that they probably won't ever fix the problems as they have no incentive to- they are a monopoly. If there was an alternate ticket broker besides Ticketmaster, I would have gladly tried them first.

bunge

I LOVE you for hating Ticketmaster.



PS Yes, I know you're a man and I'm not just confused by the FRAN name. But I'm simply just kidding.

ijerry

that is indeed a sad thing. I too hate ticketmaster. I am a huge Bronco fan, and everytime I used to try to get tickets, it was really stupid. However, now the Broncos themselves took matters into their own hands. Even if you buy your tickets from ticketmaster, you cannot get them until the day of the game, and you have to be at the gate, once you get your tickets, you MUST go into the stadium. NO EXCEPTIONS. That has cut down so much on the scalpers that it is actually quite easy to get tickets now. However, when trying to get tickets to the Stones, I had the same prob. with the error message. PISSES you off. luckily we got through on one of the phone lines.

eman

I hate ordering online from Ticketmaster, so yesterday when Good Charlotte/New Found Glory tickets went on sale yesterday afternoon I went to Filene's because they're a Ticketmaster outles (so it Tower Records by me) so I wouldn't have to deal with not being able to order online or on the phone. It worked out perfectly and I got tickets right away. But generally, I hate Ticketmaster too.

artman @_@

I hate Ticketmaster too. You all should try to find a ticket agency in your area that handles all that hassle for you. You may spend a couple more bucks for the service (I think they'll reserve or get the tickets for you).



I haven't been to a stadium concert or sporting event in years so I haven't had to deal with it. Too expensive and sitting in the nose bleed section for a concert is the equivilant of listening to the performer at home on your iPod.



I like smaller venues, less people and more intimacy with the performers. Plus, I'm not of a big sporting fan.



I heard Metallica tickets were going for $85.00 each. Guess they have a lot of lawyer fees to pay...

applenut

the key is o go to a ticketmaster outlet. always works. but you either have to go to one in an area where people aren't likily to go to a springstein concert or go really early.



go to the south bronx and very rarely are there many people online for a clapton, u2, or pearl jam concert

cosmonut

Well the whole damn system is just messed up. By the time the tickets actually go on sale, half of them are already gone thanks to radio stations, ticket resellers, corporate purchase accounts, etc.



Then, there are probably people who log on with computer farms to make sure they get as many as they can to scalp them...well, on eBay.



It's ridiculous. Next time Dave Matthews Band is to come to K.C., I'm going to have to figure out a good way to get decent tickets. Otherwise, I don't have a prayer...except for paying out the ass or winning them from a radio station.



EDIT: If I don't get tickets this next time, I may just have to buy one of their concert DVD's and crank it in my house. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />



[ 03-01-2003: Message edited by: CosmoNut ]</p>

scott

Hating ticket master may be a unifying force at AI.





It would seem that the "professional" scalpers have a lock on the system. Maybe a type of lottery would be better.

trick fall

Ticketmaster is evil. Not only do I hate them for the ridiculous fees and poor service, they are actually part of clear channel. A corporation that controls a lot of concert venues and about a third or so of all radio stations in America. They are largely responsible for the absolute atrocity that commercial radio has become. It makes me so happy that some of the best smaller venues in New York now use ticketweb instead.



On another note, Fran did you watch the Bruce special? My wife was the post super on it.

applenut

and you can't get around them. Pearl Jam tried so hard and numerous times, but it was just a mess trying to tour without using Ticketmaster. And they were locked out of popular venues.



Ticketmaster is in the same league as the College Board. Monopolistic bastards

scott

I think the only artist that successfully got around Ticketmaster was ... Michele Jackson.

ijerry

you know, there is a loophole in ticketmaster's system. I will fill you all in here. Basically you call a half hour before the tickets you want go on sell, then you listen to the menu, keep hitting the repeat options until it is time to buy your tickets, then select that. No busy signal, and in before those damn scalpers.

argento

Another tip is this. Call an out of state ticketmaster for tickets. Their lines are rarely busy because nobody is calling them so you normally get great tickets. I saw The Boss this fall in St. Paul and he wasunreal it was a 3 hour show that included three encores. It kicked ass man glad she gets the chance to go.

amorya

Here's my story. I was booking to go and see Beauty and the Beast with my girlfriend (the musical not the film). I go online, select all the options, and enter my visa card number. It gives me some generic error message. So I try again. Same error. Oh well, borrow my mum's switch card and use that. It goes through.



The next day I pick up the tickets from the box office. They have my name on them and say purchased with visa. Huh? Check with my mum's bank and they have taken money of her switch card. Also huh? I can't check my card 'cos I don't have telephone banking. So we phone ticketmaster. After about an hour of being transferred from person to person, trying to find someone who knows what they were doing, I was told that the system got the orders mixed up. They had taken money from my mum's card but printed the receipt as if they took it from my card.



When we went for the show the next day, we found they'd also double booked our seats. A few minutes after we sat down, another couple came along with tickets for the same seats on the same day. They were very nice and went to find a staff member, and I assume they were given more seats 'cos they didn't return.





Amorya

ghost_user_name

I love how you had to spend two hours trying to score tickets, and they still have the nerve to charge you a convenience fee.



I'm really curious as to what is so damned convenient about buying tickets these days...

marcus cromwell

ull like it.. if u hate ticketmaster The Walking Dead - Ticketmaster Apocalypse -

 

awest23

What other places are Ticketmaster outlets?

 

marcus cromwell

fed up of Ticketmaster's High Ticketing Fee?? then ull like this video

- Check our blogs at www.fanarchist.com and feel free to share your views and experiences with us.

 

marcus cromwell

fed up of Ticketmaster's High Ticketing Fee?? then ull like this video

- Check our blogs at www.fanarchist.com and feel free to share your views and experiences with us.