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I hate Ticketmaster (1 Viewer)

Josh Steinberg

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(Apologies in advance for the rant.)

This morning, I purchased a ticket to a concert I was very excited to see. (Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie, I'm guessing I'll be the youngest guy there but I think it'll be great.) I was so happy when Ticketmaster offered me a seat in Row A during an American Express presale. I mean, how often does that happen?

I should've known it was too good to be true.

I got a call a few hours later from the venue's disability services office, asking me to call back. (I do not have a disability.) I returned the call and spoke to a lady who asked me about my disability and I said I didn't have one, that there must be a mistake. She said I bought a disabled ticket and she'd have to cancel it since I wasn't eligible to use it. I agreed that I shouldn't be in a seat reserved for a disabled person but that I hadn't done that. I politely asked if I could speak with her supervisor, and had to ask three separate times before she allowed me to do so.

After some connection issues I was connected to her boss, who identified himself as the "director" of the program. For half an hour, the guy lectured and berated me about how I couldn't keep my ticket and basically that I was a monster for trying to steal a seat from a disabled person and a liar when I claimed otherwise.

The thing is, I'm a frequent Ticketmaster purchaser, and I know how to buy tickets. I am as sure as any one person can be that this ticket was not labeled as a disabled seat. I specifically selected "American Express Presale" and "Best Available" seats, and not the "Disabled" option. I think it's pretty clear that in a moment when the Ticketmaster system was getting innundated with thousands of requests at the same second, something somewhere glitched.

But this guy would not give a single millimeter. He repeatedly insisted that the system couldn't make a mistake and that I either screwed up or was lying. I never lost my temper or raised my voice, but the guy kept at it and took away my ticket. They're offering me a refund and saying there's nothing they can do and that they have no connection to Ticketmaster or tickets or anyone who does. But there's still a presale ticket in Row Z available and they said I could buy that instead. As if Row A and Row Z are somehow comperable.

Unbelievable.

I understand mistakes happen. But what I can't believe is that there's no one there who can go, "Ok, something didn't work out right here, but let's try to fix this. We need the handicapped seat back but the general public onsale hasn't happened yet, let's see if the box office can find you something comperable so everyone's happy. It might not be Row A but let's get you a seat in the same neighborhood before they go onsale."

I suggested as much but the guy reacted as if I was suggesting genocide.

For what it's worth, nowhere on my order receipt does it say that it's a handicapped ticket. After the phone call, when I refreshed the webpage that designation appeared, but it wasn't there earlier. Unfortunately I can't get my browser cache to show the older version of the page.

I get that they need that particular seat for a handicapped person and despite what they think, I'm not a monster. But I'm really furious at this idea that their system made a mistake, and they're taking absolutely no responsibility for that. No apologies, no efforts to find mutually amicable solutions, just accusations and insinuations and a forced cancellation of my order.

It's really irritating that consumers get treated like this by big companies and have no recourse. Ticketmaster never lets consumers cancel or modify orders even if the customer made a mistake, with no recourse for the customer, but they're more than happy to cancel things for their mistakes and there's nothing the customer can do. And I'm also sick of this thing where different companies work together for their benefit but not yours. Like in this instance, you can't buy tickets from the venue can gig cab only get them from Ticketmaster, but then the guy at the venue insists the venue has no relationship with Ticketmaster. Well, they're the only way to buy a ticket to a show at your venue, so whether or not you want to acknowledge it, you are connected. It seems to me it should be their job to work this out with Ticketmaster.

I made a good faith effort to purchase a ticket, my card was charged and the transaction was processsed successfully. They made a mistake. The burden should be on them to make it right, not me.
 
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Adam Lenhardt

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That is awful customer service.

I've never had a horror story like that, but I hate how they charge you up the wazoo with convenience fees when you buy tickets online but then make it next to impossible to buy tickets at a physical box office.

I miss the days when people would line up at the ticket window when a highly anticipated show was about to open ticket sales. As inconvenient as it was, you had a much better chance of scoring decent seats than you do now, when the scalpers swallow up all of the good seats in the first minute or two that tickets are available.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Thanks Adam. I was going a little out of my mind replaying the conversation and wondering if I missed something and I'm really the jerk here, but I don't see it. What a bizarre experience. My credit card still shows a charge and my account still shows the ticket so I think I will probably call back tomorrow to confirm they've canceled it. If I have to buy another one, I don't want to get stuck with a double charge.
 

Winston T. Boogie

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I have had a lot of bizarre experiences with Ticketmaster including being sold tickets that were meant for a handicapped person. The end result was different than yours though because they sent me the tickets and I went to the show. The thing was when I got to the show the people at the venue realized the mistake and then went out of their way to help. So, in the end it worked out fine. I took it as a mistake and luckily did not end up in an argument with anybody on the phone.

Also I have on two occasions been sold seats by Ticketmaster that did not exist. In both cases they were "front row" tickets and in both cases I was sort of embarrassed by the outcome. Both times the venue figured out the mistake and both times the venue fixed the mistake by getting folding chairs, walking me to the front or in one case right into the area with the band and setting the folding chairs up there. On one occasion everybody in the venue including the band gave us a round of applause. On the occasion where they set us up with the band they set a chair on each side of the drummer who looked at us laughing and said "I hope you like drums."
 

Josh Steinberg

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This guy apparently worked at the venue so I am hoping the ticket doesn't actually show up because I would not enjoy a confrontation at the show.

I'm a bit annoyed that somehow this is unresolved. The guy said he'd call me back today to confirm the cancelation and didn't so I'm probably going to have to call tomorrow. At this point I'm done arguing, just give me my money back and let me be done. You win. Go ahead and think I'm a monster, whatever, let me get on with my life.

One thing I'm learning from all this is that Reggie always has more interesting stories than I do :D
 
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Winston T. Boogie

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One thing I'm learning from all this is that Reggie always has more interesting stories than I do :D

Well, first you are not a "monster" at all and the people you dealt with on the phone were ignorant to treat you that way. The only experience I can compare this to, because I was berated for basically the same reasons, was attempting to board a flight once. This was in person though and like you I had done nothing wrong and followed the instructions I was told to follow. However, the person at the ticket counter and the person at the boarding gate apparently were not on the same page and so I got blasted at the gate, which turned into a major argument and had it happened today...this was before 9/11...likely would have ended in my arrest. All because I attempted to board a flight with a guitar.

I don't like or trust Ticketmaster either and I don't go to many shows anymore that involve buying tickets from them. They do make mistakes in my experience and I have dealt with many of them. I don't go to many shows anymore that involve purchasing tickets from them so thankfully I no longer have to deal with them much.

The two shows I mention above with the folding chairs were a Los Lobos show and a Ray Charles show. At the Los Lobos show due to the ticket screw-up they had us stand in a balcony that was not being used for the opening act, not wanting to walk us down front while the band was playing. Then when he was finished they came and got us and walked us back downstairs to the front of the stage...in front of the front row of patrons with about 6 ushers and people carrying folding chairs. So, it looked like this big entourage and as if we were surrounded by security. Just as we approached the stage...the house lights were up...Los Lobos were walking out onto it and they saw the big group of ushers and security and people with folding chairs as we were right in front of them. So, the theater goes dead silent and everybody is watching us including the band. They set up the chairs the ushers escort us over to them and seat us in them and we sit down and there is still silence and I look behind us at the people in the front row and they look perplexed and I shrug and say sorry...then I look at the stage and the Los Lobos guys are all staring down at us...then somebody in the balcony stands up and starts giving us a standing ovation which causes the whole place to erupt and I look at the stage and Los Lobos are applauding too and I look at my brother, who was with me, and say "Good god!" and then David Hidalgo says into the mic "Well now that we are all seated including our special guests, I guess we can get started."
 
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Aaron Silverman

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Well, first you are not a "monster" at all and the people you dealt with on the phone were ignorant to treat you that way. The only experience I can compare this to, because I was berated for basically the same reasons, was attempting to board a flight once. This was in person though and like you I had done nothing wrong and followed the instructions I was told to follow. However, the person at the ticket counter and the person at the boarding gate apparently were not on the same page and so I got blasted at the gate, which turned into a major argument and had it happened today...this was before 9/11...likely would have ended in my arrest. All because I attempted to board a flight with a guitar.

Just a few weeks ago, a violinist was physically attacked by a United employee when she refused to let them check her priceless 300-year-old violin.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Why is the thread titled "I Hate Ticketmaster" when it was the people at the venue who mistreated you?

That's a fair quest, and I went with that because this started as a Ticketmaster transaction. I purchased the tickets through Ticketmaster, and the venue has chosen to work exclusively with Ticketmaster - the person on the phone may have been associated more directly with the venue, but he was calling me in response to an order I placed on Ticketmaster. I didn't have any direct business dealings with the venue. I placed an order with Ticketmaster and it blew up in my face. That's on Ticketmaster for not doing their jobs right. They shouldn't be delegating customer service calls to people who aren't really capable of providing customer service. And ultimately, my Ticketmaster order was revoked.

This was a situation that was the result of a computer glitch on Ticketmaster's end - so the problem started with them. The venue people were absolutely terrible as well. But ultimately, I did business with Ticketmaster, and by Ticketmaster not having a customer service agent involved in this process, that opened the door for the venue to mistreat me. As a general thing, I am so sick of this modern thing where different companies work together, and the end result is that no one is responsible for anything. The guy at the venue said to me at one point that he had nothing to do with Ticketmaster and that our conversation had nothing to do with Ticketmaster - and yet, this was all over a Ticketmaster order. Ticketmaster goofed, the venue compounded the error. But ultimately, we were using Ticketmaster's system the whole time. When I got the phone call from the venue, they asked specifically for my Ticketmaster order number and Ticketmaster account info, and had the capability of seeing my order details on their end. They had complete access to the Ticketmaster system and were asking me questions in real time on the phone about how I had used the system. Our conversation was primarily focused on Ticketmaster.

I agree that both parties are at fault, but I had to call the thread something.
 
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Josh Steinberg

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Ticketmaster being absolute greedy, corporate scumbags is nothing new. A quick search will turn up all kinds of dirt on them but this is what sealed it for me. I haven't touched them since.

I would love to not deal with Ticketmaster. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of performances I see are held at locations for which Ticketmaster has exclusive ticketing rights. For instance, this week, I saw U2 at MetLife Stadium. Ticketmaster is the only authorized ticketing vendor for MetLife. MetLife does not offer in-person box office sales on the day the event goes onsale. Tickets sell out on the first day available, so for all intents and purposes, Ticketmaster is the only place to purchase these tickets. It's the same story for just about every other venue and band near me. As much as I would love to not deal with Ticketmaster, I'm not going to stop seeing the bands I like. It won't make a bit of difference with Ticketmaster, but I will be unhappier missing the shows.

For this incident, the show in question is going to be held at New York's Beacon Theater. Like many other venues here, this is an exclusively Ticketmaster venue that does not sell tickets at the box office on the day they go on sale. Since I wanted to see this concert, I had to use Ticketmaster. It's not as if there's an alternate vendor I can choose to use. This is their only NYC-area concert. Traveling to Philadelphia, for example, doesn't seem a reasonable solution - and the Philadelphia venue they're playing at also uses Ticketmaster as their exclusive vendor.

Unless and until Ticketmaster is identified as a monopoly and then either broken up or regulated, this will be a perpetual problem.
 

Josh Steinberg

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OK, so I have an update.

The incident in the original post happened on Tuesday. The person I spoke with had promised me he would call me back on Tuesday. He did not call on Tuesday. My order was canceled Tuesday night. He did not call on Wednesday. On Thursday, I received a call and an offer to purchase a ticket in Row E. While not Row A, I felt that was substantially better than "there are tickets still on sale in Row Z that you can buy" that was his first solution. However, the regular tickets had gone onsale through Ticketmaster and I was able to get a seat in Row C, so I declined the offer, but did offer my thanks for following up. (It seemed pointless to start a conversation about the merits of calling people back when you say you're going to, so I didn't.)
 

Scott Merryfield

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I am glad it all worked out for you, Josh.

I am not a fan of Ticketmaster, either (is anyone?). Their service charges are outrageous. Over the past Christmas break, my wife and I spent a couple of nights in Grand Rapids and wanted to see the musical version of A Christmas Story, which was playing at the theater next to our hotel (we've seen other shows there in the past). Anyway, checking online in advance for tickets, everything had to go through Ticketmaster and seats were $150 each after all the fees were added. Even calling for tickets resulted in the same price. We decided we didn't want to pay that much. Instead, the day we arrived in Grand Rapids we walked over to the theater's box office and bought seats in the same location for $75 -- half what it would have cost via Ticketmaster!
 

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