My first Ticketmaster experience
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Artist:
You want a scary story? I'll give you a scary story!
So I read "here":http://mog.com/blog_post/content/537/209239 that Depeche Mode announced a world tour. After crying a few tears of joy, I sign up for the presale, to get me a ticket for their London show in O2 arena in May. I wake up today at 08:30 in the morning (oh the brutality) to get me a ticket. I pick a standing ticket, go through the process, and Ticketmaster gives me the finger. Shit!, I cry out loud, there are no standing tickets left already! Oh well....I guess I'll take a seat on the lower deck. I go for the best possible ticket option, and all I get is an upper deck seat. WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON, I cry out even louder. I suck it up, and decide to buy one of those. After I'm done with the process, I somehow feel like checking again. And apparently, there are now standing tickets available (yes, I'm a n00b, I thought this was clear from the start). Drowning in a sea of panic and doubt, I go ahead and buy one of those, TOO. I now have two tickets for this show, and if no one wants to come with me, I'll somehow sell it. The conclusion, however, is that I am not to be allowed near this site again, and that it will cost me less if I hire someone to buy me tickets next time.
Everything counts in large amounts. And then some.
Comments (36)
Sorry dear, we've tried to warn you that TicketMaster is teh evil, but I understand that it's something you have to experience yourself. Now, you know. :(
I hate TicketMaster.
It's not there to bring us Freelove, is it...
I was just so confused! I still don't know what I should have done.
However, if you can be in London in May... ;)
Andrea, I'll have to join that club...
You should. We have membership cards and a secret handshake :)
And a painful initiation ceremony with blacks cloaks and candles?! I'm there!
You know it!
Well, you'll be able to go see Depeche Mode! That's worth a cheer. ;)
And yeah, those sites suck. Ticketmaster in Holland even is the best. I had to use a different program to buy Franz Ferdinand tickets, and the fucker froze up on me while I was at step 3 of 5... So I waited for it to get to 4, but it wouldn't, so I had start up all over again, and this was 10 minutes after they had gone on sale while my first attempt was after one minute and would've guaranteed me tickets. Luckily through some stroke of luck I managed to bag 2 tickets in my second attempt so I wasn't completely lost, but still...
Good luck with the other ticket. ;)
Andrea, count me very in!
Stefan, it will be my first time, too! Two cheers for two tickets...
Gosh...I can't even imagine how that felt like..we shouldn't have to go through such moments of panic!
Btw, I'm seeing your Foals tonight, they'd better be worth it, young man :)
Oh, Foals will be very worth it. If they could pull is in at 2PM, they'll kill in the evening at a small venue.
TICKETBASTARD...
Dale, right, forgot you saw them recently! I'll take your brotherly word for it :)
Mark....TICKETWANKER...
Anna, it's ruthless touts like you buying up extra tickets to sell who are ruining music for real fans like me!
TOUTS OUT!
I love Depeche Mode, did you say its a standing ticket in the parking lot or ???? OMG, we have no options here on many concerts but to you ticketswest, same deal, many F'd up memories of getting on there and have a time limit of 2 minutes to complete your transaction... I recall forgetting my password and then haing to update my detials ( bank card etc) all the while you are slowing geting pushed back to farthest reaches of the universe in your seat assignments. It's like gambling in Vegas, the odds are against you Anna... don't take it personally, as you can see there designed to make money and piss you off, I say have a drink, even if its early in the morning, toast to the good time you will have no doubt... and to your first TICKOMASTER experience.... say hey you too! LOL
INdy x
Ticketbastard blows - always has and always will... sorry sweetSismine !!! Had I known you'd be going through it - I would have gladly flown over to you & walked you through the hell cuz no one should ever have to go through it alone - especially their first time !!!
But Fluxy...all I wanted was to...(lower lip trembling).........ah screw it, you want a ticket for Depeche Mode? I'll give you a very good deal mwuahahhaha!
Indiana, you comment had me biting my nails, imagining all those nightmary scenarios coming to life. The horror the horror (not that band)! Ticketmaster takes it all, and always wins, eh? I had a fag. They told me that's what I'm supposed to do.
Lizzieness awww! Such a sweet thought. It would cushion the blow for sure. Now I'll just have to go ramble in the streets talking to myself. People who do that aren't crazy people...they are people that just used Ticketmaster to purchase tickets....
You'll fit right in darlin !!! Talk away... pretend I am right there with you & we're searching for the cute little pub/club with the adorable bartender !!!
& you'll love this - my very first experience with ticketbastard was for Depeche Mode tickets to their Violator tour in 1990 ;)
SISTERS through & through !!!
Ah, I feel your pain. Try StubHub.com if you want to sell it though, i know a few people who have had luck with it in the past. But at least you know that you're going for sure, albeit doubly so.
What get's me is the fees are sometimes 1/3 or more of the ticket price here in Portland. I'm not compliaing cause I know its a good place to cartch live music, but I recall when ticket scalping was an option not a necesary evil!
Lizzieness hahahah that bartender can make me talk to myself any day ;)
Whoah, really??? Talk about sisters of night!
Julia, {sobbing quietly}, good to know I'm not alone hehe
I'll try that, thanks! True dat, true dat.
Oh yeah, Indiana, the fees are a freaking treat...
Scalpers are evil....no no, they are actually the devil!
It will be a sell out. You will make enough money to buy a Icelandic Bank...
more like... TICKET-STUPID FACE... haha..um. im not good at the name calling...
its funny, right under your notification was an email from the ol ticket lads... ya i really wish there was an alternative out there. mog should start selling tickets to shows.
Totally agree w/you niece!
Hey babe, look on the bright side. Because there are actual competitors in this country (unlike the USA), Ticketmaster can't charge the "convenience charge" and "ticket printing charge" nd all the other bullshit charges they get away with over there.
But if you ever need the unatainable ticket, call me and I'll give you the secret phone number for a company that can get anything. They charge for it, but you get in. (But only after you learn the secret handshake and wear the black cloak. Not because we're a club or anything - I just want to see you wearing it.) :-D
You're not using the same credit card you used last time? How dare you. Now you have to reset all of your personal information. Sorry, that took too long. We gave your tickets to someone else. Go away and do it all again. Don't forget we're charging you $20 for this convenience.
Wait . . . you guys DON'T have all those extra fees tacked on from ticketmaster? That's it. I'm moving.
Anna, I'm so there with you! (except, of course, I'm not. What with the big water separating us and all. Dammit).
amzing to see that ticketmaster sucks as much over seas as it does here in the states
Ticketmaster: We love to gouge and it shows.
I've paid Ticketbastard fees before on some tickets that were bigger than the cost of tickets I was getting for other shows at the same time.
Nobody puts Anna in a corner!
but bottomline, what is LIFE all about, its about this: Lucky girl!
Before I respond to your comments, let me just say that I went back in there today to get a ticket for The Killers. I'm that brave or that stupid....
I was waiting in line for 15 minutes, got the finger again and had to start from scratch. Waited another 10 minutes.....and now I got the ticket but I'm bathing in my own cold sweat.
I'll be back with responses....
/fag break
Neill...I might as well but Sigur Ros....or are they more expensive than the bank? :P
Sam, whoah, speak of the devil...and Ticketmaster appears!
We should start our own business...I'm game!
Glad to hear that, uncle A!
Jonh, you raise a valid point...there's a ticket lining for me there :)
That better not be a ploy to see me in a cloak! I'll wear it, but I'll demand Arctic Monkeys tickets as well :)
charm and strange whoah! I'll have nightmares all week!
Thank you for the convenience......
Groony, not really, fees were about 5 quid for each of the 3 tickets I've purchased so far, including postage.
Move to the UK! Don't let water come between me, you, and Ticketmaster :)
Kevin, Ticketwanker wouldn't want to spoil its bad reputation now, would it ;)
Kevbo....that sounds unbelievably infuriating....
How much is that ticket on the window? Woof woof!
Indiana, reach out and touch DAVE!
Never used ticketmaster so far. How much is a ticket? I would acutally think about it. But I already missed Gogol Bordello, 'cause I thought 40 quid are just too much for a one day festival ... . I guess Depeche Mode is much more expensive .. .
oh my, i tremble in fear. i've actually never had a Ticketmaster experience, seeing as how i live far, and boy am i thankful right now. i don't understand why there weren't any standing tickets and then there were again... sorry for the hassle, dear, i hope you took some other angst out along in the crying. (;
@anna oh no? You know I used Ticketmaster for my tickets to see Prince in London 9/2007 and I was pleastantly surprised by my tickets.I was in 5 or 6th row. However, recently I just bought tickets to see a concert here through ticketmaster and i paid A LOT of money for the tickets and I don't understand why I was still further back than those who paid the same amount for me? I did not understand that but the good thing was that I could see the entire stage so I sould not be too upset.
I think using ticketmaster is a crap shoot so you never know what you may end up with but I don't know any other reliable source like Ticketmaster that in the USA will allow you return your ticket to them if you cannot use it.
You have to buy this insurance though! In the states it is not that much and I highly advise it for my American friends to consider getting the ticketmaster insurance if you buy a ticket from them and you cannot use it.
http://www.ticketmaster.com/insurance/?dma_id=324
Sorry for your terrible experience. Sending you big hugs! [hugz]
Hermes, there were two categories for DM, one cost 35 and the other 45 quid. Plus about 5 quid fees. When I lived in Greece, I had to pay 50-55 Euros for a festival's day, so I'm tough now ;)
poe, I don't understand either! I still don't know what I should have done...
Sigh. I consoled myself by repeating "it's your first DM show ever" multiple time :)
Serenity, I'm afraid that even with my standing ticket, I don't know where I'll be standing exactly, as the O2's arena is separated in 6 parts from what I could see :/ It's unclear, just like your experience taught you, unfortunately. At least was yours for your eyes to feast on :)
That's a good service...although I think it should be free of charge. But I'm an idealist like that :)
Thank you! *hugs back*
Anna, I've had the horrible TicketBastard experience as well, but I'll tell you being a DM concert veteran...(does three concerts count as veteranship?) You will find the show well worth the hassle! I would swim through shark infested waters for them! Hey hold onto that ticket...I may be able to make the swim by May. LOL I wish!