F*ck Ticketmaster UK!!!!!!!!!!

Jovian · #1 05-27-2003, 07:19 PM

For anyone going to the UK gigs, here's some "nice" news from Ticketb'stard UK.

After re-dialling for half an hour, I finally got thru to the Ticketb'stard UK Customer Service. And after "being held in a queue for the next available operator" for another 15 mins or so, I actually got to talk to someone...and boy did he have news for me or what!

Point A: According to this Customer Service Person (Greg), Ticketb'stard won't even receive tickets for the UK Jovi shows until on the 2nd week of June, which is when they'll start dispatching them. That's the week starting on Monday the 9th June. When I told the guy that I will be leaving home on the 16th June and the whole friggin' country on the 18th June, he just told me that it's not his problem.

I should have not made any plans to leave the country so that I might not be at home to receive my tickets, since the TM terms of service state that tickets will usually be dispatched 7-10 days prior to the event.

Point B: Again, according to this Customer Service Person, they cannot not arrange it so that I would pick up my tickets either from the Glasgow TM outlet or from the venue box offices on the day of the show, because I did not buy them with my own credit card. When I told the guy that I don't have credit cards because they're not issued to students or the unemployed in Finland, and that if their online service had allowed some other forms of payment I certainly would've used that instead of my friend's credit card, he said again that he's sorry but it's not his problem. Their rules are what they are, so even if I wanted to, it would be 100% impossible for me to pick up my tickets from ANYWHERE because they were bought with someone else's credit card.

Point C: My friend, with whose credit card I bought the tics, had faxed Ticketb'stard her new street addy about a month ago. When I checked her addy with the Customer Service Person, they still had her old addy in their system. The Customer Service Person told me that I had obviously faxed the new info to a wrong number, and I told him that I had received the fax number my friend used from Ticketb'stards own online Customer Service. He asked me to read the number out loud, and when I did, he told me he couldn't find that kind of a number in their system. Which means that some Ticketb'stard Online Customer Service Person had sent me the wrong fax number, and my friend's credit card details, as well as her home address, have been faxed to God-knows-what number. And the number she used WAS working, she checked and double-checked that the fax went in alright.

Point D: After trying to reason with the said Customer Service Person, as well as shouting at him and crying on the phone and asking him what the hell I was supposed to do to get my tickets, there were two options left. Either cancel my tickets, get a full re-fund and try to buy new tickets when I get to Glasgow, or hope and pray that they will arrive on time. Which to me seems 100% impossible, considering that it takes 3-4 working days for mail to get from the UK to Finland, and another 2 working days for the tickets to reach me since they're being sent to my friend's address. And as if that wasn't enough, my friend won't even be at home until the 16th June, as she'll be in Germany to visit a friend and see the Jovi show in Munich.

If worst comes worst, my friend will have to find an (expensive) international courier service and send the tickets to our Glasgow hotel...in which case the only thing I can do is to PRAY that the courier service works and that the tics will be there on time. Otherwise I will end up standing outside the stadium, with my fan club wristband, and listen to the show from there.

No matter how things will eventually turn out, I can promise you one thing right now. I will NEVER, EVER USE TICKETMASTER AGAIN. Never. If using Ticketb'stard will be the only way to get tickets, I'd rather not go at all than be forced to go through this kind of hell again.

jovime · #2 05-27-2003, 07:49 PM

maybe a strange Q but isnt it possible to take your friends creditcard with you?.Then you would be able to pick up the tix at the venue?

I feel very sorry for you, this all happens this way

Jovian · #3 05-27-2003, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovime

maybe a strange Q but isnt it possible to take your friends creditcard with you?.Then you would be able to pick up the tix at the venue?

I don't think it works that way, unfortunately.

They'll probably ask for a credit card and an ID, and even if I had my friend's credit card AND her ID with me, surely they would notice that it's not ME who's in the ID card or driver's licence. So they still wouldn't give me my tics.

Cause after all, I could've just stolen her credit card and her ID and booked and paid for the tics with her credit card back in November, and would still be standing there +7 months later WITH that same stolen credit card and stolen ID, demanding to get my tics...

Thanks for the sympathy, though. It's much appreciated. I'm seriously *THIS* close to calling the whole thing off right now... No one should be made to deal with this kind of sh't simply because they want to go see their favourite band in another country.

jovilaura_fi · #4 05-27-2003, 08:10 PM

Who will allow their credit card to be taken with them?

I'm very mad at Ticketb'stard too (good name for it, Jovian).

I've tried to call them all evening but couldn't get through.

But apparently, if you can take a photocopy of both sides of the credit card, and a letter from here to assure that you are who you are and that you have her permission to use the card, that should be enough. I didn't get this from TM myself, but a good friend did (thanks Tom

). I'll have to confirm this tomorrow, if I'll get through.

I can't believe what a f'cked up organisation/company/whatever they are... This is just unacceptable, I've paid for the tickets six months ago, I expect to get them on time too without all this hassle. And I expect to get service, or why am I paying for the service fee. Plus the postal fees, when they aren't being sent apparently. I'm quite pissed off right now, I've wasted my afternoon/evening on this, and got basically no result.

The thing is being taken care of for Taija and me (thanks to Tom, Taija, my dad) as far as we can do it now, but still... I'm not the one who should be working on this, they should. And I've called them twice before and I've been assured that it's not a problem for the tickets to arrive on time and that I'm not the holder of the credit card with which they were paid.

letitrock · #5 05-27-2003, 08:18 PM

Quote:

I will NEVER, EVER USE TICKETMASTER AGAIN. Never. If using Ticketb'stard will be the only way to get tickets,

unfortunately they are the only way to get tickets it seems. Even when i buy tickets from Picadilly Box Office in manchester (or even from some of the venues!!!) it still seems to go through ticketmaster somehow

the only way to get around that in future (which i admit is far from ideal, especially since this time they were gold standing and TM were the only option) is to phone a number such as picadilly box office and so book it through this 2nd party. For example they told me on the phone you could pick the tickets up from them at any point once they have been printed)...

that being said the same place (but it's still Ticketmaster) charged us £4 per ticket Postage for Springsteen and yet we had to pick them up at the box office in the end

The whole concert world is ****ed up like this - incompetence. But they have the monopoly (especially when you are booking from overseas). Is there anyone in the UK you could ask for the tickets to be transferred to (in other words a "new" dispatch address?) - you could get your friend to do this over the phone... ???

Jovian · #6 05-27-2003, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovilaura_fi

But apparently, if you can take a photocopy of both sides of the credit card, and a letter from here to assure that you are who you are and that you have her permission to use the card, that should be enough. I didn't get this from TM myself, but a good friend did (thanks Tom

). I'll have to confirm this tomorrow, if I'll get through.

I just decided that the hell with my 66 euro phone bill and the 30 euros I still got left to pay from the previous phone bill, I gotta give them another call because of what you just wrote above. So I did, and got through relatively quickly.

This time I spoke with a different operator, a much friendlier one than the arrogant b'stard I was talking with earlier on. I explained my situation to him, and to my surprise, he assured me that he's about 90% sure that I (or actually my friend) should have my tickets by the time I leave home on the 16th June. He didn't ask for my confirmation numbers, nor did I give them to him, but he assured me that they should start dispatching the Bon Jovi tickets either late this week or early next week, that is, from the 6th June onwards at the latest. Then he said that if my friend hasn't received my tickets by the 13th June, I should give them a ring and they would then somehow arrange it so that I could pick up my tickets at the venues, even though I didn't buy the tics with my own credit card. In essence, he was referring to something similar what you wrote about up there, that I should have photocopies of my friend's credit card and a written statement from her in which she states that she authorises me to pick up the tickets on her behalf.

Also, it seems that at least THIS guy on TM Customer Services was already aware of the fan club and the upcoming fan club arrangements, cause when I explained to him that I might need my tickets when I pick up my fan club wristbands, he said that they will do their utmost to make sure that at least all fan club members would get their tickets at the venue box offices early enough on the show days to be able to use their fan club benefits.

This is really getting to be TOO MUCH for one day. First, I get this arrogant b'stard at TM who basically tells me it's my own fault if I don't get my tickets on time... And then, when I ring them again in utter desperation, I get another guy who not only assures me that my tickets should be here on time but also tells me that if my tics won't make it here on time, they will try to sort something out for me so that I can get my tickets and even be able to enjoy about the fan club benefits.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jovilaura_fi

I can't believe what a f'cked up organisation/company/whatever they are... This is just unacceptable, I've paid for the tickets six months ago, I expect to get them on time too without all this hassle. And I expect to get service, or why am I paying for the service fee. Plus the postal fees, when they aren't being sent apparently.

Gotta agree with you there, wholeheartedly. Nobody should be made to deal with this kind of sh't when all they want is to buy and get tickets to see their favourite band. When you pay for the tickets, you should get them pretty much as soon as they've been charged from your credit card.

letitrock · #7 05-27-2003, 10:12 PM

my one more ammendmant to this:

"F*ck Ticketmaster" full-stop, not just the UK.

Yvonne · #8 05-27-2003, 10:25 PM

Oh i know the feeling phoning Ticketmaster up, not being able to get through, waiting for 30mins on hold. Yep been there done that, wont be doing it again. I have had problems with them in the past.

Anu, i do hope you get your tickets way before 16th June, fingers crossed. I have spoke to someone at Wayahead who we've got out Glasgow tickets from and they said "tickets will be sent out in the next 2 weeks" So i do hope you get them soon.

Becky · #9 05-27-2003, 11:28 PM

What a mess! It demonstrates that Ticketmaster sucks on a world wide basis. Good luck!!

Becky

Late · #10 05-27-2003, 11:49 PM

Ticketmaster **** shit twat bastard bitch

I´m sorry for you. I hope mine ain´t gonna be like that. Oh, I wanna burn down a house....

F*ck Ticketmaster UK!!!!!!!!!!

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