If someone had asked me a month ago what I would be doing at this very instant I would tell them that I would be in Denver, primping for the No Doubt concert. The same would have been said two days ago. So, why am I not going to the concert? Because TicketMaster is the devil.
No Doubt has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard Gwen Stefani belt out the lyrics to "Just a Girl". That was well over ten years ago. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that the band had just re-united and were going to be touring the US beginning in May. I was even more excited to see that they were going to be in Denver! I learned that the $10 general admission tickets were going on sale the day of the concert. I tried to pre-order the tickets just to be on the safe side, but everytime I was visited TicketMaster I was told that there were "none available". Weird. Then I read on the amphitheatre where the concert was taking place that tickets were available on the day of the show. So, I figured I had all of my ducks in a row; I had two other girl friends going with me. I had my perfect concert outfit. I had a free place to stay. I even had a cute little mini bottle of Crown so I could enjoy a tasty Crown and Coke during the concert.
My husband and I made a quick trip to Oklahoma for Memorial Day weekend, but I could have cared less. I was just ready for today to get here. Then, yesterday afternoon, I got the phone call that ruined my week. My friend Jen called and said that she was on TicketMaster and suddenly the General Admission tickets were $85. I figured she was wrong (denial is the first stage, right?) so I called the amphitheatre just hoping that an actual person would answer. To my surprise, they did! I asked about the No Doubt concert and she said it was Sold Out. WHAT?!?!
Now, this is the part where I really start to beat myself up. Since we were driving back from Oklahoma my husband overheard all of this. After I finished throwing a hissy fit he asked, "why didn't you order your tickets from the amphitheatre to begin with?" *sigh* "Well," I replied "because the No Doubt website kept directing me to TicketMaster. They kept showing tickets were not available. When I visited the amphitheatre website it said that tickets would be available the day of the show." He then broke it down to me that TicketMaster will buy a whole bulk of tickets from whatever venue a band is playing a concert at. Then, they hold on to those tickets until the venue's box office has sold out. Then they release their tickets for sale at a higher price.
After I soaked all this in, I was even more angry. My best friend and I had plans to go watch Britney Spears in Dallas back in March. And I had the same problem. Every time TicketMaster would show that the tickets we wanted were not available. Yet, the concert itself had not sold out yet. I realize now that if I had just called the stadium and the amphitheatre where both of these concerts were taking place I probably could have experienced two amazing concerts this year.
As the saying go, I have learned from my mistake. From now on I will always call the location of where a concert is being held, and hopefully everyone reading will, too. Stupid TicketMaster.
4 comments:
That really sucks.......buying tickets online is hard anyways!
That stinks! Sorry you missed the show.
There was just a huge thing between Bruce Springsteen and Ticketmaster for the same issue. He heard some of his fans complaining about it, and apparently had his legal team go after Ticketmaster. In that case, TM issued an apology and refunds for the difference in price to every one who purchased tickets. Too bad not all performers care that much about their fans. The practice of legalized ticket scalping would stop pretty quickly.
You know, I think I briefly heard something about a lawsuit b/w Springsteen and Ticketmaster, but it never clicked that it was probably about that. Wow! Yeah, I think they should be banned from jacking up the prices. It's not fair!
I'm so sorry!! I wish you had told me about the ticket trouble earlier. I have NEVER used Ticket Master. we pay for them and just pick them up at will call.
Post a Comment