Ticketmaster

Serenity

I don't know if this is the correct place to post this but:

I bought tickets for an event back in May. I was working at the time so decided to buy tickets to a venue 500 miles away (as it was the only weekend date on the tour so I would not have to take leave from work).
I am now no longer working and so am giving the tickets to my sister who lives nearer as I cannot afford to travel.
I paid postage on these tickets.
Ticketmaster have left me a recorded message stating the tickets are now available for collection at the venue with my debit card.
Now I have PAID for postage and I physically cannot collect them.
I have been trying for 4 days to contact them about this. I e-mailed them first, via the contact us section of their website. No response as yet.
3 days ago I started trying to phone them. Held in queues for ages. When not held in queues their switchboard routed me to Ireland who told me they cannot help me and to call 08444999999 which was the number I was already calling. Called this 3 times and kept going to Ireland who refused to help, insist there is nothing wrong with their switchboard routing and have no managers or supervisors for me to talk to.
All I want is the ticketI paid for posted to me so I can send it to my sister. The event is next Saturday. Also, with the postal strikes next week I see no way of getting this sent in time anyway (I live in a rural part of Scotland with no alternative couriers).
So basically I might as well have thrown £45 in the bin. Considering my only income at the moment is JSA I am very unhappy. Not to mention that my previous job was working in a call centre and if I spoke to customers the way these people do I would have been sacked! Obviously ticketmaster don't care about customer service, given that they have a near monopoly.

Anyway that was half rant, half PLEASE HELP IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO? :mad:
I have read the terms and conditions on their website and can see no mention of them being able to pick and choose delivery method after I have paid for postage.
Please

dmg24

Are you calling from a mobile? This could explain the call routing problem.

It is possible that Ticketmaster have decided to change events in the near future to box office collection due to the postal difficulties. Most people would appreciate this measure, in order to ensure they were going to get their tickets.

The tickets were sold to you, and would be non transferable. Therefore your argument that you will not be able to pick them up is unlikely to work. I would be very surprised if they refunded you the full amount (no harm in asking, but be careful how much you are spending on calls!), at best they are likely to reimburse you the postage charge.

Serenity

I was using my landline. Not that I have ever come across a telecoms switch that would work like you suggest but that is beside the point.

Even if I was attending the gig I would be upset that I had to collect them in person. I have had to do this before and it wastes a LOT of time.


I understand the tickets are non transferrable. But the fact is I paid for postage, I can see nowhere in their terms and conditions they can just go and change the delivery method as they wish. And if they did the postal strike is a poor excuse seeing as it was in the news that it would be likely to happen for months.

nexuss

Serenity wrote: »

And if they did the postal strike is a poor excuse seeing as it was in the news that it would be likely to happen for months.

So you expected them to not send out any tickets for months as they may have been a postal strike ? Your personal circumstances are your problem and not theirs.What if they sent out tickets in the post and no one got them ?

Serenity

nexuss wrote: »

So you expected them to not send out any tickets for months as they may have been a postal strike ? Your personal circumstances are your problem and not theirs.What if they sent out tickets in the post and no one got them ?

That is not even remotely what I said???

I know my personal circumstances aren't their problem, I was just explaining why it has upset me so much.. after all it is the "vent" forum.

All I am asking is do the terms and conditions state they can change the posting method like that.

heatherks

i would have expected the tickets to be in the post within 2 weeks of buying them ....could you not send your sister some of your ID so she could pick the tickets up in person.

.i think the way they see it is you would (or should have been going to the concert on that day so would be able to pick them up on the night no problem ....not just ticketmaster but most shows / concert tickets ...all state non refuindable .tranferable etc

or call the venue where the concert is being held

Serenity

heatherks wrote: »

i would have expected the tickets to be in the post within 2 weeks of buying them ....could you not send your sister some ID so she could pick the tickets up in person.

.i think the way they see it is you would (or should have been going to the concert on that day so would be able to pick them up on the night no problem ....not just ticketmaster but most shows / concert tickets ...all state non refuindable .tranferable etc

or call the venue where the concert is being held

With ticketmaster they can either come straight after you order them up to a few weeks before the event (depends when the venue/promoter releases them I guess?). Just my bad luck this has happened in this instance :S Can't send my sister ID as it has to be the card I paid with. Which I need on my person hehe.

I hated e-mail tickets when they first came out as I liked to collect the stubs but at least it avoids all the post worry!!

taurusgb

I'm still reeling from buying 2 tickets for my teenagers for T4 on the beach earlier this year via ticketmaster and being charged to print them off my own printer using my own ink and my own paper!

dmg24

Serenity wrote: »

I was using my landline. Not that I have ever come across a telecoms switch that would work like you suggest but that is beside the point.

Even if I was attending the gig I would be upset that I had to collect them in person. I have had to do this before and it wastes a LOT of time.


I understand the tickets are non transferrable. But the fact is I paid for postage, I can see nowhere in their terms and conditions they can just go and change the delivery method as they wish. And if they did the postal strike is a poor excuse seeing as it was in the news that it would be likely to happen for months.

You are very rude. I will not bother trying to help you again.

smartpicture

More & more, tickets are only sent out at the last minute to try & beat touts, so that bits not surprising.

I ordered tickets for a gig on Thursday with secure post delivery, rang up on Wednesday as they hadn't arrived, and was told that yes, they would be sent out in the next couple of days! After I pointed out the problem, they changed them to Box Office collection and refunded me a whole 1.70, they said it was impossible to change them to an email ticket.

Two points for the OP - firstly, I rang about 2pm on Wednesday on the 0844 number and got through to a person within 3 or 4 minutes, so I suggest you try again at different days / times. Secondly, if you tell them you've lost your debit card or it has expired, they will let you pick up from the Box Office with other info, so your sister may be able to pick them up from the Box Office without the debit card (altho of course the alternative may also prove problematic). Worst case scenario, I would send your sister to the Box Office with just a printout of the confirmation email, and if no-one else claims the seats they may well let her in anyway.

manic_cow

It probably depends on the venue, I've been to some which are happy just with a confirmation email, some which will just take a reference number, some which just want the name on the tickets and some which demand the card it was booked with. I'd phone the venue box office and find out what their policy is. If all else fails you could always lie and tell them you've lost your card like the previous poster suggested.

Otherwise, couldn't you just loan your card to your sister? I know you said you didn't want to do this but surely if you just withdrew enough money to last you while she was at the gig that'd be the easiest way to resolve the situation.

As for whether Ticketmaster can change the postal method, legally, of course they can. They can probably change whatever they like, as I'm sure it states in their terms and conditions. I know it doesn't seem fair but then again when did anything ticketmaster do seem fair? They'd have loads more complaints if tickets didn't turn up because of the postal strike anyway. I'd say it wasn't worth quibbling over £3.50 or whatever, it'd probably cost you more than that to get through to them.

At least you're only selling to your sister, imagine if you'd flogged the tickets to someone on ebay!