Patience Pays Off (caution: ranting inside)

[ForeverAutumn]

I ordered my tickets for Trans-Siberian Orchestra! WOOHOOO!!!!!!

This is an internet pre-sale with Ticketmaster. I've been trying to buy tickets since late last week. Since this show has not been properly announced yet, the only way to know that tickets are on sale is through the TSO Web site...so I could see that tickets were selling real slow.

When I first went on to the Ticketmaster site, the tics that came up were way off to the side in row 30. Now, I know from past experience that "Best Available Seating" is bulIcrap. Ticketmaster seems to just go along selling tickets row by row, regardless of what is the "best" seat. Since I would rather sit a little further back but more centre, I knew that if I waited it out, better seats would come along. So I waited. I've been checking for tickets a couple of times a day for the last four or five days. Each time I looked, I would get the same side section, a little further off to the side as tickets slowly sold.

So, this morning I log on to see what seats come up and, low and behold...centre section, row 17!!! So, we're closer to the middle and closer to the stage!

Thanks to all those suckers who didn't know how to play the game and bought the side-stage tickets!

[Dave_G]

Well there you have it.

Dave

[Finch Platte]

Ticketmaster exemplifies everything that is wrong with this country today.

Everything.

fp

[JDaniel]

I saw a recent news story on Ticketmaster here in the South. For some shows, the fees & surcharges cost more than the price of the ticket. One guy, for a country concert, paid $39.50 for the ticket, and $55 in fees! $94.50 total. Outrageous.

JD

[Troy]

Bought tix to the Musical Box saturday AM.

Called ticketmaster. Got 11th row center. I'm extremely happy with the seats. Tix were $35 face value.

I am not extremely happy with the $6+ per ticket surcharge plus $3+ overall fee that is non-refundable.

[Dave_G]

Well I have tickets to "The Doors of the 21st Century" this Friday night.

Got 'em for free.

Real close seats too but might be way left which might stink.

Should be fun, though. Reckon I need to drink a ton to get into the Jim Morrison frame of mind.

Wow Troy sounds like you scored excellent seats for TMB.

Dave

[Troy]

Dave I rec the peyote if you REALLY want to get in the Jim Morrison frame of mind.

Yeah, TMB seats sound perfect. Can't wait! I only wish they were doing Supper's Ready . . .

Friend of mine gave me special preferred tix and access to the upcoming bridge Scool Benefit show at Shoreline. Check out the line up:

http://www.bridgeschool.org/events.html

Could be be really cool.

[Dave_G]

The people who work at places like bridgeschool are a cut above the rest of us human lowlifes.

Dave

[ForeverAutumn]

I saw a recent news story on Ticketmaster here in the South. For some shows, the fees & surcharges cost more than the price of the ticket. One guy, for a country concert, paid $39.50 for the ticket, and $55 in fees! $94.50 total. Outrageous.

JD

The TSO tickets are $48.25 face value. $11.75 in charges. An extra 24% in charges for a total tally of $60 per seat. I don't mind paying $60 to go to this show. I do mind paying $47.00 in charges for four tickets....almost the cost of another ticket!!!

I wish there were an alternative. Why is this monopoly allowed? Isn't there some sort of Business Competition Act that is supposed to protect consumers from this kind of gouging?

[progfan]

I did the TSO pre-sale too. I'm one of those eggheads who never learns that pre-sale doesn't guarantee best available seats. I ordered my tix a week ago for the November show in NH. I got floor 1 row AA. So I'm 28 rows back, because the double letters come after the single numbers, correct? Same thing with Yes. I ordered thru a pre-sale in 2000 and I had terrible seats.

Anyway, I saw this thread and looked at TSO's site. I could have been in row L of Floor 1 if I had waited a week! I guess ticket sales aren't going so well this time out if seats like these are still available.

[Dusty Chalk]

Two things happen:

1 - Sometimes they don't know the final arrangement of the mixing board, speakers, monitors, and other things that are going to block the stage. So they don't sell those seats, nor the ones obstructed by said items, until they know. I have a feeling that's what's going on in your and FA's cases.

2 - Sometimes the promotional and other tix don't get claimed. I got great seats at a sold out show once, this way. A week before the concert, a friend of mine was listening to the radio, and heard that some additional seats for this sold-out show would be going on sale, so she bought them. They weren't front row, but they were front row off-the-floor, which was better than practically anything except front-row (no-one in front of me).

Still, congrats to you, FA. Sweet seats!

[ForeverAutumn]

I did the TSO pre-sale too. I'm one of those eggheads who never learns that pre-sale doesn't guarantee best available seats. I ordered my tix a week ago for the November show in NH. I got floor 1 row AA. So I'm 28 rows back, because the double letters come after the single numbers, correct? Same thing with Yes. I ordered thru a pre-sale in 2000 and I had terrible seats.

Anyway, I saw this thread and looked at TSO's site. I could have been in row L of Floor 1 if I had waited a week! I guess ticket sales aren't going so well this time out if seats like these are still available.

Well, here's the sad truth that I discovered this morning. I'm actually a total dumbass who deserves to be strung up and held out as an example of totally stupidity (you reading this YECH? Must be a dream come true. Yes? Please...post this on AA to prove how you've always been so right about me).

My brain saw section 102 (centre) so I bought the tickets. What I actually bought was section 122. Way off to the side. These are worse than the original tickets that were coming up that I kept turning down!

Here's the seating chart if anyone cares to see how badly I screwed this up. http://www.ticketmaster.ca/seatingchart/131157/10086

Anyone want to buy four ****ty seats for TSO in Toronto?

[BarryL]

I'm actually a total dumbass.

My brain saw section 102 (centre) so I bought the tickets. What I actually bought was section 122. Way off to the side. These are worse than the original tickets that were coming up that I kept turning down!

Call Ticketmaster and beg for their forgiveness, and get them to give you better seats, even if you have to pay the handling charge over again. There's still time to atone for your sins. It's a Christmas concert. Ask them to get into the Christmas spirit.

[ForeverAutumn]

Call Ticketmaster and beg for their forgiveness, and get them to give you better seats, even if you have to pay the handling charge over again. There's still time to atone for your sins. It's a Christmas concert. Ask them to get into the Christmas spirit.

Okay, I just tried that. The bastards are sticking to their final sale disclaimer. They won't let me change the tickets. "There's nothing you can do". I even offered to let them keep the $47 in services fees and they still won't go for it.

So, I ask again, what the hell are these "convenience fees" that I'm paying. Quite frankly, nothing about this transaction has been convenient.

There's one last thing that I may be willing to do. If I can find some really good seats, I would consider donating these tickets to our United Way. I'm sure that they could use them as prizes during their upcoming fundraising campaign. I would have donated the about the same amount in cash anyway.

[Dusty Chalk]

Oh, c'mon, they're not that bad!

Are they?

EDIT: You could sue them for false advertising ("convenience"). Although they never said for whom they are convenient (it may be convenient to Ticketmaster to take your money by charge if you don't have the cash.

[ForeverAutumn]

Oh, c'mon, they're not that bad!

No, you're right. They could be a lot worse. It was just such a disappointment to realize that the seats weren't where I thought they were. Especially knowing that I didn't buy better seats because I was holding off for even better ones (which I thought these were). Serves me right for being so cocky.

Besides, these are the kind of seats that I would expect to get after tickets have been on sale for a while....not at a pre-sale.

This will end up being a sold-out show, I'm sure. So, I guess I should just be happy that I got tickets.

I'll stop my whining now.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Why not take a look on Ebay? If it's going to be a sold-out show, there are probably tickets up there. You could try selling yours & purchasing other tickets, which would probably end up costing you a bit more, but it sounds like it'd be worth it for you.

If you do take a look there, be sure to search for ticket prices for items sold, not just the ones that might be available. That's the only way you'll get a true picture of what they're selling for.