Ticketmaster - Friend or Foe

Mama K · Post by **Mama K** » January 23, 2005 1:51 pm

What was your experience trying to get up front tiickets to a Buffett concert? Do you have tips for other PHs?
Let's use this thread to offer up suggestions to Ticketmaster for improvements and to PHs trying to get decent tickets.
I'm also including a "Friend or Foe" poll so you can vote your opinion of Ticketmaster's service.
Let's hope TM and Jimmy are enlightened by this poll.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » January 23, 2005 2:31 pm

By and large the front row is for vips anymore
the promoters keep these tix and also most trade
radio stations for promos..

crawfish · Post by **crawfish** » January 23, 2005 2:40 pm

All i know is scalpers had 8 front row tickets for the Tampa show for sale online 30 minutes after they went on sale for $1300 each. I got logged into ticketmaster seconds after they went on sale and got some of the worst seats in the house. Got better tickets over ticketmasters phone line. There is and always has been a BIG problem with buying tickets for concerts. No one really cares i guess, just so they make THEIR $$$ out of the deal. So what can be done?

specks · Post by **specks** » January 23, 2005 4:53 pm

I've had mixed results with ticketmaster.

For my "home shows" in Camden I usually strike out. For 2004 concert I was only able to get them through Clear Channel and then only on the lawn. For out of state shows I've done better 17th row for Dallas and that was days before the concert. For the Orlando show I somehow, by some miracle, got 4th row off the floor right next to the stage side. I got to sit about 10 feet from Jane Buffett and got to watch the band as they mingled around side stage. They were the very best I have ever gotten and I would take those seat over ones on the floor. Even if the shark almost hit me in the head.

PirateJeff · Post by **PirateJeff** » January 23, 2005 5:02 pm

I don't know if I should complain...I always get the tickets, after two heart attacks, endless sweating, and getting booted before the final screen ok'ing the sale. Nope I hate TICKETBASTARD!!

PirateJeff · Post by **PirateJeff** » January 23, 2005 5:02 pm

I don't know if I should complain...I always get the tickets, after two heart attacks, endless sweating, and getting booted before the final screen ok'ing the sale. Nope I hate TICKETBASTARD!!

VB for Buffett · Post by **VB for Buffett** » January 23, 2005 5:09 pm

Foe.......they screw me over every year

land_shark3 · Post by **land_shark3** » January 23, 2005 5:18 pm

I would say enemy, but they are a necessary evil.

wannabejane · Post by **wannabejane** » January 23, 2005 5:49 pm

specks wrote:I've had mixed results with ticketmaster. For my "home shows" in Camden I usually strike out. For 2004 concert I was only able to get them through Clear Channel and then only on the lawn. For out of state shows I've done better 17th row for Dallas and that was days before the concert. For the Orlando show I somehow, by some miracle, got 4th row off the floor right next to the stage side. I got to sit about 10 feet from Jane Buffett and got to watch the band as they mingled around side stage. They were the very best I have ever gotten and I would take those seat over ones on the floor. Even if the shark almost hit me in the head.

Jane Buffett goes to these shows??? You sat 10 feet from her? Oh my God! I think that's almost better than seeing Jimmy. Jane Buffett is my idol. I wish JANE would write a book. I'll bet that would be a best seller.

12vmanRick · Post by **12vmanRick** » January 23, 2005 5:51 pm

I HATE THEM.

Mama K · Post by **Mama K** » January 23, 2005 5:56 pm

land_shark3 wrote:I would say enemy, but they are a necessary evil.

Yeah. to bad they've kind of got a monopoly on the business. Maybe some competition would force them to play fair. If they'd just stop releasing all the good tickets to the scalper types before they go on sale to the rest of us I'd be a lot happier.

cowboyjunkie · Post by **cowboyjunkie** » January 23, 2005 9:10 pm

Mama K wrote:What was your experience trying to get up front tiickets to a Buffett concert? Do you have tips for other PHs?
Let's use this thread to offer up suggestions to Ticketmaster for improvements and to PHs trying to get decent tickets.
I'm also including a "Friend or Foe" poll so you can vote your opinion of Ticketmaster's service.
Let's hope TM and Jimmy are enlightened by this poll.

TicketBastard sucks. Along with Clear Channel, they are ruining the music industry. I remember getting up early and standing in line for shows as a teenager. First in line would get the best seats. It should be about dedication, not how much money you have to pay a broker (white collar scalpers). Ticketbastard was also behind the creation of better seats suddenly costing more than most people make in a day and seats behind the stage being affordable.

Quint · Post by **Quint** » January 24, 2005 9:43 am

I can not stand TM. I remember way back when where I had to camp out for two days in a line to get concert tickets. That was half the fun! It was part of the adventure. If you wanted seats you had to be dedicated.

Now with on line, over the phone, and lottos, it just plain sucks. So maybe it is not just TM. Perhaps it is this over senisitve and on demand , latte drinking society we live in.

So while it is not all TM's fault, they still do need a lot of improvement. I would say what makes me mad more often with them is thier customer serivce. I remember when I bought tix for the Nov Orlando show the counter lady wanted me to sign the back of the tickets before I was even allowed to look at them. When I asked why she told me "it just our policy". Then when it became apparent that I was not going to play along with her little game she put my money in the register and pulled the tickets back. Well, since I do know that people make mistakes I am not signing anything till I see what I am getting. Needless to say, eventually I did get to see my tickets before signing them. Just had to do a lot of arguing and draw lots of unwanted attention.

I agree with cowboyjunkie though. We need the days back where first in line got first choice and so on. Remember back to that day when you got in a car with three friends , drove 80 miles to "the city". Camped out for three days with a couple hundred stoners just like yourself, and partied out in some parking lot. Finnally the booth opened up and you got tickets you wanted. It just felt better. ahh, I guess I'm just stuck in the past.

Elrod · Post by **Elrod** » January 24, 2005 10:02 am

crawfish wrote:No one really cares i guess, just so they make THEIR $$$ out of the deal. So what can be done?

I've shifted most of my entertainment spending to other artists and venues where I don't have to deal with TM.

Artists and venues like Bob H. lists on the weekly entertainment calendar, or the names that Rick has in his sig line.

jollymon · Post by **jollymon** » January 24, 2005 10:13 am

They stink. Enemy.
That's how I feel. I have never had any luck getting tickets.

Tiki Bar · Post by **Tiki Bar** » January 24, 2005 10:18 am

Getting Buffett tix is a very stressful process to say the least. TM won't be my friend until I can get tix without elevating my heart rate, or I score seats in the first five rows!

nycparrothead · Post by **nycparrothead** » January 24, 2005 10:19 am

I certainly don't like the surcharge but, having access to 3 computers in one room and a being a savy TM buyer has always gotten me tickets so I've gotta give 'em a thumbs up!

citcat · Post by **citcat** » January 24, 2005 12:15 pm

What's one plus three?
FOE !!!!

Y-NO-9-O · Post by **Y-NO-9-O** » January 24, 2005 12:48 pm

I didn't vote because I didn't see "Anti-Christ" as a choice.

TheSecretsInTheCrust · January 24, 2005 12:55 pm

Mostly I say Foe....but some healthy competition would help a lot

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