Australia/NZ - We Have Dates, But Still Desperate Thread

[timothius]

Ack, Tim, can you do me a huge favour, please and email me at work when the second Sydney show goes on sale? please, please, pelase. I won't be able to watch the U2 websites while I'm working. :woe:

I'll try my best.

I won't be at the desk all day, but as soon as I hear boo I will rush to the desk and mail you!

 

[Shag On A Rock]

Thanks. For whatever you can do. Thanks.

 

[Berlin_Wall]

I hope it all works out for fans.

Ticketmaster is down and already 3 pages on ebay for tickets at horrid prices. So why may I ask isn't the band AND more importantly Ticketek/Ticketmaster doing something about this??????????????????????????????

Any band who lets this happen to real fans who miss out should be held accountable. More should have been done to make sure this BS scalping rubbish on Ebay is stopped.

 

[poppedtart]

Anyone get Adalaide?

 

[Aussie Edge]

What do you suggest they do? Its inevitable, where there is demand this will always happen

 

[AndrewCowley]

Anyone get Adalaide?

Nope, ticketmaster.com.au is stuffed.

 

[Axver]

Any band who lets this happen to real fans who miss out should be held accountable. More should have been done to make sure this BS scalping rubbish on Ebay is stopped.

It's not the band's fault that they're popular and people bought tickets.

Though there should be a policy on e-Bay that you can't sell for more than face value plus fees (or if such a policy exists, it should actually be strictly enforced).

 

[Axver]

Nope, ticketmaster.com.au is stuffed.

Since Adelaide has gone on sale, I've only gotten TM to load once, and I saw Adelaide listed, but if I clicked anything, the site died again.

Brisbane's going to be a shambles.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Since Adelaide has gone on sale, I've only gotten TM to load once, and I saw Adelaide listed, but if I clicked anything, the site died again.

Brisbane's going to be a shambles.

Agreed. At least Sydney got the ticketek web site all to itself. It seems that ticketmaster.com.au could not cope with Melbourne this morning, let alone Melbournites still checking out if there's tickets available + Adelaide (on sale right now, supposedly) + Brisbane (on sale in 18 mins and counting).

 

[Axver]

Agreed. At least Sydney got the ticketek web site all to itself. It seems that ticketmaster.com.au could not cope with Melbourne this morning, let alone Melbournites still checking out if there's tickets available + Adelaide (on sale right now, supposedly) + Brisbane (on sale in 18 mins and counting).

They really have managed this poorly. Spreading out Melbourne and Adelaide was a good idea, but I don't think they're spread out enough, and Brisbane's way too soon after Adelaide.

I hope I can get through to buy my mother a ticket to Brisbane, but I fear I'll be looking at a busy screen.

 

[timothius]

Can anyone remember if scalping is actually illegal in NSW? I remember somthing happening in the lead up to the Olympics... but I'm a bit hazy.

Regardless, I don't see why eBay would want to stop ticket scalping when it would provide a nice revenue stream for them as most auctions start at cost price (several hundred meaning higher listing fees) and end up even higher. Times that by a gig or three in every capital city by every band that comes.

Unless Ticketek & Master got together and offered eBay a decent incentive to stamp it out (which they don't really have considering it is rare to see a large scale event not sell out) then we could see somthing happen.

 

[AndrewCowley]

They really have managed this poorly. Spreading out Melbourne and Adelaide was a good idea, but I don't think they're spread out enough, and Brisbane's way too soon after Adelaide.

Separate days for each city would have been better. Problem is, they will all sell out (or near enough) and all involved (ticket agencies, promotor, U2's management) will look at the numbers and deem it a success.

I wonder, given the demand we've seen so far (which I'd rate as being higher than predicted) could Brisbane and/or Adelaide sell out too? What chance of 2 shows for Brisbane and/or Adelaide?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Can anyone remember if scalping is actually illegal in NSW? I remember somthing happening in the lead up to the Olympics... but I'm a bit hazy.

I think it goes like this: It is perfectly legal to re-sell your tickets at the cost price. It is illegal to scalp, which technically means offer them at a higher price yourself. The loophole with eBay is that you are offering them at the legal price. The fact that others are offering you more money than that is technically legal. You are selling them at the cost price, but they are happy to buy them for (a lot) more. In the eyes of the law (which obviously never had eBay in mind), the seller is doing the right thing, the buyers are just dumb.

 

[jessi-ma-ca]

ill tell you whats crazy
on ebay, 2 A reserve tickets just sold for..... brace yourselves.... $3,550

 

[Hawkmoon26969]

ill tell you whats crazy
on ebay, 2 A reserve tickets just sold for..... brace yourselves.... $3,550

That's absolutely insane. I am a U2 nut, but they are simply not worth that much money.

If people want tickets badly enough to pay such ridiculous amounts, they should just camp overnite!

 

[Axver]

FOR GOODNESS' BLOODY SAKES, TM!

I just finally got the onsale page to load, later than 12:10 - ONLY ADELAIDE AND MELBOURNE! No Brisbane button!

AAAGGGHHHH. IDIOTS.

 

[Tania]

Fans get vertigo over U2 tour
Monday Dec 5 12:00 AEDT

Fans of Irish supergroup U2 are being asked to pay up to $1700 a ticket on eBay after their Australian Vertigo concerts in Sydney and Melbourne sold out in less than an hour.

Thousands of fans have missed out despite the imposition of an eight-ticket limit and the concerts being held in large venues such as Sydney's Telstra Stadium and Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

Phone lines were jammed and the Ticketek website was overwhelmed as fans snapped up the 70,000 tickets to the Sydney concert in minutes.

Tour promoters Michael Coppel Presents said the Melbourne concert was also the fastest-selling concert in the Telstra Dome's history.

The sellout has sparked a wave of bidding on internet auction sites such as eBay, with a pair of A-reserve tickets to the Sydney concert already attracting bids of up to $3,500.

Even general admission standing room tickets are selling on the website for an average of $300 a ticket, three times their face value.

A spokeswoman for the promoter says the band is being approached to play second shows on March 25 in Melbourne and April 1 in Sydney, with another announcement expected tomorrow.

 

[AndrewCowley]

FOR GOODNESS' BLOODY SAKES, TM!

I just finally got the onsale page to load, later than 12:10 - ONLY ADELAIDE AND MELBOURNE! No Brisbane button!

AAAGGGHHHH. IDIOTS.

I've been trying to load it for 2 hours and have not had any success at all!!! Crazy. I was hoping it would be relatively easy to use the TM web site to get GA's for Adelaide and Brisbane given they are smaller cities. Perhaps the TM web site never recovered from the Melbourne demand earlier.

 

[timothius]

I think it goes like this: It is perfectly legal to re-sell your tickets at the cost price. It is illegal to scalp, which technically means offer them at a higher price yourself. The loophole with eBay is that you are offering them at the legal price. The fact that others are offering you more money than that is technically legal. You are selling them at the cost price, but they are happy to buy them for (a lot) more. In the eyes of the law (which obviously never had eBay in mind), the seller is doing the right thing, the buyers are just dumb.

A pretty stupid loophole. Surely that should just make it illegal to transact tickets for a price above face.

But anyway for all the bitching and moaning the extent of this scalping proves that tickets were nicely underpriced... which is somthing that concerned a lot of pople

 

[Precious3]

A RESERVE, Section 3 whooooooooooooooo the trusty old phone paid off! i cant beleive it. i gave up on the net. good luck guys

 

[Luthien Black]

6 A RESERVE!!!!!

Yeah baby! We were 7th in line at one of the two TM outlets in Adelaide.


I finally get to see them!!!!!!

Good luck to everyone else, I have my fingers crossed for you.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Wow! I got A Reserve for Brisbane and Adelaide over the phone. Had previously spent an hour going nowhere on the net.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

GOT MY GA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I have to thank reptile profusely!!!! He got there early before the humungous queue started and we got our GA.

Man, if I ever imagined today would be this bad, I woulda taken the day off work.

 

[AndrewCowley]

Does anyone have seating plans for Brisbane and/or Adelaide? The ticketmaster web site is dead and I want to see where my A Reserve seats are going to be.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I think all the plans are on earlier pages of this thread?

 

[indra]

GOT MY GA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I have to thank reptile profusely!!!! He got there early before the humungous queue started and we got our GA.

Man, if I ever imagined today would be this bad, I woulda taken the day off work.

YAY!!! Congratulations you two!

I've been monitoring this thread and I was a bit worried for you. Glad it's worked out.


Hope everyone else is able to secure the tickets you want as well over the next few days. Lots of stress now, but I'm sure it will be worth it!

 

[bazza]

tis working for me...adelaide seating plan:

http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/venues/seating.asp?venuenum=265&map=U2.jpg

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Cheers Indra! Now come on down here! You know you want to!

 

[AndrewCowley]

tis working for me...adelaide seating plan:

http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/venues/seating.asp?venuenum=265&map=U2.jpg

Thanks Bazza. The idiot TM person on the phone did not give me the section number so I can't tell where I'm going to be. All he gave me was the row and seat numbers! I'll have to call back later and get the section number. I did take a bit of risk getting them without checking on them out on the map but I assume all A Reserve are ok.

 

[bazza]

mate - at leat your in - that's the main thing.

they'll be good seats.