Could they still make it right?

[partygirl33]

Does anyone believe that U2/U2.com could still make it right for the members?

I might be a total idiot...but I just keep thinking that they MIGHT surprise us somehow, someway.

What do you think has happened to the ETS GA tickets that were revoked?

I also want to say thanks to everyone on here...we are very fortunate to at least have each other for laughs and good information!!

 

[ultraviolet353]

I really hope they do. I have been a fan since '83. U2's music is so transcendent, it puts me on a cloud. For the first time, I have a terrible feeling in my stomach about U2. The presale was pathetic--they were actually selling seats behind the stage. I really hope they make it right.

Also, I am concerned about the ticket prices. I have been hearing people on the radio mocking the $170 (in L.A.) ticket price, which is $200 w/ tax & service charge (face value). For a band that has said, "thanks for giving us a great life" they are coming off as greedy. For some reason, I have an overwhelming sense of foreboding. I hope I am wrong. I do not see what is so complicated about making the fanclub tix "will call" so that you must present a pic ID to pick them up. That in addition to providing ONLY good seating for the presales is an easy fix.

 

[partygirl33]

I feel exactly the same way..I am very worried..

And just think- If there had been better tickets available in the presale, how many new fans might have paid the $40 to join before the 3rd leg!

 

[bonoed]

I think the prices are ridiculous too, but they upped the prices for the seats to defer the low price for the GA's. It would be nice if most of us even had a chance to get the GA's, because otherwise we are paying that $200 a show. Even Celine Dion's Coliseum tickets aren't that much, and her's are outlandish at $150 each.

Since you can't even get GA's, they are the hottest ticket, that brokers have an endless supply of, they should have been priced for more, and the seating tickets priced much lower.

 

[RobertWiscy]

"Make it right?" ROTFLMAO

Hurt me, hurt me, make me write bad checks

 

[hibricc]

What do you think has happened to the ETS GA tickets that were revoked?

I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect they were put in to the general sale this weekend.

 

[Matthew_Page2000]

You guys aren't real fans. Real fans don't care how the band treats them.

Only kidding. I've been a fan since '84 and I have the same sense of foreboding.
With the old U2 I would expect them to make it right.
With the current U2 I suspect not. They still mean well but I don't expect much. They'll probably release some extra tickets to the general public with no advance warning and call it good.
Actually no, one more thing, after releasing the tickets (that are sure to be snapped up by ticket brokers just waiting for the release) they will put a self-congratulatory press release up on U2.com about what they've done to help the fans.
Many on Interference will shove said press release in our faces and scream, "There!! You see! U2 still care you ungrateful hoser!"

Sigh.

 

[Lisa71]

I like this quote from the Chicago paper. It pretty much sums up the whole presale crap.....

Some industry insiders are alarmed by the trend. "The Internet is such a great tool for bands to utilize, but it should be used as a marketing and informational tool to sell your product, not as a revenue stream," said Jerry Mickelson, president of Chicago concert promoter Jam Productions. "You're charging people for the privilege of charging them to buy a ticket. I'm not in favor of that."

 

[Grindstone]

i meant to post this to this thread and sent it to the wrong one..
here's what I think they should do:

I think the solution should be a fan-club only show.

only fan club members can get tickets, it's handled by the people that ran Propaganda.. not thru Ticketmaster.. and you can only pick up tickets AT the venue, 2 ticket limit..
and must have photo-ID to get your tickets at will-call.

hire undercover police to walkaround the line.. and arrest anyone selling tickets above ticketprice. Do it on a huge field like they did when they were doing the Hershey, PA rehearsals.. and offer GA for the entire show.. at a premium price, that just covers basic expenses... cut back whatever it takes to do the right thing here.

make it limited, do more than one show if you have to.

I know logistically it sounds insane, but that's what I think they need to do here. And they certainly are powerful enough and rich enough to pull it off.

 

[partygirl33]

I wonder if there is actually anyone who would pay the $40 next year!?

 

[Matthew_Page2000]

I wonder if there is actually anyone who would pay the $40 next year!?

Tricky question. Wouldn't it be hilarious to cancel your U2.com membership and then have them do something REALLY cool next year? Like a fan club show or at least a free cd.

If I don't get tickets (good tickets) to Seattle or Vancouver I'm going to cancel my membership and never sign up again.
I'm CERTAIN that u2 will do something cool for the U2.com members the second I leave.

 

[partygirl33]

I'm CERTAIN that u2 will do something cool for the U2.com members the second I leave.

this is the only reason i didn't try for a refund!! its just the kind of luck i would have!!


I just wish they would talk and say SOMETHING (that isn't self serving) about this debacle.

 

[partygirl33]

i'm holding on to this U2.com statement...even though i think its really a load of BS

"Don't forget, if you have a subscriber code it will still be honoured when the band plays more dates. There will be more tickets for U2.Com subscribers."

 

[roybal99]

Yes, it's been going all wrong so far with the tickets. I've struck out like most of you, but something tells me U2 is going to pull through for us somehow. I just hope that its sooner and not until the 3rd leg.

What if the band puts heat on U2.com and Ticketmaster and forces them to GUARANTEE every U2.com subscriber 2 GA tickets for any city of their choice. It wouldn't matter if the pre-sale code was used or not. Every member would be entitled to the tickets and a special live CD! Would that make it right? Well, maybe that's a start.

 

[bonoed]

I'm not sure about GA tickets, there seems to be so many in the hands of brokers, but if you check all the scalper sites there are whole sections they don't have for sale. Could U2 be holding those for us who belong to the fan club and got nothing? Hope springs eternal.

 

[doctorwho]

You guys aren't real fans. Real fans don't care how the band treats them.

Only kidding. I've been a fan since '84 and I have the same sense of foreboding.
With the old U2 I would expect them to make it right.
With the current U2 I suspect not. They still mean well but I don't expect much. They'll probably release some extra tickets to the general public with no advance warning and call it good.
Actually no, one more thing, after releasing the tickets (that are sure to be snapped up by ticket brokers just waiting for the release) they will put a self-congratulatory press release up on U2.com about what they've done to help the fans.
Many on Interference will shove said press release in our faces and scream, "There!! You see! U2 still care you ungrateful hoser!"

Sigh.

I disagree Matthew.

In 1989 I heard U2 being dissed on the radio for charging $40 for tickets in Ireland. This, at the time, was a LOT of $$ for Irish fans, most of whom were college students and couldn't afford that much.

Did U2 "make it right" then?

To the best of my knowledge, no.

Also, while groups may try to keep ticket prices down - and in reality, I think U2 did a good job here, it's not just up to them. Everyone has their hand out.

One can't blame U2 for TM charges. And that analogy comparing Celine Dion to U2 falls (something another person wrote). U2's top ticket is what - $160? Her's is $150. Not much difference in price. But U2 has the advantage of $49.50 an $95 tickets. Does Celine? Furthermore, U2's best tickets are $49.50. Try to get that from most artists. For example, Madonna's best tickets were $300+.

So I'm really having a hard time here understanding why fans are so upset or that U2 "has to make things right". As I wrote in another thread, there were 3 million hits for the presale. 16 NA shows featuring 1700 GA's each meant a scant 27,200 GA tickets. As a result, there were going to be just under 2.97M disappointed fans who all felt they "deserved" GA's as they paid $40 for their subscription. Logically, it just doesn't add up.

 

[mdonal01]

I am so heart broken not to have tickets! I have been a U2 fan since 1982 and have seen every tour since UF.

Any more news about the possibility of Edge's daughter being sick? As upset as we all are, there may be other forces working against. Don't get me wrong, I hate TB as much as the next fan but the first leg was supposed to start much earlier and hit a lot more cities.

Back to things that piss me off, U2.com clearly has knew who were Propaganda members and could have given us (not the scalpers) a break. Then again, maybe the scalpers all had Prop memberships, too. How did they get all those GA tickets! There are 111 for Chicago alone.

That's my rant. I feel better.

 

[U2Cowboy]

What if they gave u2.com members a live concert CD from the Vertigo Tour? That would at least make the $40 seem somewhat worthwhile.

 

[partygirl33]

naaa...i want GUARANTEED tickets to a concert...any seat or GA.

 

[U2Cowboy]

Me too. But it's pretty obvious to me that it's not gonna happen.

 

[Axver]

I wonder if there is actually anyone who would pay the $40 next year!?

Me, because so few people will renew that I'm sure those of us who do will have much better chances at anything that comes our way!

 

[matt_tx00]

I disagree Matthew.

In 1989 I heard U2 being dissed on the radio for charging $40 for tickets in Ireland. This, at the time, was a LOT of $$ for Irish fans, most of whom were college students and couldn't afford that much.

Did U2 "make it right" then?

To the best of my knowledge, no.

Also, while groups may try to keep ticket prices down - and in reality, I think U2 did a good job here, it's not just up to them. Everyone has their hand out.

One can't blame U2 for TM charges. And that analogy comparing Celine Dion to U2 falls (something another person wrote). U2's top ticket is what - $160? Her's is $150. Not much difference in price. But U2 has the advantage of $49.50 an $95 tickets. Does Celine? Furthermore, U2's best tickets are $49.50. Try to get that from most artists. For example, Madonna's best tickets were $300+.

So I'm really having a hard time here understanding why fans are so upset or that U2 "has to make things right". As I wrote in another thread, there were 3 million hits for the presale. 16 NA shows featuring 1700 GA's each meant a scant 27,200 GA tickets. As a result, there were going to be just under 2.97M disappointed fans who all felt they "deserved" GA's as they paid $40 for their subscription. Logically, it just doesn't add up.

To a degree, you can't blame U2 for the prices. The promoter of the concert (in this case Clear Channel?) bids against other promoters to sponsor the show. Clear Channel usually wins because they can out-bid everyone else. Ticket prices are then set to a level to fulfill the contract.

That's why Madonna's tickets were $300 last year - and the shows still sold out. And that's why U2's are $165 and down from there.

It sucks that ticket prices keep rising and rising every year, but the fact is that people are willing to pay. If U2 and sponsors know that they can sell out arenas in 10-15 minutes on this tour, they are liable to charge even more on the next tour.

Someone suggested they should hike up the price of GA tickets. This might be the only way to get the brokers out of the game. These tickets belong in the hands of the fans - not someone out trying to make a quick buck. (Or they could make the pre-sale all GA tickets - now there's a novel idea.)

 

[slapshot]

One can't blame U2 for TM charges. And that analogy comparing Celine Dion to U2 falls (something another person wrote). U2's top ticket is what - $160? Her's is $150. Not much difference in price. But U2 has the advantage of $49.50 an $95 tickets. Does Celine? Furthermore, U2's best tickets are $49.50. Try to get that from most artists. For example, Madonna's best tickets were $300+.

But were fans able to get Madonna's best tickets? Or Celine's? Most of those cheap, great tix they love to pat themselves on the back about were never available to the fans.

So I'm really having a hard time here understanding why fans are so upset or that U2 "has to make things right". As I wrote in another thread, there were 3 million hits for the presale. 16 NA shows featuring 1700 GA's each meant a scant 27,200 GA tickets. As a result, there were going to be just under 2.97M disappointed fans who all felt they "deserved" GA's as they paid $40 for their subscription. Logically, it just doesn't add up.

Problems with that logic... There aren't 3 million paying subscribers to U2.com; there's about 100,000. Those "3 million hits" are an exaggeration used for marketing hype. Every time you hit the "refresh" button? That's a new hit. Every time TM.com crashed and you reloaded the page? That's a new hit. The people posting here about being online for ten hours trying to get tickets? That's a couple hundred hits, at least. I'm as big a U2 fan as any of you, but what I have a hard time understanding are the apologists like you. We paid money, we were promised a service, we didn't get it. Had this presale disaster been free like the last one, wouldn't be much griping. Had anyone involved admitted mistakes had been made, apologized, attempted to do something, anything to fix the mess instead of letting it go on, we wouldn't be griping. Had they bothered to add at least a couple of shows for the rest of the country, we wouldn't be griping. Add on the fact that we paid for the privilege of being treated like this... well, I'm reminded of a line from a movie: "I like to get kissed before I get fucked."

C.

 

[Lisa71]

I know this sounds like a 'simply' solution and maybe it wouldn't work but something like this might help, in the future. Why not let the fan club members buy tickets to any show they want (like the old Propaganda days) and then have them pick the tickets up at Will call window the day of the show ONLY. Yes, they may have to wait in line but it cuts out people from buying them to sell them on Ebay. Some scalpers may get a hold a few pairs but ticket brokers wouldn't be able to get them in time to sell them on Ebay.

 

[Bono's shades]

Guaranteeing all the U2.com members GA tickets sounds wonderful, but can it really be done? Are there enough to go around? I seriously doubt they are going to be able to get all the scalped tickets back.

Maybe the simplest thing would be just to give everyone their $40 (or $20) back. That would go a long way toward convincing people that U2 care more about their fans getting treated right than lining their own pockets. And maybe they can do a really massive third leg and even include stadiums in the huge U2 markets for those who weren't able to get tickets to any shows on the first leg. And they definitely need to dump Ticketmaster for the presale and just do an Internet version of Propoganda (you e-mail them your ticket order and they process it) and have people pick up the tickets at the venue the day of the show by presenting an ID.

 

[MrBrau1]

But were fans able to get Madonna's best tickets? Or Celine's? Most of those cheap, great tix they love to pat themselves on the back about were never available to the fans.



Problems with that logic... There aren't 3 million paying subscribers to U2.com; there's about 100,000. Those "3 million hits" are an exaggeration used for marketing hype. Every time you hit the "refresh" button? That's a new hit. Every time TM.com crashed and you reloaded the page? That's a new hit. The people posting here about being online for ten hours trying to get tickets? That's a couple hundred hits, at least. I'm as big a U2 fan as any of you, but what I have a hard time understanding are the apologists like you. We paid money, we were promised a service, we didn't get it. Had this presale disaster been free like the last one, wouldn't be much griping. Had anyone involved admitted mistakes had been made, apologized, attempted to do something, anything to fix the mess instead of letting it go on, we wouldn't be griping. Had they bothered to add at least a couple of shows for the rest of the country, we wouldn't be griping. Add on the fact that we paid for the privilege of being treated like this... well, I'm reminded of a line from a movie: "I like to get kissed before I get fucked."

C.

You're 100% right. They never guaranteed your membership would get you GA tix, but they stated pretty clear that it would get you priority booking for tix. The fix will take some time, but almost 1/2 of the tour dates haven't been announced yet, that's where they'll have to make it up. Continue to complain to them, and be patient.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

What if they gave u2.com members a live concert CD from the Vertigo Tour? That would at least make the $40 seem somewhat worthwhile.

So, then what you are saying is that you'd agree to spend $40 to listen to the concert on cd and have it remind you of the wasted $40 you spent trying to get to the concert? Hey, you got a point. We break even this way!

 

[Harry Vest]

I think the problem is basically that they have really become too too big - it's beyond the guys in the band, it's beyond Mcguiness and it's beyond management. When you can sell 80,000 tickets in less than an hour things are out of control - it's really too bad because I remember the old days as well. I will add this though...In 2001 I went to New York WITHOUT tickets - the show was completely "sold out" but I was fortunate enough to stumble on a small group of people waiting by the fence of the arena - they said there was a good chance that after PJ Harvey played that they would be selling some GA tickets - after waiting for about an hour sure enough it happened!!! We ended up getting the cheapest and best "seats" imaginable. So there is hope.

 

[bonoed]

there's not much good music, and there is a definite lack of rock and roll, it thus makes not only all of us that have been U2 fans for years and years trying to get tickets, but just about anybody else that likes rock, period. You can count on one hand, unfortunately, today the bands that are incredible live, most of them are just average, or below average, or terrible.

A lot of us are shut out from these U2 shows when we've been at every U2 tour they ever did. It was really shocking to have no tickets, when because of Prop a lot of us never had to worry about tickets, we knew we'd see a U2 show. Just now beginning to get used to the fact, and hope that all the fans do cell certs for those of us with no tickets so we can at least hear it.

Are you setting up cell certs on here for the shows?

Also hoping the fans do some real great live recordings for us, they always do.

 

[Westport]

Someone posted that Prince has a lifetime fan club membership for $35.00 on his website and when I heard that...all that I could think of is that we're all being ripped off to the tune of $40.00 a year, every year...it's the ultimate in gauging and though I love the bands music...I can't help but think that we are all being screwed over in a very blantant and greedy manor. That's pretty blunt but truthful.

So those would be two words: ----ed over.