MERGED-->All Media Coverage on Presale Dramas Here

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Not about the music, and maybe not about the band, but certainly about how the band treats its most loyal fans. The difference this time is that we paid for this. And that's why, for the first time in 20+ years, many of us are feeling things and saying things we never thought possible about our favorite band.

U2 has taken us on a wonderful ride for more than two decades. But how'd we end up here? And how do we go back? I liked it better before.

:yes:

http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=3721&Key=&Year=&Cat=
 
The GA must not have sold out in 10 seconds - I got 2 for 5/9 after declining upper balcony seats @ the opposite end from the stage for both shows. I had already given up for a few minutes when I decided to give it another shot. This time instead of selecting 49.50 and GA I selected 49.50 and best available. 2 GA popped up and I almost had a coronary. Then they gave you ONE minute to type all your info in - another coronary.
I don't know what happened - some glitch and I got lucky or maybe they released a few GA at a time, who knows, but I am extremely excited to see my favorites up close - I am always in the rafters. Good luck to everyone Saturday!!!
 
lol. Picked up the paper and yes, I'm in there alongwith Steve's comments and some anonymous comments attributed to "U2.COM Members".

So, does this mean the pair of us will be getting our tickets cancelled and turned away at the door come June?!
 
Well they'd better bring the army back from Iraq to do it!!!! LOL

Actually, I'm just praying that the tix sale HAS gone through without a hitch and they are sent soon. Can't help thinking that there will be some snafu at the Ticketmaster end.


Whatever else happens nearer the time, I'll deal with as and when.

PS. I take it you are Mike then? :wink:
 
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Yip, I'm not going to worry about it. I've got my confirmation code and the fact we were both named in that article might not be a bad thing if we do have trouble nearer the time.
 
ascender_RS said:
Yip, I'm not going to worry about it. I've got my confirmation code and the fact we were both named in that article might not be a bad thing if we do have trouble nearer the time.

Never thought of it that way, but you're right. Anyway, joking aside, I don't think that it would ever come to that.

Can't help feeling sorry for folks who never even got a crack at it though. Damn shame!
 
The excuses the promoter gives are beyond belief.

Of COURSE the demand is through the roof, you moron! YOU KNEW it would be! IT's YOUR JOB to know that. Don't pretend your a victim! Sigh...
 
He's so full of shit. :rolleyes: Maybe by now the band knows what happened. I'm not saying that they may care or do anything about it, but they should at least know what's being done in their name.


Although 100,000 fees at 40 bucks per will by some new Maseratis for a few of them.
 
Clearly, this Fogel guy could not care less.

However, I am liking this negative press in nationwide sources like Billboard.
 
billboard.com article on Bloody Tuesday

for us disgruntled fans.. saw this on billboard.com
this is a very positive article.. especially the last few lines.
that's the first national press I've seen on this (although maybe there has been more)

--------------------------------------


(01-27-2005) U2 Fans Riled Up Over Fan Club Pre-Sale -- Billboard.com*
U2 Fans Riled Up Over Fan Club Pre-Sale

The huge demand and system glitches that marked Tuesday's (Jan. 25) pre-sale for U2's Vertigo tour left hundreds of fans with less than desirable seats or no seats at all, but tour organizers say their goal is to satisfy all fan club members, or at least as many as possible.

Disgruntled fans who paid $40 for a chance to purchase choice tickets prior to the general public have made their feelings known in postings at U2's official Web site and elsewhere, including a slew of e-mails to Billboard.com.

Referring to the on-sale issues as "Tuesday, Bloody Tuesday," one fan wrote, "What's the point of spending $40 for the membership of the site and getting a lousy seat for more than $165?"

In Europe, where problems seem to have been much worse, a U.K. fan writes, "I, like many thousands of fans, have gone through this presale in the expectation that we will get tickets for the venue of our choice. What we have got is complete ineptitude, incompetence and disregard of U2 fans by U2's management, the Web site, Ticketmaster and dare I say U2 themselves."

But U2 worldwide promoter Arthur Fogel, president of tour promoter TNA International, says the snafus and disappointed customers are systematic of an incredibly hot tour.

"These fan club pre-sales go on all the time, but they're usually under the radar," Fogel tells Billboard.com. "This one is beyond belief. There's no question there have been some technical glitches and some dissatisfied people, but the reality is people are working as best as possible to sort it all out. And I'm sure they will, eventually."

Clearly, ticket brokers or "scalpers," considered a bane to the touring industry by most, are contributing to the problem. "The reality is, there's nothing to stop a broker from joining a fan club and being part of a pre-sale," says Fogel. "But the whole notion of a fan club is rewarding hardcore, loyal fans."

Dealing with brokers on hot tours is a "chess match," Fogel points out, and a tour like Vertigo is the Super Bowl to a scalper. "As a broker, you spend every day of your life trying to figure out how to beat the system," he says.

And often, Fogel adds, even a public on-sale faces technical issues. "Sometimes you go up on sale and the system fries because of demand."

Fogel says band, management and promoter are working to sell tickets. "Ultimately, it's our job to fulfill the mandate of the fan club, and to make sure the general public also has access to tickets," he offers.

As U2 tickets begin going on sale to the general public tomorrow in Europe and on Saturday in the U.S., all involved hope the system can handle the load. "There is no question the demand, both here and in Europe, is as high as I've ever seen, and with that comes difficulties in managing that kind of volume," Fogel says.

"I know this: one thing about U2 and the U2 organization, whom I've worked with since 1980 -- they will do whatever they can to make sure people are taken care of," he concludes.

-- Ray Waddell, Nashville
Billboard.com

Thanks tkramer!

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martha said:
He's so full of shit. :rolleyes: Maybe by now the band knows what happened. I'm not saying that they may care or do anything about it, but they should at least know what's being done in their name.


Although 100,000 fees at 40 bucks per will by some new Maseratis for a few of them.

Martha are you married? :heart:
 
Article in Chicago Tribune...

link:
Chicago Tribune

U2's online ticket launch for fan club bollixed up
Many members who paid $40 for right to buy advance tickets frozen out

By Greg Kot
Tribune music critic
Published January 27, 2005, 8:21 AM CST


Update: A message posted to U2's Web site today raises the prospect of additional dates -- and tickets -- for the band's North American tour: U2 are hoping to return to North America for more shows this Autumn. ... While the Autumn leg is not confirmed yet, the already announced opening North American leg is likely to include rollover dates - that is additional shows in currently advertised venues. We will be mailing U2.Com subscribers who have not yet been able to buy tickets in the North American presale with early information on how to buy tickets at these additional first leg shows.




On U2's last North American tour in 2001, singer Bono told the millions of fans who have made the Irish quartet one of the richest bands in rock history: "I want to thank you for giving us a wonderful life."

But this week, the most ardent of those fans may not be feeling much appreciated. An advance ticket sale to the band's fan club for U2's forthcoming North American and European tours has turned into a public-relations nightmare.

So many complaints poured into U2's management offices in Ireland and New York and to Ticketmaster during the presale Tuesday that the ticketing agency was moved to issue an apology Tuesday night. It blamed the fan-club fiasco on "an incredibly high level of demand" that resulted in "slower than normal service."

After paying $40 in membership fees to gain access to tickets this week before they're made available to the general public, fan-club members reported encountering crashed Web sites, faulty passwords and a dearth of choice seats.

Many fans were left without tickets for the 13-city North American tour, which includes concerts May 7 and May 9 at the United Center. Others reported finding that the $49.50 tickets for standing room nearest the stage were already sold out when they logged in, and that they had to settle for more expensive $95 or $165 seats farther from the stage. To add insult to injury, ticket scalpers had already swooped in and were offering choice tickets for more than $1,000 on eBay.

"We feel betrayed by this," said Collin Souter, a film critic from Prospect Heights who has attended 18 U2 shows since 1987. Souter paid to join the fan club but found he could get nothing better than third-balcony seats at the United Center after logging in only seconds after the presale began Tuesday morning. "It's a really sad week for U2 fans."

In its official response, posted on its U2.com Web site, the band acknowledged that "some fans have let us know that they have experienced some frustrating technical problems," and said Ticketmaster was "contacting all U2.com European members who failed to book their tickets to explain how they can still do this well within the presale window." No mention was made of the ticketing problems in North America, even as fans filled message boards with invective.

"I thought the point of dishing out my $40 membership fee was to gain access to the coveted [general admission] floor seats," wrote one disgruntled fan, zooropabails, at atu2.com. "The GA seats for both shows in Chicago sold out in literally 10 seconds. Is this possible? U2.com has successfully screwed all of us."

Such presales through band Web sites have become increasingly fashionable, including those run by arena-filling acts such as Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and the String Cheese Incident. On its 2002 tour, the Rolling Stones charged fans $60 to gain access to tickets before the general public.

In an earlier message on the U2 Web site publicizing the fan-club subscriptions, fans were informed that the $40 fee "assured access to the online ticket presale."

"They made it sound like a great deal, but they sold far too many memberships to fulfill their promise," said Sharon Carleton, an insurance executive in Omaha, who tried to buy tickets for the Chicago shows but found she could get only seats behind the stage for $160 each. She decided not to buy those seats and says she'll likely sit out the forthcoming tour.

In return for her fan-club membership money, she received "a fabulous little metal key chain that says `with thanks.' I found that a little ironic getting it this week. It'll remind me to pay more attention to this kind of thing in the future."
 
Okay article -- and this is REALLY bad p.r. when it makes a huge newspaper like the Chicago Trib -- but still there is no mention of the seating chart fiasco and the real possibility of consumer fraud in that whole situation.
 
There's also a poll on the lefthand side (you need userid & password to get into Chicago Trib site - ha) and the choices and present poll results are:

Rate your online ticket-buying experience:

15.0%
Good (285 responses)

31.3%
Mixed (592 responses)

53.7%
Bad (1017 responses)
>> My editorial remark: "Every tour has its good and its bad. This one is bad."

1894 total responses
(Poll results not scientific)
 
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