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Boston Globe : U2 Presale Draws Complaints

There's a story about the U2 presale debacle in the Boston Globe today with comments by a U2.con employee named Brad. Pretty lame excuses given if you ask me!

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/li...ts/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Living+/+Arts+News

U2 presale draws complaints
By Steve Morse, Globe Staff | January 27, 2005

An Internet presale deal has some local U2 fans up in arms. They claim the so-called "preferred seating" offered for the band's May FleetCenter shows was no such thing.

The sale, which began Tuesday, gave members of the band's subscription service, U2.com, the chance to buy tickets through Ticketmaster before they go on sale to the public Saturday. But fans said the seats available to the May 24 and 26 concerts were no better than those that will be offered this weekend. By the time fans got online, they said the better seats had all been snatched up.

"I found out I could get 10th row in the balcony on the opposite end of the arena for $95. How is that preferred seating?" said Stacy Bartko of North Easton. Bartko was hoping that her $40 membership in U2.com would get her access to better seating at U2's upcoming Boston dates.

No such luck. "Right now, if you gave me the tickets for free, I wouldn't take them," a frustrated Bartko added.

The presale was arranged between U2.com and Ticketmaster. A members-only password got fans onto Ticketmaster's website. A U2.com spokeswoman said the sale was an "opportunity" to purchase a ticket but that it "didn't guarantee you a ticket."

A U2.com representative named Brad, who wouldn't provide his last name, refused to divulge numbers but said there was "a huge body of people who still got tickets" and that fans will have another shot at the best seats when U2 returns for a second leg of the tour after playing in Europe this summer.

"This is the Internet age," Brad said. "When you have several hundred thousand people clicking on their computers at the same time in search of tickets, not everyone is going to be happy."

Ticketmaster posted an apology on U2.com yesterday for "technical difficulties" in the presale of tickets for the European dates, but said nothing about any US problems. And a band spokesman said the bulk of the US problems appeared to be in Boston and Chicago and noted online delays. Ticketmaster representatives could not be reached yesterday.

Bartko said she used to subscribe to the band's fanzine, Propaganda. Through the fanzine, she was able to get fourth row tickets to a U2 show at the Worcester Centrum in the early '90s, and eighth row at a Foxboro Stadium concert. But the fanzine was discontinued in favor of the U2.com service, she said.
 
"A U2.com spokeswoman said the sale was an "opportunity" to purchase a ticket but that it "didn't guarantee you a ticket.""

Why didnt she just elaborate and tell the rest of the story??? That would have read like this:

A U2.com spokeswoman said the sale was an "opportunity" to purchase a ticket but that it "didn't guarantee you a ticket. The only guarantee of tickets we make is with ticket brokers during the Pre-presale of which loyal fans are not privy to"

F all of them!:mad:
 
Daily Record - U What? / How to make an astronomic bomb

On the front of the Belfast edition the front page is taken up by bonos face and the following blurb (the Scottish edition has a different front page from ours)

frontpage.jpg



Fury at ticket fiasco for U2Hampden gig

MEGASTARS U2 were at the centre of a Hampden ticket fiasco that left thousands of fans furious yesterday. Fans paid £21.30 to get early access to tickets for the June gig. But the sales website was swamped and many missed out.

Tickets for the gig cost up to £190 a pair withbooking charges - - and some fans blasted the prices as a rip-off.

Full story:


HOW TO MAKE AN ASTRONOMIC BOMB Jan 27 2005


U2 fans out of pocket as agency fiasco hits tickets for Scots gig

By Mark Mcgivern



U2'S VERTIGO tour has left fans furious in a row over ticket bungles and prices.

The tour hits the National Stadium at Hampden on June 21.

But yesterday, Scots fans of the multi-millionaire band, currently in the album charts with How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, were angry and out of pocket.

They were among 50,000 fans in Europe who paid £21.30 each to the band's official website for access to 'pre-sale' tickets.

But when the pre-sale opened yesterday, online ticket sellers Ticketmaster's system was swamped, meaning many fans could not get through.

When they managed to get the codes they had been given by the website to work, they found the cheapest £50 tickets were already gone. But internet touts were last night already offering them for inflated prices.

British fans are also furious that while the website codes offer American concert-goers a discount, the same does not apply in Europe.

And the cost of the 'privilege' membership, along with booking fees, takes the price of the cheapest ticket for the Glasgow gig to more than £80.

Fans also complain the cost of tickets has risen astronomically from previous U2 tours.

Last night, U2 apologised to fans via their website and a spokesman said the booking problem was because the huge demand meant the Ticketmaster site had 3.3million hits in one day.

In addition, some users had their codes disabled.Ticketmaster have now contacted them to say their codes have been reset and they still have plenty of time to book before the public sale.

Last night, European tour promoter John Giddings defended the cost of the tickets, saying: 'U2's prices are not high. Prices for the Vertigo Tour are in line with recent stadium tours.

'U2 work very hard to keep their prices reasonable.'

But the Record was flooded with emails from angry fans yesterday.

Reader Steve Connolly wrote: 'It's a con and a half. For $40 (£21.30), the membership gives you the chance to buy tickets today, ahead of the general sale on Friday. Great plan, if the code actually works. Mine didn't, stating that it had already been used to purchase tickets - which it most certainly has not.

'Incidentally, touts don't seem to have had any probems getting on, as they are selling tickets on Ebay for around £250 each.'

Extortionate A fan in Dumbarton who bought four tickets at £85 each had to pay an extra £36 pounds in handling charges. He said: 'This is extortionate and I don't know how anyone can justify it.'

A Ticketmaster spokesman said they had no control over prices and booking fees were standard but added: 'We do apologise to fan club members who had technical problems.'

A fan buying the cheapest £50 ticket for Hampden or Manchester could end up paying £81 - including £21.30 for privilege membership and Ticketmaster's £4.75 service charge and £4.95 processing fee.
 
Presale lead story at Chicago Tribune website!

I'm glad to see this is getting the press it deserves! If you go to http://www.chicagotribune.com the U2 presale mess is the lead headline with an accompanying photo of Bono. There's also a link to a poll about online ticket purchases.
 
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BTW The Steve Connolly quoted in the paper is me :wink:

I'm glad they felt it imprtant enough to merit a lead in off the front page.
 
Thankfully yes, I managed to get them on day 2 of trying. From reading the posts here, I realise just how incredibly lucky I was to have got them at all.

I feel bad for those who haven't even had a chance to even use their codes yet, so I'm crossing fingers for them.

Did you fare as well as I did?
 
dezmaas said:
I wouldn't wipe my arse with the Daily Record.

Journalistic integrity wasn't an issue for me Dezmaas. Getting the problem public was, so the Record was a viable way of doing it - irrespective of its standing as a newspaper.
 
stevec said:
BTW The Steve Connolly quoted in the paper is me :wink:

I'm glad they felt it imprtant enough to merit a lead in off the front page.

It's a huge picture on our paper. While I was reading it I was thinking "I wonder if that's an Interferencer" :laugh:
 
dezmaas said:
I wouldn't wipe my arse with the Daily Record.

That headline gets peoples attention, I wouldn't care what paper it's in as long as some folk see it :shrug:
 
Lara Mullen said:


It's a huge picture on our paper. While I was reading it I was thinking "I wonder if that's an Interferencer" :laugh:

:eek: Yup it was

Even tho I have my tix, I still feel it important not to forget those who don't. I'm glad the Record ran the story for their sakes.

No doubt I'll take some flak for owning up to this, but so be it.
 
I think it's pretty cool, there's nothing wrong with talking about something you feel strongly about even if others don't agree (I think you were completely right though)
:up:
 
The Daily Record has this as the headline and I was on my phone checking the news last night and this story was in the music section on the BBC site :up:
 
Thank you Lara

Oh and those awful stabbings that are also on the front page...

2 of them happened within 2 minute's walk from my office, just 20 minutes before I left for the evening.

This week definately ranks among one of my weirder and most stressful ones.
 
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Presale mess getting press coverage in Chicago

Sorry if anyone else already posted this. Just saw a report about the U2 presale on the WGN Morning News here in Chicago. It talked about fans feeling scammed by the fan club and internet presale. Also Greg Kot, the music critic for the Chicago Tribune, has written a story about the problems. Just go to wgntv.trb.com and follow the link. You can also go to chicagotribune.com but you might have to register to access the story there. They also have an online poll. :)
 
Here is an article in the Suntimes. Newsday, and the Boston Globe also have articles. PR nightmare for the band which they totally deserve.

Tuesday, bloody Tuesday

January 27, 2005

BY LUCIO GUERRERO Staff Reporter Advertisement







U2 may have alienated its most loyal fans after a ticket fiasco that left many Chicagoans feeling suckered by the Irish supergroup.

Thousands of fans are complaining that a planned pre-sale for tickets to the May 7 and 9 United Center shows in U2's upcoming Vertigo tour was a scam that left many of them with no tickets or nosebleed seats that cost upward of $165 each.

The problem started a few months back when the group's official fan site -- www.u2.com -- asked members to pay a $40 subscription fee that included a guarantee of priority seating for the upcoming tour. Those who signed up were given a special code to enter at ticketmaster.com on Tuesday, four days before the general public's ticket sale on Saturday.

That code, many fans thought, would give them access to a large block of seats throughout the venue. But many u2.com members say the lower-priced general admission tickets were snapped up in less than a minute, leaving some to wonder why they bothered spending $40 for the pre-sale subscription.

"I have followed the band for so long, and I feel like I was ripped off of $40 with phony promises of access to good tickets," said Berenice Canela, a graduate student from Chicago. "This is not fair. I am reduced to a limited number of choices like having to fight for the good tickets when the general sale comes around on Saturday or having to go to one of these brokers for $300-plus for seats.

"This is just plain wrong!"

Canela, 24, gave up after realizing that the only tickets available were for $165 seats in the upper levels.

Fans are especially furious because for years U2 had given its loyal fans an opportunity to purchase tickets without a subscription fee through a fan site called Propaganda. That site was closed in 2000 to make way for the more advanced u2.com.

During U2's last tour, fans encountered similar problems with pre-sale orders, but they weren't asked for a $40 subscription fee in advance. Many other rock groups -- including Radiohead, Pearl Jam and R.E.M. -- do pre-sales for fans, but they usually don't charge for the opportunity.

U2 officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but a source with the band said it appeared the problem on Tuesday may have been with Ticketmaster.

Some fans complained that they were booted off the system while waiting for tickets or were promised seats in a section only to see the seating chart reconfigured later.

Ticketmaster officials would not comment, but the European arm of the company issued an apology on u2.com after similar problems arose with the site's members in Europe.

Some U.S. fans are contemplating class-action suits, while others have talked of boycotts.

Steve DeBoer, a 20-year U2 fan from Madison, Wis., was stymied Tuesday when the Ticketmaster site logged him off. When he tried to get back on with his u2.com password, he was told that the password had already been used. He still has no tickets.

"I truly don't know if I'll go," said DeBoer, 49. "This experience has left a very bitter taste in my mouth."
 
I haven't seen this yet but someone called me to say my name was mentioned in the paper as well. I emailed them a couple of days ago to say I was hacked off at the prices.
 
"an "opportunity" to purchase a ticket but that it "didn't guarantee you a ticket."

is stupid legal jargon signifying they knew that the fans were going to get screwed.
 
Good glad to see it is getting some coverage but until ticketmaster is met with some competition it wont matter.
 
Chicago Tribune article

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."
 
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