Share Your Presale Problems, Issues, Concerns

[BAW]

A little late but here's my story:


Mr. BAW and I each purchased a U2.com membership and because I never got my Prop code, we shelled out $80.

We both logged on to our respective computers this morning and at 9:58, had the U2.com/Ticketmaster page ready to go. At 10:00, he tried for Anaheim, I tried for LA. For the first 10 minutes, all we got was "Internal Error, please try again"

After trying for 10 more minutes, he had to leave so armed with both presale codes, I tried over and over again to at least get past the main order page.

The screen for ticket orders eventually disapeared completely and when I checked back a few minutes later, I was able to get through and order 2 LA tickets using Mr. BAW's code. I chose the tickets, gave them my credit card info and was waiting for my confirmation when I got the following message: "There was an error with this transaction, please try again later." I promptly logged back in to Ticketmaster, chose 2 tickets, any price, and found that I could not use Mr. BAW's code because acording to Ticketmaster, it had been previously used to purchase tickets.

At 11:20 a.m., I was finally able to get 2 Anaheim tickets in section 412 for $165 a pop, using my code.

An email and phone call to Ticketmaster resulted in a promise to call back within the hour regarding the lost presale code and not surprisingly, we're still waiting for that call.

 

[MrBrau1]

"I love my spouse, even though they beat on me every week."

I hate to say it, but some of you fans out there are part of the problem. Hearing comments like..."The whole process sucked, but I bought the crappy, nosebleed, $160 tickets anyways." Or, "I bought the crummy seats because I just want to go in the show, and hopefully I'll be able to sell them for what I paid, if I find better seats during the regular sale."

With reactions like these, nothing will get remedied, and U2 will gladly suck our $$ from us. I refuse to just "take" tickets that came up after all the good seats had already been sold. I'd rather wait for the onsale this weekend, and take my chances. If that fails, I'd suck it up and buy something on EBay. But the one thing I won't do, is give U2 the satisfaction, of buying up seats that are not worth the $$ I'm paying for them. When the upper level seats in Anaheim came up for $175, at about 10:30, there was no chance I was biting.

You're so right. The $175 or so someone spends on nosebleeds could be used to by GA from a broker. Or simply saved for a rainy day

 

[popbellydancer]

Every Tom, Dick, and Scalper

I am, like many, a longtime U2 fan/propaganda member and am disgusted by our treatment today. It does seem as tho every Tom, Dick and Scalper were allowed to join up until the last minute of the pre-sale.

What ever happened to a "Fan Club" for the "Fans/Diehards?"

What happened to knowing that in spite of all the usual Ticketmaster woes, that we as fans did NOT have to worry about ONE set of tickets for the tour. That for at least ONE of the shows at which we'll be sleeping out on the pavement we can sleep easy knowing we have those tix in our hand?

I MISS SNAIL-MAIL!!!!
I MISS PROPAGANDA!!!!
I MISS NOT HAVING TO FIGHT WITH SCALPERS FOR MY
SO-CALLED "FAN" CLUB TIX!!!!!
I MISS MONEY NOT BEING THE BOTTOM LINE WHEN IT COMES TO THE TREATMENT OF U2'S FANS!!!!

That said I have 0 GA tix and as a struggling bartender/actress am too poor for Golden Circle....;(

Very dissapointed in LA,
Melissa


"So You're the Diehards!!!??!!!!"
~Bono, Tampa Popmart 11-10-97~

 

[RobertWiscy]

The United Center seating chart I printed off last night showed the stage on one end; the stage on their chart today is on the other end.

I called Ticketmaster and had to speak with a supervisor, but eventually cancelled my order and will receive a full refund. They did refuse to renew my password, but I don't care if I see them on this tour, either the 1st leg or later American leg. This from a U2 fan since '83.

This same problem apparently occurred at other arenas. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but I really don't care at this point as I got my money back.

 

[Grindstone]

problems

same problems as everyone else...

I tried to get Philly tickets, while my friend was getting NYC. I also knew 8 other people (all of whom I MET during the Elevation Tour in the heart and have remained close friends with) all trying various shows on the East Coast.. ALL pro fans, long time Propaganda members, etc.
ran into the problems with u2.com crashed.
went to ticketmaster.com direct. after 45 mins I quit trying.

NONE of us got tickets. none.

then Chicago, I kept getting the "internal server error" when I tried to buy the tickets.. had four browsers going at once, with friend on the phone.. same deal.. he left to go to a doctors appointment so I was trying his code.. NOTHING. Kept getting the internal server error.. had to close out and sign back in
then it said "tickets are not on sale" said that in all browsers with refreshing for another 5-7 minutes, when it came back up and I finally got thru, all tickets were gone.

then west coast, same drill as CHicago.. esp with the LA show had the same problem with internal error and "tickets not on sale" when I knew good and well they were.

the thing is, like everyone else, I NEVER planned on going to a west coast show, I live on the east coast but after two failed attempts, I was to a point where if I got ANYTHING it would be great and I got nothing.

after calling and emailing all 8 friends.. all of whom did the exact same thing as me. none of us have tickets.. that's the first time in 15 years

last tour we all met, that's how we became friends. great people.

this year we won't see each other and instead of a fun reunion we're all dismayed, disgruntled and feel betrayed by the band we all love and support

they need to fix this big time.
If the band cares about their fans at all, they will respond.

if not, then I will guess I will move on and boycott this tour.

thanks

 

[hef4u2]

Dear U2.com members,

My Interference handle is Hef4u2, and my U2.com handle is mailjeff.

I have followed the band for the last dozen years, been to all the concerts, bought the albums, and been a good fan.

I like you have helped give them the great life they tell us about.

But like you, today we were all cheated on the promises for our U2.com memberships.

This should have never happened. I know we all feel cheated and betrayed.

It is now time for us to do something as a collective, a group action. Just as Martin Luther King would advocate, power to the people.

Corporate snobs like Ticketmaster need to be stopped.

Here is our chance to do so.

We have to unite together in voice so loud that we cannot be silenced.

But we all are disconnected, in different parts of the country, different parts of the world.

However, we have the Internet to connect us all together.

The whole world hooked up to one little cable.

Five people have responded to my post ready to do something, anything.

A class action lawsuit has been mentioned, we need legal advice as to what are our rights in this case might be.

Any suggestions or opinions need to be given and turned into action.

Five needs to turn into ten, twenty, thirty, thousands of fans that were betrayed today.

My email is mailjeff@comcast.net, my handle is hef4u2

Respond back to join a petition to right this wrong.

 

[yyoo]

Any suggestions or opinions need to be given and turned into action.

I'm not a lawyer, but how about a temporary injunction barring Ticketmaster from conducting their general sale and U2.com and FanFire from realizing any profit until they get the ticket situation with fans straightened out?

 

[Buttercup67]

Pre-sale problems

Pretty much the same story as everybody else. Logged on before 10:00AM for Chicago shows, refreshed until the page came up and got all the errors everybody else did with the most popular being "Internal Server Error" (God, I felt like I was at work where they don't know how to handle heavy network traffic either, but I digress.) Finally started getting ticket selections but balked at them because they were either nosebleeds (no way in the United Center) or $165 for opposite end of the arena - oh and I just loved how the seating chart changed. Kept throwing tickets back hoping to get closer to the stage since it became clear very quickly (10:01 AM) that I wasn't going to get GA. Finally settled for a pair of those $165 tickets in sect. 106 at the back. Now I'm regretting it a little because I probably could have gotten two GA tickets off of ebay for the same money. But I hate the idea of paying a scumbag broker. The whole presale experience sucked big time. It could have been handled so much better. I always got tickets through Propaganda and sure it was nerve-wracking waiting for the letter with the order form and then the tickets but I usually got what I wanted. I wasn't even aware that there were internet pre-sales for Elevation but from what I have read they were messed up too. So nothing was learned from the last time? How are people able to offer GA tickets on ebay in such large numbers so soon? I smell collusion, back door deals and kickbacks. I knew the number of tickets would be limited but damn! No GA tickets at 10:01 AM! I hold U2.com, Fanfire, Ticketmaster and Principle Management totally responsible for today's pre-sale fiasco. It's called preparation people. It's called doing your homework. You knew demand would be high based on the number of subsriptions to U2.com (reported in another thread to be 90,000). I hope the fans who lost the use of their codes have their situations remedied and get to buy tickets. I also hope that when more shows go onsale that subscribers get a real shot at them in a pre-sale. Others have noted that fan clubs for REM, Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam handled their pre-sales better. I cannot speak to that but I can speak for another artist's fan club that did it right last year. I'm talkin' about Prince. I've mentioned it in another thread and I'll say it again. NO Fanfire & NO Ticketmaster for the pre-sales. Only a $25 fee to join LIFETIME. Results, went to 3 of 5 shows in Chicago at Allstate Arena. Stage in-the-round.
1st show- last row bought through Ticketmaster
2nd show - 1st row bought through fan club
3rd show - 2nd row fan club again.
Bono, Larry, Edge, Adam call Prince or REM or Dave Matthews or Pearl Jam or anybody else with some common sense and compassion for the fans and fix this problem now. Please!!! Before more shows go onsale. Well, that's all I have to say about it. I guess I'll try for GA on Saturday like everbody else. Good luck to everbody.
And yes you can quote me.

 

[indra]

I know you are looking for the stories of people who actually tried to get tickets today, but I just want to say I've never been so happy not to have wanted to go to see a band in concert before. If I had really wanted to see U2 live and had to deal with this debacle, I would be absolutely furious.

I feel bad for the people who long for GA tickets (or even merely decent seats) at a fair price, but I am incredibly happy not to be contributing one single penny to this greedfest.

 

[Eliv8]

Following is the fax I sent to Principle

Fax: 212.765.2372

Your pre sale was horrible. I was online for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Finally after getting through my seats are up in the terrace (nosebleeds) and all in all cost me almost $200 each.

These are the worst tickets I have ever had for a U2 concert (this will be my 10th show). I am totally disappointed. I have supported U2 since Live Aid and over the years I have spent thousands of dollars on them. I joined U2.com expecting to get GA tickets. I hope this changes before the 3rd leg. Two tickets for members (crap ones at that) and the scalpers get to buy 8 at a time via Ticketmaster? It should have been the other way around and that announcement should have come out on Monday, the day after the U2.com membership sign-up expired.

Kevin
_______

Footnote: On my way home from work I went to my local Ticket Agent to see if I could maybe work out a trade. I'll give him a $160 ticket for 2 $50's. Not a chance. Why? Because I'm in the terraces, row 12 and the seats behind me (row 13) are the $90 ones.Thank you very much U2.con

 

[wolfeden]

OK to quote/reference.

What's upsetting to me is the fact that at 10 AM on the dot, no GA were available for the 24th May show in Boston -- but scalpers are claiming to have them already, and in seemingly plentiful amounts?

I want answers from PM, and from whomever within the corporate faction of U2 made these decisions -- I don't blame the band themselves....
But I am waiting to see what kind of response is given. They have to know how badly this has alienated a significant portion of their fans, chiefly those who operate online... for a band whose enduring legacy has been one of having a bond with their audience, this is going to be bad for everyone.... them and us.
I won't be surprised if they react defensively, given some of the nasty things people are saying directly about them... not a way to make your point, people, if you want sympathy for your situation.

 

[tommywaddle]

Behead the Scalpers & Hackers!

You can Quote me. Today I changed my work schedule in order to order presale tickets. I do not understand how Ticketmaster was not working properly from a PRE-SALE event. So everyone ordering U2 tickets must have been on the U2 fanclub who paid $20 or $40. There was an error processing your request & I tried refreshing my screen & I was not given the option to reorder ANY tickets. Finally twenty minutes later at 10:20, I was given the option to purchase $95 nosebleed seats. I would have rather paid u2.com $40 to not kick me in the nutz and frustrate me. All day long today, I have the stupid fanclub password repeating over & over in my head reminding me of my ticketlessness. I am going to try and go ticketmaster on Saturday with the rest of the folks or order tickets for the TBA concerts. Behead the scalpers & Hackers!

 

[tarquinsuperb]

You can quote me on this - I really didn't have too much of a problem. Didn't get my first choice which was London but did get my second choice which was Cardiff. Very easy and no trouble at all really, my friend is a bit annoyed when Twickenham is only 30 minutes from us but he'll survive. I think the only things that are bugging me is: one of my codes got swallowed up whilst browsing and I'd better get it back in time for the Dublin sales and the fact that there's not much consideration for us lunatic loners who want to take in multiple shows - I'm going to have to swop some of my tickets rather than just buying them straight off.
Still I was done in a few minutes and it was nowhere near as stressful as buying for some other concerts or major sporting events that I've done.
I don't understand this whole attitude that the band woke up yesterday morning and thought what's the best way to start the tour I know we'll go out of our way to piss off our hardcore fans by screwing up the pre-sales. I mean come on. I was one of those Propaganda members who felt slightly shafted that our level of importance had been reduced but what replaced it on U2.com is a much fairer and clique like system (it's also more 20th Century). There'll be more dates soon and I'm sure most things will work out.
I do have sympathy anyone who attempted to buy England vs Scotland tickets in 1999 will rember that being much worse than this (I lost two days and still didn't get tickets plus the phone lines in North London collapsed) but I didn't vent my anger at the players, demand outsripped supply if you want to go and see a poor band I'm sure you'll get plenty of tickets.
Chin up guys you'll get another go at the General Sales and I'll see you there trying to get those damn Twickenham tickets.

 

[Teta040]

Just thought I'd share this info from WIRE.

Someone from Boston called the Ticketmaster office today and found out that GA have been onsale for Fleet Center for 2 WEEKS. And not only in Boston. They said that in Boston, a big local ticket broker has already bought up most of the GA tickets and is planning to hawk them online for at least $500 each. I got the feeling that this person didn't call TM Customer service (!) but had a friend who worked for them, or some connection.

He said that since Ticketmaster owns the venues, they can charge what they want, to whomaever they want, and can start selling when they want. Strikes me as curious that the fact that the GA tickets have been onsle for 2 weeks hasn't leaked to the general public. Not even the band.

I suspect that Ticketmaster was pissed that the best seats were so cheap, and decided (since they were being sold online now, and thus easy to get access to, the "straitjacket" of the "elitist" old fan club gone-hey, I'm thinking like a broker here, that's not MY opinion!!) they decided to make as much money as possible, and opened up the GA tickets to a little secret exclusive broker sale, with of course a generous cut for TM. In Elevation, GA was practically untouchable, because you had to have gotten at least one issue of Propaganda, which would have come months ago, to even get an order form in the mail, and your average broker had no idea where to even sign up. Putting them online "feed" them, and now TM is having a field day.

I don't know about the rest of this fiasco, but you can be sure the band did not want THIS. They would not have did what they did last time, and made GA the cheapest. Whatber lese you can say about the tickets, they still wanted the GA to be like last time. They should have known that snail mail was comaratively untouchable.

 

[Teta040]

Just thought I'd share this info from WIRE.

Someone from Boston called Ticketmaster today and found out that GA have been onsale for Fleet Center for 2 WEEKS. And not only in Boston. They said that in Boston, a consortium of local ticket brokers has already bought up the GA tickets and is planning to hawk them online for at least $500 each. I got the feeling that this person didn't call TM Customer service (!) but had a friend who worked for them, or some connection.

He said that since Ticketmaster owns the venues, they can charge what they want, to whomaever they want, and can start selling when they want. Strikes me as curious that the fact that the GA tickets have been onsale for 2 weeks hasn't leaked to the general public. Not even the band.

I suspect that Ticketmaster was pissed that the best seats were so cheap, (and also b/c the rest of the concert biz is so bad, they're looking for any revenue they can get right now) and decided (since they were being sold online now, and thus easy to get access to, the "straitjacket" of the "elitist" old fan club gone-hey, I'm thinking like a broker here, that's not MY opinion!!) they decided to make as much money as possible, and opened up the GA tickets to a little secret exclusive broker sale, with of course a generous cut for TM. In Elevation, GA was practically untouchable, because you had to have gotten at least one issue of Propaganda, which would have come months ago, to even get an order form in the mail, and your average broker had no idea where to even sign up. Putting them online "feed" them, and now TM is having a field day.

I don't know about the rest of this fiasco, but you can be sure the band did not want THIS. They would not have did what they did last time, and made GA the cheapest. Whatever else you can say about the tickets, they still wanted the GA to be like last time. They should have known that snail mail was comaratively untouchable.

I am quite ready to beleive this crap, and it turns my stomach. Whatver you may be ready to accuse the band of, I don't think they'd stoop to THIS, they were the victims in this special case,if this is true, and I hope they hit the cieling

 

[arnolds]

I am quite ready to beleive this crap, and it turns my stomach. Whatver you may be ready to accuse the band of, I don't think they'd stoop to THIS, they were the victims in this special case,if this is true, and I hope they hit the cieling

Although I agree with what you said, U2 knew what it was getting into with fanfire and ticketmaster. They have been in the business too long to not know the standard practices of Ticketmaster and scalpers. Maybe running Propaganda was getting tedious but I think they could have made a better investment to keep it going instead of outsourcing their fan club.

 

[matt_tx00]

Just thought I'd share this info from WIRE.

Someone from Boston called Ticketmaster today and found out that GA have been onsale for Fleet Center for 2 WEEKS. And not only in Boston. They said that in Boston, a consortium of local ticket brokers has already bought up the GA tickets and is planning to hawk them online for at least $500 each. I got the feeling that this person didn't call TM Customer service (!) but had a friend who worked for them, or some connection.

He said that since Ticketmaster owns the venues, they can charge what they want, to whomaever they want, and can start selling when they want. Strikes me as curious that the fact that the GA tickets have been onsale for 2 weeks hasn't leaked to the general public. Not even the band.

I suspect that Ticketmaster was pissed that the best seats were so cheap, (and also b/c the rest of the concert biz is so bad, they're looking for any revenue they can get right now) and decided (since they were being sold online now, and thus easy to get access to, the "straitjacket" of the "elitist" old fan club gone-hey, I'm thinking like a broker here, that's not MY opinion!!) they decided to make as much money as possible, and opened up the GA tickets to a little secret exclusive broker sale, with of course a generous cut for TM. In Elevation, GA was practically untouchable, because you had to have gotten at least one issue of Propaganda, which would have come months ago, to even get an order form in the mail, and your average broker had no idea where to even sign up. Putting them online "feed" them, and now TM is having a field day.

I don't know about the rest of this fiasco, but you can be sure the band did not want THIS. They would not have did what they did last time, and made GA the cheapest. Whatever else you can say about the tickets, they still wanted the GA to be like last time. They should have known that snail mail was comaratively untouchable.

I am quite ready to beleive this crap, and it turns my stomach. Whatver you may be ready to accuse the band of, I don't think they'd stoop to THIS, they were the victims in this special case,if this is true, and I hope they hit the cieling

This is just disgusting!

I'm really getting sick of - inflated artists prices, and Ticketmaster and Clear Channel having a monopoly on pricing and ticket practices. Scalping and ticket brokering should be completely illegal.

Last year, I got tickets through Ticketmaster for a couple of Madonna shows. Tested my limits at $300/each, but I ended up with great seats only 3 or 5 rows from the stage on the floor.

This time going for U2. I tried to get tix this morning for the 5/18 show at the Continental Airlines Arena in E. Rutherford.

I got on the pre-sale this morning just after 10AM EST. At first I couldn't get through, then around 10:07 AM I did get through.

About 10:08, after a few searches, I landed 2 $167 tickets in Section 124, Row 13, which, according to the seating chart AT THAT TIME was right next to the stage! I was happy and logged off of Ticketmaster and didn't give it another thought.

Then saw the stories on Propaganda about "seating charts changing", etc. Checked again, and NOW my tickets are 5 sections back - in the f'ing back of the arena!!!!

I already sent Ticketmaster an e-mail demanding either a full refund or a pair of tickets right next to the stage. I've always been 'ok' with Ticketmaster - yes they rip you off with their surcharges but I've always been happy with their customer service until now.

If my e-mail doesn't have any affect, I will go in this order:

1. File dispute through the Mastercard (this is after all "merchandise not received as advertised")
2. File dispute through Fanfire and U2.com to get the $40 back and see if they can get me a refund
3. Mail Better Business Bureau and state of NJ (or NY) consumer affairs office asking for a refund (this actually works sometimes)

if all that fails then...

4. Sell the tix on e-bay and hope for the best

I can tell you for sure U2 has lost out on one fan for this tour. Ain't no way I'm flyin all the way up to New Jersey for these crap seats. And as far as that goes, I won't be going to ANY of the shows unless I get my money back!

The worst fan club and pre-sale treatment I've seen - hands down. As much as I hate to say it, right now I honestly hope they end up with a lot of empty seats on their hands.

Matt

 

[z00ropean]

U2 is to GREED

Like so many other die hard U2 fans, I am very disappointed and disrespected. We are the ones who buy all if not most of their records and this is what we get. All I can say now is FUCK U2! and FUCK you paul mcguinness!

 

[gvox]

So I'm just curious -

I've heard the terms 'injunction' and 'class action'

being thrown around

I cant do it, Im not a laywer nor am I American

But surely there is someone here or something who knows how to get such a legal ball rolling?

Anyone?

I'm sure there are plenty of laywers who are U2 fans - OH! DUH! how could I forget! They're getting their tickets off eBay cause they can afford to, or their firms have been given them as perks by their clients!!!!

**please note: this has nothing to do with how I feel about Bono, Larry, Edge, Adam and their music. It's a simple dispute between us and U2 Incorporated. They should simply be held to their promises, that's all**

 

[nbcrusader]

I started trying for tickets at 9:59 am. For the next hour and twenty minutes, I got the same "internal error" message.

Finally, all that was available was $95 tickets at the top of the Staples Center. There were no $170 tickets available.

U2.com sold memberships under the premise that members would have an advantage in getting tickets.

By intentionally limiting the number of tickets available to members, U2.com only created an illusion of having an advantage. The general public will have just an easy/difficult time getting tickets this weekend.

 

[KentK]

Basically, it just can never be a good thing getting Ticketmaster involved... tickets going to scalpers out the back door, servers going down, outrageous handling fees.

I mean, how did U2 ever dream that this would be a better setup for fanclub members?!?!? Come on!

The old Prop system was so much better. What a screw up.

 

[nbcrusader]

I'm sure there are plenty of laywers who are U2 fans - OH! DUH! how could I forget! They're getting their tickets off eBay cause they can afford to, or their firms have been given them as perks by their clients!!!!

Uh, no. I am a lawyer. I don't want to pay for scalper tickets.

Starting a class action over this is not a risk most lawyers would take. U2.com screwed the fans, but their representations were delightfully ambiguous to avoid legal retribution.

 

[numbededge]

I held out. I came close to buying nose bleeds for 52.00 at the farthest point. In the end I feel I will take my chances on the regular sale. (I may be foolish in thinking this) I believe that at worst case scenerio I can get the same nose bleed seats at a ticketmaster location.

Same here except I was going for LA. The only reason I paid the $40 was for a chance to get good seats. I don't have a high speed internet connection so the rest of the website privileges as a member are off limits for me. The presale made me sick. I wasted two hours at work stressing over this instead of actually working. I noticed that the nosebleed seats that were going for almost $100 this morning are now going at the $51 rate. If anyone bought their tickets in the 300 sections this morning, I think they have a valid claim for a partial refund. There's talk in Zootopia about a lawsuit but I'm not sure if it's going to go anywhere. At any rate, I have become one very disillusioned fan but I'll still try again with the general sale.

 

[u2valleygirl]

Both me and my husband joined U2.com. He initially joined but we did not think he was a member because his credit card was charged about three weeks after the order was placed.

So, we spent $80 on memberships. Then we are both on our computers 10:00 on the nose. He gets through and gets nosebleeds. I am getting internal error. As soon as my husband's tranaction went through, it said internal processing error. He lost his membership number at that point. I was unable to get tickets. After hearing all of the horrible stories about nose bleeds, I stopped trying to get tickets as I am not sure that I am in a financial position to spend $350 on bad seats.

I knew this was going to happen. I believe Principal Management and U2 are responsible for this. To say that they didn't know this would happen is ridiculous. It doesn't take rocket science to figure these things out.

It's been a shitty day.

 

[wolf Q]

You can quote me.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that had an awful experience this morning.

I wanted to get GA tickets to the show in Denver. I figured that having a U2.com membership and with the presale it would be easy to get two GA tickets. I even asked my boss at work to come in an hour late so I'd be able to be at home for the presale. I was on the internet a half hour before it began. I kept refreshing the last few minutes until the screen to search for tickets being available. The SECOND that it allowed me to search for tickets I chose 2 GA, entered my password....it told me that there were none available. I could not believe that GA could have possibly been sold out before the sale even began.

So I tried "best available".....I was ready to throw the computer out of the window by the time the search was up...one minute it'd say I had 15 minutes left, then 8 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 2 minutes...it'd get down to 1 minute then go back up to 10! *shoots ticketmaster*

I was offered some seats for $160 and also some really shitty nosebleeds for the $50 price. I didn't choose either. I don't have a guarantee that I can even get to Denver yet so I'm not plopping down over $300 for 2 good seats yet, nor do I want crappy nosebleeds...tried that once, then had GA...there is no comparison.

So my second option was Arizona as it is the next closest to me and it says I can't even buy those yet. I'm really pissed off about this whole thing, I want my GA tickets damnit!!

 

[JoshSkytzo]

Hopefully TM is fixed for second US tour

I tried at 10am for GA seats in Denver, was told that there was none left. Tried 3 more times, and it I got given 2 tickets in 3 completely different locations.

This happens for other concerts also. I have no idea how TickeMaster sells seats.. I always thought it would be from best seats to worst, but I am beginning to think that ticket master randomly gives you seats in the price range you want, rather than giving the best seats first.

I did read online that U2 is going to have a second leg in their US tour after they are finished in Europe. They will be back in the Fall for 30 more concerts.

Maybe I will get GA for those?

 

[RevDerek]

Tuesday morning UK: I buy 4 tickets for Manchester that with handling charges etc cost me about £95 each
I am seriously unhappy but at least I didn't have problems with the site.
Wednesday morning: out of curiosity I try my access code again and find it lets me buy 4 more if I want.....
I used to work in a major computer dept for the government. If we'd done this we'd have been fired.
I think U2 should sue Ticketmaster....

 

[tnt850a]

I CANT BELIEVE IT!!! I DID see my "code" on U2.com login, but NEVER received either email giving me the code, OR the link to the presale...THANK GOD for this board to keep me informed of how to even LOOK for the code and the tickets...THANK YOU U2 FANS!!!

So, with code in hand, I logged on to ticketmaster at 10 am...i had my information in the computer already for credit card, mailing address etc. I COULDNT EVEN GET IN THE QUE...it kept telling me there was an "internal system error and to please try again". I kept trying to get in to Anaheim, LA, SD, even NY...for NY it finally asked me to select tickets (after an 11 minute que!)..while waiting in the que i was trying to open another browser window for Anaheim, hopefully one or the other would have tix available...after 11 minutes in NY que it told me nothing available, so i continued to try anaheim...once again, it kept telling me there was an" internal system error, please try again"..by now i had given up hope of seeing any seats at all, but i kept refreshing and cuing and FINALLY, it asked me to select seats in Anaheim...it told me i had 2 seats, first level off the floor, but at the FAR END of the arena....at that point i was willing to take anything i could get......BUT NO....the system CRASHED while processing my order and I got nothing....I kept trying STILL although VERY frustrated and STILL couldn't get anything so i finally just gave up.

I was very upset by the whole experience and feel that u2 fans basically got ripped off (we were guaranteed first chance of tickets, PROP members were promised they would "go to the front of the line" and in the end most of us got nothing at all!).....this is NOT the way that U2 used to treat its fans....prop system OFFLINE, which was handled by the band/mgmt or someone they hired basically DID guarantee fans 2 tix to TWO shows, if you followed the instructions, mailed in your form etc. AND IT WAS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE...AND THEY BLOCKED WHOLE SECTIONS OF SEATS (usually GREAT ONES!) to take care of their fans....now it is two tix to ONE show and obviously the guarantee of "first chance to buy them" amounted to nothing much for many people....i feel ripped off and have no tickets, and from what i have been reading on this and other boards, i now also have no code, as it is disabled after TRYING to get tix....SO UNFAIR to the real fans...... I am so disappointed and although I dont feel that I am ENTITLED to anything as a longtime fan, i DO feel that I was misled by the u2.com promises mentioned above and that it really amounted to nothing more than a $20 lottery ticket....and i should probably feel lucky that i got the discounted rate...and again thankful to all here who posted whatever they knew or i would never even have known where to find the code!!!

 

[slapshot]

Uh, no. I am a lawyer. I don't want to pay for scalper tickets.

Starting a class action over this is not a risk most lawyers would take. U2.com screwed the fans, but their representations were delightfully ambiguous to avoid legal retribution.

U2 or U2.com aren't the ones to sue; Fanfire and Ticketmaster are, also Clear Channel Entertainment. FYI, Clear Channel owns Ticketmaster. They also own hundred of radio stations around the country, and either own or have controlling interest in both the major concert promotions companies and a number of the arenas. They own the radio station you hear songs on, and hear ads for concerts coming to your town. They own the promoters that set up the concerts. They own many of the venues that the concerts take place in. And they own the ticketing agency that sells you the tickets. Pardon the pun, but they are "clearly" an illegal monopoly.

I didn't participate in the presale. I work an odd shift and keep even odder hours. Right before going to bed at 4:30 am CST, I checked U2.com and other involved sites while the European presale was going on. Total meltdown on everything. Couldn't get even an error message out of U2.com, it was just completely overloaded as fans went there to click thru to the presale site. I knew from past experience that it would only get worse when the American sale started, so I didn't even bother setting my alarm. Given what I've read here from those who did try, there are completely justifiable reasons to consider filing charges on all parties involved. Many have reported buying tickets at exorbitant prices, then finding that the seating charts have flipped and their good seats are now crap at the back of the arena. Even more troubling is the above mention of Boston GA tix being sold to brokers weeks ago. This is all blatantly illegal, and it really needs to be stopped.

And that "ambiguous" language? Where I come from, "guaranteed priority ticketing" is not ambiguous at all. This is what we were promised first; then they changed it. As late as today, Fanfire people have been telling U2.com members that they can use their code for more than one show; not true. On and on and on... there's about a million posts on here right now detailing all this, and I'm pretty sure a lot of these disgruntled folks have hard copies and archived files of the befores and afters. We were charged money for a promised service that wasn't provided; that is pretty much the textbook definition of "fraud".

C.

 

[ascender_RS]

I'm fortunate enough to have got two tickets yesterday for Glasgow. So I can't whinge too much.

BUT

I think the pricing is the most scandalous thing here. £190 for 2 seating tickets? They've finally started charging the ridiculous amounts that some over the hill stars have been charging for years.

As for the system, there's clearly something well wrong with it. When it was in meltdown and people were sitting with the Ticketmaster logo on their screen, I was able to go back in and get all the way through to confirming payment for more tickets.