secondtube Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 They charge you 40 dollars, just to have a 'chance' at getting a ticket. :: Tuesday, bloody Tuesday January 27, 2005 BY LUCIO GUERRERO Staff Reporter 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." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Theres a website for bonnaroo 2005 that has already done this,$30 USD to join the site & that gets you in on a chance for a pre-sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 best band in the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 I'd be inclined to point the finger at ticketmaster. Their online ticket process is terrible, and charging me a fee to print out a fu©king ticket is an insult. U2 is definitely better than Bob Weir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 charging me a fee to print out a fu©king ticket is an insult. tell that to the programmers that developed the technology. just a thought. AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 charging me a fee to print out a fu©king ticket is an insult. tell that to the programmers that developed the technology. just a thought. AD I also agree that it's fu©king insane to have to pay extra to print your own ticket out. The programmers who built that feature were payed by ticket master for their work. TM will ultimatley save money by having to process less tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AD Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 No doubt they were paid, I'm just saying that no-one really seems to think about R&D costs for anything... TicketMaster obviously invested some money into this service over a period of time, why shouldn't they be allowed to make people pay for it? Note: This is the only time I will ever agree with Ticketmaster on anything... It's like the argument for prescription drugs "Well that pill only costs 2 cents to make and you're charing $50 for it!" Well, the first pill may have cost millions of dollars to develop and all that jazz.... Not trying to stir the pot, just making a point... AD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questcequecest? Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 good point. theres no ad space on the back of self printed tix either = lost revenue. however, i wont rent a seat for $100/hour. not for u2, or any entertainer.. music, sports or otherwise. buncha brats if you ask me. and thats really low of them to charge $40 for some bullsh!t membership. i think i hate u2 even more today. i regret telling my sister i'd go see them with her. hopefully my sister cant afford it either. what a ripoff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Since I'm one of those U2 fans involved, as I'm waiting patiently for tour announcements for Toronto or at least the area and I paide $40US for their membership. Also since I've had the week off work and have been reading nearly everything on the subject on www.u2.com from the News section to the messageboard. I feel I have a handle on what has happened with the whole scenario with the presale problem with U2. First off supply and demand is an issue. U2 are more popular now than they have been for their last two tours. Their new website had more hits on it in two months than their previous website had and the older website ran for a decade. Also U2's latest album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" sold more copies in its first two months of release than what their previous effort "All That You Can't Leave Behind" sold in a year. A problem that U2 ran into for this presale was that there were way too many fans attempting to get a limited amount of presale tickets for each show. Which brings me to my second point of why this issue of U2 fans being disappointed about what happened this week with the presale. Ignorance. U2 fans were told upfront that joining the U2 fan club membership would give them the opportunity to get tickets through a presale, it never guaranteed them anything. Too many people joined the site without reading all the information given to them. In all my readings on the messageboard on u2.com I have also found that way too many people don't even know what a ticket limit means, how to order online, what an advance and/or same day wristband policy is and more things too numerous to mention. U2 and ticketmaster might be having some difficulties with what is going on with the presale, but the fans are having difficulty with what is going on with reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 f'n ticket bastard. U2 can't do the fan club ticket thing on their own? i got prefered seating at a radiohead show in vancouver through ticketmaster. right up front the whole show, could leave and come back whenever i wanted, didn't cost me any extra for the tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggrtrhhrtgg Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 fu©king sellouts.. that band is all about fortune and fame these days... $40 just for an opportunity??? come on... I wouldn't go to that show with a free ticket just out of principle... disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 fu©king sellouts.. that band is all about fortune and fame these days... $40 just for an opportunity??? come on... I wouldn't go to that show with a free ticket just out of principle... disgusting. Hey that's great number2! One less person I have to worry about going to U2 this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggrtrhhrtgg Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 you know Timmy B... I think the fact that you love U2 so much is a great thing... but, just because I don't share the same sentiment as you, you shouldn't take it personally... my opinion has nothing to do with you brah... I think charging people $40 should GUARANTEE them a ticket for a show... and I think I am allowed to voice my opninion on that, in fact, I think this thread was made for people to comment... Good luck getting a ticket, I think you really deserve to get one, you are a big fan of theirs.... I would hate to see you be dissapointed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 they should of just said screw the 40 dollar fee and said everyone's on their own, sorry we can't guarantee anything. or did it through their own website, leave ticketmaster out of it. I don't know theres probably not much you can do once a band is this big but to buck up and pay the 200 bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggrtrhhrtgg Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 that would make more sense to me... I would be fu©king pissed too if I got nothing for $40 bucks... brutal... I hope this isn't a sign of things to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokonon Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 i love u2's music, but there is no way in hell i would ever pay over $100 to see anybody. it's like feeding your fans a sh!t sandwich. i'd rather stay home and go to an open jam at the bar by my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 ha. remember in the early nineties when pearl jam sued ticketmaster. that was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenSeasJim Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 I e-mailed U2 and asked them to lick the sweat off my balls. They replied "Unfortunately we are too big of a band these days and cannot oblige you. Had you requested this 15 years ago we would have been there for you. We sincerely apologize." At least the reply has some heart to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questcequecest? Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 $40 wont even buy a t-shirt at the show... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Of course we are all entitled to our opinions. And for that I apologize for my previous remarks. I do agree with you to an extent, that if you buy a $40US membership it should guarantee you advance tickets. But this U2 told everbody up front that it would only guarantee people the opportunity. So people complaining about not getting the tickets they wanted or any tickets at all are ignorant of the facts that were given to them. I think this whole U2 presale problem as I said before has everything to do with supply and demand. U2 can not please everybody, if they performed stadiums in every major city around the world there would still be people outside wanting to get in. I hope I get a pair of tickets when the Toronto presale goes on sale. If I don't I hope I get tickets during the general onsale. If I don't I might post it here or on www.u2.com that I didn't get tickets. But I won't expect sympathy because that's life, and I'm going into it with my eyes wide open. Maybe I've been reading about U2 members complain about this whole scenario too much and I should take a break all together. Once again number2 I apologize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 I paid $25 for a lifetime membership into Prince's NPG Music club with the ability to buy tickets through them. I got 2 second row floor seats via the club for Prince in Toronto. Now THAT's how it's done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple foot Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 U2 told everbody up front that it would only guarantee people the opportunity so why do it through ticketmaster? throw the 40 bucks in to be a fanclub member. have a members only pre-sale draw for the best seats or selected seats for each show. you have to enter the draw for the selected show and can only try for two or three shows. I guess this doesn't gaurantee anything either but at least you leave ticketmaster out of it. of course there probably is NO WAY around ticketmaster when dealing with the big arena rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggrtrhhrtgg Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 hey, Timmy B, no worries... I understand what you are saying... I guess, its more ticketfuckingbastards fault... I just don't like the fact that you can pay $40 for nothing... they should give refunds to those who do not get tickets. Or at least offer them something... Just seems like a scam to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyB Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 I paid $25 for a lifetime membership into Prince's NPG Music club with the ability to buy tickets through them. I got 2 second row floor seats via the club for Prince in Toronto. Now THAT's how it's done! I can't argue with that. Prince did it a lot better than U2. I will say this though, the demand for a U2 ticket far surpass the demand for a Prince ticket. It is a lot harder for U2 to please all there fans when it comes to presale tickets than Prince. That being said when it comes to the price of Princes fan club membership and it being a lifetime membership that is far better than U2's $40 one year membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Only in ticketmaster's world does "convenience" have "fee" or "charge" following it. I had a look at an Xavier Rudd ticket for ottawa as an example. There's a $4.00 convenience charge on a 17.50 ticket to start. There's a 54 cent "building facility charge", with no links or information to explain what this charge is to the purchaser. Then I can pay $4.25 to have my ticket emailed to me so that I can print it out. Or I could pay $2.50 to pick it up at a ticketmaster centre or have it sent via regular mail. I would wager the difference in cost has absolutely nothing to do with R&D, and quite frankly in a consumer-driven marketplace I could give a rat's ass if a programmer gets paid or not. It very likely is the lost ad revenue that explains the difference in fees, and this is something I despise about TM. I've pretty much been ticketmaster-free for the last year thanks to Record Runner, who on various occasions charges approximately $1 or $2 service charge on face, something I am happy to pay. It's the same as buying from a farmer and paying his/her markup, or buying the same apple further down the supply chain at Loblaw's with several other markups. Where there's an option I will be happy to stick it to the Man and support a local economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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