I hate Ticketmaster. So do a lot of people. They suck, but if you want to go to any kind of concert or sporting event, you will eventually have to deal with them. I was never particularly happy with their insane “convenience” fees, which often reach 50% of the ticket price, but I had never had a truly terrible experience with them before.
I bought a ticket to a show this weekend, and requested that they mail them to me. I’ve done this several times before, with no problem. This time, however, my ticket did not arrive. I wasn’t terribly concerned about this, since the person I was going with had an extra ticket. I used that to get in, and called Ticketmaster the next day to get my money back.
Things did not start off well. I called their customer service line and navigated the usual maze of voice menu options, at which point they requested that I key in my order number. I began doing so, only to find that there were terribly detailed instructions on doing this, and keying in didn’t stop their playback. I patiently waited until the instructions completed, then keyed in my order number, which was promptly rejected. I guess it picked up on what I keyed in the first time, even though there was no indication to tell me this. I then had to wait through the excessively verbose instructions a second time before keying the order number in again. It accepted this time, then put me on hold.
When I was taken off hold, the first question the person on the other end asked me was “What’s your order number?” Maddening! After explaining that I never got my ticket, he asked if I had recently moved. I told him that yes, I had. I got the impression that they sent my ticket to my old address, though he wouldn’t confirm nor deny that, and the conformation email they send doesn’t have the physical address the tickets are sent to. He told me that since this was regarding an event that had already taken place, he’d have to transfer me to customer service. This seemed odd, since I had called their customer service line in the first place.
So, I was transferred again. And asked for my order number, and address, and all my information again. And then the rep told me she’d have to talk to her supervisor, because this was for an event that had already taken place. So I waited on hold a while longer, and then the supervisor came on the line to talk to me. I explained my situation again, and she told me that there was nothing they could do. That the promoter had already been paid. I told her that I was very unhappy that I paid for a service which I did not receive due to their error, and I wanted her to work with me, and either give a refund, or credit. She told me that I was supposed to work with them by calling 48 hours before the show, and that since I hadn’t, there was nothing they could do.
At this point, I stopped being nice. I told her that she had two options: refund my money, or deal with Visa when I contest the charge. She refused again, so I hung up, called Visa, and got the charge reversed.
Then I went to Ticketmaster’s web site, and bought a ticket to another show.
Talk about taking the subway to the moral high ground.