Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

USA and Canada (April 1 - June 4, 2009). Special concert for fans in NYC (February 19). Concert reports, set lists, photos, media coverage, multimedia links, recollections...
surfergirl
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by surfergirl »

I love VM but his shows always cost a lot and didn't last that long. For that reason, if I can't get a comp ticket, I find it hard to spend that kind of money.
I was cautioned to surrender, this I could not do . . . .
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mirka
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by mirka »

.
After more than a week of waiting I called TM and got response regarding VIP package sold to me under pretenses of "sold out show". :roll: :shock: :roll:
TM flatly refuses any negotiations (reducing the price to that of regular tickets, refund, upgrading seats to pit seats available on public sale right now), saying this is AEG decision.
Maybe Leonard Cohen is a very sincere and honest person, sorry but --based on what I know so far-- I cannot say that about people around him on this tour.

Maybe AEG calls it "effective marketing ?, I call it "exploiting the most enthusiastic fans !",
including those who streched beyond their means to see Leonard Cohen live:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=14028
Will I ever be so enthusiastic regarding another Leonard Cohen concert ? I doubt it.


I understand this was also about Leonard Cohen retirement fund, we don't live in ideal world however, and I have to think about my own funds as well.
:( :( :evil: :evil:
/Warsaw March 22 1985 / Halifax May 16 /Charlottetown May 18 / Dublin June 15 / Vienna Sept 24 2008/
Oakland April 13, 14, 15, San Jose Nov 13 2009/
Las Vegas Dec 11 2010/ Oakland March 2 2013/
dennisdster
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by dennisdster »

[quote="tamarisms"]Hi. I was just wondering if anybody knows how the following situation came about: I first tried to buy tickets for the Leonard Cohen shows in LA, at the very start of the amex presale and the general public sale. Using best available & any price, the best seats that came up were orchestra-right rows QQ and BB. (These are in the third-best-tickets-category going by the pricing tiers, but they are off on the far right side of the theater). Since I purchased these tickets I have checked in on ticketmaster and found that with each passing day, the best available tickets at any price get better and better. Now, less than two weeks before the shows, I just looked for tickets and was offered PIT SEATS (!!!) for both shows at their face value prices. In addition, there are over 400 tickets for each show available on stub hub. In many cases these tickets are now available for less than ticketmaster originally charged.


This was the case also in San Diego - LOTS of GREAT seats became available a week before the show. As above, I grabbed GOOD, but not great seats in the presale, only to find the promoter (?) held back the best seats. This was all a bit tempered by the fact that my wife and I spent the entire encore seated on the floor directly in the front of the stage, unmolested by security.

Despite assurances that AEG did not hold back prime seats, it sure looks like they did.
dennisdster
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by dennisdster »

Bruce Springsteen - upfront GA = $85

U2 - upfront GA = $55
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mirka
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Re: Comment on the VIP package from me

Post by mirka »

I'm taking back my comment on the VIP package, merchandise arrived the morning of the concert day, shipped with a 2 day delivery. 2 each of: a poster, DVD, black shopping bag with the Unified Heart logo, and a beautiful booklet commemorating the US 2009 leg of the tour.
/Warsaw March 22 1985 / Halifax May 16 /Charlottetown May 18 / Dublin June 15 / Vienna Sept 24 2008/
Oakland April 13, 14, 15, San Jose Nov 13 2009/
Las Vegas Dec 11 2010/ Oakland March 2 2013/
vickyb
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anyone else get poor seats in the pre-sale?

Post by vickyb »

I know that I need to get over this before the Saturday show, but it's been bugging me all week.

I'm hearing from people who bought tickets just recently and ended up getting better seats than I did (for the same price) after going through the presale rigmarole using the fan club password. posting.php?mode=post&f=32#
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mirka
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Re: anyone else get poor seats in the pre-sale?

Post by mirka »

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Which show is this ?
During this tour fans are usually assigned worse tickets during their pre-sale that those offered at the later sales:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14401&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p165849
/Warsaw March 22 1985 / Halifax May 16 /Charlottetown May 18 / Dublin June 15 / Vienna Sept 24 2008/
Oakland April 13, 14, 15, San Jose Nov 13 2009/
Las Vegas Dec 11 2010/ Oakland March 2 2013/
MayoStudenT
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Re: anyone else get poor seats in the pre-sale?

Post by MayoStudenT »

Just out of curiousity I just did a check for seats in Minneapolis. I originally did the 89 dollar tickets through presale. Well, with the exact same pricing option right now (April 21st) I would actually be in the exact same seating area but 7 rows ahead! Moving from row Y up to row R. I am content at where my seats are but it does seem a little odd.

Jason
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Wissmann6
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Re: anyone else get poor seats in the pre-sale?

Post by Wissmann6 »

I can not confirm that the forum member pre-sale brought up worse tickets than the regular sale for me. At least for the Detroit show on May 9th and the 65$ seats I managed to get 3rd row center (balcony) in the pre-sale. Right now and also during several times in the past weeks I would get worse seats, if any for that price. Although it seems to me that there is enough evidence to say that the whole ticket allocation process is not at all transparent and would need supervision.
Frank
2008: Oberhausen, Cardiff / 2009: Detroit, Cologne / 2010: Berlin, Gent, Wiesbaden, Dortmund / 2012: Gent (3x), Mönchengladbach / 2013: Oberhausen, Mannheim //
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hydriot
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Poor seats in the pre-sale

Post by hydriot »

I sympathise greatly, but let's be quite clear: these problems relate to the wicked Ticketmaster and have nothing to do with Leonard or AEG, who no doubt are as frustrated as us.

For an example of how to sell tickets responsibly, look at how Leonard's concert in Berlin on 2 July is being run by http://www.eventim.de . When you go to their website, you can click on the seating plan and choose any seat in the auditorium there and then. There's no hurry (beyond the obvious one at the start in the race for the front row) and there is no danger of better seats being released later.

The very best arrangement is when Jarkko manages to get a specific allocation for forum members and we all know in advance the exact blocks and seats that have been allocated to us. This is what happened with the outstanding Royal Albert Hall concert on 17 November 2008. Thanks to Jarkko telling us exactly what was going to be available ("front three rows in the following blocks...") I was able to get a seat in the front row of the side-forward block, on a level with the stage and just eight seats away from Dino!

When dealing with Ticketmaster, the critical thing is Don't Panic. It takes a cool head, but I have found that if I miss good tickets in the opening minutes, it is wise not to accept the indifferent tickets that are offered in the following few hours. Keep an account of which blocks are being offered, and hang around on-line until you see a new one open up.

This approach worked well for me with the Mercedes Benz World concert on 11 July outside London, sold through Ticketmaster. At 10am, the front central block opened first, but the best seats on offer were still only Row N. I was never offered those, the best for me being Rows P, Q and R. I waited, returning every 20 minutes or so, as the seats on offer got worse and worse. Then suddenly, a little after noon (i.e. two hours after the fan pre-sale started) the block immediately in front of the Webb Sisters opened, and I was able to grab three seats in the fourth row, just a little left of centre. Brilliant.

The reason the very best tickets suddenly appear a week or two before the concert is that these are seats set aside for friends and family of the performers. Any that are not taken up a few days before the concert are made available to the general public.
“If you do have love it's a kind of wound, and if you don't have it it's worse.” - Leonard, July 1988
enilorac
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by enilorac »

I sympathise greatly, but let's be quite clear: these problems relate to the wicked Ticketmaster and have nothing to do with Leonard or AEG, who no doubt are as frustrated as us.
I respectfully disagree.

This problem - with many, many excellent seats withheld, far more than could be used by all the remote family members of all the artists - occurred with the Philadelphia May 12 show, which is at the Academy of Music, which is NOT a Ticketmaster location. This is also not the way the Academy itself normally does business, which makes me doubt it was their idea. I've never before seen this phenomenon at an Academy of Music event. Also, these tickets weren't made available a few days ahead. They suddenly became available on April 1, 6 weeks ahead, and around the time an early concert failed to sell as expected and lucky people were being upgraded from nosebleed seats to the pit.

It seemed to take them about three weeks of late ticket releases to work through all the withheld seats, which appeared to include most of the first four rows and much more. During those weeks, ticket buyers could choose among those excellent front Parquet seats and many very good close-up Parquet area seats. Oddly, there wasn't anything left in the way-high-up Amphitheatre or the almost as high Family Circle --- except, of course, on resale sites where people are still trying to unload their first sets of tickets purchased like mine, in good faith, on the first day of sale. That's a clear sign of an unfair (if still legal) sale.

I'll say it again: I knew I was being fleeced when I bought my front row seats and I agreed to pay the price for the extra set of tickets. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it, but no one forced me to do it. I'm sure I'll love the concert. I play guitar (classical mostly) and I am dying to see Javier Mas from the front row where I can really see and appreciate his work. I would love Leonard Cohen from any row. I would just have enjoyed it more if I'd had a fair shot at good seats the first day of public sale, instead of having to buy barely passable seats then and upgrade later (while living on peanut butter and love hoping the spare tickets sell).

Anyway, it isn't, truly it isn't, just Ticketmaster. And if Leonard Cohen and/or AEG are truly frustrated, they can speak out the way Bruce Springsteen did. Simple enough.
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mirka
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by mirka »

.
I also think AEG is responsible for this weird strategy.

Jarkko tries to be loyal and explains that fans were assigned tickets in all price groups. Even if they were (personally I doubt it happened for all US shows) usually tickets in the higher price group were also least attractive: for the second Oakland concert I managed to grab a pair of row D tickets (at the 6th try !), they turned out to be the first seats at the far side of the row, with obstructed view.

IMHO not only this strategy didn't increase the number of ticket sold, but disillusioned quite a few long time fans (like me for example). Maybe nobody at AEG really cares, as it supposed to be the last LC's tour ?
/Warsaw March 22 1985 / Halifax May 16 /Charlottetown May 18 / Dublin June 15 / Vienna Sept 24 2008/
Oakland April 13, 14, 15, San Jose Nov 13 2009/
Las Vegas Dec 11 2010/ Oakland March 2 2013/
Walsh75
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by Walsh75 »

I'll chime in here..

As I said in another post, I got feedback from AEG. It was politically correct saying they deal with other parties on any tour, and once the dealings are done, then unsold tickets go back into the systems for general sale to the public.

I'm lucky. My other seat was sold the other day. I ended up losing $35, taking a loss on it. I knew I would take some loss and it could have been worse.

BUT just the other day I checked TM.com to see how seat were going for Detroit on May 9. Days ago it was showing me 5th Row in one Pit for sale..However, just the other day, 2nd Row for the other Pit showed up for sale!!!

So yes folks. At least here in Detroit about 3 weeks away from the show, great seats are still avalible. And here on opening ticket days a lot of us were depressed that are cities were sold out or all the good options were gone. Aint this a you know what? LOL..

With my good seat and this loss I took on the other ticket, I have already spent $315. Then I'll include parking, various shirts, and going to eat the day of the show. I'm probably looking at $ 500 or more when it's all done.
eris
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Re: Comment on the ticket issue from the tour management

Post by eris »

This is the first time I had the opportunity to see LC and the whole experience has been nothing but a nightmare and a whole lot of money down the drain...

I live 3.5 hours from Chicago and I originally tried to get tickets for the May 5th show within the first couple of days after they went on sale. The show was supposedly sold out. Soon I found that a second show on May 6th was announced. I was ecstatic and sat in front of my computer at 10 am on March 6th to buy tickets. Unfortunately like many have reported no tickets were available. I was disappointed and kept trying for the next couple of hours. Eventually tickets did turn up but they were not particularly good. I kept trying from 2 computers and eventually I realized that I had three options: one was the balcony, the other was the main floor but way in the back, and the third one was the ridiculously overpriced tickets in the first section of the main floor (AA-PP). I could not afford those. In panic, I ended up buying two balcony tickets and two main floor tickets (in the back) (not knowing which ones were better and wanting the best available and thinking I can find out later and sell the other set easily since the show seemed to be so popular). I had no idea about scalping practices and the like and assumed that the only way to resell tickets was through TM Marketplace. After receiving the tickets I kept checking if the option would become available to sell the tickets through them. Last Saturday, I discovered in horror that tickets in the front row AA were available at the same price I paid. I was outraged. How is it possible that good fans waiting the minute the tickets go on sale get the bad seats and 2-3 weeks before the show front row seats are available? After this I googled something like "LC tickets TM" and I found out about all the issues in the media about TM's practices and the law suit in Canada. At least there they have consumer laws that they enforce. I kept checking in the next few days and saw that tickets were available in the next few rows and even today tickets in row PP were available. Same thing for the show on May 5th that was supposedly sold out. So apparently hundreds of tickets were released later - the entire front section of the main floor (AA-PP). It's fairly obvious that these are the seats that were selling for hundreds of dollars on the first day and they probably pulled them after the outcry in the media. They couldn't possibly have held that many seats for artists' friends.

After I contacted them they did not address the issue but instead thanked me “for allowing them to be of service”. They did contact me after I filed a complaint with BBB. They told me that they do not issue refunds or exchanges but they were willing to exchange my tickets for better ones. I wanted to be reasonable so I asked them what seats they were going to offer me. They offered me some seats that were supposedly more expensive and they wanted me to pay $400 more. I declined and I said that I would accept the best tickets available to the public at the time of that conversation that were on sale for the same price. I was online at the same time and was able to see that the best tickets available were in row FF. The woman on the phone offered me tickets in row E, which is at least 20 rows behind that. When I told her that I could see that significantly better seats were available at the same price she said that she could not give me those. I declined their “offer” since it was not an honest attempt to remedy the situation but an attempt to make more money. Their written response was a copy of their policy, which states that they do not give refunds. However it also guarantees that “Ticketmaster does whatever it can to make the ticket purchase process as fair, efficient, and user-friendly as possible. The efficiencies of the Ticketmaster system enable tickets to be sold very quickly, especially for high-demand shows.” This is not true in this case. They created the illusion that the show on the previous day was sold out in hours (tickets mysteriously reappeared recently and are still on sale) and they also created the illusion that the same would happen with the show in question.

TM claims that they can release tickets whenever they want, sell them at exorbitant prices, charge high fees and never give refunds for whatever reason. Consumers are not protected. The ticket selling process needs to be more transparent. The way their “efficient” system works is that they do not show all seats available at the time of purchase so a customer can choose which one they want. They show one option and claim that it is the best available. I trusted that when I bought my tickets, that they were the best available but this proved to not be the case and I feel I was deceived.

I find it appalling to read that so many people had the same experience and I wanted to tell my story here. I submitted a second complaint to TM and will see what happens. I suggest that more people do that and demand more transparency in the ticket sales. They are being allowed to get away with some very questionable business practices and now that I know better I will not go to another TM show. It's nice to know how other people have found their way around this issue and get good tickets by being patient, but it shouldn't have to be this way. I am super angry :x when I should just be looking forward to the show, but TM managed to suck all the fun out of it.... :(

(if anyone is keeping track, this concert is going to end up costing me close to $1,000, with the trip to Chicago and all, and I have some of the worst seats too)
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