For the records

Ticketmaster is Evil

Ticketmaster is evil...ok not quite. No, I won't go on a rant about high service charges but I'd like to comment on the following two issues:

1) the customer service reps who answer the phone and apparently are inadequetely trained, and,

2) the inconsistencies of delivery options of tickets available for Canadian residents vs. the rest of the world.

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#1

First, I'm willing to give customer service reps a break...I, myself work in customer service within a government department and have had my share of bad days taking phonecalls[not to mention speaking with people in person]...but the idiots at Ticketmaster or at least the two reps I spoke to today 1) sounded like the most disinterested individuals ever, 2) didn't seem to have a clue to how to respond to my questions; I basically asked them whether as a Canadian resident, I could somehow qualify to receive tickets through ticketFast, their new tickets-by-email option; I did read the FAQ on the website and it apparently said that if the concert was in the U.S., then the ticketFast option would NOT be available to Canadian residents; when I asked the Ticketmaster reps if they could verify that, they seemed to have no clue about what ticketFast was. I was actually hoping if there was a possibility for me[as a Canadian resident] to use the ticketFast option, but f!*k, they didn't even know what ticketFast was! I was almost quoting the FAQ to them, and that just seemed to confuse them even more.

#2

So as I tried to order tickets through the Ticketmaster website, the only delivery options available at this point in time, were a variety of mailing options for U.S. CUSTOMERS, and the 'will call' option for INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS. So I figured, I can order my tickets as an international customer, and then pick up the tickets at the 'will call' window of the venue. But then I realized when I tried to input my billing address, that 'Canada' was not included in the 'country' drop-down box on the web site. Then I read the 'delivery methods' information more closely and it said that 'international will-call' is for customers outside of the U.S. AND Canada...I know Ticketmaster had a mailing option for tickets ordered by Canadian customers as recently as last week, but I think that option is not available now because Ticketmaster cannot guarantee to deliver the tickets in time anymore. ....My big beef is two-fold: 1)why can't the ticketFast option be available for Canadian residents trying to order tickets for a U.S. concert, when if the concert was in Canada, U.S. residents would be able to use ticketFast and, 2) why are international customers still given the option of 'will-call' but not Canadian residents.
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I'm pissed off.

My main concern was that I was trying to order Belle and Sebastian tickets for their gig in San Diego on May 3, 2004. As, I mentioned in previous posts, my buddy and I are going to Coachella, but when I found out that Belle and Sebastian were playing in San Diego the weekend after Coachella, I wept tears of joy[ok, not really but I was excited]. But alas, there is no way for me to reserve tickets for the show. It is a slight consolation that Belle and Sebastian will be at Coachella [although I anticipate their set length not being as long as a regular show]. My only other alternative is that when my buddy and I fly in to Los Angeles on April 30, that we purchase the Belle and Sebastian tickets for the San Diego show through a Ticketmaster outlet right away. I just hope it doesn't get sold out. My fingers are crossed.