Queueing to buy tickets in person - How? Why?

whirlpool

I don't understand why people queue in person for tickets instead of trying to buy them online. Why would you do that? What is the advantage of it?

There is no way it's the whole "not everyone has the internet / debit card" thing, because if you saw the queues for Garth Brooks this morning there is no way that most of those people don't have the internet and at least a Laser card.

And also, surely by the time you've reached the top of the queue the tickets would have been sold online by then??

JJ

That's kind of how I felt before today but considering all the wait time people experienced while staring at the wheel of death, some of the people who queued up out in the cold probably got their tickets before most people did online.

Firedance

I wondered the same but apparently the shops have an allocated number number of tickets to sell. Someone also suggested that if a shop had 200 tickets and you were person number 201 in the queue they'd let you know rather than leave you camping out all night. You'd like to think that's true!

Murt10

Logged on to ticketmaster at 8.59 am. Told there was a 15 minute delay, that I was in the queue, not to do anything or refresh the page.

15 mins later it logged me off. Connection terminated. Tried again immediately, it again logged me off after about 15/20 mins.

Logged on again at about 10.00 to look for tickets for the Sunday night. Same thing, logged off again.

Result - no tickets.

At least if I had queued up and was anywhere near the top of the queue, I would now have tickets.

EdmondShiels3

I have had the same problem, looking to get tickets for Saturday. Now none are available for Sunday either.

screamer

I had the tickets in the cart and all, and it took longer for the payment to be processed than the page had left to complete the order, so it threw my tickets back even though it was half way through the payment authorisation, absolutely fuming. Ticketmaster should invest in their internet services, it was absolutley disgraceful today. To be honest, I'd have been better off in a queue outside a shop than on the internet and that's what I think I'll do in future.

lordgoat

People physically queueing get preference over those online. Simples. For a big event like GB today those willing to queue for days got tickets. Some of those online didn't.

whirlpool

Murt10 wrote: »

Logged on to ticketmaster at 8.59 am. Told there was a 15 minute delay, that I was in the queue, not to do anything or refresh the page.

15 mins later it logged me off. Connection terminated. Tried again immediately, it again logged me off after about 15/20 mins.

Logged on again at about 10.00 to look for tickets for the Sunday night. Same thing, logged off again.

Result - no tickets.

At least if I had queued up and was anywhere near the top of the queue, I would now have tickets.

screamer wrote: »

I had the tickets in the cart and all, and it took longer for the payment to be processed than the page had left to complete the order, so it threw my tickets back even though it was half way through the payment authorisation, absolutely fuming. Ticketmaster should invest in their internet services, it was absolutley disgraceful today. To be honest, I'd have been better off in a queue outside a shop than on the internet and that's what I think I'll do in future.

Can I just ask you guys, because it's something that has me baffled at the moment, and don't take this the wrong way, but what is the big deal about Garth Brooks? Three sold out Croke Park shows? WTF is going on? Since when does anyone give a crap about Garth Brooks?

drumswan

Do you expect your average Garth Brooks fan to be able to use an internet browser? Even the 'smart' ones here sat there staring at an inactive screen for 15 minutes

lordgoat

drumswan wrote: »

Do you expect your average Garth Brooks fan to be able to use an internet browser? Even the 'smart' ones here sat there staring at an inactive screen for 15 minutes

change your tone or don't post here. These are your only options.

Murt10

whirlpool wrote: »

Can I just ask you guys, because it's something that has me baffled at the moment, and don't take this the wrong way, but what is the big deal about Garth Brooks? Three sold out Croke Park shows? WTF is going on? Since when does anyone give a crap about Garth Brooks?

She who must be obeyed asked me to get them.

Because the ticket master website in terrible and if I'd queued I might have tickets now rather then being empty handed.

Plazaman

whirlpool wrote: »

Can I just ask you guys, because it's something that has me baffled at the moment, and don't take this the wrong way, but what is the big deal about Garth Brooks? Three sold out Croke Park shows? WTF is going on? Since when does anyone give a crap about Garth Brooks?

The amount of people in the last number of days on Boards with they're "what's the deal with Garth Brooks" and "why does Ireland give a crap about Garth Brooks".

Simple fact of the matter is, you either like him or you don't. 200,000 tickets were snapped up in just over an hour this morning so there is an obvious popularity to the man.

But I don't like Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus yet I don't start threads with "What's the deal with....". God forbid everyone would have the same taste in music, it'd be a boring world.

I was unable to get a ticket myself and am disappointed. I was fit to kick my laptop around as the Ticketmaster site kicked me out for no reason when I was down to 4 minutes after waiting about 45. I will queue in future.

justsomebloke

whirlpool wrote: »

Can I just ask you guys, because it's something that has me baffled at the moment, and don't take this the wrong way, but what is the big deal about Garth Brooks? Three sold out Croke Park shows? WTF is going on? Since when does anyone give a crap about Garth Brooks?

He has 3 sold outs shows cause he is a bloody good artist who puts on a good show. However cause he is 'country' alot of other people have a chip on the shoulder about him.

He stepped away from music to raise his kids at the right time, as it meant people didn't get bored of him as they do with so many other artists and he is now back and with everyone looking to relive their younger years through the concert.

GarIT

I'm gonna say this again because nobody seems to listen. I know how the Ticketmaster systems work, I've worked installing them and I know someone well who owns a few of the outlets.

There is no preference at all given to retail. There are no tickets allocated to retail, they have no advantage in that way. The only advantage retail has is that they have a direct connection to the Ticketmaster servers and can pull tickets instantly without having to go through the online process.

lods

GarIT wrote: »

I'm gonna say this again because nobody seems to listen. I know how the Ticketmaster systems work, I've worked installing them and I know someone well who owns a few of the outlets.

There is no preference at all given to retail. There are no tickets allocated to retail, they have no advantage in that way. The only advantage retail has is that they have a direct connection to the Ticketmaster servers and can pull tickets instantly without having to go through the online process.

Totally agree. the system is very outdated

lordgoat

GarIT wrote: »

I'm gonna say this again because nobody seems to listen. I know how the Ticketmaster systems work, I've worked installing them and I know someone well who owns a few of the outlets.

There is no preference at all given to retail. There are no tickets allocated to retail, they have no advantage in that way. The only advantage retail has is that they have a direct connection to the Ticketmaster servers and can pull tickets instantly without having to go through the online process.

The thing is though, when they pull tickets instantly they take them from someone in the online queue. Which is why peoples waiting times fluctuate.

Catmologen

Booking fee is less when you queue up as well.

GarIT

lods wrote: »

Totally agree. the system is very outdated

I'd say the opposite and that the system is great, they just need to get more power behind the website for online users.

People may know that Ticketmaster outlets are not owned by TM, something else that happens is each outlet signs a contract with TM part of that contract is that they will only ever print tickets if someone is at the desk asking for them, they are never allowed pre print tickets. I know for a fact that several ticket master outlets printed all they could as soon as they went on sale.

GarIT

lordgoat wrote: »

The thing is though, when they pull tickets instantly they take them from someone in the online queue. Which is why peoples waiting times fluctuate.

They dont, when someone starts to get tickets they are marked as reserved on the server, TM outlets can only pull free tickets. The backend of the online system is dodgy under a heavy load.

Toast

GarIT wrote: »

II know how the Ticketmaster systems work

Thanks for the insight. I was pretty sure that's how it was but it is always good to get more confirmation. Can you clear this up though... the claim was that places took a rough count of how many people wanted tickets before it went on sale and then started printing (at 9am but before people got to the counter). Now is the limiting factor for the kiosk the speed of the printer or how many times they can put a transaction through? I'm assuming they've still got the six ticket limit to account for so if they've requests for 200 standing 200 seating tickets... do they have to?:
A.) send through 67 requests of 6 tickets each
B.) wait for the first request to print out before they can send the next
C.) Just order the 400 in a block and at that point just wait for the printer to catch up?

GarIT

Toast wrote: »

Thanks for the insight. I was pretty sure that's how it was but it is always good to get more confirmation. Can you clear this up though... the claim was that places took a rough count of how many people wanted tickets before it went on sale and then started printing (at 9am but before people got to the counter). Now is the limiting factor for the kiosk the speed of the printer or how many times they can put a transaction through? I'm assuming they've still got the six ticket limit to account for so if they've requests for 200 standing 200 seating tickets... do they have to?:
A.) send through 67 requests of 6 tickets each
B.) wait for the first request to print out before they can send the next
C.) Just order the 400 in a block and at that point just wait for the printer to catch up?

They are not allowed print tickets except for the person current standing at the desk. It is against their T&C to pre print tickets.

All they have to do to print 6 though is to have the order page open and hit enter, they can just hit enter repetedly as many times as they want as long as they are ordering the same thing each time. The printer will just queue the tickets up.

poundhound

Re "People physically queueing get preference over those online. Simples. For a big event like GB today those willing to queue for days got tickets. Some of those online didn't. "

This is incorrect.

When you que at a ticketmaster booth, essentially the shop attendent is accessing the same server as anyone at home.

On another note, I que'd overnight in 1990 for a Prince gig. The tickets were still onsale the day of the gig, never again!

o1s1n

I think this whole Garth Brooks thing is a bad example for queuing versus online due to the sheer demand on the ticketmaster servers.

I've bought tickets to tonnes of sold out shows over the years and have always managed to get them via the website the moment they go on sale. Many of which have sold out in minutes. I've never experienced the waiting times experienced by people today.

So if it happens to be a huge event like this one where half the country seems to want to go, then queuing might have some merit due to the sheer bandwidth requirement from 100,000+ people clicking refresh every few seconds.

However for 99% of everything else, online is the way to go. I'd never dream of queuing up outside a show when I can sit down at my computer in the warmth of my own home and be fairly confident I'll get them that way.

lordgoat

poundhound wrote: »

Re "People physically queueing get preference over those online. Simples. For a big event like GB today those willing to queue for days got tickets. Some of those online didn't. "

This is incorrect.

When you que at a ticketmaster booth, essentially the shop attendent is accessing the same server as anyone at home.

On another note, I que'd overnight in 1990 for a Prince gig. The tickets were still onsale the day of the gig, never again!

GarIT wrote: »

I'm gonna say this again because nobody seems to listen. I know how the Ticketmaster systems work, I've worked installing them and I know someone well who owns a few of the outlets.

There is no preference at all given to retail. There are no tickets allocated to retail, they have no advantage in that way. The only advantage retail has is that they have a direct connection to the Ticketmaster servers and can pull tickets instantly without having to go through the online process.

How do these two sentences match up. My understanding is unless the gig is sold out, TM outlets get access to tickets directly thereby skipping le queue? Edit: which would make sense today when online sales would be much greater than outlet sales yet until all sales were confirmed people at outlet would get tickets?

Jamsiek

whirlpool wrote: »

Can I just ask you guys, because it's something that has me baffled at the moment, and don't take this the wrong way, but what is the big deal about Garth Brooks? Three sold out Croke Park shows? WTF is going on? Since when does anyone give a crap about Garth Brooks?

My thoughts exactly, I'll never understand his appeal either.
Each to their own I guess.

Lofty123

Firedance wrote: »

I wondered the same but apparently the shops have an allocated number number of tickets to sell. Someone also suggested that if a shop had 200 tickets and you were person number 201 in the queue they'd let you know rather than leave you camping out all night. You'd like to think that's true!

Wife and Daughter Queued overnight at Easons Thurles, no 97 in the queue. (got 4 tickets) When tickets became available those who were no 120 or more were taken aside and told there was no point in waiting, there would be no tickets left.

GarIT

lordgoat wrote: »

How do these two sentences match up. My understanding is unless the gig is sold out, TM outlets get access to tickets directly thereby skipping le queue? Edit: which would make sense today when online sales would be much greater than outlet sales yet until all sales were confirmed people at outlet would get tickets?

There is a server* that holds a pool of all the available tickets. The level of access a customer has and the ticketmaster outlet has to that server is identical. The interface through which the costomer and the outlet communicate with the server is quite different. The customer has to go through the online process of picking tickets, reserving them, and then paying within 15 mins. The outlet gets to see a list of all the tickets which have not been sold or reserved online and can just print off whichever ones they want.

There is no queue for tickets really. When you reserve tickets online you have 15 mins to pay for them. When all the tickets are reserved a queue opens so that you can be notified if someone fails to pay and then the tickets that were not paid for will then be reserved for you. The queue is essentially a waiting list working off the premise that if tickets become available you are next to be offered them. TM outlets have no access to this queue and cannot take reserved tickets, TM outlets can only take tickets which are marked as available on their list (as soon as a ticket is reserved it is marked as unavailable for 15 mins after which it will either be marked as sold or return to being available).

The way the outlets combat this is as the outlets do not have to pay for tickets when taking them from the server or input any info like a customer would they just claim as many tickets as possible before they become reserved online. Outlets can only claim the max allowed tickets per attempt, 6 in this case so once it was 9am the outlet would be been pressing the enter button repeatedly claiming 6 tickets each time until all the tickets were not marked as available anymore.

*There are actually several servers that are designed to act as if they were one. From anyone other than the IT guys point of view it's one server.

Doge

drumswan wrote: »

Do you expect your average Garth Brooks fan to be able to use an internet browser? Even the 'smart' ones here sat there staring at an inactive screen for 15 minutes

Inactive me hole, it actively refreshed the page or frame every 10 or 15 seconds. Refreshing the browser manually would probably put you further back in the queue.

grimm2005

Agree with the OP and I think the idea of queuing overnight or in some cases camping for several days is absolute madness. I love going to gigs and it's one of my major hobbies but even if my favourite band of all time were coming and the demand was as high as Garth Brooks, there's no way I'd spend days or even a whole night queuing to get tickets, it's not worth it for what's going to amount to a 2 hour show IMO.

And as an aside, while I have 0 interest in GB, I did get 2 standing tickets for a mate for the Sunday show with about a 20 - 30min wait while I watched Netflix in another tab in my warm home after a good nights sleep :P Also got 2 nosebleed seated tickets for the Friday queued up which he didn't want so let them go but the point is that if you're on the ball, you'll manage to get tickets!

nxbyveromdwjpg

http://www.limerickleader.ie/what-s-on/arts-entertainment/music/anger-in-limerick-as-fans-fail-to-secure-garth-brooks-tickets-1-5844884