SkyRyder_FMM Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 (edited) After two years of attending the Atlanta Regional and looking into tickets with Ticketmaster in advance, and actually purchasing tickets at the stadium, I've noticed some really disturbing issues with Ticketmaster. When I tried to find tickets with Ticketmaster, they showed that the only tickets available were way out in the nether-regions, so I elected to try to find better seats at the stadium instead. There is always someone that has extra seats that they are looking to unload, so I was not concerned. Last year (and this year), the Georgia Dome made it clear that selling tickets outside the stadium was prohibited (audio messages broadcast every couple of minutes), and there were several security officers and police officers around to enforce this. Both last year and this year, I instead went to the ticket booths to inquire about tickets. Not only were there better seats available than Ticketmaster was showing on line, there were seats in the club level, dead center available. I know about the Ticketmaster quirks on using the best seat available option, but if you simply selected the level you wanted, they showed they only had seats out beyond hte 20 yard line. At the stadium, they had tickets between the 45s. And if I can complain further, both last year and this year, the tickets available from the ticket booths were different based on which window you went to. Last year, after hearing hte announcements that you could not sell tickets, I checked with the ticket booth to see what was available. They had better seats than what had been shown on line, but they were not great seats. I opted to look around a bit to see if anyone was discretely trying to sell extras. After about 30 minutes of looking around with no success, I went back to the ticket booths to buy what they had available. I went to a different agent, and what do you know, but this agent has club level seats almost on the 50. I snatched them up. this year, I just went to the ticket booths and asked about tickets. After once again finding better seats than Ticketmaster had on line, but not great seats, I just moved down a couple of agents and found better seats. I spoke to a couple of others this past weekend that experienced the same thing. Bottom line, I say WHAT THE F&*%? If Ticketmaster is charging their exorbitant fees to sell tickets, they should be selling the tickets - NOT holding them to be sold at the stadium. And why is it that only in Atlanta, the availability of seats varies by ticket counter? I have never experienced this kind of diversity in ticket availability since the advent of computerized ticket sales. I will never consider purchasing tickets from Ticketmaster based on these experiences. Anyone else experience this? Edited July 16, 2007 by SkyRyder_FMM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Plays Music Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 You'll find this in almost anything ticketmaster is in on. They get sets of seats to see from the stadium/arena in question, and sometimes a few blocks of them witch they open up over the course of time leading up to said event. All the experences i've had with ticketmaster have been so-so to bad, so i always call the stadiums box office to get tickets. I know that when i'm in Miami seeing my family I go to eather Marlins or Heat games depending on when i'm in town, and ticketmaster always has the worst seats. so next time, just call the Georgia Dome and do it through them, they have a better selection of seats and a better understanding of stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 This might be a bad sign for next year. Does the RCA Dome not use Ticketmaster? Praying that DCI is working this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartyount Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Ticketmaster blows. I went to a Police concert last month and paid $25 in "convenience" (yah - whatever) / shipping&handling fees... on $50 tickets. That's a 50% markup on the price of the ticket. They are freakin' criminals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmonious Cacophony Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I really like the way Crown Tickets works: you get too see which seats are available and chose your exact seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I highly, highly suggest you guys start buying tickets in person, where a person can show you a screen, or at least over the phone. I'm no TM fan, believe me, but the only time internet sales are a good thing are when they'll sell out in less than a day. Your best bet to get the best seats is to get an agent checking specifically for you. There is no substitute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsualumnus Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I agree....Tickermaster sucks..... SkyRyders FMM + Being 100% correct on this post = Great post!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Yeah, I was real glad I paid for mine so far in advance (with the best seat option) and friends of mine showed up the night of the show, bought tickets and had better seats. You live you learn I guess. I forgot about the evils of Ticketmaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I checked the DCI sight and RCA Dome tickets are being sold through TM. <**> I wish DCI would go back to selling tickets in person for the next year's championship. Yes it might be a little costly and you need people and the computer hook-ups to run it, but it truly allowed the fans to get a good seat where they wanted it. I guess last years early mailing to those dedicated fans worked out though. It seems like my seats are around the same area as most Friends of DCI Platinum members. I hope whatever method they choose is still loyal to those fans who were loyal to them all these years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I checked the DCI sight and RCA Dome tickets are being sold through TM. <**> I wish DCI would go back to selling tickets in person for the next year's championship. Yes it might be a little costly and you need people and the computer hook-ups to run it, but it truly allowed the fans to get a good seat where they wanted it. I guess last years early mailing to those dedicated fans worked out though. It seems like my seats are around the same area as most Friends of DCI Platinum members. I hope whatever method they choose is still loyal to those fans who were loyal to them all these years. Gents, we must get over this stuff. The TicketMonopoly folks have a lot of exclusive deals. What happens is TM pays the buildings a ton of money to be the exclusive ticket provider to venues. If you want to use the building, you MUST use TM. Legally, a case could be made that it's an abuse of a monopoly, especially in any tax-funded projects, but that's for you to call your congressman about. As it stands, it's an evil that DCI and any other event company has to deal with. If you want the nice stadium, this is part of the deal. Again... it isn't a choice for DCI to make... unless you'd rather try to get venues that don't have TM deals. Good luck on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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