u2 croke park, just a massive con job? conspiracy theory...

moshpit77 · 04-02-2005 5:09pm #1

This link speaks for itself...

http://search.ebay.co.uk/u2-croke_W0QQfltZ9QQsaatsZ3

There's one guy on there who has over 30 tickets to sell. I'd like an explanation how, even with the 6-per-person rule and how impossible it was to even get one transaction completed on ticketbastard this morning, this guy got his hands on all of these tickets. Not to mention all of the other ticket agencies online that are now selling tickets at 300%+

I've not heard of one normal person all day who was able to secure tickets on the website this morning.

Justin Green sounded extremely smug on the news this morning. Of course ticketbastard, mcd etc. don't give a fiddlers now, they've got their money and it's probably the most profitable 50 minutes 'work' any of them have ever done

Maybe there's a good explanation as to how the average punter can't get on the site while scalpers get hundreds of tickets, I just can't see it

Chalk · 04-02-2005 5:11pm

id guess they dont do it by hand
they probably boot up about 50 pcs with some sort of automated script
then they just keep running it from when 10-15 mins before the site opens until the tickets are gone?

Downtime · 04-02-2005 5:11pm

moshpit77 wrote:

Maybe there's a good explanation as to how the average punter can't get on the site while scalpers get hundreds of tickets, I just can't see it

It's all a con - there were never any tickets online in my view.

cullenswood · 04-02-2005 5:14pm

I got mine over the phone for the Friday nite. Had a good idea that the website might crash so decided to go for it over the phone big time, and luckily enough I got my 6.

Sleepy · 04-02-2005 5:14pm

Or they work in one of the shops that sell the tickets where they can just run through a ton of tickets for themselves. I've heard of it happening a few times where staff members were running off large numbers of tickets for friends so I'm sure some of the bastards are working in your local record store.

moshpit77 · 04-02-2005 5:14pm

So is it possible to actually buy 12 tickets in 2 separate transactions? I though once you bought 6, you couldn't use that credit card again to buy any more

delly · 04-02-2005 5:14pm

Downtime wrote:

It's all a con - there were never any tickets online in my view.

When do they go on sale?

sharkman · 04-02-2005 5:16pm

I've copied a couple of links from e-bay and sent them to U2.com ans ticket master cust support.

Would suggest more do the same ...

fade2black · 04-02-2005 5:16pm

delly wrote:

When do they go on sale?

Eh...do you wanna tell him or will i?

Jammer · 04-02-2005 5:18pm

i was on the site at 8am -> 9am and not a whiff!

At 8.10 i got onto "purchase page one" and got a "Tickets are not available online" message! its a sham

moshpit77 · 04-02-2005 5:19pm

the exact same same happened to me at about 8.05am jammer. at first I thought they were a little late going on sale, obviously not

Thumper Long · 04-02-2005 5:25pm

its a scam between touts and the folks in the ticketmaster outlets, they may spot duplicate credit card orders online as they have lots of time to look at the results before they send out the tickets and can stop duplicates but on the day of the sale if your card is accepted you could run it all day the ticketbastards dont care so long as they get their cash, scrotes.

i dont know of a single person that got through online, that includes all you guys and the class at college its a fukkin joke, U2 should be ashamed with the bolloky carry on of MCD and ticketbastard. the 6 tickets per person is an absolute joke aswell, for something of this popularity 2 per person and make everyone queue, no internet or telesales back to the good old days.

Rew · 04-02-2005 5:38pm

A friend used their presale code from U2.com multiple times (bought about 8 tickets on 2 CC's). Everything after the first transaction was automaticaly cancled. Also others who used their CC for the presale then tried to order with it this morning to get 6 more were declined.
Here is the mail from TicketMaster cancling one of the extra orders:

We are writing to inform you that the U2.com presale access code that you used to make a
purchase via the U2 gateway had already been used to make a purchase. This contravenes the
terms and conditions of the presale. Therefore any subsequent bookings on that unique code have
been cancelled and credit/debit cards refunded in full.

***The FIRST booking made using the unique presale code has NOT been cancelled***
***please note that ONLY the FIRST booking made using each code is valid***

As the terms and conditions of the presale clearly state, the code must only be used once to
make a single purchase of up to 4 tickets for a single event and that any subsequent and
multiple bookings would be cancelled. Please see below for a copy of the terms and conditions
as displayed on the presale gateway page and on U2.com.

U2 GATEWAY PAGE

" Please review the tour itinerary fully as you MUST only use your access code once to make a
single purchase of up to 4 tickets for a single event. For example you cannot use your access
code twice in order to buy two sets of two tickets. You should be quite sure of your selection
before you submit your access code and make a purchase. Subsequent and Multiple bookings using
the same code may be cancelled and refunded by the ticket seller without further notification.

Continuing past this page acknowledges the above information and is an acceptance of the terms
and conditions that appear on this page and all subsequent pages "

U2.COM

Please note the following clause in the terms of subscription to U2.Com.
"We reserve the right to block access to or cancel a ticket order of any user that we believe,
in our sole and absolute discretion: (i) is or is associated with any ticket broker or scalper,
(ii) is utilizing automated means to process or place ticket orders, or (iii) whose ticket
order exceeds the stated limit."

__________________________________________________________________

Regards
Ticketmaster Customer Services

__________________________________________________________________

Please do not reply to this mail. You will not get a response.

This is a once off Ticketmaster Customer Service email, you are not part of a mailing list.
Ticketmaster Online strives to provide complete and accurate information in our mailings, and
accepts no responsibility for misinformation and/or changes after publication.

My local ticket outlet only takes cash though...

comet · 05-02-2005 12:42pm

The reality is that this is big business and when MCD play into touts hands by allowing 6 tickets per transaction it makes it even more lucrative. For starters these guys have mulitple credit cards, all family members queuing for them, possibly people on the inside too, i can't even begin to imagine all the tricks up their sleeves. You can be sure they were U2.com members too, at $40 or 30Euro membership fee allowing you 4 tickets in presale it meant they paid only 7euro more per ticket for a pretty much guaranteed ticket! Stop the touts don't purchase tickets from them.

moshpit77 · 05-02-2005 1:09pm

thing is, it's either go to a tout now or miss the gig. if you're a massive u2 fan without a ticket, it's gonna be a tough choice

whiskeyman · 05-02-2005 2:34pm

I totally agree - the 6 ticket limit is a total joke.
It should have at least been 4, or perhaps even 3.
Even still, I believe a huge amount of tickets were pre-allocated to big corporate business / sponsors etc...

breadmonkey · 05-02-2005 4:19pm

I thought eBay had agreed to remove tickets being sold for exhorbitant prices??? Obviously not.

By the way, are touts legal? From what I have observed in the past, they all work together, covering the whole of the surrounding area, so there isn't even any "competition". Any thoughts?

Altheus · 05-02-2005 4:27pm

eBay has it's hands tied on this sort of thing, it's merely a venue and cant act on listings unless U2 or TicketMaster ask them, or if the person selling the tickets violates it's policies and/or is doing something illegal.

It sucks, I know.

I'd say though Ticketmaster may trickle tickets out on a weekly basis though, in order to keep the touts at bay and enable more people to see the gig.

Altheus · 05-02-2005 4:33pm

If you check that search page, hopefully in the next hour or so, there will be significently less for sale, but like I said, eBay's hands are tied...

Altheus · 05-02-2005 4:46pm

Altheus wrote:

If you check that search page, hopefully in the next hour or so, there will be significently less for sale, but like I said, eBay's hands are tied...

That was thoroughly unsuccessful, two were taken down. Lobby U2, lobby TicketMaster, they'll have to tell eBay to take them down, eBay can't break it's own rules and policies.

On the US site you can only sell for face value, nothing like that here yet, they're 'working on it'.

therecklessone · 05-02-2005 5:05pm

moshpit77 wrote:

thing is, it's either go to a tout now or miss the gig. if you're a massive u2 fan without a ticket, it's gonna be a tough choice

And until people choose "miss the gig" over "go to a tout" we'll be having this discussion the next time U2 annouce a gig in Ireland.

Isn't it time U2 held a gig in this country where the majority of tickets went to Irish fans? The hometown shows are a huge draw for fans from abroad, but like their Slane shows, a huge percentage of tickets will go out of the country at the same time their shows in Europe sell for at least a few weeks (IIRC, their shows in Germany on the last tour were poor sellers)

MisterAnarchy · 05-02-2005 7:27pm

Well I've decided I'm off to Milan to see U2 in July
Finally got my presale code fixed so I'll be getting two tickets Monday.
Cheaper than going to Dublin and a hell of alot hotter.

daveirl · 05-02-2005 10:03pm

This post has been deleted.

cullenswood · 07-02-2005 10:07am

moshpit77 wrote:

thing is, it's either go to a tout now or miss the gig. if you're a massive u2 fan without a ticket, it's gonna be a tough choice

I can't stand all this moaning sh1te. If anyone was that big a fan they would have paid the 30 squids and guaranteed themselves tickets in the first place. EVERYONE had an option to do this. Anyone thinking of paying more than €70 for a ticket is a plonker considering they had a fail safe way of doing this before they went on sale. Get over it everyone.

Rew · 07-02-2005 11:37am

cullenswood wrote:

I can't stand all this moaning sh1te. If anyone was that big a fan they would have paid the 30 squids and guaranteed themselves tickets in the first place. EVERYONE had an option to do this. Anyone thinking of paying more than €70 for a ticket is a plonker considering they had a fail safe way of doing this before they went on sale. Get over it everyone.

Not everyone got tickets in the U2.com presale and not everyone knew about u2.com. If you were a memeber you would know about all that though...

cullenswood · 07-02-2005 11:40am

Rew wrote:

Not everyone got tickets in the U2.com presale and not everyone knew about u2.com. If you were a memeber you would know about all that though...

I think pretty much everyone from Ireland that were members of U2.com got tickets. And also, it was in every newspaper and on every news programme that you could get tickets on U2.com

Rew · 07-02-2005 12:41pm

Every news paper and every radio program is a bit of an exaggeratio. Most only picked up on it the friday before the presale. Not everyone is comfortable using the net like that anyway. Larry Mullen wouldn't have had to write that letter if everything went smooth and everybody got tickets. I dont think everyone on u2.com from Ireland got em. Have a read over the boards. As it was my Girlfriend had huge problems getting through and getting some.

nxbyveromdwjpg · 07-02-2005 1:00pm

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

You'll also ruin it for anyone who really wants to go and is perfectly willing to pay the ebay price.

Altheus · 15-02-2005 2:43pm

Here's the info you might like to know:

"Due to a recent Office of Fair Trading report on tickets, a provision has been added to our contracts and tickets policy http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/contracts.html regarding the legal requirement for a business seller to state the face value of a ticket and seat location in their item description. The amendment says:

'Business sellers offering tickets for sale to consumers on eBay must comply with the Price Indications (The Resale of Tickets) Regulations 1994 (guidance is available at http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/guide/pricetickets.pdf). The main requirement is that the face value of a resold ticket has to be made clear to the consumer at the point of sale, including any seat location details. This information should be contained in your eBay listing description.'

Keano_sli · 15-02-2005 5:19pm

Your better off going to small gigs anyway to see new bands, cheaper prices, guarunteed tickets and a chance to be there at the start of something. Then just sit back and say its all passe when people are climbing over each other for tickets.

Thats what I'd like to do anyway

u2 croke park, just a massive con job? conspiracy theory...

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