Decided to try for Jason Isbell tickets (Birmingham, AL Sept. 11). So many problems! Where do I start?
1.) I wanted 4 tickets. Saw a group of 5 in a nice section. I tried to buy 4 of them and was told that you can't bust up a group and leave 1 solo. Fine, give me all 5! The limit is 4. (rinse, repeat ...)
2.) After finally finding exactly 4 in a similar section, selecting and being directed to check-out, it was pointed out that the only ticket delivery was a smart phone screen. No mail or home print-out. For various good reasons, I choose not to own a smart phone. There is no explanation of options. So I attempt to find a HELP section ...
3.) From HELP I find CONTACT US. Contact Us takes me through a series of hallways, steps and doorways to nowhere (think of the Winchester estate) - I end right back up at HELP. (rinse, repeat ...)
4.) Eventually I found a button that is supposed to start a CHAT with an agent ... who evidently decided to call in sick today. E-mails must've ended up in an alternate universal abyss of some sort.
I use to assist in website development. IMO, the only way that you end up with a website as nonfunctional as this is to work hard at making it so.
I haven't bought concert tickets since Covid took over. I have never done a ticketless event. Any ideas on this?
Go down to the local record shop with a TM agent and buy in person...
I have only encountered the e-ticket only thing once and due to covid that show never happened. I have access and use most of the tech, but I really don't like to. I'd pay extra money to have hard copies of tickets mailed to me rather than print at home or mobile, just because, well I liked it that way and I had my real ticket as a momento.
It's a turn off, having to use your phone for stuff you really don't want to use your phone for.
And as for customer service...it's been dead for a while, a long while.
I find that website terrible. Can you use regular Ticketmaster's website?
Oh, and I feel you about not wanting smartphone tickets. I've only been forced to use them a couple times, once for a concert and a second time for a baseball playoff game. I hate it.
@nebish The "military logic" of not being allowed to buy 4 tickets in a 5 seat group - because that would leave an "orphan" - then denying the purchase of all 5 because that exceeds the 4 ticket limit - while there are MANY single seats ("orphans") already on the map - that's the most (nearly) amusing part!
My cousin completed the purchase. A smart phone was indeed required. In the end - after jumping through all the fiery hoops - she was allowed to print the tickets out. I have yet to be contacted by the agent/rep. This ain't no way to run a railroad!
I don't like smart phones either. I guess I am a dinosaur in that I just don't like it but it does work. Taking a picture and whoever it is scans it and there you go. I've recently used it at CVS for coupons and promos and stuff like that. And two days ago it worked when I got my second COVID vaccination.
As to the needing to sell you another ticket, the number seems odd. I could understand two or four tix, but five? And in their defense, even before the virus, TM would pretty much do the same thing when you were trying to get into a show when you could choose your actually seat(s). They didn't want to break up seats, leave a single alone, getting aisle seats, etc.
And I totally understand wanting an actual ticket stub. As a collector of things I like having the momento as well.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
There is nothing more aggravating and anxiety provoking than trying to buy concert tix, regardless of method. Even if you go in for the pre - sale, it's almost as if you have to play a game of chicken with the service, because they don't put the best seats up right away, you have to keep on throwing things back until you see what you like. I hate it.
@lee I have always had an aversion to phones - period. I've never been much of a phone talker. For me, a perfect call is over in like, three minutes. Not being able to see the person I'm talking to and the unintentional interruptions, start/stop nature of a phone call - just not my preferred method of communication. I was among the last to get a basic cell phone. I knew that this thing would become a "leash" between me and my boss at the time (it did!). He was one of those one-dimensional, lifeless sorts who would ring me up at all hours - weekends, off-days, holidays just to gab unnecessarily -not so much about particular projects but about work in general. I fought getting one until my mom got old and sick enough to where I needed to be available 24/7.
I resist becoming a member of the "bent neck generation" - the people who remain stopped at a green light for 15 seconds after it has changed, the ones who miss key plays at sporting events, the ones who don't notice the everyday beauty of nature - etc. - all because they are staring down into their phones. My antique flippity-phone serves all of my telephone needs ... except for being able to serve as my concert ticket. All of this exciting, new technology - designed to make our lives more simple! I do not think this has worked out. At all.
@nebish I actually miss those days of standing in a line waiting for the ticket sale to begin! I actually made some good and lasting friendships with like-minded music fans in those lines!
I understand what you are saying. I still have a flip phone that I don't use but I could. Just switch out the SIM card. As someone who takes public transit every day, believe me, smart phones are the way to go. Before them, you would have 50 or more 20 something year-old people all talking to someone at rush hour. Who the hell were they talking to at six or seven in the morning?!?! 😡 At least now they are just typing.
And like I said I was able to get my second COVID shot because I have one. I saw a lot of elderly people both times I got a shot so I have no idea how they got their shot unless a family member was there for them. You have to have one of those codes to scan.
I guess we are kind of off topic. Let's get back to bashing Live Nation! 
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I also hate phone tickets - would much rather have the physical ticket or at least the print at home ticket. My issue used to be that as soon as I would get to the venue to scan the tickets, I would lose the signal from AT&T, especially if the venue was downtown Chicago and everybody in the area was using their phones at the same time. That was before knowing how to take screenprints of the tickets.
Decided to try for Jason Isbell tickets (Birmingham, AL Sept. 11). So many problems! Where do I start?
I wrote a paper in grad school entitled "What Price Progress". What you are seeing is one of the downsides of "progress". The technology world can be a good thing and also a bad thing. Unfortunately you are living in and seeing some of the downside here. There are intended and non-intended consequences of "progress".
Sometimes simpler is better, but the technology world is here and continually evolving. There are times I miss yesteryear.
In the meantime, you may need to just insert an 8 track tape into the old Pinto, drive around, and enjoy the music.
@martind28 To further digress (Hey! It is MY thread! 😉 ) - I've always been somewhat irked and annoyed at constant "updates" to technological software and hardware. Years ago when I assisted with website development, I used a family of Macromedia products. I attended classes and got pretty darned good at all of the programs. Then, Macromedia "upgraded" several of the components. Upon installation, I discovered that the new version bore absolutely no similarity to the previous version. I went form being pretty darned good to being a total dumbass. It seems that, especially with phones - the initial cost can be very high and the product becomes obsolete almost overnight. Frustrating, to say the least!
As far as concert tickets go - there is something about having that little rectangle of paper. Having gotten to a show and having forgotten the ticket (DOH!), I can certainly understand how having it available on your phone is a benefit - unless like Sang said - you get to the venue and can't get a signal.
@martind28 To further digress (Hey! It is MY thread! 😉 ) - I've always been somewhat irked and annoyed at constant "updates" to technological software and hardware. Years ago when I assisted with website development, I used a family of Macromedia products. I attended classes and got pretty darned good at all of the programs. Then, Macromedia "upgraded" several of the components. Upon installation, I discovered that the new version bore absolutely no similarity to the previous version. I went form being pretty darned good to being a total dumbass. It seems that, especially with phones - the initial cost can be very high and the product becomes obsolete almost overnight. Frustrating, to say the least!
As far as concert tickets go - there is something about having that little rectangle of paper. Having gotten to a show and having forgotten the ticket (DOH!), I can certainly understand how having it available on your phone is a benefit - unless like Sang said - you get to the venue and can't get a signal.
Sorry to digress, but these things kind of morph, and it seemed a fit. I'm with ya, brother. My beliefs mirror yours, and I suspect many of older posters share these beliefs & experiences. I have developed computer systems for many years and currently oversee a staff of of 10 technical developers. I live your software evolution example several times a year. This is just a manifestation of the industry - some of it reflective of true improvements & some of it change for the sake of making a buck. Me - I'm a simpler is better type, but this is the industry.
Getting older & living in a technology driven world can be a challenge. I read stories all the time about the difficulties of keeping up and the societal implications to older people. I don't know what the answers are.
@martind28 No apologies necessary! T'was I who was the original digresser! 😉
I love my smartphone, but I always get the best deal and stay away from Iphones and high priced Samsung. I have a Motorola Power G8 that was around $220 on sale. It does everything I need - phone calls, texts, internet, camera, Words with Friends, etc. Motorola phones are always highly rated, especially for the price. The Power G has a bigger battery, so it can go 2 days without charging. My wife got the Motorola Stylus phone - it was about $50 more. Plus we had Best Buy gift cards and got them much cheaper. I always buy the unlocked phones instead of getting them from the carriers.
Only issue I had was my old Motorola G6 - we had trouble getting the AT&T signal in our house, and they didn't allow wi-fi calling if you didn't buy the phone from them. We had people with other carriers check their signals in our house, and switched to T-Mobile - and they allow wi-fi calling even if you didn't buy the phone from them - as long as the phone supports it.
@sang Thanks for the advice. I reckon I'm smart-phone shopping now. 😉
I see no need to pay $1000 for a phone that will be out of date in a couple of years - but that's just me ..... 😀
I see no need to pay $1000 for a phone that will be out of date in a couple of years - but that's just me ..... 😀
Straying even further from the Live Nation bitch-fest, but yeah. I just saw an ad on TV that say you can trade-in your old or broken phone for $1,000 off of their new model. $1K discount? How much does this damned thing cost? If I spend that much for something it's gotta have strings or tires on it! 😉
Three or four years ago my wife spilled wine all over her phone and ruined it so she went to an AT&T store Monday morning, got us two new phones and actually financed the damn things. Unbeknownst to me of course. Mine of three years, hers over five. 😮
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
@lee Traditional lore says that the two biggest investments you make are your house and your car. Seems like smart phones are jockeying for position #3!
I have had a smart phone for maybe 8 years now? I'm on my second iphone.
The costs of the phones are what they are, you can get whatever, shop around, use rewards points/cash, etc...but the plans can be really reasonable. I hear of people paying like $100 or more a month for phone plans. I pay $43.10 per month with AT&T. It is called their $45 prepay plan (auto pay saves you $5 per month). I get 6gb of high speed data per month and after that they slow your speed. I have only come close to exceeding that twice in all the years. And it has "roll-over data" so the months you only use, say 3gb of the 6 then the remaining 3gb can be rolled over to the next month of data limit, all though it does drop off after a month or so, you can't just roll over data forever.
Like right now, my phone says I have 7.8 of 8.7 GB remaining.
Unless you watch video you will never come close to the data limit of 6gb.
$43.10 a month...there may even be better plans out there now. But I think it is pretty good.
I view the phone purchase like a computer, it is a depreciating asset, but you can get a lot of life out of it and a lot more use than you'd ever think you would. The only reason I don't still have my first iphone is that it didn't have enough memory for the apple update and then the apps wouldn't update and a few of them wouldn't work with the old operating system. So they figure out a way to make you upgrade eventually. But like Sang says, there are lots of phone options out there. I bought mine with bank rewards points gift cards that I never use for anything...so the phone was essentially free.
I used my phone a decent amount and charge it every other night. Usually I'm down to 45-75% after one day depending on how much I used it and then at the end of the second day it might be in the single digits...sometimes I let it go completely dead, I try to get it to die on purpose and then I plug it in for the night and leave it alone. Except for those times I always turn it off every single night and only leave it on overnight when I purposefully drained the battery down. Battery life has always been good. I see people always scrambling to charge their phone any and every chance they get sometimes, maybe they use their's more, I don't know. Very rarely have I ever needed to do a mid-day charge on it.
If you are over 55 T-Mobile has a $35/line per month unlimited deal - no taxes on top of that, just $35. We pay $45 a month to get additional features - hot spot usage and caller id for numbers not in your contacts. They all have pretty good deals - it's just the features you want/need. My dad doesn't have internet at his house (he's 92), so I thought the hot spot might be worth it - and then only visited him twice this year because of covid.
We used to have a 10-gig family deal with AT&T - my wife and I would use about .5 a month each, but the kids forced us over the 10 gig limit a couple of times.
I used my phone a decent amount and charge it every other night. Usually I'm down to 45-75% after one day depending on how much I used it and then at the end of the second day it might be in the single digits...sometimes I let it go completely dead, I try to get it to die on purpose and then I plug it in for the night and leave it alone. Except for those times I always turn it off every single night and only leave it on overnight when I purposefully drained the battery down. Battery life has always been good. I see people always scrambling to charge their phone any and every chance they get sometimes, maybe they use their's more, I don't know. Very rarely have I ever needed to do a mid-day charge on it.
Phones have lithium type batteries in them and you should not completely drain the battery as it shortens battery life. Lithium batteries do not suffer from charge memory like NiCad batteries do so there is no value in draining them completely as this does more harm than good.
Actually your battery will last longer if you charge after every use.
Article on how to make your lithium based batteries last longer.
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Aren't we supposed to complain about Live Nation here? You guys need to keep to the script. 🙄
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I guess we ran out of bad things to say about Live Nation!
I used my phone a decent amount and charge it every other night. Usually I'm down to 45-75% after one day depending on how much I used it and then at the end of the second day it might be in the single digits...sometimes I let it go completely dead, I try to get it to die on purpose and then I plug it in for the night and leave it alone. Except for those times I always turn it off every single night and only leave it on overnight when I purposefully drained the battery down. Battery life has always been good. I see people always scrambling to charge their phone any and every chance they get sometimes, maybe they use their's more, I don't know. Very rarely have I ever needed to do a mid-day charge on it.
Phones have lithium type batteries in them and you should not completely drain the battery as it shortens battery life. Lithium batteries do not suffer from charge memory like NiCad batteries do so there is no value in draining them completely as this does more harm than good.
Actually your battery will last longer if you charge after every use.
Article on how to make your lithium based batteries last longer.
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Lots of good detail there, thanks.
A few years ago my first iphone was draining the battery exceptionally fast with normal use. Where as I can usually get by a day of use with 30-50% battery drain, this particular problem I was using 80-90% in less than a day! After researching the internet I came across something people were talking about "resetting the battery" or resetting whatever manages the battery state of charge in the phone. It said to let the phone drain to zero and shut off, then plug it in and charge it and do not touch it again until it is fully charged. I did this and the battery came back to operate and discharge as it had before! So this experience guides me.
I guess we ran out of bad things to say about Live Nation!
Not enough of us buying tickets to anything.
Customer Service just plains sucks at most places now, which makes the times you do get good service special. The hardest part is just getting to somebody that can help you...it's all a maze of chats with AI, links to FAQ that don't address your question, phone prompts from a computer and long wait times or somebody in India not understanding you or you understanding them. Lots of focus on getting the sale, minimal focus on servicing the customer's needs or problems post sale.
