Ticketmaster not telling me what seats I was ordering

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I wanted to book tickets for Stewart Lee this morning and I got two tickets in Row G - but it didn't tell me which actual seats.
So I decline to order and went back to see if I had done something wrong.

In the heel of the hunt it was sold out.

But from memory, Ticketmaster always tells you "Row G seat 16 and Row G Seat 17" . Has something changed?
 
I seen it do that before.
I completely forgot to book those.
Not sold out yet, I got two tickets in the upper circle
 
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There is sometimes an option to select seats on a map of the venue - you can see exactly what you're buying. The option doesn't always appear.

I have found that if you don't select on map, you don't know what seats you get until you actually complete the purchase.
 
I was booking seats in the INEC last night and I noticed something similar. It wouldn't allow me to select seats or look at what seats in the section were available. Like you say it gave me row but not actual seat numbers. Once I had put through the order it then gave me the seat numbers.

No biggie in my case as I've a fair idea where the seats are but if it was a different venue I probably wouldn't have gone ahead with the order.

The strange thing is I logged on a few days ago and could choose whatever seats I wanted for the show I've booked. Maybe it's something they do a few days out from a show to sell empty seats in a section and keep the crowd together and cut down on staffing costs.

I've noticed over the years that for matches in Croke Park Aviva the less attractive seats seem to go on sale first on Ticketmaster.
 
So I didn't do something wrong, apart, of course, from not just taking the seats I had been assigned.

But I would prefer a row further back with the seats in the centre.

I will wait until he adds another date.

Brendan
 
I booked 2 tickets through Ticketmaster recently for the Bord Gais Theatre. The only options I was given was the row's, only when I selected a row and went to payment was I given the seat numbers, many were not good seats, at that point you could still cancel the order and start over again. I did this a good few times and eventually got reasonable tickets.

Tip; I have since learned that if Bord Gais Theatre is anyway handy, you would save yourself the €14 odd that Ticketmaster charged in fees by buying direct without fees from Bord Gais’s Box office at the venue, Mon - Fri, 11 am - 6pm. Same applies with the Olympia box office and possibly others.
 
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Hi Des.

Good tip. But if booking opens at 10 and you expect it to be booked out quickly, the box office is not an option.

Brendan
 
If it’s an indoor venue I can see little or no problems. A few years ago we were amongst the first to book for Katherine Jenkins + Jose Carreras in Cork’s Musgrave (now Independent) Park. Our tickets were for Row D - Great! But No - the Seat Plan hadn’t yet been arranged. I don’t know what the organisers were up to but when the Seat Plan was eventually arranged twelve months later Row D was a long distance from the stage and towards the back of the venue. Row Z was towards the front, We’d have needed field glasses to see Katherine and Jose and the sound system was crummy too we were so far back.

Incidentally, the late evening got pretty cold and the evening shadow cast by the ground stand made it even colder. Worse again the security guys did not allow me to put on my jacket because of the name of a local tile sales company was written on its back.

The evening got colder and an elderly lady in front of us was getting more cold. But, the security guys did allow her to wear my jacket provided it was worn inside out. Thanks a million guys!

So, no more concert booking for me unless I know where I’m sitting. And Katherine Jenkins and Jose Carreras lost a fan.
 
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So they added another date as I expected and better still, in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

I was on the ball at 10 am and the best seats I could get were row B in the Stalls. I understand that rows D to M are better. But maybe for a solo performer, the closer the better.

They told me the seat numbers before I booked - which are in the middle, so that is fine.

I went back in a few minutes later and the stalls are all gone.

The pre-sale must have been very successful.

Brendan
 
I’ve just booked The Shawshank Redemption for next April. I’m glad I’d read Brendan’s post last week. I rejected the first two tickets I was offered but I’m happy with the second lot. I definitely think they want the less desirable tickets sold first.
 
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