Occasionally, Better Than Broadway likes to run a promotion or two. About a week ago, we mistakenly posted an entry in the Frisco Online forum that promoted our website. I didn’t mean to violate their terms of service, I was just excited about offering some free theater tickets to Frisco area residents. In any case, our posting was removed and rightly so. Sorry about that Frisco Online!
Anyway, several of the forum members saw our post and replied for a chance for free theater tickets for two. The first free theater ticket winners chose to see The Great Russian Nutcracker at the The Majestic Theatre in Dallas, TX. These tickets were only for sale via TicketMaster. When I bought the tickets via the phone, I had to wait on hold forever. After finally getting through, I had the hardest time explaining to the person that Better Than Broadway was buying the theater tickets for someone else. I finally managed to convince them to arrange this. Then, I asked for my receipt. You would have thought I’d asked for the blue prints for a Boeing 747. They had no idea how to get them to me. In this day and age, you’d think that emailing the receipt for an online theater ticket purchase wouldn’t be that difficult. You’d be wrong. I didn’t get a receipt. I doubt I will. I just hope that the lucky couple that won these tickets actually has something to pick up at Will Call.
As if that wasn’t enough, another couple asked for free tickets to see The Lion King at The Musicall Hall at Fair Park in Dallas, TX. These tickets were also available only through TicketMaster. I called to order them tonight. Wow! What a mess. I waded through their interminable voice response system. “Say the name of the show…” “Say the state the show is in….” On and on and on. Finally, the system deduced that I wanted tickets for The Lion King. Of course, I couldn’t buy the tickets directly via the voice response system because I needed to have them put in someone else’s name. Eventually, I had the option of requesting to speak to a customer service representative.
Successfully waiting the 5 minutes to speak to said agent without getting hung up on would normally be a good thing. In this case, I might have been better off convincing the non-artificially intelligent computer to put the theater tickets in someone else’s name. The representative I got was unprofessional, confused, and utterly inept at ticket sales or phone support. His phone’s microphone kept screeching at me and overriding just about everything we said. The agent kept attempting to get rid of the noise, only to leave me on hold for many long seconds and come back to ask if the noise level were better. It was not. Eventually, we got through to getting two seats reserved and then attempted to purchase them. Again, I explained I needed the theater tickets in someone else’s name. He was lost for words. It was as if no one had ever thought to buy tickets for a different person. Surely this can’t be so uncommon?
Finally, despite my concerns that this really wasn’t TicketMaster I was speaking to (could it be a scam?), I placed the order and was told the tickets would be available at “Alternate Will Call”. When I asked to get a receipt or something emailed to me, I was put on hold again. Apparently, I am the only person that ever requested a receipt from them before. Before my agent ever came back, I got the dreaded “clunk… buzz…” sound of a disconnected call. Great! That call was 34 minutes long.
I had to leave for a while and came back to the phone later in the evening to figure out if my tickets actually got purchased. Again, I went through some interminable voice response prompts and eventually spoke to an agent. Sure enough, my tickets had not been properly reserved for the name of the contest winner. I had to get that taken care of. Amazingly, this call was ONLY 9 minutes.
Again, I am hoping that my theater ticket winners don’t have as much trouble as I did when they try to claim the tickets. I am just amazed that the largest ticket seller in the country has such pathetic service. Surely TicketMaster has been selling theater, concert, et al. tickets long enough to have this down pat. Right? Am I being unreasonable in expecting better service? Let me know what you think.
I just hope that the theatre community at large is not beholden to a single ticket outlet to keep their theatre’s full!
Better Than Broadway - Your Guide to Theater!
Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s "The Ugly Duckling", “Honk!” tells the story of an odd looking baby duck, Ugly, and his quest to find his mother. Soon after Ugly is born, he is wisked away by a wiley Cat. Eventually, Ugly manages to escape but has no idea how to return home. Along his way, he encounters a beautiful swan, Penny, tangled in a fishing line. After saving her, the two birds fall in love. However, she must return to her flock and fly south for the winter. Eventually, Ugly’s mother finds him frozen in snow. Luckily, her warm tears manage to thaw him out and he comes back to life – as a handsome swan! Soon, Ugly is reunited with Penny and two swans decide to live the rest of their days in the same pond as Ugly’s loyal mother.
