Saturday, March 31, 2012

Update On The Digital Ticket Non-Fiasco

I bought those "digital tickets" for some key games--the deal where you just bring your credit card to the ballpark to get in--and as you know, the credit card I used was later "compromised." Meaning I'd be getting a whole new number for my account.

So I called the ticket office, and they said when I have my new card info, I could just call again and give them the number, and they could transfer the tickets to that card, which I would then bring to the game and use as my tickets.

I got the new card in the mail, cut the old one up, and called the ticket office. After a while of trying to explain that I couldn't just "bring the card you used to buy the tickets, sir" because it no longer exists, the woman finally reluctantly took the new new number.

I realized later that I wasn't satisfied. The person didn't sound like they knew what was going on. I had no proof she even entered the new number, let alone entered it correctly. I also didn't know if she changed it for all the games I had bought with that card or just one game. I kept imagining showing up at Fenway, giving some 90-year guy my credit card, having him look at me like I'm crazy before getting help while the line is held up behind me, only to have it explained, at which point he scans my card...which doesn't work anyway since it's the wrong card number.

I planned to call the ticket office next week, just to have some peace of mind. But then, yesterday, I got a phone message...from the Red Sox! That's always a weird moment--you hear "Hi, this is the Boston Red Sox" and you figure that they must be calling to ask you to throw out a ceremonial first pitch or that you've won the Lib Dooley Fan of the Century Award. Turns out they were calling about my digital tickets!

They just wanted to confirm that the issue I called them about a while back had been solved, that they were indeed able to transfer that order to the card ending in xxxx. Isn't that weird? It's almost like they knew I wanted a confirmation. It's not like the first woman had said "I'l enter the new number and we'll let you know once it's officially transferred." But it seems like that's how it worked, like they had to verify it was really my card and now that they have, they've let me know. So I've got my peace of mind. Though I'm still dreading the ticket-taker's reaction when I hand him/her something other than a ticket at the gate.

So I hope this helped any of you who bought digital tickets and need to transfer them for whatever reason. Reminder: Write down (or e-write down) your seat numbers and bring them! I have to figure they just scan your card and you walk in--and if you don't know where you're sitting, you just...better go to the standing room. (Which you should think about doing anyway since you bought upper bleacher seats.) It's not like they scan the card and give you a little printout, right? I read they did this method last year for certain season ticket holders--anybody know how it went down in '11?

Comments:
I've done this at concerts for years. Welcome to the future. Dread, really? Can't believe I read this.
 
I'd never heard of it till this year and I go to concerts/games all the time. Never seen it on Ticketmaster, LiveNation, Tickets.com, or anything else. Where do you regularly go that they're scanning your credit card instead of a ticket at the gate?

The "dread"-ing part has to do with the fact that the people who take tickets at Fenway are often old people who are still trying to figure out how to scan tickets with the scanner things.
 

Post a Comment

If you're "anonymous," please leave a name, even if it's a fake one, for differentiation purposes.

If you're having trouble commenting, try signing in to whatever account you're using first, then come back here once you're signed in.



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

My Photo
Name:
Location: Rhode Island, United States