U2.com apologises, offers refund to members

U2.com has issued an apology to both U2.com members and those attempting to buy tickets during the general sale in a statement entitled “‘Vertigo Tour’ tickets: Latest News“. U2.com also offers a refund to members holding unused presale codes. (Details to follow on Feb 2nd.) Unsused codes may also be used for upcoming pre-sales for the as yet to be announced 3rd leg of the tour.

Although we realized that some subscribers might be scalpers using multiple email addresses and reserved the right to cancel any ticket order, we underestimated the potential numbers of such scalpers/subscribers.”

U2.com further state they are sorry if they

“…inadvertently gave the impression that the $40.00 subscription guaranteed you the tickets of your choice.” 1)

Throughout today, we have learned of more and more American fans contacted by Ticketmaster reps and offered better seats or GA tickets to a show of their choice. It seems the parties involved are making an effort to help those affected by ticketing mishaps. If you were left with a faulty code, or were forced to buy limited view tickets, we recommend you contact Ticketmaster a.s.a.p.


Footnote:
1) That’s not what fans thought they had been promised. They were told: “U2.Com have secured the best tickets available for our Subscribers”. During pre-sales however it became obvious that what was on offer was mostly limited view seats. For a clear explanation of the fans’ point of view read Laura Page’s Vertigo 2005: Anatomy of Marketing Disaster, at atU2.com.

30 thoughts on “U2.com apologises, offers refund to members

  1. Finally. Kudos to them for finally owning up and at least offering a refund. To me it doesn’t make up for all of this, but at least I won’t feel so totally ripped off anymore.

    Now if I could only get a pro-rated refund from my Propaganda membership, but that is a lost cause.

    I hope that the Vertigo tour is excellent and that everyone fortunate enough to get tickets has a blast. I’ll be spending my concert dollars elsewhere. U2 has lost me as a concert going fan.

  2. Finally. Kudos to them for finally owning up and at least offering a refund. To me it doesn’t make up for all of this, but at least I won’t feel so totally ripped off anymore.

    Now if I could only get a pro-rated refund from my Propaganda membership, but that is a lost cause.

    I hope that the Vertigo tour is excellent and that everyone fortunate enough to get tickets has a blast. I’ll be spending my concert dollars elsewhere. U2 has lost me as a concert going fan.

  3. I have contacted Ticketmaster & U2.com and have yet to recieve this e-mail or phone call.

    RossMan (still ticketless)

    and what’s gonna stop the problems with the Fall Leg Pre-Sales?

  4. I have contacted Ticketmaster & U2.com and have yet to recieve this e-mail or phone call.

    RossMan (still ticketless)

    and what’s gonna stop the problems with the Fall Leg Pre-Sales?

  5. While I’m hoping for all of the fanclub members that they have these problems worked out for the 3rd leg, I’m pretty darned confident that they won’t be.

    As long as the words “Ticketmaster” and “Internet Pre-Sale” are involved it’s going to be a horrid mess.

    If their lil’ apology actually said something about what they are doing to prevent this from happening again in the fall I’d consider keeping my membership to see what happens. I think the fact that they say nothing about improving system actually says a lot about what we can expect.

  6. While I’m hoping for all of the fanclub members that they have these problems worked out for the 3rd leg, I’m pretty darned confident that they won’t be.

    As long as the words “Ticketmaster” and “Internet Pre-Sale” are involved it’s going to be a horrid mess.

    If their lil’ apology actually said something about what they are doing to prevent this from happening again in the fall I’d consider keeping my membership to see what happens. I think the fact that they say nothing about improving system actually says a lot about what we can expect.

  7. Like I said in my last post, no apology, no explanation, nada! Five minutes later: Oh, hey, an apology! :b Well, that’s good. I’m finally getting the impression that they (band/PM) are doing everything they can in damagecontrol and correcting the mistakes that they made. At least, they’re trying. Only, that one little sentence ‘U2.com remains an enormously popular, award winnig, free artist website’, that’s just eeh.. well, ahahahaha….

  8. Like I said in my last post, no apology, no explanation, nada! Five minutes later: Oh, hey, an apology! :b Well, that’s good. I’m finally getting the impression that they (band/PM) are doing everything they can in damagecontrol and correcting the mistakes that they made. At least, they’re trying. Only, that one little sentence ‘U2.com remains an enormously popular, award winnig, free artist website’, that’s just eeh.. well, ahahahaha….

  9. As I posted on another list – While I’m encouraged to finally see a public response from U2.com, and although I’m happy with *most* of what is written in that apology, I still have major issues with the following two portions of this posting:

    > It is the band’s intention to return to North America for further shows in
    > the fall and U2.Com subscribers, who have not been able to use their unique
    > access codes so far, will be able to buy tickets for these additional dates.

    I think it would be REALLY beneficial if U2.com would be very clear about what this means. One interpretation is that ONLY members with an unused code will be able to access presales for new Fall dates, or other periods even later (e.g., Australia). Another is that paid U2.com subscribers will ALSO be able to take part in the presale, via additional passcodes sent out. Similar to what Prop used to do when a new “leg” of the tour was announced. Poor communication once again.

    > We are sorry if we inadvertently gave the impression that the $40.00
    > subscription guaranteed you the tickets of your choice.

    I’m glad they’re sorry, but that is just bollocks. What are they sorry for? This makes it sound like they’re sorry that THE FANS misinterpreted what they had said and implied in many, many official communications sent via e-mail and posted on U2.com. This is like saying, “I’m sorry you feel that way.” There is no inherent admission of “We fucked up.” I wish they would just say that, and follow it up with “And we’re trying to do all we can to make it up to as many people as we can, as soon as we can.” That would certainly go a long way, methinks. But as others have pointed out, they’re probably covering their legal ass by not owning up to fault.

    Another thing – no one thought we would get the “tickets of our choice”, necessarily. Rather, we thought we’d get access to the best seats in the house based on whatever was left after other presale folks got through. We thought U2, PM and U2.com had at least allocated an appropriate amount of “best available” tickets to ensure this. This clearly did not happen.

  10. As I posted on another list – While I’m encouraged to finally see a public response from U2.com, and although I’m happy with *most* of what is written in that apology, I still have major issues with the following two portions of this posting:

    > It is the band’s intention to return to North America for further shows in
    > the fall and U2.Com subscribers, who have not been able to use their unique
    > access codes so far, will be able to buy tickets for these additional dates.

    I think it would be REALLY beneficial if U2.com would be very clear about what this means. One interpretation is that ONLY members with an unused code will be able to access presales for new Fall dates, or other periods even later (e.g., Australia). Another is that paid U2.com subscribers will ALSO be able to take part in the presale, via additional passcodes sent out. Similar to what Prop used to do when a new “leg” of the tour was announced. Poor communication once again.

    > We are sorry if we inadvertently gave the impression that the $40.00
    > subscription guaranteed you the tickets of your choice.

    I’m glad they’re sorry, but that is just bollocks. What are they sorry for? This makes it sound like they’re sorry that THE FANS misinterpreted what they had said and implied in many, many official communications sent via e-mail and posted on U2.com. This is like saying, “I’m sorry you feel that way.” There is no inherent admission of “We fucked up.” I wish they would just say that, and follow it up with “And we’re trying to do all we can to make it up to as many people as we can, as soon as we can.” That would certainly go a long way, methinks. But as others have pointed out, they’re probably covering their legal ass by not owning up to fault.

    Another thing – no one thought we would get the “tickets of our choice”, necessarily. Rather, we thought we’d get access to the best seats in the house based on whatever was left after other presale folks got through. We thought U2, PM and U2.com had at least allocated an appropriate amount of “best available” tickets to ensure this. This clearly did not happen.

  11. PLEASE… can somebody post the reply email address from whatever this email is you’re receiving from ticketbastard? I sent a general note to customer service a few hours ago… but if there’s a specific email of somebody at USA’s ticketmaster who’s working on this today… I want to get in line too!

    or email me w/it? bhanson@nd.edu

    so now U2.com offers refunds… but they don’t explain what may or may not be different about the next presale… will old, unused codes be first in line? will scalpers buy thousands of memberships again? will they block off more GA seats? I want to keep my code if I can have as good of a chance to get GA’s as I did with Propaganda… but I want my money back if they’re going to offer me more nosebleeds behind the stage!

  12. PLEASE… can somebody post the reply email address from whatever this email is you’re receiving from ticketbastard? I sent a general note to customer service a few hours ago… but if there’s a specific email of somebody at USA’s ticketmaster who’s working on this today… I want to get in line too!

    or email me w/it? bhanson@nd.edu

    so now U2.com offers refunds… but they don’t explain what may or may not be different about the next presale… will old, unused codes be first in line? will scalpers buy thousands of memberships again? will they block off more GA seats? I want to keep my code if I can have as good of a chance to get GA’s as I did with Propaganda… but I want my money back if they’re going to offer me more nosebleeds behind the stage!

  13. Did somebody get tickets today for the MSG concert in NYC? The only thing I could got were 2 tickets in the area 216 which is behind the stage, despite of having 2 very fast computers with a very broad internet connection, still wasn’t enough to get a decent ticket. By the way I haven’t gotten the confirmation e-mail from ticketmaster, which is kind of concerning. Did anybody have a similar experience? or better luck?

  14. Did somebody get tickets today for the MSG concert in NYC? The only thing I could got were 2 tickets in the area 216 which is behind the stage, despite of having 2 very fast computers with a very broad internet connection, still wasn’t enough to get a decent ticket. By the way I haven’t gotten the confirmation e-mail from ticketmaster, which is kind of concerning. Did anybody have a similar experience? or better luck?

  15. Jaime, I picked up one MSG in Sec 121, Row C. I haven’t gotten an e-mail for it either, but I got the confirmation # screen when I bought it and I looked it up at My Account on the TM website just now, and it says purchased and being printed.

  16. Jaime, I picked up one MSG in Sec 121, Row C. I haven’t gotten an e-mail for it either, but I got the confirmation # screen when I bought it and I looked it up at My Account on the TM website just now, and it says purchased and being printed.

  17. Just called Ticketmaster and asked about the email that’s being sent around… and the guy said that whatever was going to made available through the email was already gone… and he didn’t know who the email was sent to and who it wasn’t sent to.

    Most of me thinks that the guy probably didn’t know anything about it… so who knows… were there more people that got the email today? i’m pretty bummed that I missed the train.

  18. Just called Ticketmaster and asked about the email that’s being sent around… and the guy said that whatever was going to made available through the email was already gone… and he didn’t know who the email was sent to and who it wasn’t sent to.

    Most of me thinks that the guy probably didn’t know anything about it… so who knows… were there more people that got the email today? i’m pretty bummed that I missed the train.

  19. Just thought I should let everyone know that they DO NOT have to wait for an email from Ticketmaster. I called customer service this morning and received a call back in a matter of hours. They offered me GA tickets for Denver immediately!

    Call them now!

  20. Just thought I should let everyone know that they DO NOT have to wait for an email from Ticketmaster. I called customer service this morning and received a call back in a matter of hours. They offered me GA tickets for Denver immediately!

    Call them now!

  21. tried calling ticketmaster a 2nd time… and the guy confirmed that they were offering tickets to people who had received the email… but he told me that I had to have receieved the email in order to buy tickets (of which he did not know if there were any left)… then he said that his office was not in charge of sending out the email in question… and that he didn’t know who was and that there was no way that he could pass the word along to them that I… like whoever else got tickets… also never used my presale code…. so another half hour is wasted… AGGGGGHHHHH!

  22. tried calling ticketmaster a 2nd time… and the guy confirmed that they were offering tickets to people who had received the email… but he told me that I had to have receieved the email in order to buy tickets (of which he did not know if there were any left)… then he said that his office was not in charge of sending out the email in question… and that he didn’t know who was and that there was no way that he could pass the word along to them that I… like whoever else got tickets… also never used my presale code…. so another half hour is wasted… AGGGGGHHHHH!

  23. zooharvard[TypeKey Profile Page] says:

    is there a u2-specific email address of ticketcrapster in america to contact?

    Hello there, today I was on the phone with $tm and was given a specific address to mail U2 ticket suggestions to. Since everyone here has something pertinent I think I’ll share it:

    Ticketmaster Customer Service
    1000 Corporate Landing
    Charleston, WV 25311
    USA

    Hope this helps and good luck everybody!

  24. zooharvard[TypeKey Profile Page] says:

    is there a u2-specific email address of ticketcrapster in america to contact?

    Hello there, today I was on the phone with $tm and was given a specific address to mail U2 ticket suggestions to. Since everyone here has something pertinent I think I’ll share it:

    Ticketmaster Customer Service
    1000 Corporate Landing
    Charleston, WV 25311
    USA

    Hope this helps and good luck everybody!

  25. Looks like I didnt get any help. Just hope they only let the ones who didnt get tickets with acces codes to be the only ones in line for presale fall tour……

    Thank you for contacting us regarding U2. Currently, there are no seats remaining for this event, however, from time to time, a limited number of seats may be released back into the system for various reasons. We recommend that you check the site often, particularly as the event date nears, to see if extra tickets become available.

    It is always possible for a limited number of tickets to become available after an on-sale. Sometimes the venue or promoter will release additional tickets after an event has been taken off sale. Also, in the course of processing orders, we may find accounts that are over the ticket limit, need payment or do not have the correct billing address. In these cases, the order may be cancelled and the seats released back into the system for sale. Therefore, it is possible for additional seats to become available after the initial onsale.

    If you have any further questions, please reply and include all previous correspondence.

    Sincerely,
    Shawn (Customer Support)

  26. Looks like I didnt get any help. Just hope they only let the ones who didnt get tickets with acces codes to be the only ones in line for presale fall tour……

    Thank you for contacting us regarding U2. Currently, there are no seats remaining for this event, however, from time to time, a limited number of seats may be released back into the system for various reasons. We recommend that you check the site often, particularly as the event date nears, to see if extra tickets become available.

    It is always possible for a limited number of tickets to become available after an on-sale. Sometimes the venue or promoter will release additional tickets after an event has been taken off sale. Also, in the course of processing orders, we may find accounts that are over the ticket limit, need payment or do not have the correct billing address. In these cases, the order may be cancelled and the seats released back into the system for sale. Therefore, it is possible for additional seats to become available after the initial onsale.

    If you have any further questions, please reply and include all previous correspondence.

    Sincerely,
    Shawn (Customer Support)

  27. Guess I got Lucky. Ticketmaster called and offered me 2 GA tickets to the 5/7 (Saturday) Show in Chicago. I said yes before the guy finished his question. Prior to this I contacted ticketmaster THREE times. The first two times the operators told me there was nothing that could be done….SORRY. The third representative took my name and added me to a list and assured me that my name had been taken and I would be contacted. To my surprise, I was taken care of.

  28. Guess I got Lucky. Ticketmaster called and offered me 2 GA tickets to the 5/7 (Saturday) Show in Chicago. I said yes before the guy finished his question. Prior to this I contacted ticketmaster THREE times. The first two times the operators told me there was nothing that could be done….SORRY. The third representative took my name and added me to a list and assured me that my name had been taken and I would be contacted. To my surprise, I was taken care of.

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