Footy fans’ fury over Ticketek meltdown
AFL and MCG chiefs are demanding compensation for furious fans after Ticketek’s finals ticketing fiasco as supporters face a long wait to secure their tickets. HERE’S HOW TO GET YOUR SEAT
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A FOOTY finals ticketing fiasco has left supporters stranded for seats and AFL and MCG chiefs demanding compensation for furious fans.
All $7.20 transaction fees for week one finals at the MCG will be waived after technical issues at Ticketek on Tuesday saw all ticket sales suspended.
Some fans will have to wait until Thursday to buy tickets to next week’s matches in Melbourne, despite the fact seats were supposed to have been available two days earlier.
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Members of clubs competing in the finals face a ticket scramble on Wednesday, with Ticketek to stagger sale times in a bid to avoid a repeat of Tuesday’s disastrous launch.
The AFL said there was a “significant issue” with the Ticketek system.
“The AFL are extremely disappointed in the experience a large number of our club members were presented with when trying to purchase their tickets,” it said.
“We share in our club members’ frustration and are working with the venues (MCG and SCG) and their provider (Ticketek) for a full explanation.
It was on Tuesday night unclear how many tickets remained for next Thursday’s Richmond-Hawthorn and Friday week’s Melbourne-Geelong matches.
For the second year in a row — and weeks after extending its deal as the exclusive seller of AFL tickets at the MCG — Ticketek’s AFL finals system went into meltdown.
Fans waited for hours, only to see tickets taken offline amid nationwide chaos.
Dozens of footy fans have lined up on Exhibition St after more than an hour trying to get AFL finals tickets from @Ticketek_AU’s website. A lot of very frustrated folks. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/4THeH3cycB
— Tom Minear (@tminear) August 28, 2018
MCC members were able to use the system and all visitor and reserved seats in the exclusive reserve sold out for both MCG matches within an hour.
MCC chief executive Stuart Fox apologised “unreservedly”.
“We have communicated our frustration in no uncertain terms to Ticketek,” he said.
“We will continue to work with Ticketek and the AFL to ensure the ticketing system works effectively for the remainder of the finals series.”
AFL Fans’ Association president Gerry Eeman said supporters were fed up.
“When it happens every year there is a serious problem that needs to be fixed,’’ he said.
“It’s generally becoming part of the finals experience with fans going to buy a ticket and it jamming.”
Ticketek Australia chief executive Geoff Jones said the issue was caused “by an operator error in the website traffic load balancing settings”.
“We understand the excitement footy finals bring and all the Ticketek team are disappointed that website issues impacted our service delivery to those fans,” he said.
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Live from @Ticketek_AU HQ as footy fans scramble for tickets pic.twitter.com/SoLro2ec9S
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) August 27, 2018
The AFL said Richmond and Hawthorn members could buy tickets from 11am on Wednesday, with Melbourne and Geelong at 1pm and Sydney and Greater Western Sydney at 3pm.
AFL Members passes will be on sale from 9am on Thursday.
General admission tickets for the Tigers and Hawks go on sale at 1.30pm on Thursday, with the Demons v Cats at 2.30pm and Swans v Giants at 4pm.
Some fans even reverted to lining up at Ticketek outlets, only to be turned away.
In what seems an annual event, Ticketek’s system struggled to cope this morning as thousands of fans logged on to secure a seat to week one of the finals.
While some fans reported no problem snapping up the hottest tickets in town, others reported ongoing problems.
Ticketek once again surprised people want to purchase tickets.
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) August 27, 2018
With Collingwood, Richmond, Melbourne and Hawthorn all set to play this September is set to be one of the biggest for Victorian fans.
AFL Fans’ Association president Gerry Eeman said supporters were rightly fed up with the system failing when they needed it most.
“You wonder that when it happens every year there is a serious problem that needs to be fixed,’’ he said.
“It’s generally becoming part of the finals experience with fans going to buy a ticket and it jamming.’’
Is it normal to have ticketek not work for finals tickets. Like at all. Asking as a Melbourne Demons
— Andrew Hatch (@Hatchman76) August 27, 2018
supporter, this is all new for me#ticketek @AFL
Ticketek Australia went to the effort of sending “tips’’ to fans before tickets went on sale at 9am this morning, suggesting they ensured they were registered, they had enough credit and emails were valid.
But fans logging on to secure a ticket were still left waiting for long period or timed out before buying a seat.
A message sent to fans on social media said: “Hey guys, thanks for your patience. Site is up and running. Thousands of fans are transacting right now’’.
But Mr Eeman said that meant little to the fans frozen from the site.
“Fans go clamouring for tickets, especially with a big game like Richmond and Hawthorn,’’ he said.
“It causes all sorts of stress.’’
Fans logging on for pre-sale purchases to next year’s Australia-Team USA basketball blockbuster at Etihad Stadium also endured problems last week.
A Ticketek spokesman said the site had experienced a high volume of traffic but experts were working to identify and fix a number of issues.
“Many thousands of fans have successfully transacted on the Ticketek website today and secured AFL Finals Week 1 tickets, but we regret that some fans experienced difficulties,’’ he said.
“Ticketek apologises for the delays in purchasing and is working through our system checks to ensure any issues are quickly resolved.
“Ticketek will seek to contact affected fans.”
peter.rolfe@news.com.au
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