As I write this, I’m looking at a couple of nice paper tickets for a June 4th Rolling Stones concert in Philly that I’m going to.
I got them in the mail after buying them on the Ticketmaster website a few months ago. I’m going with my daughter and I’m sure we’ll have a grand old time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way for me at the Barclay Center.
The other day, I spent a couple hours outside the stadium waiting for the game to end. A good friend of mine had two tickets for a Nets game, and sent me one.
I was supposed to sit with him, but could only join him afterwards, as I was not allowed in, even though I had a legitimate ticket.
I’ve had problems at Nets games before. Once I went with a group of people from the Justice Center, and we were all herded around the back and had to wait in the freezing cold with a big crowd. We all had to wait while one-by-one we were searched for weapons and other contraband.
Earlier this year I had a tiny souvenir pocketknife seized. It was attached to my keychain and had been my dad’s. Who died 35 years ago.
Also this year, I tried in vain to purchase a $6 bag of popcorn using a ten dollar bill. The booth did not take cards, and had no change. I could have bought popcorn at another stand that ONLY took credit cards, but that bag was $15!
What happened this time was that Ticketmaster would not send me a new password. I did have a password, but it told me that for my own safety they needed me to choose a new one. All I had to do was to click “lost password,” and they would email me a link to create a new one.
This was on a Monday. That is when my friend transferred one of his tickets to me. The way it works is that the ticket shows up as an email, and then you have to transfer it to your phone.
Believe it or not, you absolutely must have a cellphone with your Ticketmaster account able to put the ticket into your wallet on the phone. That’s the only way to get in.
Paper is no good.
Since I couldn’t access my account, I couldn’t get my ticket in the wallet. I tried in vain for a new password multiple times over 2 days
No emailed instruction to get a new password was forthcoming.
I went to the game figuring that I could just tell them my story, and they’d check out my name and let me in.
Nope.
No cellphone ticket, no entry. No matter what. I showed them my email with the ticket notification. A supervisor tried to figure out how I could activate my Ticketmaster app, but he couldn’t.
I was able to transfer the ticket to him, but it turned out his Ticketmaster app wasn’t working either.
So we gave up.
I did kind of get upset, and ended up calling a guard a communist. I did that because the Nets are owned by a Russian.
He thought I cursed him and threw me out of the lobby.
At least it wasn’t raining.
Author
Founder and editor of the Red Hook Star-Revue. George is also a musician and one-time progressive rock disk jockey, in York, Pennsylvania, also birthplace of Mrs. Don Imus.
