Peter Kay Tour Cancelled

[kev1974]

Russ35 said:

2fast748 said:

I think it was Iron Maidens last tour were they made a determined effort to make sure no tickets got sold on and I think they succeeded, their manager is a self confessed tight Yorkshireman!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37438...

This is a report about the success of Irons Maidens ticketing for their last tour compared to their 2011 tour.

http://loudwire.com/iron-maiden-paperless-ticketin...

I was at Hamilton tonight, a newly opening musical at the Victoria Palace theatre in London; followers of theatre in London will be aware that they are one of the first shows to undertake "paperless ticketing" as an attempt to stop touting.

I know they are only a 1500 seat venue whereas the arenas used for comedy and concerts are ten times that size, but then the Victoria Palace theatre only has one small entrance foyer with everyone arriving between 19:00 and 19:25 and the arenas can have multiple entrances and far more space for lots of attendants.

Anyway it worked very smoothly I thought, and so proved it can be done, if the venues and promoters want to. First there was a short queue in the street, and you were not allowed to join that queue unless you had a copy of your confirmation email (on paper or phone screen) and the right number of people with you as stated on the booking confirmation email. 30 seconds in that queue and then someone checked my photo ID matched the email confirmation. 1 minute beyond that and then a bag search (common in all the West End theatres now). Finally in to the foyer where they had people with really neat little handheld card readers, quick swipe of my credit card and my tickets instantly printed out of the same device. Whole process including bag search was actually quicker than box office collection usually is these days. Anyone with issues (wrong number of people, or something up with the card like it had previously expired) was being directed to a special desk where their issue was being investigated more thoroughly. The process was accompanied by several warnings about what would be required, at the time of booking, and emailed reminders a few days ago.

So full marks to Delfont Mackintosh (the theatre owners) and Hamilton Paperless by Ticketmaster for what was a very slick operation, which hopefully we'll see rolled out and expanded for more events.

[wiffmaster]

kev1974 said:

So full marks to Delfont Mackintosh (the theatre owners) and Hamilton Paperless by Ticketmaster for what was a very slick operation, which hopefully we'll see rolled out and expanded for more events.

I'd second all that. Went to see Hamilton last week and when I read the 'paperless ticketing' emails they sent through prior to the show, I though "Christ, this is going to be an absolute mess and is guaranteed not to work properly". Couldn't have been more wrong - from arriving at the theatre to sitting in our seats in less than 10 minutes. Hope it gets adopted more widely.

[DrDeAtH]

The best bit is that there are no ticket touts creaming those last minute concert goers.
Any that were spotted outside the O2 Greenwich were soon told to leave by security.

This was the Maiden gig this year.

I found it much easier getting into the venue even with the security checks.

[Cold]

Does this method mean the end of buying tickets as gifts?

[ALawson]

We Hamilton's producers would appear to be taking a tough stance on it.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/hamilton

[Shakermaker]

Cold said:

Does this method mean the end of buying tickets as gifts?

No, it doesn't - that option still exists when you purchase the tickets

[alangla]

wiffmaster said:

kev1974 said:

So full marks to Delfont Mackintosh (the theatre owners) and Hamilton Paperless by Ticketmaster for what was a very slick operation, which hopefully we'll see rolled out and expanded for more events.

I'd second all that. Went to see Hamilton last week and when I read the 'paperless ticketing' emails they sent through prior to the show, I though "Christ, this is going to be an absolute mess and is guaranteed not to work properly". Couldn't have been more wrong - from arriving at the theatre to sitting in our seats in less than 10 minutes. Hope it gets adopted more widely.

Yep - as mentioned upthread, it worked really well for U2 in late 2015 - we were through the door in about the same amount of time as it would usually take to scan the barcode on a paper ticket.
There's really no excuse for not adopting something like this - as long as there's a route to return tickets that you're no longer able to use.

[SpeckledJim]

Shakermaker said:

Cold said:

Does this method mean the end of buying tickets as gifts?

No, it doesn't - that option still exists when you purchase the tickets

How does the swipe of the credit card work in that instance?

[bigandclever]

Good luck if you get there with the wrong credit card (old one lost / expired / whatever). Or the number in your party doesn't tally with the number of tickets (late / dead / you've had a row / whatever). Or even if you need to pop outside in between getting your ticket and the show - they won't let you out. Also, are we sure about the Gift option ... ?

https://help.ticketmaster.co.uk/hamilton-paperless...
Can I give tickets as a gift or issue a Letter of Authorisation for someone else to attend?
Unfortunately not. Hamilton is operating a Ticketless admission system designed to limit the transferability of tickets in order to prevent touting and the unauthorised reselling of tickets at inflated prices. If we allowed people to transfer tickets, it would create a flaw in the reason why the system was adopted.

[Shakermaker]

SpeckledJim said:

Shakermaker said:

Cold said:

Does this method mean the end of buying tickets as gifts?

No, it doesn't - that option still exists when you purchase the tickets

How does the swipe of the credit card work in that instance?

No - actually, you are correct.

Ticket gift vouchers will become the new normal

[kev1974]

bigandclever said:

Good luck if you get there with the wrong credit card (old one lost / expired / whatever). Or the number in your party doesn't tally with the number of tickets (late / dead / you've had a row / whatever). Or even if you need to pop outside in between getting your ticket and the show - they won't let you out. Also, are we sure about the Gift option ... ?

https://help.ticketmaster.co.uk/hamilton-paperless...
Can I give tickets as a gift or issue a Letter of Authorisation for someone else to attend?
Unfortunately not. Hamilton is operating a Ticketless admission system designed to limit the transferability of tickets in order to prevent touting and the unauthorised reselling of tickets at inflated prices. If we allowed people to transfer tickets, it would create a flaw in the reason why the system was adopted.

They had a desk to the side, dealing with "people with card issues". I imagine most of the "card has been changed / reissued" ones are resolved within a minute or two, because other details like address or photo ID or bank name will still match up. Similarly for "moved house", enough details other than address will still match up. They're just being sensible enough to take those people out to a side queue so as not to hold up the main queue of people for whom everything is straightforward.

Even if they do frequently err on the side of the person stood in front of them with a slightly dubious story and let them in, it doesn't really matter; they just have to do enough to disrupt touting to keep it in check and dissuade most of the career touts. I imagine those become quite easy to spot on a night after night theatre show, once you've got basic ID checks in place. For instance they just need to keep a note of the addresses that "my address has changed" people quote each night. If the same address keeps coming up every few nights then you know it's a tout and you just bar it henceforth. If someone presents themselves at the box office screaming that they paid £1200 for these tickets then you know they got them through a tout and can do one. If they come with a reasonable sounding story about their card or address changing and neither are card numbers or addresses that you've had through already then probably OK to take their word and let them in.

Stepping outside is easily dealt with, they can just stamp your arm or similar, don't want your arm stamped well don't step out once in then. But even that doesn't need to be rigorously controlled, just enough to stop the same person coming in and doing it night after night.

[FiF]

Anyway back on topic, anyone had their money back from Ticketmasters yet?

[RicksAlfas]

FiF said:

Anyway back on topic, anyone had their money back from Ticketmasters yet?

Mine's back from Eventim.

[JQ]

FiF said:

Anyway back on topic, anyone had their money back from Ticketmasters yet?

Yes, within 30 mins of the announcement of the cancellations. That was for both his tour and Dance for Life.

[Fun Bus]

Had mine back yesterday.

[FiF]

JQ said:

FiF said:

Anyway back on topic, anyone had their money back from Ticketmasters yet?

Yes, within 30 mins of the announcement of the cancellations. That was for both his tour and Dance for Life.

I had the email from Ticketmaster the same day as the announcements but no money refunded to card yet.

[MellowshipSlinky]

Refunded by Amazon day after the announcement.

[hyphen]

Tom Logan said:

So what's all this about Peter Kay then?

Sorry for wandering off topic...

His secret lover, Keith Vaz is ill, and he needs to be by his side till the end, so has canceled the tour.

[anonymous-user]

hyphen said:

His secret lover, Keith Vaz is ill, and he needs to be by his side till the end, so has canceled the tour.

Just imagine if that turned out to be the case

[LaurasOtherHalf]

A (rather distant) family member does some stuff around TV, they said he's got cancer for the second time apparently.