Pee Wee Herman wasted my morning. The secret word of the day “FRUSTRATED”…AAARrrGgHhhhHhhh!
Filed under: Blogroll,Uncategorized,horror 6 commentsPee Wee Herman wasted my morning. The secret word of the day “FRUSTRATED”…AAARrrGgHhhhHhhh!
By SpookyDan
Last month I spent the morning on the phone with Ticketmaster to buy tickets to see the LIVE stage show of Pee Wee Herman. This is an occasion that I cannot miss, having been a fan for years…even before he was Pee Wee he was in this awesome (but rarly seen) horror spoof called Pandemonium. To this day I love that film and even wear t-shirts of the poster. So when the announcements came through that P.W. Herman cancelled the shows and was moving to a bigger venue, I was understandable bummed.
Ticketmaster sent out an email that stated: “As a previous buyer, you have an exclusive opportunity to exchange your tickets for any one of the new shows. Simply call Ticketmaster at 1-800-653-8000 and provide us with your original confirmation number.” Pee Wee Issued a statement saying that he would try to make it fair and apologized for the inconvenience…but inconvenience is an understatement for what his fans are going through today.

So this morning I tried to exchange my tickets…here’s how it went
My chronicles of trying to get tickets to see Pee Wee Herman
10:00am
Start calling the ticketmaster provided number to exchange my rickets for the larger venue show. Busy, try again as fast as possible
10:20am
Still busy, still calling, I am getting worried that seats comparable to my previous 3rd row tix (at a table) are going to be gone for all the dates
10:40am
I Twitter about not being able to get through and see that loads of other people are not getting through either. One guy said that had been able to get through were put on hold for 30+ minutes, then was being charged $240 bucks for comparable tickets, Double the price!
10:50
Still busy, so I look around facebook for any other info (while I keep hitting redial). Even more people are complaining. I look around and see that Goldenvoice is indeed charging double the ticket price!
11:15
It’s now been over an hour of hitting redial and I am getting pissed, but there is some possible good news, someone (at facebook) got through using the direct Ticketmaster number (not the one provided by Ticketmaster’s email to exchange the ones we bought). They got there tickets and they were for good seats..there is hope, but all I am hearing is a busy signal
11:20
I twitter about the rumors and wonder why Pee Wee hates his fans so much. I still cant get through…both numbers are busy

11:30
A few more people are commenting that they are getting good seats but having to pay more for them… Then one guy suggests demanding to talk to customer service to get the ADDITIONAL fees waived.
11:43
Using the alternate number, YEAH! Its ringing….and now I’m on hold…estimated wait time 4 minutes
11:50
Finally on the line with a human! He refunded my original ticket charge back to my credit card, then offers me lousy tix (about row 30) for the 16th, so I try a different date; Jan 14th then they offered me 9th row and then wanted to charge me an additional $30. I explained that I originally had 3rd row and we were told that we would get first crack at comparable tickets as an exchange. These were not comparable and not an exchange if I have to pay more. He suggested that he could look for further back seats because they wouldn’t cost as much. So I asked to be transferred to customer service, and now I am on hold again…
12:02
After another 5 minutes or so on hold I get to customer service, He offers me a straight exchange for the front section 102, row D on 1/14. I agree and he puts me back on hold for another 10 minutes or so. When he return he tells me I am all set, no extra fees no more waiting on hold.
12:30
I finally have 4th row tickets to see Pee Wee Herman Live.
12:40
I get a text that my sister in law is still getting busy signals. I give her the other number to call, she eventually got through, and now they are trying to charge her more as well. She ends up paying the extra for her tickets.
12:45
I am hearing rumors that the seats are actually general admission, if this turns out to be true and I wasted the last 3 hours of my life dealing with Ticketmaster… The word of the day will go from “frustrated” to “screwed”
This has been a huge pain in the ass for those of us who supported and got tickets during the first round. What’s this about getting to meet Pee Wee after the show? How do we get that to happen? I really want to be happy right now, but after 2 hours and ten minutes of being frustrated it’s difficult. In the end I wonder if this is all a money grabbing scam. Ticketmaster eventually should be brought down for the horrible company that it is. And to you Pee Wee, I have been a fan of yours since the 80’s HBO special The Pee Wee Herman Show. Even though the crazy stuff…but today… I no longer feel proud to be a fan.
1:10pm
More people I know that had originally bought tickets are now telling me a variety of stories very similar to the one I just described…I need a nap

Dear Mr/Mrs TV Executive