Sunday, April 6, 2008

Springsteen Ticket Sales Headaches for Harley

It's hard to believe that Harley-Davidson is celebrating its 105th anniversary.

The 100th bash doesn't seem that long ago.

This time the big name concert on the final night wasn't kept secret. Harley learned from the Elton John fiasco.

It's no secret that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are performing.

Tickets were to go on sale yesterday, but there were some technical problems.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The crash Saturday of the ticket-sales Web site for Harley-Davidson's 105th Anniversary Celebration entertainment - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - left many fans angry, empty-handed and wondering whether concert tickets were still available.

Tickets officially went on sale for the Aug. 30 concert at 8 a.m. Saturday, but the Web site crashed about 30 minutes later. Harley-Davidson reported Saturday evening that ticket sales will resume at 8 a.m. April 14 once the bugs are worked out.

The ticket Web site was live before the official start-up time, and those who went on the site early were able to order tickets. Harley-Davidson said only a small number of orders were processed before the site crashed, and that most of the tickets remain unsold.

To be eligible for Springsteen tickets, fans had to first buy tickets for entry to the 105th celebration at the lakefront. With the celebration tickets, they received confirmation numbers that they need to get Springsteen tickets.

"The confirmation number required to complete ticket orders will remain valid until the ticket sale is finalized for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert," Harley said in statement.

Dave Salkin of Wauwatosa tried for 90 minutes to get tickets Saturday but failed. He says he now will pursue Springsteen tickets through eBay.

The statement from Harley-Davidson blames the site crash on "volume-related technical issues." The company said it will retest the ticket-selling system and apologized for the inconvenience.

These things happen, no reason to get angry.

A website glitch is inconvenient but it can be fixed. Just be patient.

It's not like the Elton John surprise. That was a disappointment with no remedy.

Harley's statement on the ticket problems:

On-Sale Date for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Concert Postponed to April 14 at 8:00 a.m. CDT

Due to volume-related technical issues on the ticketing website for the August 30, 2008 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert at the Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration, Harley-Davidson has postponed the on-sale date for tickets to Monday, April 14 at 8:00 a.m. central time.

Harley-Davidson deeply regrets the inconvenience to customers and greatly appreciates their patience during the delay.

Harley-Davidson’s ticketing contractor is working diligently to resolve the problem and re-test the ticketing fulfillment system after the ticketing website experienced unusually high volume when the site went live on April 4. Only a small number of tickets had been processed before the problem occurred and those customers received a confirmation of their ticket order via their e-mail.

All tickets to the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert are general admission.

The confirmation number required to complete ticket orders will remain valid until the ticket sale is finalized for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert.

Because the tickets are all general admission, it's not as if it matters when one buys tickets.

It's not as if the good seats are gone already. There are no reserved seats.

No reason to be angry.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No need to be angry? Like this was an "accident" and no one is responsible? Right. No explanation as to why they started selling them an hour before they announced they would? No reason to explain why they were not prepared for the predictable volume of orders they would get? Whatever...

Mary said...

It's definitely a pain.

But in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal.