There's still singles at $400 to both shows so no ones's missing out if they can beg steal or borrow.

lust said:

lust said:

I've just heard of an aquaintance who grabbed a pair of $99 tickets for Auckland.

Where are they seated for that price?

Funkylust, I know I am not lust, but I am kiwi fan who can answer your question.

.

Overall the process was fair, the queues were not too long, site was working fine and you could reresh often. Also the internet did not crash and the whole process was fairly efficient.

.

Now the bad stuff - the cheap tickets were as scarce as hens teeth and the bulk of the tickets were the most expensive ($389.00 + An unmissable and unnecessary $9.00 card fee and they have also charged a $5.00 transaction fee and had pre ticked boxes for Ticket insurance that cost an additional $22 per ticket (You could untick this). It should be one price for everything, no extra fees or any other rubbish.

.

I suspect it was like a 2008 Elton John show I went to, where the tickets were also $400 each. The only good thing about this, is there is no scalping, you get a piece of paper(Receipt) with a transaction number on and you can not pick up the ticket until concert day. It would be interesting to find out what proporation of tickets were not $400 ones. This is a huge sum for a lot of people and a country where average weekly take home pay after tax is under $800 per head. (In my case I get $100 a week in a dividend) and the credit card companies will be having a field day.

.

What else, its great the scalpers are gone, but Ticketmaster is now the new scalper I think. I think expoliting peoples like of an artist or group and their desire to see them, should not allow such companies to prey on emotion, inertia and passion to rob these people blind. Ticket companies are parasites and consumer rights advocates need to act and clean up this horrible and exploitative industry. Of course I blame Prince too, I bet you he is demanding a huge cut of the game as well.

mostbeautifulboy said:

lust said:

I've just heard of an aquaintance who grabbed a pair of $99 tickets for Auckland.

Where are they seated for that price?

At what time and using what method did they obtain them? (desktop internet/mobile/phone/shop...)

funkylust said:

lust said:

So how did you go Lust? Good experience getting the tickets? Are you happy?

I'm ecxtatic. Both shows at $400 a piece plus one ticket for my wife for the early one.

It was stressfull and seemed almost impossible to get anything but $400 singles but my wife was also logged in and managed to get a pair. It didn't like the credit card she had loaded so that caused panic but she was able to get another one quickly and that went through.

The though of being in the same city and missing a Prince gig, let alone one like this AND the first in my home town and country was just not an option. I can finally sleep easy until a few days before when the insonia kinks in again.

nd33 said:

mostbeautifulboy said:

Where are they seated for that price?

At what time and using what method did they obtain them? (desktop internet/mobile/phone/shop...)

All I know is $99 seats and bought online.

nd33 said:

mostbeautifulboy said:

Where are they seated for that price?

At what time and using what method did they obtain them? (desktop internet/mobile/phone/shop...)

Probably sorcery

lust said:

funkylust said:

lust said: So how did you go Lust? Good experience getting the tickets? Are you happy?

I'm ecxtatic. Both shows at $400 a piece plus one ticket for my wife for the early one.

Plus the Arsenal game in the morning.

Couldn't get Auckland tickets, tried for an hour. 2x, 1x, 6:30pm, 10pm, Restricted view, etc etc. Oh well, maybe Prince will like New Zealand and decide to come back again soon - and this time play at a venue that more of us can fit in!

Adorecream said:

What else, its great the scalpers are gone, but Ticketmaster is now the new scalper I think. I think expoliting peoples like of an artist or group and their desire to see them, should not allow such companies to prey on emotion, inertia and passion to rob these people blind. Ticket companies are parasites and consumer rights advocates need to act and clean up this horrible and exploitative industry. Of course I blame Prince too, I bet you he is demanding a huge cut of the game as well.

The question is whether it is Ticketek, Ticketmaster being the new scalpers or whether in fact it is the promoter that is manipulating the prices in real time? I'm not sure but surely it is the promoter that gets the extra money.

Maube a clue is the VIP packages which were marketed as '"Showbiz in partnership with Dainty group..."

Single $400 tickets are back, and available for both Auckland shows. 4:25pm NZDT.

Too expensive for me though.

mostbeautifulboy said:

lust said:

I'm ecxtatic. Both shows at $400 a piece plus one ticket for my wife for the early one.

Plus the Arsenal game in the morning.

Yep, and for once I couldn't give a rats arse about the result of that one...

...I Say that now!

^^ EVERYONE will be bringing phones anyway to contact one another outside the venue so i'd interpret the rule as meaning just no phone use once inside the concert hall, similar to the welcome 2 australia tour if you were there

It's strange, I thought getting them would help calm me down, but now I am as high as a kite, because I am going to see my main man Prince.

.

sfinky1 not me, I am one of the very few who does not have a smartphone as I can't afford them and they do not give year plans with phones included here to the unemployed or those on prepay. Ghetto hey.

[Edited 2/10/16 22:15pm]

YYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Got a ticket for the 17th
Epic story, hope you're sitting comfortably...
Before the tickets went on sale on Tuesday, I'd managed to get my card locked due to forgetting my password when trying to check my account. But I my brother said I could use his card so by midday on Tuesday, we were ready.
I was on holiday so I was doing the booking on my smart phone. I click on the show that I wanted and I have to wait for five minutes TWICE before getting told that all the cheap seats were taken. In a panic, I check for a $200 ticket and yes, I manage to get one. I notice that it only ever asks for the details related to the card holder and later on, in the confirmation email, it's clear that my brother is the one they're expecting, not me. I need to provide the credit card used in the booking along with photo ID otherwise, no entry.
Yes, it was probably made clear somewhere beforehand but in my panic to get a ticket, that bit of info completely passed me by.
So whilst I'm trying to work out who to call, some of you may remember that on Tuesday, Telstra's phone service was crashing. So it'd take 10 mins for there to be coverage again before being able to get back online (on my phone) to work out what to do next.
When the phone begins to work again, I get my own card unlocked. Then, after waiting for Telstra to recover from crashing again, we call the Ticketmaster help line. After a twenty minute wait, they tell us there's nothing they can do there and I'll have to email Customer Service. After another Telstra crash, I write the email. Nothing I can do then until they reply. Telstra fix their problems and I'm seeing all these ecstatic posts on Facebook from people who've got their tickets without a problem
I don't get a reply until Wednesday. It says my brother will have to call the help line to get the credit card details changed. I reply "we already tried that!" They respond surprisingly quickly saying there's nothing they can do from their end, it's not safe to use credit card details in emails. I figure no-one knows what to do and they're just handballing the problem to anyone else they can think of. I write one more email asking if my brother and I were to go to a Ticketmaster outlet, could it be fixed there. They reply "Yes, that would be good." Just trying to get rid of me, I imagine.
SOOO, today (Thursday) my brother and I go to an outlet with all the working credit cards and ID we could possibly need. On the floor of the outlet, I notice a $10 note that someone had dropped. I give it to the people at the counter (I never keep dropped money, there's always someone who needs it more than me). The workers there say maybe that'll bring good karma. "Well, let's find out," I reply and tell them the situation.
They suggest I call the help line again and after explaining what I've had to go through the last couple of days, the guy says he'll phone his boss (which takes 10 minutes and the wait is excruciating for me ). He speaks to his boss and you can tell when he mentions the "switching of credit cards for the order" that we realise I'm not the only one who's in this situation.
Fortunately, they can do the switch there and then!

It's been exhausting and I know I'll have the greatest sleep of my life tonight, but I'm just REALLY glad I handed them the $10 I found on the floor!

[Edited 2/10/16 22:30pm]

mostbeautifulboy said:

Adorecream said:

She will understand hopefully, she knows to love you is to put up with everything happening in the Prince world to quote a well know podcast. I mean she put with me talking to you about Prince for 2 hours.

Is she coming with you?

No way, it's gonna be a solo mission.

I'm going to tell her I only have a ticket to one show and it cost $200. If we all keep quiet I should be OK.

They just had an article on the TV news that ruined it for me. The serious discussion is just about to start

[Edited 2/10/16 22:31pm]

united1878 said:

YYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Got a ticket for the 17th
Epic story, hope you're sitting comfortably...

Thanks for that story, united; glad it ended happily for you.

I have a story of my own from today, as follows.

Seated comfortably in Melbourne with two tickets for the 17th already in possession and no dog in the fight, I checked out Ticketmaster NZ "live" as it went to air and made a few little experiments for future reference.

There's the Ticketmaster homepage, and from there you navigate to what I'll call the Prince event homepage. I kept that page open in one window and clicked on one of the "more information" buttons for a specific concert and opened that link in a new window. This second window had a countdown timer on it, and I was doing all this to see what would happen when it hit 00:00:00.

The answer is that the Prince event homepage did NOT autorefresh at that moment or even for seconds afterwards. The "more information" buttons stayed just as they were there. The specific concert page did autorefresh on the ZERO mark, but was taking several seconds to refresh with nothing do-able there, so I clicked on the first window in the button for that same concert, and that window went straight to the ticket-buying page before the second window had refreshed properly.

Remember this for next time!!

[Edited 2/10/16 23:02pm]

foal30 said:

I missed out No one I know here in Chch secured tickets Officially sold out at 1:10 yet people bought tickets at 4:20 Less than impressed Well done to those who get to go.

The NZ $400 tickets are still available for both shows, but only singly. (8pm, NZDT)

mostbeautifulboy said:

mostbeautifulboy said:

No way, it's gonna be a solo mission.

I'm going to tell her I only have a ticket to one show and it cost $200. If we all keep quiet I should be OK.

They just had an article on the TV news that ruined it for me. The serious discussion is just about to start

[Edited 2/10/16 22:31pm]

What'd they say that gave it away?

Does anyone else get the feeling that Prince pulls these "let's go to Australia" concerts out of a hat at such short notice (Welcome 2 Australia, eg, also) when he feels like a holiday and thinks he might as well make some spending money while he's at it?

I hope so.

And if he wants that guided tour of Melbourne and is reading this, I'm still available (laughs) and I know some of the most beautiful things to see.

[Edited 2/10/16 23:08pm]

foal30 said:

Congragulations to 3News for the trite and shallow coverage.

Agree wholeheartly, what a load of tripe

nd33 said:

mostbeautifulboy said:

They just had an article on the TV news that ruined it for me. The serious discussion is just about to start

[Edited 2/10/16 22:31pm]

What'd they say that gave it away?

Two shows, and tickets $400. I should have been honest with her from the start.

Lesson learned - I got off with a warning this time

I'm working on the assumption that my guest will NOT require photo ID; if he does he might bail and I'd respect that principled decision. I'll be asking about that before the moment arrives.

I had no trouble taking my phone into the Welcome 2 Australia concert in 2012 and don't anticipate any difficulties this time. If Prince requests no phone use I will respect that, as I do in church when they ask us to turn the things off.

Can you imagine the logistical nightmare it would be if everyone had to hand in their phones?

Finally for the moment: I'm happy for (and envious of) everyone in NZ who got tickets to Prince's first ever concert there. (I wasn't a concert-goer back in the eighties when Prince first came to Australia.) Treasure the moment, trans-Tasman cousins.

[Edited 2/10/16 23:18pm]

mostbeautifulboy said: