Ticketmaster: useful, unless you want to buy tickets

A couple of days ago I attempted to purchase some tickets for the second U2 concert at Telstra Dome, next March.

My decision to get the tickets online from Ticketmaster left me disappointed on two counts. First of all, the concert was sold out. Ok, no big deal. The band will be back in Melbourne another time. Worse is the fact that the Ticketmaster website is too dumb to tell you this upfront.

You have to search for tickets first, even though it’s a pointless exercise:

1. I select the U2 Vertigo Tour link.
2. I click on the “Find Tickets” button.
3. Because it was my first time, the website software insists that I register first. In other words, only “existing members” can see if there are any tickets left. Obviously, the general public is not permitted to know this information.
4. After entering in my name, address, phone number, email, sexual preferences, etc, I go back to step (2) above and try again.
5. I click on the “Continue Purchase” button, even though I’m not purchasing anything at this point - I’m only looking at what tickets are available.
6. I fill out their “3 step” process form by entering the number of tickets I want, the area I want them in (and therefore the price) and the delivery method.
7. I click on the “Look for Tickets” button.
8. I get a message telling me that “there were no tickets that matched your specific request”.
9. I repeat steps (6) and (7) for a different location and price.
10. Each time, I get the same message.
11. Finally, I repeat steps (6) and (7) for just one single ticket, anywhere, at any price.
12. I get the same message.

So, after some 15 minutes their website finally admits to me that there isn’t even one single ticket left. The concert has been sold out.

How dumb is the software that powers this website? Imagine if I phoned them instead, to be told upfront that there are tickets available and then, after 5 minutes of conversation, to be told the opposite.

Posted in Design, Development, Programming, Usability, Web by Ivan