U2 Issue Apology Over Ticket Controversy

U2 have apologised to fans who were unable to purchase tickets for their upcoming Vertigo 2005 Tour, following problems with the presale arrangements put in place on U2.com. They have also offered a full refund to those fans who had paid a subscription fee to U2.com, and who were unable to purchase tickets.

“We would like to offer anyone who still has a unique, unused access code the opportunity to get their U2.Com subscription money back,” a statement from the band read.

However, controversy continues to rage across the United States and Europe, with many members of U2.com still feeling disgruntled following the presale fiasco of last week. Meanwhile tickets have already gone on sale at grossly inflated prices on e-bay – confirming that scalpers have beaten the system and successfully got their hands on tickets.

In a wording which has contributed to fans’ disgruntlement, U2.com presale publicity had promised fans “guaranteed priority booking for concert sales” – a promise which was not fulfilled for a substantial number of members when the tickets went on sale in the United States last week.

Armed with their six-digit pin codes, U2.com members were met with repeated "Internal server error" messages when they logged onto Ticketmaster.com there.

Similar problems, though not on the same scale, have been reported by U2.com fans trying to access the presale tickets across the UK and Europe – though there are many testimonies on various U2 fan websites of individuals who did secure tickets successfully.

Encouragingly for fans in their home country, to date Ireland has remained immune from the problem. Speaking to hotpress.com, a band spokesperson confirmed that they have received no complaints since the presale for the band’s Croke Park dates on June 24 and 25 began on Monday, through Ticketmaster.ie. “We haven’t had any problems in Ireland, and we’re confident that there won’t be any,” the spokesperson added.

A detailed statement was released on U2.com yesterday, apologising to the disappointed fans. Citing the record-breaking number of tickets sold in Europe and North America so far, it reads:

“Inevitably this staggering level of interest has meant that in every city where a show has been announced, demand has vastly exceeded supply.

“U2.com would like to take this opportunity to apologise to those people, both U2.com subscribers and those that attempted to buy tickets when they went on general sale, who were unable to obtain a ticket for their preferred venue.

“Despite the technical difficulties that initially hampered the pre-sale, thousands of U2.com subscribers in North America and Europe did manage to successfully purchase tickets for these shows.”

The statement also offers some hope to the ticketless U2.com subscribers:

“It is the band's intention to return to North America for further shows in the fall and U2.Com subscribers, who have not been able to use their unique access codes so far, will be able to buy tickets for these additional dates. Once again these tickets will be available on a strictly first come first served basis.”

Referencing ticket scalping as “a problem that accompanies every successful tour”, the statement suggests that this was a major contributing factor to the failure of the presale to cater for the U2.com member base:

“Although we realised that some subscribers might be scalpers using multiple email addresses and reserved the right to cancel any ticket order, we underestimated the potential numbers of such scalpers/subscribers.”

The statement continues with a quote from Arthur Fogel, president of TNA, which is the company promoting U2’s worldwide tour: “Apart from the broker running the risk that the ticket order may be cancelled the reality is there's nothing to stop a broker from joining a fan club and being part of a pre-sale.”

According to the U2.com statement, “U2.com in combination with the relevant authorities is doing all that it can to identify where these tickets have originated and, where it is possible, to have these sales cancelled.”

Numerous examples of ticket scalping can be seen on auction sites like e-Bay.com, where U2 tickets are now being sold at grossly inflated prices.

According to the official U2.com statement, the US$40 subscription fee offered, among other things, “a unique code that allowed the member access to a ticket pre-sale.”

It continues, “We are sorry if we inadvertently gave the impression that the $40.00 subscription guaranteed you the tickets of your choice.”