Broadway: Telecharge vs Ticketmaster
 

Do you ever make a choice on seeing one show vs another based on who is selling the tickets? I have to say there are times when I have actually made my Broadway show choice based solely on which outlet is selling the tickets.

Why can't (or won't) Ticketmaster upgrade to a Telecharge like system? It would surely save them salary for agents to answer the many calls of those of us who want more choices for seats.

<u>I hate the Ticketmaster system !!!</u> It only shows one set of seats for each inquiry. I'm very particular about where I sit in a Broadway theater - especially for sound quality. It is almost never the seats that Ticketmaster's system picks for me. On Telecharge I have the option to reject their first choice and look again - and again, and again, until I find what I want. I can also, easily switch to a different day, split my party into small groups, look for single seats or do whatever it takes to get the best seats. Making any changes on Ticketmaster requires starting the search all over again. When I'm planning a week of Broadway shows for myself and several friends, this becomes an overwhelming task. I wish we could get the point across to theaters everywhere -- put some pressure on Ticketmaster to upgrade!

BTW: What is the system that Lincoln Center uses? Its even better than Telecharge!

I've found both of them to have very manipulative "best seats available"...

I haven't found your experiences to be true - at all.

Ticketmaster definitely allows you to reject the first choices and to search again.
Ticketmaster allows you to set a date range for your visit and pulls up a list of shows that offers seats for your dates. Then you can search for seats from those options.

Probably the best solution is the one that NeoPatrick suggests - pick up the phone and talk to a human. They can take a look at the seating options and help you very quickly.

As an aside, I've been VERY pleased with Ticketmaster's customer service when I've made stupid mistakes (one as a result of using the date range option and entering the wrong end date).

<i>Ticketmaster definitely allows you to reject the first choices and to search again.</i>

Starrs; Please tell me how to do this without making a phone call. I'm obviously missing something.

whenever oyu choose tickets, at the bottom of the box on the firs t screen, before you click "continue" there is a sentence like "Don't want these tickets? lick HERE and search again."

At the bottom of the screen. The 2 minute time counter is at the right.

At the bottom left corner (under the listing of the seat with the seating chart on the right) it says... (paraphrase)

If you don't like these seats, press here to search again...

You can change the variables of the search...type of seats, locations of seats, etc. I just keep searching for "best available".

"If you don't want these tickets, give them up and <blue>search again >>"

O.K. I'm <u>still</u> missing something. I just now tried searching on <b>Ticketmaster</b> for 2 full price tickets, best available for Come Fly Away on May 27. The search returns Row L, Seat 17-19. I try the "search again" button and ask again for 2 full price seats, same date, best available. I type the hidden password and the same two seats, L 17-19 come up. Those same two seats come up 4 times in a row. Telecharge will show be two different seats in whatever location I've ask -- either Best Available, Mezz, Side or Center. Telecharge will continue to show me seats in my specified location -- different seats each time, until there aren't any left. The Telecharge site even keeps a running history of the seat locations I've looked at so I can easily go back to the best one and make my choice.

I'm obviously missing something that you guys can see.

I'm still not able to get Ticketmaster to give me a return of two <u>different</u> seats for that date unless I ask it specifically for some different parameter -- like Mezz or Balcony as a location.

I tried it. If you are searching for Best Available, then maybe those ARE the best available. I tried searching for other numbers of seat and row M options came up.

If you aren't satisfied with those seats, give them a call.
That's what I'd do.

O.K. Starrs, so Ticketmaster won't do what Telecharge does just like I said. The only way one can get around the Ticketmaster system is to ask for something different and if the 4 seats you now ask for are still Row L 17-19 + 21-23, then you're stuck with the same option. Or if you want only two of the four seats you based your inquiry on, then you still have to call because there's no way to get two of the four to return in a search for only two. Like I said, its just too darned complicated and Telecharge is just so, so much easier.

On the Telecharge site, I can reject the offered seats and they will show me "different" seats -- better, worse, its up to me to decide and I don't need to get on the phone to do it. I can look for two single seats, close to each other if that works better. I can also look for different dates or a range of dates -- something I <u>still</u> don't see how to do on Ticketmaster. Based on your original description I wonder if you might have the two sites confused. Your description sounds just like all the things that Telecharge <u>will do</u> and Ticketmaster <u>won't.</u>

At any rate, I just wondered if anyone else finds one easier to use than the other and if it sways their decision. Obviously your answer is "no".

I've two observations:
1. For all of the above reasons (!) is why I prefer buying my tickets over the phone rather than on line.
2. It seems ludicrous to base one's choice of shows on which ticket seller is involved.

O.K., TC. Ticketmaster USUALLY does what you are wanting it to do.
I HAVE NO IDEA why it's not doing that for you today.
THAT'S WHY I'd pick up the phone and talk to a human being to see what seats are available.

My best guesses -
1) Those are the "best available" seats and they are limited alternatives for Orchestra seating, or
2) There's a glitch in the system today.

I agree with HowardR - "It seems ludicrous to base one's choice of shows on which ticket seller is involved."

Wishing you a great trip to NYC.

"Why can't (or won't) Ticketmaster upgrade to a Telecharge like system?"

Because poor Barry Diller doesn't have enough money? ;-)

Howard, it depends on how much you loathe Ticketmaster.

I disagree, 321go. I can't imagine giving up the opportunity to get tickets for a show that I really wanted to see because I had to buy tickets from Ticketmaster, no matter how much I disliked the process.

Good grief. I must be missing something significant. I've used both services but use Ticketmaster at least monthly. I've not encountered any problems and again, they have offered STELLAR customer service twice in the last month.

I suppose ignorance is bliss.

Actually, I HAVE had the same problem with Ticketmaster (don't know about Telecharge, since it's not used here in SF), but, since it's all computerized, why don't they just SHOW all the seats that are available and let you pick which ones you want? What's "best" to them is not necessarily "best" to me. I recently looked at Harry Connick, Jr. tickets at Hollywood Bowl (this was Ticketmaster actually, so I wonder if it's just certain venues that offer this), and it showed the entire theater and all the seats that were available (it even noted which sections had single seats only).

<i>I can't imagine giving up the opportunity to get tickets for a show that I really wanted to see</i>

Neither can I -- if its something I <u>really</u> want to see, but if its a toss up, Telecharge will sway me. I do swear a lot every time I have to deal with Ticketmaster for NY shows.

Could it be that Ticketmaster offers different service depending on ones location? Sounds like you NYers have the ability to use the system in ways that we out-of-towners don't. The SF system sounds different for different venues. Interesting.

Dear Howard and Starrs; "ludicrous" -- I hardly believe my opinion is absurdly inept, false, or foolish. Play nice.

I'm sorry, TC, but I would also categorize that attitude as foolish, as well as ludicrous. But do not get too irate. I also do foolish things sometimes!