Box offices woes - nothing new!

[countsheep]

That Box Office at The Morgue just can't handle the walk-up crowd.

A long time ago, before the new era where they print the tickets as they go, an arena box office could handle a crowd easily.

You'd line up, have your money in hand, and when you got to the window, you'd ask the seller for "Two tickets in Section 17, high up", or something like that; he/she would reach over to the section 17 slot clearly indicated in the ticket shelf, hand you the tickets, take your money, and you'd be done - time elapsed, about 20 seconds.

In those days, a box office could easily handle 100 people in about 30 minutes.

We all know how it works/doesn't work nowadays, don't we? Instead of taking 20 seconds, it takes about 6 times that long, because the tickets have to be printed one by one, the printer may or may not be working properly, the lady at the window may not hear what you want because of that glass-and-mike set up, and you may not have decided if you're paying by Visa, Debit, or maybe even cash, you never know.....then your card may or may not work, of course.

Last night, while my wife was waiting in the eternal Tim Horton's lineup, I counted the people in the ticket lineup - there were 71 of them, which probably translates to 150-200 tickets - WALK UP TICKETS - this was at 6:47PM, 13 minutes to game time.

Fellow I know at work was at the back of the lineup, and when, after 10 minutes, he saw that the lineup wasn't moving, HE LEFT!

Dozens of people missed the first 5-10 minutes of the game because of that damn box office.

Not a way to draw customers, but I suppose the present set up is called "Progress".

After the seating setup in the rink proper, the box office is the PEI Rocket's second biggest problem.

[bois]

I saw the parking lot fairly full and the lobby jampacked with customers and was fooled into thinking we were (surprisingly) going to have a decent sized crowd... however there was the usual 2000 or so there

I would never buy tickets at that box office just before gametime.... it simply isn't worth it

[countsheep]

bois said:

I saw the parking lot fairly full and the lobby jampacked with customers and was fooled into thinking we were (surprisingly) going to have a decent sized crowd... however there was the usual 2000 or so there

I would never buy tickets at that box office just before gametime.... it simply isn't worth it

I know that people could be smarter and buy their tickets beforehand.

But some people don't like buying tickets in advance, and lots of people decide to come to the game at the last minute.

Still, walkup crowds are important to teams trying to draw fans, and there's no way that you should be turning people away, or making them wait ridiculous amount of time and miss half the first period like this.

I'd bring it up with the Morgue attendant, but he'll give me 10 good reasons why it has to be this way, and they can't change it.

Not good for business, not good at all - and that's obvious for all to see.....some of the people stuck in that lineup last night, the next time they get the urge to come to the game at the last minute, they'll just not bother.

[rockon]

countsheep said:

bois said:

I saw the parking lot fairly full and the lobby jampacked with customers and was fooled into thinking we were (surprisingly) going to have a decent sized crowd... however there was the usual 2000 or so there

I would never buy tickets at that box office just before gametime.... it simply isn't worth it

I know that people could be smarter and buy their tickets beforehand.

But some people don't like buying tickets in advance, and lots of people decide to come to the game at the last minute.

Still, walkup crowds are important to teams trying to draw fans, and there's no way that you should be turning people away, or making them wait ridiculous amount of time and miss half the first period like this.

I'd bring it up with the Morgue attendant, but he'll give me 10 good reasons why it has to be this way, and they can't change it.

Not good for business, not good at all - and that's obvious for all to see.....some of the people stuck in that lineup last night, the next time they get the urge to come to the game at the last minute, they'll just not bother.

Apparently the ticket system crashed last night and I don't believe they have any sort of backup plan (other then panic). Another reason for the box office slowness is walkups wanting specific seats. Most big arenas don't allow walkup ticket buyers the luxury to choose their own seats, to speed things up the system assigns the next best seat.

[elementz]

Similar thing at Harbour Station in Saint John. I have season tix and usually show up to the games about 10-15 minutes before the puck drops. As I am walking in the door with other fans, they are headed for the line which is usually up the stairs. If you have ever been to HS, you would know that this is a long ways away. Don't really see the point of paying full price for a ticket when the 2nd period has already began and people are still in the line.

[countsheep]

elementz said:

Similar thing at Harbour Station in Saint John. I have season tix and usually show up to the games about 10-15 minutes before the puck drops. As I am walking in the door with other fans, they are headed for the line which is usually up the stairs. If you have ever been to HS, you would know that this is a long ways away. Don't really see the point of paying full price for a ticket when the 2nd period has already began and people are still in the line.

- PRINT THE DAMN TICKETS IN ADVANCE

- HAVE A "CASH ONLY" WINDOW!

- HAVE MORE SELLERS

- SELL GENERAL ADMISSION FOR SPECIFIC SECTIONS AT THE LAST MINUTE - Sections 16, 22, 4 and 10, for example, where there are hardly any season tickets....the seats that are season tickets could be marked as such with stickers.


DO SOMETHING, BUT LET THE PEOPLE IN! - When you're looking for more fans and you can hardly fill half the building, you have to try stuff like this - you can't afford to have a frustrated clientele or people giving up because they're waiting too long.

Good grief, this is not complicated, provided you use 1960s technology, which is readily available.

[countsheep]

rockon said:

Apparently the ticket system crashed last night and I don't believe they have any sort of backup plan (other then panic). quote]


There's a better solution than "panic" as a backup plan.

It's called

G-E-N-E-R-A-L........A-D-M-I-S-S-I-O-N

During the regular season, at games like last night, it would work wonderfully - print 500 general admission tickets, and sell them during the last 30 minutes before the puck drops - at least give people that option!

[section20ernie]

There was still a lineup at the Box office at the first intermission....

[countsheep]

section20ernie said:

There was still a lineup at the Box office at the first intermission....

Not surprising.

I counted 71 people - at 2 minutes each (it's a little more than that, on average), that's well over over 2 hours.

Some left, of course.

Unacceptable, even for The Morgue.

FIX IT, DAMMIT!

[JennLynn]

Don't they have the rule of no seat selection for "x" amount of time before the game?

I remember my days at the Metro Centre and didn't matter what game it was there was always a line up right before the game for tickets at the box office - and you waited there for just as long as you wait at the CCC.

If you had tickets labelled general admission where do you set aside seats? It wouldn't matter if there was a seat number printed on it people would still take it as I'll sit wherever I want - heck people do it now - I expect it would tick off a number of season ticket holders to get to their seat and find someone else in it. And when asked to move being told "it's general admission I'll sit where I want."

[countsheep]

jennlynn said:

Don't they have the rule of no seat selection for "x" amount of time before the game?

I remember my days at the Metro Centre and didn't matter what game it was there was always a line up right before the game for tickets at the box office - and you waited there for just as long as you wait at the CCC.

If you had tickets labelled general admission where do you set aside seats? It wouldn't matter if there was a seat number printed on it people would still take it as I'll sit wherever I want - heck people do it now - I expect it would tick off a number of season ticket holders to get to their seat and find someone else in it. And when asked to move being told "it's general admission I'll sit where I want."

Not so.

All you'd have to do is label the season ticket seats - that's no big deal, just one label per seat.

General admission could be for sections like Sec 10 or Sec 16, where there are hardly any season tickets.

Something HAS to be done to resolve a problem such as we had last night - it drives the casual fans away.

Another option would be to print ALL the section 10 and section tickets with Row and Seat, and just sell the damn things.

It's people making up their minds and the slowness of the printers that is causing the problem.

[Maddog]

In response to elements regarding Harbour Station, I purchase my tickets online and print them on my own computer. Its a great option, you don't have to wait in any lineup. The system works well, not only can you choose your section, you can choose your seat too. Some arenas only have the option to choose the section , then you have to take the best available seat wherever it may be in that section. Haven't had to go to the box office for a long time. It works for me.

[countsheep]

maddog said:

In response to elements regarding Harbour Station, I purchase my tickets online and print them on my own computer. Its a great option, you don't have to wait in any lineup. The system works well, not only can you choose your section, you can choose your seat too. Some arenas only have the option to choose the section , then you have to take the best available seat wherever it may be in that section. Haven't had to go to the box office for a long time. It works for me.

Yes, I'm familiar with the Sea Dogs web site, and on-line ticket purchases they offer, whereby you can choose your exact seat(s).

The point is, it works for you, it works for me, but it doesn't work for everyone.


Here's the point about all this:


People often decide to go to a game at the last minute - I've done it often, though not recently, and I'm sure most people have....saw several people in the lineup last night who are actually season-ticket holders, but decided to bring someone else along at the last minute, often a kid.....they all missed the first 10 minutes of the game, so they'll likely not do this again.

These last-minute people should not miss most of the first period because the box office ticketing system is inadequate.

Someone who decides to go to the game at the last minute should reasonably expect that if they get to The Morgue at a reasonable hour, say 15 or 20 minutes prior to the opening faceoff, they can get in reasonably quickly and not miss any action.

Otherwise, after what they went through last night, they might say, next time they feel like going to a game at the last minute, "No point even trying, we'll be in the lineup for 40 minutes and miss half the first period".....and they'll stay home.

It's just not acceptable, it's a lousy way of doing business, it's indifference and incompetence writ large, and it drives away the casual fans.

Time for people at The Morgue to smarten up, and treat this like the business that it is!

[wingman]

I have arrived at the box office on game days during the afternoon wanting to buy tickets for the kids only to find out that the system is down. Myself and everyone else that was there was being told that we would have to come back in approx 15 minutes or to make it easier, they would take our phone numbers and call us when the system was back up. It wasn't so bad for me because I wasn't in a particular rush and I also live in town but there were people there from Hunter River and other out of town places who stopped in quickly to get tickets before they heading back out of town. They basically said forget it, too much of a hassle because of their schedules and not sure if they did eventually take in the game or not. It wasn't the first time I have heard or seen people being turned away and/or turned off because it was an inconvenient manner to buy tickets.

[countsheep]

wingman said:

I have arrived at the box office on game days during the afternoon wanting to buy tickets for the kids only to find out that the system is down. Myself and everyone else that was there was being told that we would have to come back in approx 15 minutes or to make it easier, they would take our phone numbers and call us when the system was back up. It wasn't so bad for me because I wasn't in a particular rush and I also live in town but there were people there from Hunter River and other out of town places who stopped in quickly to get tickets before they heading back out of town. They basically said forget it, too much of a hassle because of their schedules and not sure if they did eventually take in the game or not. It wasn't the first time I have heard or seen people being turned away and/or turned off because it was an inconvenient manner to buy tickets.

But you see, at The Morgue, it's never their fault, always someone else's - either the city, or the Rocket, or the fans, Maritime Electric or maybe even the company that runs the computers, I dunno.

"The Morgue - where our mistakes are YOUR fault!"