Has anyone here heard or been involved in the PSB/Stephen King/Joe Hill fiasco?
King and Hill will be in Cambridge on October 11 for a discussion and signing sponsored by Porter Square Books. Tickets purchase had very strict rules place upon them (no more than 2 tickets, multiple orders woudl cance all orders etc.) with PSB's website handing the VIP tickets which included entry and a signed book from both authors, a less deluxe ticket was offered via ticket master which included entry but only the possibility of a signed book. Friday September 13 was the magic day for fans to try to get tickets either VIP or regular via PSB website or Ticket Master, on the same day at the same time. What do you think happened?
Surprise, Surprise the PSB servers were overwhelmed and crashed repeatedly frustrating, I'm sure, thousands of King fans and preventing fans from completing orders AFTER tickets were in their shopping carts. Add to this, the Ticket Master sale at the same time which sold out before the frustrated PSB hopefuls could even switch tactics. Now, not getting a ticket would be disappointing enough but we've all had our disappointments. Server crashes made it worse and losing a second chance made it 10 times worse. Add to this, when the PSB servers did work they had lost count of how many tickets they had available and OVERSOLD the event. This means that those who thought they got tickets, had money deducted and received confirmations were later told that they DIDN'T have tickets after all and that their money would be refunded. In my opinion this was a huge slap in the face perpetrated by Porter Square Books on the King/Hill fans who simply wanted a fair chance to score tickets and a book. WHY didn't they realize the demand the tickets would produce and sell all tickets through a qualified agent such as Ticket Master? Why didn't they bolster their own servers if they insisted on selling on their own site? Why didn't they sell VIP and regular tickets at different times or on different days to give everyone another option? Add to this the staff at PSP hanging up on frustrated callers and their cavalier face book posts expressing their "sorrow" and the result is/was hundreds of pissed off SK fans.
Love to read your thoughts if you had endurance enough to follow my rant. As you can tell, I'm still angry.
King and Hill will be in Cambridge on October 11 for a discussion and signing sponsored by Porter Square Books. Tickets purchase had very strict rules place upon them (no more than 2 tickets, multiple orders woudl cance all orders etc.) with PSB's website handing the VIP tickets which included entry and a signed book from both authors, a less deluxe ticket was offered via ticket master which included entry but only the possibility of a signed book. Friday September 13 was the magic day for fans to try to get tickets either VIP or regular via PSB website or Ticket Master, on the same day at the same time. What do you think happened?
Surprise, Surprise the PSB servers were overwhelmed and crashed repeatedly frustrating, I'm sure, thousands of King fans and preventing fans from completing orders AFTER tickets were in their shopping carts. Add to this, the Ticket Master sale at the same time which sold out before the frustrated PSB hopefuls could even switch tactics. Now, not getting a ticket would be disappointing enough but we've all had our disappointments. Server crashes made it worse and losing a second chance made it 10 times worse. Add to this, when the PSB servers did work they had lost count of how many tickets they had available and OVERSOLD the event. This means that those who thought they got tickets, had money deducted and received confirmations were later told that they DIDN'T have tickets after all and that their money would be refunded. In my opinion this was a huge slap in the face perpetrated by Porter Square Books on the King/Hill fans who simply wanted a fair chance to score tickets and a book. WHY didn't they realize the demand the tickets would produce and sell all tickets through a qualified agent such as Ticket Master? Why didn't they bolster their own servers if they insisted on selling on their own site? Why didn't they sell VIP and regular tickets at different times or on different days to give everyone another option? Add to this the staff at PSP hanging up on frustrated callers and their cavalier face book posts expressing their "sorrow" and the result is/was hundreds of pissed off SK fans.
Love to read your thoughts if you had endurance enough to follow my rant. As you can tell, I'm still angry.