A Steady Rain: Telecharge is really enforcing the ticket limit...

[kec]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 9:58pm

as I found out to my horror today.

I got two e-mails from Telecharge today telling me that my orders were cancelled because I was over the limit of tickets allowed to purchase. I was completely puzzled because I knew I only ordered three tickets, two for one performance and one for the final show. I called Telecharge right away. They said that my IP address -- one of the criteria being used in determining whether the ticket limit had been reached -- had several orders placed upon it, taking the number of tickets well up over the limit. I was given a name of a person (I found out later there were several different people)who allegedly used my IP address -- a name I never heard of. A hold was put on my tickets while they tried to figure this out. I was eventually called back by one of the people who were doing the checking of orders against IP addresses and he said that 40 tickets were purchased through that IP address. He said there were several people from different states (that was all he could tell me). This guy claimed that the IP address indicated that the orders were from different people in the same household. I told this guy numerous times -- I live alone, no one else had access to my computer -- certainly no on else was with me in my house that day. He kept telling me I was out of luck. I got very upset, at a complete loss how to make this man understand that I was NOT working with other people to order more tickets than the limit allowed. He went away to talk to someone, and when he came back he told me that my tickets would be released to me "as a courtesy." He also said that prior to this decision in my favor, only one person in that group using that IP address was getting their tickets. The other people's orders were cancelled.

I talked to AOL, and was told that the IP address is set by the broadband service -- in this case Comcast. I've called them as well. All they could do was have me turn on the windows firewall -- they seemed to think that someone hacked into my IP address for the purposes of ordering these tickets. But I'm not sure this was the problem either since I do have Norton 360 which also has a firewall. I'm going to contact them over the weekend, and see what they can tell me.

If I don't get my tickets by e-mail in a few days I'm going to contact them again to confirm that my order will be going through. This incident has really shaken me.

[SahDu]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 10:18pm

Interesting...I have a feeling something must be wrong with their IP monitoring system. What are the odds that someone would hack into your IP address in order to buy tickets for a show that you happened to already have tickets to? As popular as this show is, it's not that popular to have such a coincidence. My guess is they released your tickets "as a courtesy" to cover up a mistake when they realized they made one. Hope you get your seats!
Updated On: 8/7/09 at 10:18 PM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 10:38pm

Try purchasing your tickets with a different IP (different computer) perhaps, if it doesn't work out?

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 8/7/09 at 11:48pm

wow. that sounds really f****d. it does seem a bit odd that the first time i've ever heard of them enforcing that rule, an extreme example of the case(40 tickets?) comes up. maybe they messed up?

[kec]

Posted: 8/8/09 at 7:59am

The thing is I've heard over the years that people who use AOL tend to share an IP address. That is the only thing I can think of that might apply in this case.

[kec]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 12:13pm

Update: I sent an email to Telecharge on August 10 to follow up on my conversations wtih the Customer Service office, and only got a reply that a manager was looking into my e-mail. Since I heard nothing more about this, I called Telecharge this morning. The lady I spoke said that it appeared my account still said I was over the limit. Keeping my patience (and panic!) in check, I explained the situation, and gave her the name of the gentleman I spoke to on August 7 who said my tickets would be released. She went to speak to him, and when she came back she said that he was going to release them "now." Hopefully they will be in my email when I get home from work.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 12:26pm

AOL users have what is called a "dynamic ip address" in that you get a different IP every time you sign on. With so many users throughout the country it is possible that more than one person can have the same IP address. What I don't know is if ip addresses are regional meaning that several people can have the same ip address in a single geographic area. Say, if there are 20 AOL users in NYC what are the possibilies that each the same IP address could be assigned to each of those 20 people at least once in a week? That might explain why telecharge thinks so many orders are being placed on that ip.

With that knowledge I think telecharge should have a better way of monitoring this. By email address perhaps.

Going forward I would suggest buying tickets through an internet browers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox. They have "static ip address" and could keep this from happening again.

[bwayfascination]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 12:57pm

Also, I suggest you update your Norton software to make sure you have the latest version, including all updates, and run a complete check on your computer. You want to be absolutely certain there are no viruses on your computer. After you have run the check, you might want to change your passwords to be sure no one has access to any of your accounts.

[kec]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:16pm

Eris, someone gave me a link with which I could check the ip address; when I did so through AOL, the Ip address showed as an AOL Proxy Server, located near Wichita Kansas (I live in Alexandria Virgina). When I tried the same website through IE and Firefox, the IP address was different from the AOL one, was listed as a Comcast IP address in Alexandria VA.

bwfascination, I have Norton 360, which updates and scans automatically, and also has a firewall (and I did have an extra scan done after my conversation with Telecharge two weeks ago). I thought perhaps access might have been via my wireless port, but that is secure. In any case I was told that the other people on my IP address at that time were not in the same state as me, so it's unlikely access was via the wireless.

The good news is I now have my tickets. Many thanks to all here who offered suggestions and advice and reminded me about AOL and their dynamic addresses. I will certainly take this lesson to heart.

[jo]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:28pm

Good to hear that you finally got your tickets for ASR, KEC!

Hope there is no problem when I pick up mine at the box office, as I have chosen the option of HOLD.

[kec]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 9:02pm

Thanks, Jo... I felt I was pretty safe since they hadn't refunded my money, but nonetheless, I'm glad to have the tickets in hand.

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:51pm

It sounds like Telecharge messed up, or somehow something was crossed. What are the odds that someone would hack into your system, and buy tickets to the same show you are going to see, at the same time? That just doesn't make any sense.

I'm glad you got your tickets!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 5:20pm

I'm not happy...

Last night I ordered Next To Normal tickets, with my father's credit card so we could get points. He, however, won't be attending the performance so I will not have his credit card. There are 3 females attending so it's not like we could pretend it's ours if we brought his ID.

So, I had to change the order name so I would be able to pick it up with my 2 forms of ID. So, that costs 1.50$.
With all the taxes, fees, "service" charges and extra bs, I paid 25$ more than what the normal price of 3 tickets would cost.
Fine, so I was pissed but then this happens...

I was at work today and my mom gets a nasty call from telecharge asking who is picking up the tickets and why isn't the cardholder picking them up. She kindly gave them the explanation to which they rudely responded "Well, you can't pick them up more than 5 minutes before the performance!"

Are you serious? So, after most people are seated and the show is about to start, I have to bother people to get up so I can get to my seat because stupid telecharge won't let me pick it up before 1:55?

Wow. Stupid.


Edit: I realize this is off the original topic a bit...

Updated On: 8/20/09 at 05:20 PM

[IfYouCan]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 6:00pm

I ordered tickets to Hair for last night's performance on Tuesday afternoon using my mom's credit card. I picked up my tickets at 7:25.

Theatres-as far as I can tell-doesn't HAVE to enforce the "5 minutes before curtain" rule.

[saveusmike]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 6:28pm

SweetQ go to the box office and try to pick them up.

(my story is regarding steady rain but the website said the same thing about 5 minutes before)

I ordered tickets for October 21 8 PM show
and while I was in Times Square today buying Superior Donuts tickets I went to the box office to claim my tickets for a steady rain and I got them printed one two three...

And steady rains website said the same thing about claiming 5 minutes before curtain

[ThoroughlyModern]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 6:31pm

SweetQintheLights: I did this last year when I bought tickets for my sister to Gypsy. Got the same phone call about picking them up 5 minutes before curtain. I told my sister but she had no problem whatsoever picking the tickets up much earlier from the box office.
Updated On: 8/21/09 at 06:31 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 6:35pm

SweetQ: I ordered tickets for Hair with a family member's credit card, forgetting about their policy. Since the credit card holder was not going to attend the show, I called Telecharge and was concerned about being charged extra to switch the name of the person to pick up the tickets. Granted, it is only a couple of bucks more, but I did not have permission to charge extra.

Anyways, I called Telecharge to make the switch. I am surprised they made the switch for me considering I was not the owner of the credit card (and mentioned it to them). All I needed was the order number. Additionally, they assured me I would not be charged extra to make this switch. I was confused because it would make it possible for me to avoid charges like this in the future (I could just call them at a later time to switch names, and they wouldn't charge me extra?).

Anyways, I picked up tickets about twenty minutes before the show started despite them telling me I had to wait a few minutes before curtain.

I guess it depends on who you are dealing with. I am sorry to hear about your negative experience.

ETA: I have a feeling some shows don't enforce this "5 minute pickup till curtain" policy just because it can be chaos trying to get theater patrons seated and they just want to get everyone seated as soon as possible. I wonder if the situation would be different if you picked up your tickets as soon as the box office opened.

Updated On: 8/20/09 at 06:35 PM

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 6:47pm

Thank you to everyone. I'm feeling a lot better.

I was really angry but then I thought about it and if this is one of the worst things that happens, then I'm A-OK! I'm not going to get bent out of shape.

Hopefully, they'll allow me to pick it up about a half hour prior to the beginning of the show.
At this point, I'm not going to argue over the $1.50 charge. I don't need to aggravation.

Can't wait to see the show but definitely will make better payment choices next time.