Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:20am
I'm curious as to how they even know the tickets were resold, if the people going into the theater are holding genuine tickets (that were issued by Nimax or ATG)?
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:27am
thomaspaine - The impression I got is that they're checking ID at the door, and that if the ID of the person holding the ticket doesn't match the ID of the person who bought the tickets, they're given the boot?
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:46am
I'm not sure that's it because of that gift thing that says if it's a gift they'll need the confirmation email. It seems that maybe if they don't have the ID or the confirmation email then they realize they have been resold.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:48am
then surely the scalpers will start getting smart and provide the confirmation email along with the ticket..?
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:56am
Maybe they are doing something like Adele's team did - scouring reseller sites looking to see which seats are listed and then invalidating those barcodes.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:57am
Maybe the best way to combat then while still allowing gift-giving is requiring the buyer to state at the time of purchasing if the tickets are intended for someone else, and including the name of the recipient. That way the recipient could show the ID at entry to show they are the intended recipient of the ticket? And by having the naming of the recipient required at time of purchase, that would prevent scalping since those are bought as soon as the BO opens before the scalper knows who any of the buyers would be, right? Not saying that this method is what is being done, but what I think might be a good way to combat scalping and keep prices fair and low while also avoiding the "This means if I buy a ticket it has to be for me/I have to go, I can't just buy a surprise gift ticket for Little Billy"problem.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:57am
I just feel for people who may have cluelessly purchased those tickets, not knowing they would not be allowed entry,and likely having little recourse as far as a refund.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 11:00am
It was madness for me when I was waiting in line to get into the theater when they *weren't* checking tickets carefully; I can't imagine they have time to check ID for every patron entering the theater. Also it says only about 60 people were turned away, which seems low if they're making ID match the ticket. It's probably that the theater makes a list of tickets they've seen on reseller sites and invalidates them.
Updated On: 8/18/16 at 11:00 AM
Posted: 8/18/16 at 11:09am
Personally I don't think saying it is a gift when buying tickets is smart. There is definitely people out there that originally buyctickets for themselves but then cannot make it but their friends can. with what they have now it seems that they can easily give it to their friends and say it's a gift. Is it possible to change the name at the box office? Maybe some resellers do that.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 3:36pm
I don't know why the theaters don't adapt the methods of the ticket sellers. Sell a certain number at a particular price (if you want) but then keep a fair number at a variable price. This would allow folks who don't decide months in advance to purchase tickets - even at a higher price. This would allow the theaters to reap the benefits of higher prices. Certainly they can put together an appropriate system for such a scenario.
Rather than legislating scalpers away - beat them at their own game.
Posted: 8/18/16 at 8:15pm
The thing is people would still put the tickets on resell websites. First, because of the limited release of tickets months ahead theyll be less tickets for everyone, so people would get mad and end up buying tickets on the resell websites And then when they sell the other half of the tickets at more expensive, the resell websites would put those tickets at an even higher price than what they are currently at. I just think they need to reach out to people more about the issue. While yes it is their problem that they paid that much, but they paid tha much because they wanted to see it very bad, and not knowing it's not allowed. idk if it's even possible, but like they really should try to get stub hub and other website to not allow to sell tickets. They are really strict about the matter of reselling, but they don't even have anything big about it on their ticket info page. They hide a sentence about it at the very bottom under ticket returns, and it's the last sentence. They should at least put it near the top and make it clear. I think this a big issue, but I also think that HP should make it more known that reseller tickets aren't allowed, especially since a lot of people seeing this aren't huge theater fans. They are HP fans so they won't know much about these issues.
Updated On: 8/18/16 at 08:15 PM
Posted: 8/19/16 at 8:05am
I somewhat disagree with the contention that these ticket policies are "hidden". It's very clearly in their version of the FAQ, which itself is a top line link on every page. It's also addressed in almost every article about ticket availability, many of which appear after a quick Google search for "Cursed Child." More importantly, it's in the terms and conditions that is linked in the confirmation email sent to the original ticket holder. While I know most people don't read that, the purchase of tickets creates a contract between the buyer and seller, and those are the contract terms. It states that re-selling tickets for profit by anyone who is not authorized to sell the to kets will result in the cancellation of those tickets.
Posted: 8/19/16 at 7:48pm
Given how popular HP is, I'm very happy their ticket prices are very low. Selling tickets at very high prices isn't "beating scalpers at their own game." I support legislation that would prohibit bots.
http://deadline.com/2016/08/harry-potter-and-hamilton-take-on-plague-of-scalpers-1201805489/
Posted: 8/19/16 at 9:37pm
WHAT?!!! We purchased tickets off of stub hub UK in early June. Tickets are being sent to a cousin that lives in the UK- we are going to stay with her over Thanksgiving break, seeing the show thanksgiving Thursday and Friday. I will freak out if I haul my family over to London, only to be turned away. Fairly certain that my 10 year old will not recover from his devastation!!! His love of all things HP runs DEEP. I'm assuming that we will have actual tickets but now I am in full panic. Thoughts Should I just ask for a refund now rather than wait and see?
Posted: 8/19/16 at 11:13pm
JakeMiller said: "WHAT?!!! We purchased tickets off of stub hub UK in early June. Tickets are being sent to a cousin that lives in the UK- we are going to stay with her over Thanksgiving break, seeing the show thanksgiving Thursday and Friday. I will freak out if I haul my family over to London, only to be turned away. Fairly certain that my 10 year old will not recover from his devastation!!! His love of all things HP runs DEEP. I'm assuming that we will have actual tickets but now I am in full panic. Thoughts Should I just ask for a refund now rather than wait and see? "
I would ask the reseller to send you the confirmation email they received - the theater might consider it as proof of purchase and let you in. But you're still taking the risk that you might be turned away at the door.
Stubhub refunds your tickets if they turn out to be scams, but I'm not sure what their policy is for theaters that refuse to honor resold tickets. You should contact them regardless and see what your options are.
Posted: 8/19/16 at 11:16pm
This will hopefully put an end to scalpers.
Posted: 8/20/16 at 7:59am
I would also ask the seller to fill out a gift certificate from which you can find in FAQ section. Nimax's twitter mentioned that to get in you need the confirmation email and the gift certificate. (Just pretend the seller gave it to you as a gift)
Posted: 8/20/16 at 9:10am
Saw the show twice on my trip to London. They never checked my ID in any form or asked for one. I think they are actively monitoring and cancelling tickets listed on secondary market websites instead. When I was doing the cancellation line, the guy from the box office warned us that thieves might be there to steal tickets and sell them at an exorbitant price (it DID happen) to tourists. That's probably why we were required to print our names on the tickets in case of double booking or tickets being stolen. Strangely, they collect ticket stubs instead of scanning barcodes, which I think might make it easier for people to forge tickets and sell them to clueless buyers.
Posted: 8/22/16 at 1:47pm
According to anecdotal evidence from another website, they are employing different methods to determine where tickets were purchased and how much was paid. The obvious and stated method is by requiring the e-mail confirmation for pick-up. An anecdotal method is that in at least one instance, staff randomly (or maybe not-so-randomly) selected a ticket holder to inquire about when and where the ticket was purchased.
Personally, I am wondering how effective this is. A look at StubHub and eBay shows only handful of tickets available for performances of the play (unlike Hamilton, where scalpers managed to get a hold of over at least 30% of the ticket supply). Since getting tickets involved waiting in an online queue, I wonder if that played a significant role in the small number of tickets available on the secondary market. Since only 6 tickets could be purchased, and placement in the queue was random, that may have had a large impact. With such limited secondary market supply, I wonder if all this publicity is posturing for the upcoming Broadway production. They won't be able to offer the tickets as inexpensively as the West End production, so this serves as an "advance warning" for Broadway.
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