Fan Club letter....

Just got this off of the Nicks Fix...Most likely, if you're a fleetwood.com member you probably got this via email....


March 13, 2003

Our sincerest apologies for any trouble or stress the Ticket Presale may
have caused you. We believe the Ticketing Agencies have corrected the
problems which some Members may have experienced today.

YOU CAN STILL GET ADVANCE TICKETS and things should be easier tomorrow.
This letter explains what caused difficulties today and how we’ve fixed
the problems for you.

We exist as a Fan Club to bring you closer to the artists you love –
Fleetwood Mac. Please take a moment to read this note, John. We’ll
tell you how to provide feedback at the end of this letter. We want to
hear about your experience so we can learn more about how to make the
Club more valuable to you.

THE GOOD NEWS: As of 6:28 pm PST tonight, there are at least 300 and up
to 2,100 tickets available for you at EACH VENUE except Staples LA.
Furthermore, there are seats in ALL price levels in ALL venues that are
on sale with the exception of Staples in LA. (Staples has all levels
except the lowest price levels available and we expect to have more of
those open by tomorrow morning. – In fact, I just got on to Ticketmaster
and was offered Row 19 in Section 4 on the floor.)

Your presale continues until 9:00 pm PST on the 14th and you should have
no trouble getting something you want tonight and tomorrow morning.

THE GLITCHES: Three things happened beyond our control this morning
that we’ve corrected now. First, some Ticketmaster cities opened up at
9:00 am LOCAL time instead of 9:00 am PACIFIC time. This was an honest
mistake. Second, the number of connections caused system delays at
Ticketmaster. This caused lots of our Members to hold tickets ready to
buy at the same time. New Members signing on therefore saw few or no
choices. Third, some venues that were supposed to have public blocks
open this morning didn’t have them available immediately, giving the
illusion that they were sold out or only had limited seating. We’ve
fixed all these problems.

ABOUT THE FUTURE: We’ll make changes for the next presale which I’m
confident will meet with your approval. We’ll lighten the big hit on
Ticketmaster by starting future sales at 9:00 am local time. This
staggers Members. We’ll verify open seats earlier with Ticketmaster so
the whole block goes up early. These systems are big and complex.
Nothing we do can guarantee that everything always runs smoothly. But
for tonight and tomorrow, you should have a much easier experience at
Ticketmaster and Tickets.com.

The response for tickets from Fan Club members today was simply
overwhelming! In fact, there was so much activity this morning that
some of you were unable to get on to Ticketmaster or get the seats you
wanted. I’m thrilled to see that many of you have scored exceptional
seats and that you’re happy with your club. Our concern now is to
provide any of our Members who have experienced problems with a
solution.

If you want to share your experience or provide suggestions, please
visit the Chat Room at www.MickFleetwood.com and choose NEWS. Add your
thoughts to existing threads or start your own topic. We’ll check often
so we’re sure we’re hearing you!

Finally, we’re trying to return Hotline (818.917.6479) phone calls and
answer email, but the volume makes reaching everyone impossible. We’ll
read EVERY email you have sent next week, but can’t reply to all. We
hope you understand that our focus needs to be on the presale tomorrow
and the future and we’ll be working to keep everything running as
smoothly as possible.

Again, our heartfelt apology for any inconvenience today. Errors were
in systems beyond our control. We do have a block of great tickets set
aside for you for tonight and tomorrow. Best of Luck in snagging the
seats you want!

Regards,

Jonathan Todd
Director

Kelly, Carol, Laura, Kelli, Girshon, Delayne and your Club Staff!

[Mad4stevie]

Inconvenience??? Please . . . .

Where is the explanation for the fact that my login was invalid and I couldn't participate in the presale?

I want an explanation for that!!!

[CarneVaca]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by joe
Three things happened beyond our control this morning
that we’ve corrected now. First, some Ticketmaster cities opened up at 9:00 am LOCAL time instead of 9:00 am PACIFIC time. This was an honest mistake.

This one made me chuckle because it is such a thin attempt at justifying boneheadedness that the justification itself veers into the realm of stupidity. So what's beyond their control? The fact that local times differ from Pacific time unless you happen to be in Pacific time? Or is it that they were expecting non-Pacific time Ticketmaster outlets to open at Pacific time, meaning noon in the east? Or is it that they were somehow planning to make local and Pacific times happen simultaneously but somehow it didn't happen because of a "glitch." What, a computer "glitch?" Seems to me time zones functioning as they should is not a "glitch."

Also, what is an "exceptional seat?" Is a chair that takes exception at your sitting on it?

Lastly, if they were making promises to provide preferred seats (I don't know anything about exceptional seats, mind you) to club members, should they have not made arrangements with Ticketmaster to set aside a block of seats in these venues and hold them for club members? Then they could have sold whatever the club members didn't use to the general public. Why bother joining the fan club then?

Hey, I'm not even a club member, but I hate to see people get bamboozled.

[David]

Originally posted by CarneVaca
Hey, I'm not even a club member, but I hate to see people get bamboozled.

I do, too, although this whole theatre of the absurd is something I'm enjoying in a sick, twisted sort of way.

Fleetwood Mac Fan Club 1978 ---- The tripe.
Stevie Nicks Fan Club 1983 ---- The bunk.
Fleetwood Mac Fan Club 1990 --- The sting.
Mick Fleetwood Fan Club 2003 --- The sham.

To quote Pete Seeger, "When will they ever learn?/When will they ever learn?"