6/26/10 Gilford, NH Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion

[Elvis]

Yeah, it should be interesting to see how PAID tickets compare to what Ticketmaster has to offer. At least with PAID, for this concert, you're guaranteed first 15 row, or first 6 if you go for the VIP package.

I'm only guessing here, but they probably can't give you exact seat numbers yet because they need to see how many VIP packages they sell first. They'll probably start filling the first 6 rows with VIP packages in the order they receive them, then if there is still room, finish filling up to row 6 with the non-VIP seats in the order they received them. The only question is how much time do they allow for VIP orders to get in before they start assigning non-VIP seats? Their terms and agreements say "Best seating locations are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis" so I would imagine it would't be too long. I would think if you ordered when the tickets first went on sale, you should be good for somewhere in the first 6 rows. Worst case, row 7 or 8, depending if they sell out of VIP packages super quickly.

I still don't like the fact that a VIP package costs almost $75 more then a non-VIP ticket, especially for the minimal, cheap, extras you get, so I probably wouldn't order VIP unless there's a really good reason to.

Dave

[NH Weird Al Fan]

I called the customer service number listed on the presale website this morning, and I talked to a PAID representative (she was VERY pleasant! ). She said that the venue doesn't release the tickets or seat numbers to them until about 3 weeks before the concert, and that is when they will assign the seats to the people who purchased during the presale. Dave, your suggestion seems right...they probably have the first few rows set aside for VIP, and the non-VIP ticket holders will get filled into the remaining seats on a first come, first served basis.

Unfortunately, I waited until about 10:30 before I finally decided to go ahead and buy the tickets. I am not thrilled with having to wait 3 months to get my tickets in order to find out where the heck I'll be sitting, but I decided to take a chance and hope for the best.

Dave, I agree with you about the VIP tickets; they are WAY too expensive for what you get. It's just not worth it to me to spend that much, especially since I am buying 4 tickets (me + hubby + 2 kids).

[Alinite27]

Yeah, I hope we're all glad that we got rid of ArtistArena now...

It's much better to have a ticket company that won't tell you where you're sitting...I've always hated any situations that are like that...

Don't know what will be best to do, really don't like the fact that you could be as far back as Row 15, and even possibly in Sections A or C. At least ArtistArena would offer you good seats, albeit they had a few problems. But, who doesn't? Oh well, this is what we got.

Now, it's just time for me to make my decision...No idea what to do...

[TMBJon]

Yeah, I hope we're all glad that we got rid of ArtistArena now... Oh well, this is what we got... No idea what to do...

Always something to complain about...

[Alinite27]

Thanks for pulling all negative parts of my post, Jon...clever editing there my friend...

I beg anyone to find a positive in any of this, and tell me where this positive point is sitting, right now...not two weeks before the show...

Also, I don't understand what it is about only being able to send tickets out two weeks before the event. When you're out on the road, it's hard to get those tickets...Yes, I know ArtistArena was the same way...just don't understand the whole shipping process at all...If this company was so much better, it should been a different policy...

[Elvis]

Give them a chance. They handle tickets for Aerosmith and other big names. It's not their first day on the job. I went through the whole order process, except submitting the actual order, just to get a feel and if you read all the text, they address the standard concerns.

Seating locations for all tickets secured through this Presale Program are the best offered by the show promoter, and we have made every effort to ensure that they are as good or better than those offered by the Promoter to the general public.

It was never certain with Artist Arena that you were getting the best seats available. It was a crap shoot whether you went with them or took your chances with Ticketmaster. At least now you know you're getting the best.

Best seating locations are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

That's exactly how Ticketmaster, or pretty much any ticket place, works. And they're pulling your tickets from a ticket pool that's "as good or better" than anyone else, so in that respect, it's better than Ticketmaster who are pulling from a way larger ticket pool. And to be honest, unless you're front row dead center, then there's really little difference if you're sitting anywhere in the front section at an Al concert.

Plus the fact that, again, they handled other artists before. I'm sure they have a model in place to assign seats. They probably have a good idea that the fans who seek out presales, are the fans that are most opinionated about what constitutes "best seats" and would assign seats accordingly.

If you have any special seating requests (aisle seat, etc.), please include these in the COMMENTS section on the last page of the checkout.

So, if you like the aisle, or only on the left section of the theater, or no closer than 3rd row, or even number seats, or anywhere except next to Elvis, it sounds like they're willing to accommodate that best they can. For this concert they even provided a seating chart, or the tourography has seating charts too.

All Premium Tickets will be shipped Priority Mail to ensure delivery at least two weeks prior to show date.

It's at least 2 weeks, so they could be shipped sooner. I think Ticketmaster says something like 2 weeks before also but they never take that long. Also, on checkout, it gives you an option to ship to another address than from the one placing the order, so if you know you'll be out of town for an extended period, just have them shipped someplace else. Or if you find out later you'll be out of town, call or email customer service to make alternate shipping arrangements.

I guess if you need to know your exact seat number immediately then you have to order through Ticketmaster or other means, but I don't know, while it's nice to know the exact seat number, I personally never was too concerned as long as I knew approximately where I was sitting. A lot of times I didn't really even bother to see where my exact seats were until I got to the theater.

Are they perfect? No. Are they at least as good as Ticketmaster? So far I haven't seen anything to say otherwise. I'll willing to give them benefit of the doubt until they give me reason not to. My only complaint so far is the huge price difference between non-VIP and VIP and the lackluster items in the VIP package, but I have a feeling that Al's people had much more input on that, than PAID's people did.

Dave

[NH Weird Al Fan]

Also, I don't understand what it is about only being able to send tickets out two weeks before the event. When you're out on the road, it's hard to get those tickets...Yes, I know ArtistArena was the same way...just don't understand the whole shipping process at all...If this company was so much better, it should been a different policy...

That was the main reason that I did not want to buy tickets from Artist Arena back in 2008. My family and I were going to spend extra time before and after the concert up in the Lakes Region of NH, where Meadowbrook is located. Artist Arena's policy said the tickets would arrive 1 week before the show, and I wasn't sure if we'd even be home at that time. Also, I was buying tickets for 15 other people so that we could sit near each other. I would not have been able to get their tickets to them on time, either. I ended up buying all of the tickets directly from the venue in 2008, and I had all of the tickets in my hands one week later.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the norm for these 3rd party "fan club" ticketing services to mail tickets 1 or 2 weeks before the event. Interestingly, I asked Meadowbrook in 2008 if they really wait that long to release the tickets to the fan club service...they said no, they release them only a couple of weeks after the presale is over!

I'm not sure why I decided to buy from PAID this year, especially without knowing the exact seat location. I guess I was afraid that all of the seats in the first 15 rows would be gone by the time Meadowbrook's presale comes along later this week. At this point, there's no way of knowing just how many seats were set aside for the Weird Al presale through PAID. Also, as Dave pointed out above, PAID's website said that they really try to ensure that the tickets they sell are "as good or better" than those available to the general public. I also spoke with a PAID customer service representative before I bought my tickets, and she was VERY pleasant and helpful. She even gave me her name and said I could call her back if I had more questions. Overall, I got the impression that PAID knows what they are doing better than Artist Arena.

[Alinite27]

Thanks for that post Dave. Definitely eased off a lot of concerns. Especially that they're tickets were better than what is available to the public. And the fact that you can actually choose where you sit. The thing I think I freaked out about was the wide selection of, "oh, we'll sit you somewhere within 15 rows." But, since it's better than what's available to the public.

Another concern, though, is the outrageous shipping price of $6. With this Gilford concert, that makes it at least $6.75 more than the regular tickets. Maybe they actually would be premium then.

[TMBJon]

Thanks for pulling all negative parts of my post, Jon...clever editing there my friend...

LOL are you joking dude? It was obvious from the ellipses that I was snipping parts of your post out. It's not like I was claiming that you said something you did not say. I wouldn't call it "clever editing" to demonstrate that you were bitching about a huge favor that was done on behalf of the fans. I was just pointing out that Jay Levey received criticism from the fans and then fired their ticketing agency and replaced them with a much better one, better for all the reasons Dave just pointed out. This is all anyone could ever ask for from their favorite artist. We had a problem, voiced it to the management, and the problem was resolved.

[NH Weird Al Fan]

Just scored Section B, Front Row!
(and at face value!)

Yes, I know, I also bought tickets from PAID yesterday. There are several friends and neighbors I know that I might be able to sell them to, and my son has several jr. high classmates who love Weird Al. If it's too hard to find a buyer 2 weeks before the concert I can also donate them to a local charity and take the tax deduction. I did that back in 2008; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of NH were very excited to get the tickets.