World of Weird Al Yankovic

Anyone else going to Washington D.C. for the XM interview?

And...... yesterday, I finally received my missing two laminates and lithographs. Oh, they didn't just arrive magically, I had to pry them out of Artist Arena.

I sent an email on 7/9. No response. I sent a follow up email on 7/16. I received a response on 7/18 that said they would be mailed that day, or at the latest Monday. On 7/25, I still had not received them, so I sent another email. On 7/30 I received the package, and finally received a response asking if I had received the package yet as it was shipped on 7/21. This was a lie. I checked the post mark, and the date it was shipped was 7/28. On top of that, the post mark said it was mailed from New York City, approximately 15 miles away. Besides, there is no way a package takes 9 days to travel 15 miles. If it was shipped on 7/21, I should have received it 7/22, or possibly as late as 7/23 depending on what time of the day it was shipped.

Keep in mind, I never should have had to even send one email. I should have received them along with the first two they sent way back on 6/19! When I purchase something online, I expect it to be shipped in a reasonable amount of time, without having to hold the hand of whoever is shipping it, and especially without being lied to.

I can't tell you how to spend your money, but my personal recommendation is to stay the hell away from Artist Arena. I will be. Purchase your tickets any other way possible -- go to the box office, call the venue, use Ticketmaster, whatever! Trust me, the stress and hassle of dealing with Artist Arena isn't worth it. As overpriced as Ticketmaster is, they never once screwed up my order, and I've never had to contact them for any reason.

Dave

Jeez Dave, your trouble with Artist Arena is outrageous. For the money you spent they should be bending over backwards to make you folks happy. I bought 3 tickets from them for Al's concert in NH and I didn't have any trouble, got 10th row aisle seats and ended up with Al singing to me. BUT, I just bought regular tickets so they didn't have anything more to mess up than getting the tickets themselves to me. I guess adding the VIP to the order is more than they can cope with. I'm sorry that they put you through such crap.
Cindy

Did I mention I hate Artist Arena?

Just got a phone call. They screwed up my OC Fair order. They sold me tickets that don't exist. So I had a choice of sitting in the same seats for Saturday¹ or them finding me "comparable" seats for the Friday show "that will be no worse than the ones I have."². No worse, but they couldn't tell me where.



My fault for buying from Artists Arena, even though I knew better. I feel like Phyllis Weaver... STUPID! I'M SO STUPID! Never again. Smurf you Artist Arena. Smurf you.

Dave

¹The same seats that don't exist on Fridays, but somehow magically appear on Saturdays only.
²but don't have.

Elvis wrote:¹The same seats that don't exist on Fridays, but somehow magically appear on Saturdays only.

Haha, did you ask them how this was possible?<sup>1


1</sup> I'm glad you're keeping up with the footnoting.

Wow, I sure hope either Al or Bermuda reads this. It's probably happening to many people... NOT COOL.

TMBJon wrote:

Elvis wrote:¹The same seats that don't exist on Fridays, but somehow magically appear on Saturdays only.

Haha, did you ask them how this was possible?

No point. They lie.¹

Dave

¹Rossi, D. (2008, July 31). World Of Weird Al Yankovic Forum. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from viewtopic.php?p=606233#p606233

LOL- Love your references, Dave. Nice job!

Just an FYI: Jay Levey is working on this issue. It is definitely a strange problem that originated with Artist Arena and not Al or Jay (no surprise there). Keep posting about this issue or any other problems with Artist Arena. Jay says he was not aware of any difficulties and wants to know the details. I will be relaying your messages.

Dave, check your e-mail, please.
Vikki

Thanks for bringing thing to Jay's attention, Vikki!

I know the ticket industry is a whole different animal full of cheats and con men, but this type of customer service wouldn't go over in my industry. If we didn't deliver what we promised to our customers, we would be subject to lawsuits, fines, and have a huge public relations nightmare unfold in the newspapers. It would take us years to recover our image.

If we screw up and sell something that we don't have, we're out of luck and have to honor it, and of course, eat any losses. There's no going back to the customer and saying "We screwed up, here are your options." Once it's sold, it is what it is.

Dave

Agreed!

And that's what Jay is telling them to do--everyone is supposed to be told that Al and his management had no knowledge of this screw up, and that if the customer wishes to have the Friday seats, if they aren't given their same seats, the seats they get are supposed to be "as good or better" than what they had before. Saying "no worse than what you had before" isn't the same thing.
--V