Ticket office Mess

[UNIMIS2001]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I don't know if I am proud to say that I got an MIS degree from UNI anymore with the way they can't MANAGE THEIR OWN TICKET INFORMATION!!!!!

Have some MIS majors work on a better ticketing system, considering the bar is as low as it is, it shouldn't be difficult to make it better.

[UNIPNTHR]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I would think that it would be worth every penny of investment to hire a big time firm to do it up right.

[joecooll6]

Re: Ticket office Mess

Were talking about a mid major university that only recently has had a high demand for tickets. I wouldnt expect them to have the ticketing capabilities of a professional team Newsy.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I don't think it's a physical capability issue, but rather an organizational issue.

Other schools deal with high ticket demand in identical situations every year. Do they have these problems? I hardly think a school like Montana can do anything UNI can't do.

[Cat80]

Re: Ticket office Mess

The ticket office has never had to field this many requests at one time. This is new to them and theyre doing the best they can. Give them a break.

NO. I called prior to the season ticketholder deadline and informed the order taker I was a PSC member and a season ticket holder. I confirmed I need not mail in my order that she had it. I showed up early Saturday and my tickets were a section over and 30 rows higher than my season ticket seats. It turns out the order taker did not write down that I was a season ticket holder. The manager of the ticket office exchange the tickets for closer seats, but still. Before I left I asked if my order for the next game was for my season ticket seats. She checked and they were not!!!! She changed it and marked my order as being for a season ticket holder and told me my season ticket seats were reserved for me for the next games. I'm going to call and confirm but it sounds like a cluster. I mean, the PSC survey states there are 646 season ticket accounts who are members of the PSC and these account for 2800 seats. If these accounts are screwed up I feel for everyone else out there.

[krusej23]

Re: Ticket office Mess

Another reason the ticket office has dropped the ball this year is the Iowa basketball game. They decide they are going to start giving them out to students over thanksgiving break while students wouldn't be there to get them. Then they decide to change that and say they will come up with another time to do it. The game is about a week away from today. I have not heard anything new with when or how they are going to give those tickets out. I also went online to the student ticketing site and got my ticket for this weekends basketball game. Why did they decide to start using this again? I thought that site was a great way of distributing the tickets.

Today when I went in to fill out my form for getting this weeks and next weeks football tickets, the majority of the line was season ticket holders or people that had ordered their tickets before and wanted to pick up their tickets. Little did they know that they would not get them until Wednesday. Just getting information out to people and not wasting their time of driving or walking there is one thing that I think the ticketing office has failed to do. I think they just have a terrible communication problem there. To send out an email telling students they could get their tickets on some day and then come back the next day and take that back is just unprofessional.

Another problem I have is all of the papers sitting in those offices with credit card numbers written on them. It would be a nightmare if somebody broke in or just took a couple out of there.

[ubuntuCAT]

Re: Ticket office Mess

Another reason the ticket office has dropped the ball this year is the Iowa basketball game. They decide they are going to start giving them out to students over thanksgiving break while students wouldn't be there to get them. Then they decide to change that and say they will come up with another time to do it. The game is about a week away from today. I have not heard anything new with when or how they are going to give those tickets out. I also went online to the student ticketing site and got my ticket for this weekends basketball game. Why did they decide to start using this again? I thought that site was a great way of distributing the tickets.

Today when I went in to fill out my form for getting this weeks and next weeks football tickets, the majority of the line was season ticket holders or people that had ordered their tickets before and wanted to pick up their tickets. Little did they know that they would not get them until Wednesday. Just getting information out to people and not wasting their time of driving or walking there is one thing that I think the ticketing office has failed to do. I think they just have a terrible communication problem there. To send out an email telling students they could get their tickets on some day and then come back the next day and take that back is just unprofessional.

Another problem I have is all of the papers sitting in those offices with credit card numbers written on them. It would be a nightmare if somebody broke in or just took a couple out of there.

Actually regaurding the Iowa game an email was sent out on Nov. 14th that students could reserve their tickets online or go to the ticket office and get a hard ticket. I do believe they are all taken by now

[joecooll6]

Re: Ticket office Mess

Another reason the ticket office has dropped the ball this year is the Iowa basketball game. They decide they are going to start giving them out to students over thanksgiving break while students wouldn't be there to get them. Then they decide to change that and say they will come up with another time to do it. The game is about a week away from today. I have not heard anything new with when or how they are going to give those tickets out.

The marketing office did send out another email the next day saying that you could either pick up the tickets in person at 2 or you could go online and do it if you wernt in town. There were plenty of people waiting at 2 so most of them did get the memo. I'm pretty sure that student tickets are sold out now so if you dont have them you're SOL.

[krusej23]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I just checked my email again and never got that email but I got the first email about it and all other emails from Nate Clayberg. My roommate also didn't get the email and gets the same emails I do from Nate. I don't know what was going on there but I never got it. I just think that the communication that the ticket office has with students and other general panther fans is pretty poor.

I just went to the online ticketing and got a student ticket to the iowa game for some reason so somebody must have backed out of their ticket recently.

[UNI05Alum]

Re: Ticket office Mess

You know, this REALLY shouldn't be so damn difficult. The ticket department should know damn well how many tickets are available to GA folks right now; because they should freaking have counted the reservations for round 2 BEFORE the tickets went on sale! Let's ASSUME there are 8,000 non-reserved seats (I have NO idea how many there truly were). That means to me that the first 8,000 GA folks should be able to walk in immediately when tickets went on sale for this round and pick up a physical ticket. On the same note, I believe that ANYONE who reserved tickets for round 2 in advance should have been able to pick up a hard ticket at the same time tickets in general were 'supposedly' on sale this a.m. I don't care honestly if my card has been charged yet or not; give me the damn ticket and then charge the card; if it doesn't go thru you know where to find me! OR why not simply ASK ME FOR MY CARD and charge me on the spot and take me off the 'unprocessed list'? This would be simple; except the fact that they are MANUALLY entering all of this information! In essence they have a big stack of papers with all our info piled up. They entered this info and charged the card before the first round. They also entered into the computer what rounds the person has reserved. It would seem then that this should be easy to move forward. It's not because they are STILL referring to paper lists of CC info and seating; NOT utilizing the computer fully! I just do not understand how we have such a cut-rate ticketing department. Also note; this is NOT the first time that Panther fans have complained about this, it is just more and more apparent with such a large event. Something procedurally has got to change in this department and fast. This department is in charge of accounting for roughly $300,000 in tickets for Saturday and close to the same number from last weekend; that ain't peanuts. NOT TO MENTION THAT THEY ARE CHARGING A $5.00 TRANSACTION FEE! It would sure be nice if they could at least earn that... Hell, if we're going to be charged a handling fee we might as well have Ticketmaster running the show on the GA tickets...

[run&blade]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I have purchased World Series tickets for the Twins several times and you pay for every ticket for every round in advance. If they don't make it they put the money back on your card.

My guess is there system is a bunch of systems both electronic and manual that can't be merged together for various reasons.

I have an Computer Science degree from UNI but I am not bragging about it today.

Thousands of teams/stadiums/universities have fully automated systems where everything is real time and can be done online. Heck you can ever print your tickets from home on many of these systems. That is what the bar code is for.

UNI needs to step up and purchase a modern system. With all the stadiums that already have them it shouldn't be a problem to check references and get a good system. It would save manpower and money in the long run.

Season ticket holders should have had the option to buy all playoff tickets and any extras they want a few weeks ago. After a cutoff date it should have been a online free for all for everybody else. This isn't rocket science it happens every day. These systems can be purchased and no doubt outsourced if they don't want to lay out the capital needed. They system should be able to zap all the credit cards in batch once they know the game is a fact. That way they wouldn't be out any fees.

Calling last week and reserving seats, only to wait until they call me back to give them my credit cart information is beyond stupid. What if I am not home? I lose my tickets? When I called today they could not confirm my order from last week, that is complete b.s. and any private company being run that way would have people fired. No way should this happen again period.

USHL hockey teams have systems in place that make UNI's look like flint and rock.

[Trapped in California]

Re: Ticket office Mess

Raise the tickets for next season a $1 to pay for the software. 5 home games X 12,000 average attendance (conservative estimate) = $60,000. That should buy an off the shelf package, or at least get a significant down payment.

Thoughts?

[UNIPMB31]

Re: Ticket office Mess

I hear and feel everyone's pain...but let me point some things out first

UNItix employs students - keeping your ticket costs down because they will work for less and it gives them good and bad experiences, both of which create a learning atmosphere, from working in a ticketing office and working with the Athletic Department. Students work 10-15 hours a week in between classes and around other jobs to make ends meet. Those of you comparing this tickets office to a professional ticket office are not thinking on the right level. They are a professional team - with adult employees who get paid a LOT more than the students here I bet. This in turn makes ticket prices go up. Go ahead - I dare you to buy a Basketball ticket through ticketmaster to Iowa or Iowa State for cheaper than UNI. If you want Ticketmaster - please think about how much the ticket prices will go up. UNI could have raised the ticket prices for the playoffs but luckily they didn't. You should be thankful instead of complaining. What is that we celebrated last week again?? Thanksgiving anyone? I'm thankful that my family stresses the importance of patience and understanding.

Season ticket people did have a deadline and from the sounds of it some season ticket holders are mad that they don't get their season tickets after the deadline. Well deadlines are deadlines. Order forms were available the week before the Nov. 10 game. So all of you that are complaining about waiting on the phone - just know that you had the option of taking care of this much earlier.

let's apply this to Christmas. Yes Best Buy will have a huge sale after Christmas and if they run out of your ridiculously over sized flat screen plasma TV with all the gizmo's and gadgets then you'll be mad right? right...I would be. But what if they told you that they are allowed to order from the main store in Des Moines or where ever as long as they had it in stock. Well if I wanted that TV I'd do whatever it took to get it. I'd fill that form out and hope and pray that I got it. I wouldn't be complaining to the employee about how bad of customer service they were giving me. I could have come in at 2am like the other people...but I like my nice warm bed. It's all about choices and taking responsibility for your actions. I feel more comfortable filling forms out with my information in person - not over the phone. From the lines that I've seen and been in at both locations - this seems to be the case for many people. So yes you could trust someone at the ticket office...granted they should be able to do the job they were hired for...but we are all human. Maybe they have a test tomorrow or in twenty minutes and they are stressed. Or maybe they have a meeting with the dean of their college to determine if they can successfully make it through a mock interview for their future job. Back off people. They are students!! Nothing is a guarantee...ever! Life is full of surprises and believe it or not - we are all human and we all make mistakes. If you didn't want things to be confusing then ask every question under the sun or ask to talk to another person if you don't feel comfortable with the one you are talking. Take responsibility for YOUR actions. You control those.

The easiest way to 'avoid' the ticket office is to get season tickets = true! They get their tickets printed on really cool paper with the players' faces in the background and they get coupons for Coldstone on the back. Who doesn't like to get some ice cream after an incredible Panther victory???

The easiest way to get the best seats = be a part of the Panther Scholarship Club. They love your money and treat you well! The perks are quite nice - parking, special pre-game shindigs and such. Try it - you'll be amazed.

For those of you who still aren't registering how hard their job must be...let's compare it to your job and then complain about your struggles on a blog.

So say you and your family wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for a nice meal. Well problem is - you just came right after a huge concert was released. The wait in line is 1.5 hours. Your kids really REALLY want to go....so being the very nice person that you are you wait and 2 hours later you finally get a table. Problem - The waitress is stressed because two employees didn't show up for their shifts so she's having to cover... welcome to campus. Students get sick because they live so close together. They have tests - school needs to come first as I'm sure your parents told you. Students were kicked out of the dorms the entire week last week - eliminating the majority of student employees everywhere on campus. Deal with it. The Panthers are winning - and it's been a sold out crowd almost the entire season!! This is amazing. Be responsible and do things for yourself instead of relying on others.

Over and out

[Kyle]

Re: Ticket office Mess

My experience with the ticket office has been 80% positive and 20% negative.

The problem is, 1/100 positive ticket experiences will be talked about, opposed to 3/4 of the negative experiences.

It's capitalism (or lack of) at it's finest. No competition and too many barriers to entry. The ticket office has little incentive to improve. Where else are you going to get tickets for UNI athletics? If it was run as a for-profit business, things would be different.

If you find a hair in your sandwich at Subway, you go to Blimpies, and you tell 10 friends to go to Blimpies too. If you get screwed at UNItix...you go back to UNItix, and tell 10 friends you got screwed...then they go to UNItix too.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Ticket office Mess

It is my experience that most of the complaints about ticketing here haven't been from season ticket holders at all, but rather those buying individual game tickets. I suppose I could complain that I've had my season tickets screwed up the first time twice in the past two years before they were finally right, but that's another issue and another thread.

It's great that the ticket office employs students, and that is probably a portion of the general communication issues. That only means a greater burden to properly organize and communicate on the professionals in that office. When it is announced that tickets will go on sale on Monday morning, but it really means Wednesday, and then something else in terms of when the tickets can be picked up, that's not on student workers. That's on their bosses.

A ticket office is the #1 connection and point of interaction between alumni and the general public and the Athletic Department. Problems like ALWAYS plague the ticket office (often with many excuses and very few tangible, noticeable changes) are absolutely unacceptable. The end result is one department's ineptitude results in a diminished reputation for a first rate University and Athletic Department.

Nobody is expecting all full-time professional employees. We're expecting professional levels of organization (I made the professional comparisons, to the SYSTEM of purchasing and paying for playoff tickets...that has NOTHING to do with student workers). We're not asking for Ticketmaster, we are asking for a capability that seemingly every other school at the Division I level has.

When working with the public, you FIRST have to think about and like the public. When Joe Schmoe and his family have gone to every UNI homegame for the first time ever this year, contributing to our record attendance, and just want to buy tickets for this game, they expect either to be able to do so, or to be told it's sold out. They don't expect to be told they'll be "called back if", they don't expect to get 3 different answers from 3 different people, they don't expect any of the problems we've discussed here...those problems make them think "what a 2nd rate organization" (and they're going to repeat that message.) They sure as hell don't care about excuses, no matter how good someone might think they are.