*** OFFICIAL *** Front Gate FAILURE Thread, Presale 2015 Edition

[ReasonableDoubt]

The only recommendation I have for Golden Voice is to set up a booth at the Festival...and do the presale on site.

This is stupid...

[subby33]

The only recommendation I have for Golden Voice is to set up a booth at the Festival...and do the presale on site.

thoughts?

Okay. So my friends who come from London, Sydney, Boston, and Canada can no longer go . . . and some have been going close to 10 years.

No thanks.

[Miroir Noir]

Nothing would make for a better Coachella experience than waiting in line at Coachella to get passes for the next Coachella.

[amyzzz]

Ugh.

[zeppelin77]

I really like Glastonbury's system of pre-registering with a passport-style photo and upon entering the festival grounds they check your ticket which has your picture printed on it. Then, if everything adds up, they lock a wristband onto your wrist. It's probably severely cut down on scalpers.

Obviously, GV doesn't need to change anything. They're selling out the festival. They have no real incentive to invest more money in a better system, but I think they do *care* a little bit about alienating festival-goers. Glastonbury's system is a lot of infrastructure, from the pre-registration with passport photos (they need to be individually approved and they must get 100s of thousands of applicants) to the gate workers who check each individual ticket and manually lock the wristband onto your wrist.

Here's my suggestion:
-- 2 wristband limit for each buyer
-- No wristbands are sent out
-- They use Tennis Garden as the pick-up location. (yes, they'll have to hire a few more people. If they raise the price by $1 that's ~$150k to hire additional staffing).
-- Swipe your CC to confirm your order (similar to Ticketmaster's Ticketless system). You get your wristband and a +1 if you ordered one.
-- They immediately install the wristband onto the buyer's wrist.
-- Key is to have enough staff to keep the wait time short.
-- Yes, it's possible to remove the wristband. Maybe they can use Glastonbury's massive metal staple. That one cannot be removed without cutting the wristband. In either case, it will make it harder for scalpers.
--This will also cut down on fake wristbands.

[gswhooper]

Nothing would make for a better Coachella experience than waiting in line at Coachella to get passes for the next Coachella.

Exactly.

[gswhooper]

I really like Glastonbury's system of pre-registering with a passport-style photo and upon entering the festival grounds they check your ticket which has your picture printed on it. Then, if everything adds up, they lock a wristband onto your wrist. It's probably severely cut down on scalpers.

Obviously, GV doesn't need to change anything. They're selling out the festival. They have no real incentive to invest more money in a better system, but I think they do *care* a little bit about alienating the festival-goers. Glastonbury's system is a lot of infrastructure, from the pre-registration with passport photos (they need to be individually approved and they must get 100s of thousands of applicants) to the gate workers who check each individual ticket and manually lock the wristband onto your wrist.

Here's my suggestion:
-- 2 wristband limit for each buyer
-- No wristbands are sent out
-- They use Tennis Garden as the pick-up location. (yes, they'll have to hire a few more people. If they raise the price by $1 that's ~$150k to hire additional staffing).
-- Swipe your CC to confirm your order (similar to Ticketmaster's Ticketless system). You get your wristband and a +1 if you ordered one.
-- They immediately install the wristband onto the buyer's wrist.
-- Key is to have enough staff to keep the wait time short.
-- Yes, it's possible to remove the wristband. Maybe they can use Glastonbury's massive metal staple. That one cannot be removed without cutting the wristband. In either case, it will make it harder for scalpers.
--This will also cut down on fake wristbands.

I think you're under estimating the amount of time and money that would be needed to do all this.

[zeppelin77]

I think you're under estimating the amount of time and money that would be needed to do all this.

I admit, it'll be quite a bit and annoying for festival-goers. But Ticketmaster's Ticketless system is pretty efficient and fast. The only real additional task is to install the wristband on the buyer.

[dj12inches]

I think you're under estimating the amount of time and money that would be needed to do all this.

Yes....and the lines are long enough just to get IN to the festival sometimes.

Why can't they just stick to their policy of only allowing 2 wristbands per shipping address? I don't think it would be hard to write that into the system - to deny an order if one was already placed with the same address.

I don't think they enforce this at all.

BTW - Frontgate was very nice today on the phone and switched me to a payment plan with absolutely no hassle.

[zeppelin77]

What if you live in a house with roommates?

Line getting in this year was fine. Didn't wait more than 10 minutes. But most of the lag is due to the pat downs and bag checks.

Yes....and the lines are long enough just to get IN to the festival sometimes.

Why can't they just stick to their policy of only allowing 2 wristbands per shipping address? I don't think it would be hard to write that into the system - to deny an order if one was already placed with the same address.

I don't think they enforce this at all.

BTW - Frontgate was very nice today on the phone and switched me to a payment plan with absolutely no hassle.

[Archie Bunker]

I think my biggest problem with all of this shit is that this is clearly now a lottery and they aren't advertising it as such. Show up at 10, get in line, and we'll randomly choose you to have the privilege to purchase tickets. If it's a lottery, say it's a fucking lottery. To sit in a waiting room for 90 minutes, being told the whole time that "your chances are looking good", only to get to the purchase page and be told that tickets are gone is fucking stupid.

Even though I have tickets, this has left a really sour taste in my mouth. I'm already on the fence about going, and this doesn't help. At the same time, I guess they don't need my business any more anyway.

For once, the capt and I are in full agreement.

All of the "status messages" on the wait room page are a lie.

The statements of "You're getting close, chances are looking good" and "It's not looking good for you to get tickets for this weekend" are just approximations, and not indicative at all of your actual situation.

Those statements are based upon a formula. Basically, if there are relatively few people in the queue, it will assume you will probably get through to get tickets, so it reports you as being "close". However, if a bunch of people show up in the waiting room after that, you will no longer be "close", which makes the message highly misleading.

The negative messages that "chances aren't looking good" are also not proper, because it makes it look like they will sell out before your place in line is reached. In reality, your "chances" are based upon the number of tickets left versus the number of people waiting, but it's still a random drawing, so you always have a shot. While their statement could be said to be legally accurate, it's very misleading.

Finally, sometimes it will be reported sold out, when in reality there will be tickets becoming available when certain people time out from purchasing them. They should make a distinction between "mostly sold out" and "actually fully sold out".

It's also dishonest of them to promote the waiting list as an actual waiting list, when they should remind everyone that it's a random lottery, and that it's not at all based upon the amount of time you're waiting. At 11:00am, for example, a person waiting since 10:00am has the same chance of getting through as someone who just joined the waiting room at 10:59am.

[Archie Bunker]

I appreciate the comment, but it's not too much work for Glastonbury, and they have a higher attendance record than Coachella. What they have to gain from it was listed in my original post---eliminate or at least minimize scalpers so real fans can get tickets each year without getting screwed on cost.


http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/27/glasto...d-low-3860086/

http://www.kgbanswers.co.uk/how-many...h-year/3677474

It's a ton of work for Glastonbury.

For whatever reason, they decide to do it this way regardless. That's their decision, but you can't expect Front Gate to invest immense resources into this. Furthermore, the Glastonbury system isn't perfect, as it makes life miserable for people who want to buy tickets for friends/family, or who want to give their tickets away last-minute when they suddenly can't make it.

It's not going to happen. Front Gate will probably fix their system (to some degree) in January, but that's about it.

[TeamCoachellaHellYeah]

Okay. So my friends who come from London, Sydney, Boston, and Canada can no longer go . . . and some have been going close to 10 years.

No thanks.

just locked out of the sale? Tickets usually become available closer to the date.

[Archie Bunker]

You could use the random selection from this group. But, do not let people who log in 5 minutes later go ahead. That is how they are *not* doing it.

100% THIS.

They are doing random selection in order to thwart scalper bots from hammering the system at exactly 10:00am and getting most of the tickets.

Fine.

But there also has to be some sanity to the process. There are ways to still make it random, yet give preference to the earlier people. They are employing no such algorithms.

All they do here is piss people off when customers show up promptly at 10:00am, wait for 2 hours without success, and find out that their co-worker who logged in at 11:45 got tickets within 5 minutes.

[baily]

Love how some of you knock ideas...but you don't have one single solution

any fuckhead can complain...it's the ability to try and create solutions is where intelligence comes in...

what are your ideas...as many feel the current situation doesn't work

I don't know why I'm asking and expecting intelligent answers....it'll never happen here

[Archie Bunker]

Love how some of you knock ideas...but you don't have one single solution

any fuckhead can complain...it's the ability to try and create solutions is where intelligence comes in...

what are your ideas...as many feel the current situation doesn't work

I don't know why I'm asking and expecting intelligent answers....it'll never happen here

I have lots of solutions -- both from a technical and conceptual standpoint.

Tell Front Gate to hire me as a contractor and I will clean this shit up once and for all. Not joking.

I don't really need a job or the money, but I am totally serious about doing this if they want an expert to take care of this fiasco.

[GuyInTucson]

You fucking dweebs who have been attending Coachella for the past 3 years or longer have no reason to complain about this.

[kvnty]

Even though I have tickets, this has left a really sour taste in my mouth. I'm already on the fence about going, and this doesn't help. At the same time, I guess they don't need my business any more anyway.

I'm right there with you.

[captncrzy]

Love how some of you knock ideas...but you don't have one single solution

any fuckhead can complain...it's the ability to try and create solutions is where intelligence comes in...

what are your ideas...as many feel the current situation doesn't work

I don't know why I'm asking and expecting intelligent answers....it'll never happen here

You may be the most delusional person on this board.

[PJandBompton]

You fucking dweebs who have been attending Coachella for the past 3 years or longer have no reason to complain about this.

shouldn't we be the ones who have a right to complain???

[Archie Bunker]

Anyone who says that the loyal customer base doesn't have a right to complain about a comically-inept, unfair presale is absolutely clueless.

This was a royal screw up.

[TomAz]

Love how some of you knock ideas...but you don't have one single solution

any fuckhead can complain...it's the ability to try and create solutions is where intelligence comes in...

what are your ideas...as many feel the current situation doesn't work

I don't know why I'm asking and expecting intelligent answers....it'll never happen here

physician, heal thyself.

[Somewhat Damaged]

Why can't they just stick to their policy of only allowing 2 wristbands per shipping address? I don't think it would be hard to write that into the system - to deny an order if one was already placed with the same address.

You do realize that there are households where more than 2 separate people who can afford and wish to attend Coachella may be interested in purchasing tickets and having them delivered to their home, yes? Or is this a completely foreign concept to you?

[funkiliserd]

I have a pair of passes for weekend 2.
email me for more info
lo.lise@gmail.com

Thanks all.

[PlayaDelWes]

LOL, I was able to add this to my cart just now. Wrong on so many levels.

[PlayaDelWes]

For those still looking for car camping, give it a try....

https://coachella-weekend1.frontgate...bfrmil314r2z86

[PlayaDelWes]

Tent camping anyone?
https://coachella-weekend1.frontgate...9akgo9idr5hfmd

[guedita]

We need a snazzy name to rival "the reddit ticket link!"

[Miroir Noir]

(SOLD OUT)

[Apache]

car camping is still available. wow. I might actually get that.