I broke into Glasto....

[smog]

With the size of the festival it wouldn't be any extra hassle to implement a safe way of getting lost and stolen tickets replaced. Its 2009 not 1953.

It must have been a nightmare putting up with the ticketmaster bloke. Really pleased you got in!

[kerplunk]

absolutely agree! But some think hell would freeze over before this would happen!

It needs to be at least proven robust on a smaller scale before it gets used at the biggest festival in the world I think. Neil has referred to the issues at Solfest last year and I've also witnessed the sight of anxious faces huddled around a laptop (as the queue goes nowhere) at another small festival that tried out a bar-code system.

If it were your responsibility would you go for such a system at glasto where a 100,000 people turned up on day one this year? nah I think you're throat would go dry and you're apparent confidence would evaporate (along with your concern for the odd lost ticket) if you were in that hot seat!

the current system is robust to:

power outages

wet weather

lightning strikes

malicious attacks

it would be folly to opt for a system that doesn't tick those boxes imo.

[Hello... I'm Johnny Cash]

Jesus, talk about over thinking something!

Clearly out of 170,000 odd thousand people some people going to be in the OP's situation, through their own fault or not - I don't think it really matters. That’s what you're dealing with when you're selling tickets to 170,000 fallible humans.

With the amount of data they have on you and the fact that theoretically nobody else can get in on your ticket, I don't see why they can't have a senior / management type person with the authority to make a decision on a case by case basis. I've got quite a lot of experience in customer services and it's normally pretty easy to tell the difference between someone on the blag and someone that’s being genuine, most people just aren't that good at acting or lying.

[marktea]

Do people not realise that by saying 'no ticket, no entry', they are not just being arsey, they are trying to protect US - the fans and attendees of the festival?

I'm finding it hard to comprehend that some folks are saying that no matter how disorganised people are, the blame should come down to Glastonbury, not the individual.

There have been years of trials attempting to find the easiest, most efficient plausable way to ensure everyone who has bought a ticket can get through the gates as quickly and as safely as possible.

And let's say someone has lost their ticket (like poor Doomz here - bless you mate, I bet you didn't think this thread would kick off quite this much!! ) it doesn't matter if the photos are A4 size, a 3D hologram, or comes with the Axel F tune when you fold over the page, if you lose it, it's gone.

There has to be a line where people have to accept their own responsibilities for things. A Glastonbury ticket - when passed to the hands of the customer - becomes the responsibility of that customer. I honestly don't understand why people think this system needs to be changed when it's just about impossible to exploit if you've taken enough care of your possessions.

If Verucca Salt can keep her golden ticket safe, there's hope for us all.

I know what you mean about the 'spirit of Glastonbury' but if everything was in that spirit, there'd be a 3 foot high hedge around the fence and the organisers would just trust the public to know when the site was too full for any more, and hope they had the same 'Glasto spirit' and walked away. As we've seen from some of this year's horror stories on these boards, not everyone is blessed with the 'Glasto spirit'. The system is there to protect us as well as the organisers.

I don't know how much more simple people want things other than 'no ticket, no entry'.

[Spuddy]

To those people who are proposing some sort of electronic system, how much do you think it would cost?

£10,000, £100,000, £1,000,000 ?

And what's the fall back system if it stops working? This is quite a high risk given its temporary nature, the fact that it has to be set up just prior to going online, and the fact it can be affected by weather etc.

And are you aware that *all* computer systems, even when working well have their own reliability issues? Think of the yearly ticket-buying process. This is in principle a very simple system, but every year a significant number of people have to phone up and speak to a real person because of things that go wrong.

Even with a pretty much perfect system, people would still be required to operate it, so it's inevitable there would be errors made and therefore a need for people who can deal with queries etc. Much like the present system really.

[Mardy]

To those people who are proposing some sort of electronic system, how much do you think it would cost?

£10,000, £100,000, £1,000,000 ?

[Mardy]

seriously, I'm struggling to think of anything else other than some concerts that require an original paper ticket.

[ThomThomDrum]

To those people who are proposing some sort of electronic system, how much do you think it would cost?

£10,000, £100,000, £1,000,000 ?

And what's the fall back system if it stops working? This is quite a high risk given its temporary nature, the fact that it has to be set up just prior to going online, and the fact it can be affected by weather etc.

[Spuddy]

seriously, I'm struggling to think of anything else other than some concerts that require an original paper ticket.

[pedmills]

An idea that is probably too time consuming but I'll say it anyway

Each ticket has a number on it.

If you lose the ticket then you call up the festival and say you've lost your ticket.

They make a note that the number of the original lost ticket.

They give everybody at the gate a list of all the cancelled ticket numbers.

Each ticket is checked against the list, if your number is on the list then you can't get in.

Problems are though:

1. You could still sell the ticket and then cancel it, making you twice the bastard.

2. Very time consuming if a lot of cancelled tickets.

3. Won't help someone if they realise they've lost it on the tues night or wed morning.

[-pogo-]

Me : Mr Bank Manager I have lost my bank card.

BM : Oh thats terrible.

Me : I'd need to withdraw some of my money.

BM : Oh I'm sorry but you dont have a bank card to do so.

Me : But you know who I am, here is all my information.

BM : But your bank card is what we gave you to grant you access to the funds.

etc..

The above is quite stupid but its the same as the £1000 argument and comparing to the ticket. Your not buying the piece of paper. Your buying access to the festival.

[ThomThomDrum]

An idea that is probably too time consuming but I'll say it anyway

Each ticket has a number on it.

If you lose the ticket then you call up the festival and say you've lost your ticket.

They make a note that the number of the original lost ticket.

They give everybody at the gate a list of all the cancelled ticket numbers.

Each ticket is checked against the list, if your number is on the list then you can't get in.

Problems are though:

1. You could still sell the ticket and then cancel it, making you twice the bastard.

2. Very time consuming if a lot of cancelled tickets.

3. Won't help someone if they realise they've lost it on the tues night or wed morning.

[pedmills]

You can do the same thing with a barcode scanner, with the barcode being the "number" and its a lot quicker

[ThomThomDrum]

Please no more suggestions for an electronic system, it is not an option anymore.

Edited July 10, 2009 by ThomThomDrum

[Mardy]

Hasn't it been established that this would need some kind of gate-wide computer system, which cannot be used just in case it fails?

If just it failed at one of the gates then nobody would be allowed in, thus causing havoc. Glastonbury don't want to risk havoc.

Please no more suggestions for an electronic system, it is not an option anymore.

[cejx]

Please no more suggestions for an electronic system, it is not an option anymore.

[rockstar1967uk]

They tried to implement something similar at t in the park a couple of year back scanning tickets whether folk were either "IN" or "OUT " and their was alot of problems with it probably mostly down to stewards not having a clue how to work the handheld scanners. I think they have ditched it now and only scan the day tickets

[markeee]

Oh and sympathies to the predicament of the OP. Two of our regulars got let down by Royal Mail and thus sadly had to miss this year's festival. They didn't even throw their own tickets away. Gutting.

[Prest02000]

How the hell do you manage to throw away your glasto tickets anyway

[dougied]

This has all got way over-complicated.

This is the situation. The guy loses his ticket. He rings See and explains. See tell him to turn up with all the relevant documentation, which he does.

Some div then won't let him in. Some people think that's right, others - me included - think that's unfair.

It doesn't need an electronic system, it wasn't the festival's fault, but in this instance it's completely clear to me he should have been let in.

I'm genuinely surprised that anyone who has ever experienced Glastonbury Festival could see this differently. I didn't realise so many of the people I enjoy mixing with there are such sticklers for the rules.

[Prest02000]

This has all got way over-complicated.

This is the situation. The guy loses his ticket. He rings See and explains. See tell him to turn up with all the relevant documentation, which he does.

Some div then won't let him in. Some people think that's right, others - me included - think that's unfair.

It doesn't need an electronic system, it wasn't the festival's fault, but in this instance it's completely clear to me he should have been let in.

I'm genuinely surprised that anyone who has ever experienced Glastonbury Festival could see this differently. I didn't realise so many of the people I enjoy mixing with there are such sticklers for the rules.

[LostRiot]

I lost my ticket to a gig at the barbican a few months ago. I could have easily sold it on, but I called them up a day before told them I had lost it I went down the morning of the concert with my driving license and credit card and they printed me another then and there.

I don't think there should be a system set up for people who have lost their tickets (to be effective it would have to be expensive and would no doubt open other loopholes), but I think the attitude of the staff seems to suck, maybe they should treat situations like this on a case by case basis.

[Spuddy]

They are used all the time nowadays so its not as high risk as you say. Big gigs and festivals already employ them and they work fine............As for price I dont know how much extra it costs, but TM use these systems as standard and so this move away from manual tickets must have some cost benifit to ticketmaster............why employ the system in the first place and then role it out to all the gigs they ticket if it was not going to be of some cost benifit??............so it may not be that costly.........no system is 100%, but these systems are better than manual systems and if it fails just have the people scanning tickets TO ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE BLOODY PHOTO ON THE TICKET and ensure that who they are letting in is the person on the ticket

[markeee]

This has all got way over-complicated.

This is the situation. The guy loses his ticket. He rings See and explains. See tell him to turn up with all the relevant documentation, which he does.

Some div then won't let him in. Some people think that's right, others - me included - think that's unfair.

It doesn't need an electronic system, it wasn't the festival's fault, but in this instance it's completely clear to me he should have been let in.

I'm genuinely surprised that anyone who has ever experienced Glastonbury Festival could see this differently. I didn't realise so many of the people I enjoy mixing with there are such sticklers for the rules.

[ThomThomDrum]

I'm not sure that because they make financial sense at gigs and some festivals they'd also provide the same benefits at Glastonbury - they may have different requirements.

For example, the photos on the the tickets at Glasto still need to be checked even if the tickets are scanned, otherwise there's the touting problem GFL try hard to avoid. So scanning would just make the process more lengthy than it is at present which would increase staff costs. Glasto also allows re-entry to the site which I'd guess some other places don't allow.

So where are the cost savings or benefits other than helping reduce the "lost ticket problem" (and it won't do that unless the system works 100%)? I'm not saying you're wrong mind - it's just that I can't see that it's as straightforward as some people think.