Anyone else think the website was worse this year?

[Martin Ashford]

I wasn't even trying as I was in Cardiff for the Half Marathon but my brother in law who gets my ticket every year actually FAILED. I could not believe it. I will be there though as I have a Priority application to volunteer with Oxfam.

[ScarletBlaster]

12 hours ago, cheesey_toastie said:

TBH - I thought it was better this year on the whole. 

You're right, the error messages are confusing though but these are where the tickets are all allocated I think and you're basically out of luck. 

It's so painful to get that far and get an error though. Sorry to hear you were unlucky. 

This year was definitely worse for us than last year. Took nearly 15 minutes to join the queue, page wouldn't load before then! Last year everything loaded fine, straight into the queue.

[Northtim]

I have little idea how things work on the techie side but a few have mentioned on here that if your first connection is to an overloaded server which is not able to process and issue the holding screen you seem to keep getting that and are pretty much stuffed - or thats my interpretation.  My experience sort of supports that.  My only other explanation is I had a lucky computer, but it was different to last times lucky computer!

Thurs Coach Sale:

I was at work trying for others.  Easily got straight on to the holding page but got no further.  I can live with that - its busy and seeing the screen you enter registrations is always going to be difficult but I did at least feel like I was in the game.

Sunday General Sale:

3 machines trying, each with 2 browsers - Chrome on auto refresh and Firefox on manual refresh

Home PC linked to fast broadband - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

Laptop linked to mobile 4G - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

VPN to same work PC I used in Thurs sale - Straight through to holding page on both browsers. Chrome went onto Enter Registrations after 10 mins and I manged to fill in those and the card payment details with each stage proceeding smoothly and got booking confirmation screen.  Even got through a second time just gone half past but it sold out before I completed.  Second browser on manual refresh constantly reached holding page but never got beyond that.

Of course it could all be random but seems to me that if 2 out of 3 machines can't connect at all and one can easily get the holding page every attempt (and beyond rarely) then something isn't right.  Somehow everyone needs to be able to have an equal chance of getting the holding page or a time out error and currently it seems to just be constantly one or the other, and if you are getting the time out you are stuffed.

We had 12 people trying and most never even saw the holding page.

I'll be trying for others on my lucky PC in April!  

[Sasperella]

23 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Probably as the forum's moving a lot quicker.

Did you get a ticket.. ?Just wondered because we managed to buy tickets for four groups, with refreshes based all over the country (and a couple in Greece), yet three of the ticket buyers (me included) were in Glasgow. I know it's probably not location based though.. 

[Sasperella]

1 hour ago, Northtim said:

I have little idea how things work on the techie side but a few have mentioned on here that if your first connection is to an overloaded server which is not able to process and issue the holding screen you seem to keep getting that and are pretty much stuffed - or thats my interpretation.  My experience sort of supports that.  My only other explanation is I had a lucky computer, but it was different to last times lucky computer!

Thurs Coach Sale:

I was at work trying for others.  Easily got straight on to the holding page but got no further.  I can live with that - its busy and seeing the screen you enter registrations is always going to be difficult but I did at least feel like I was in the game.

Sunday General Sale:

3 machines trying, each with 2 browsers - Chrome on auto refresh and Firefox on manual refresh

Home PC linked to fast broadband - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

Laptop linked to mobile 4G - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

VPN to same work PC I used in Thurs sale - Straight through to holding page on both browsers. Chrome went onto Enter Registrations after 10 mins and I manged to fill in those and the card payment details with each stage proceeding smoothly and got booking confirmation screen.  Even got through a second time just gone half past but it sold out before I completed.  Second browser on manual refresh constantly reached holding page but never got beyond that.

Of course it could all be random but seems to me that if 2 out of 3 machines can't connect at all and one can easily get the holding page every attempt (and beyond rarely) then something isn't right.  Somehow everyone needs to be able to have an equal chance of getting the holding page or a time out error and currently it seems to just be constantly one or the other, and if you are getting the time out you are stuffed.

We had 12 people trying and most never even saw the holding page.

I'll be trying for others on my lucky PC in April!  

I agree, but what is it that makes them not connect??? I've definitely been I this position before, but this time all my devices at least connected. So weird how it works 

[foggy1010]

I got through to the registration details page at around 9:20 and when I pressed processed it would spin and eventually end up on a white page, I never reached the payment details page.

I repeated this process around 10 times by clicking the back button once, which would take me to the reg details page again and it failed every time.

Is there anything I could of done differently at this point?

[robillustrates]

I used to live down on the coast in a little house and when it came to ticket day I never had any problems and always got through from that house, but in my current home, I have never been able to get to the ticket page or even come close, it crashes, it freezes, i barely reach the holding page, my confidence in getting through is so low from this location.

[thecrock]

Like 2 million plus people on Sunday morning I tried to get tickets....and like you I failed.....so I had a chat with a pal of mine who is very wise (should have talked to him months ago about this)…. he said its a lot to do with your internet speed if you have modern equipment.… residential speed ranges from 2 mbs to 25 mbs and enhanced residential & commercial up to 75/300 mbs respectably using fibre optic connections..... so ask yourself this, do you have fibreoptic connections? If not you'll never get tickets unless you sign up to the next big thing in 2020.....yes, you already know it.....a 5G phone that give you up to 1000 mbs …. technology is your friend, it only costs money....good luck

[cerv]

5 hours ago, Northtim said:

I have little idea how things work on the techie side but a few have mentioned on here that if your first connection is to an overloaded server which is not able to process and issue the holding screen you seem to keep getting that and are pretty much stuffed - or thats my interpretation.  My experience sort of supports that.  My only other explanation is I had a lucky computer, but it was different to last times lucky computer!

Thurs Coach Sale:

I was at work trying for others.  Easily got straight on to the holding page but got no further.  I can live with that - its busy and seeing the screen you enter registrations is always going to be difficult but I did at least feel like I was in the game.

Sunday General Sale:

3 machines trying, each with 2 browsers - Chrome on auto refresh and Firefox on manual refresh

Home PC linked to fast broadband - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

Laptop linked to mobile 4G - never got a connection to the holding page.  Constant sever crash/time out errors

VPN to same work PC I used in Thurs sale - Straight through to holding page on both browsers. Chrome went onto Enter Registrations after 10 mins and I manged to fill in those and the card payment details with each stage proceeding smoothly and got booking confirmation screen.  Even got through a second time just gone half past but it sold out before I completed.  Second browser on manual refresh constantly reached holding page but never got beyond that.

Of course it could all be random but seems to me that if 2 out of 3 machines can't connect at all and one can easily get the holding page every attempt (and beyond rarely) then something isn't right.  Somehow everyone needs to be able to have an equal chance of getting the holding page or a time out error and currently it seems to just be constantly one or the other, and if you are getting the time out you are stuffed.

We had 12 people trying and most never even saw the holding page.

I'll be trying for others on my lucky PC in April!  

Your experience is very similar to what I have seen this year (and matches with previous years too). I'm not sure it is down to being sent to an overloaded server any more (tho that is still possible in some instances). 

I now think a more likely cause is a failure along the network route from your machine to the See tickets site. With the amount of people trying, employing all sorts of tactics, the traffic generated is obviously big. Each request for the ticket page passes through a number of different routers (ones not necessarily operated by your ISP or See) on its way to See. If the route your request takes is also being used by a large number of other Glasto ticket hunters then it could start to look like an attack (DDOS) and the network kit it's passing through might be configured to actually kill the connection attempts thinking something malicious is going on.

Horrid if correct as there is next to nothing you can do about this. Your only hope is to have access to multiple internet connections, each will have their own route to See, find one that at least gets you to the Busy page then just focus on that for your best hope.

[eFestivals]

5 minutes ago, thecrock said:

so I had a chat with a pal of mine who is very wise (should have talked to him months ago about this)…. he said its a lot to do with your internet speed

your mate isn't very wise at all, and you're appropriately named.

[Steveb72]

6 minutes ago, thecrock said:

Like 2 million plus people on Sunday morning I tried to get tickets....and like you I failed.....so I had a chat with a pal of mine who is very wise (should have talked to him months ago about this)…. he said its a lot to do with your internet speed if you have modern equipment.… residential speed ranges from 2 mbs to 25 mbs and enhanced residential & commercial up to 75/300 mbs respectably using fibre optic connections..... so ask yourself this, do you have fibreoptic connections? If not you'll never get tickets unless you sign up to the next big thing in 2020.....yes, you already know it.....a 5G phone that give you up to 1000 mbs …. technology is your friend, it only costs money....good luck

I got tickets on 3mbs broadband and a 6 year old iPad not a fibre optic in sight

[TheGoodWillOut]

it's all about hitting Glastonbury.seetickets at the right time when there is enough bandwidth their end.  Hit it right and you get moved to the holding page, which is completely separate to the main page, you get a cookie with load balancing and backend server information on and you try and try(F5) to get to the next layer which is the registration page and then the next which is the final payment page.  The traffic at each level is really, really busy but requests will be phenomenal at level 1 causing lots of time outs  and people unable to connect at all.   Unfortunately each level can also become overwhelmed hence why many payments failed or timed out.  It's the browser session successfully talking to the back end at seetickets which will make you successful after you've hit the holding pages. 

Moving from the holding page is definitely pure luck, nothing to do with internet speeds, browser types or what colour your eyes are. its moving to the free slot the millisecond it comes available and moving to the next web layer. 

 

 

[thecrock]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

your mate isn't very wise at all, and you're appropriately named.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.....

[M-T]

On 10/7/2019 at 5:18 PM, foggy1010 said:

I got through to the registration details page at around 9:20 and when I pressed processed it would spin and eventually end up on a white page, I never reached the payment details page.

I repeated this process around 10 times by clicking the back button once, which would take me to the reg details page again and it failed every time.

Is there anything I could of done differently at this point?

Exactly this. @OrganicShamanic what could we have done here do you think? Was it best to sit with the cookie we had or was this also just stuck on a 'bad server'? I assume that doing a complete cookie clear would put you back to square 1? Or were there other options?

Cheers

[ShakeyCrash]

On 10/7/2019 at 5:49 PM, TheGoodWillOut said:

it's all about hitting Glastonbury.seetickets at the right time when there is enough bandwidth their end.  Hit it right and you get moved to the holding page, which is completely separate to the main page, you get a cookie with load balancing and backend server information on and you try and try(F5) to get to the next layer which is the registration page and then the next which is the final payment page.  The traffic at each level is really, really busy but requests will be phenomenal at level 1 causing lots of time outs  and people unable to connect at all.   Unfortunately each level can also become overwhelmed hence why many payments failed or timed out.  It's the browser session successfully talking to the back end at seetickets which will make you successful after you've hit the holding pages. 

Moving from the holding page is definitely pure luck, nothing to do with internet speeds, browser types or what colour your eyes are. its moving to the free slot the millisecond it comes available and moving to the next web layer. 

 

 

So I should bin the contact lenses?