The Bots Strike Again: Eagles Fans and Swifties Thwarted
Eagles fans in BC are not happy. Within seconds of going on sale–yes, seconds–all the tickets for the band’s May 2018 gig at Rogers Arena in Vancouver were gone. Goddam ticket-buying bots, huh?
Now music fans in BC are demanding that the provincial NDP government crack down on bots like they’re attempting are in Ontario and Alberta and also jurisdictions like New York state as well as the UK.
Bot create all sorts of misery for us poor meatbags who just want the ability to buy tickets to a gig at face value. And while Ontario and Alberta have all sorts of plans to make the use of bots illegal, more governments in more places will have to get on board to make any measures successful.
Ticketmaster is trying to thwart bots with its “Verified Fan” measures but with mixed success. Claims have been made in places like Ohio of restriction bot sales to less than 10% of the available tickets, but the much ballyhooed Taylor Swift VF program has left some fans upset.
You were supposed to increase your chances of getting tickets if you watched Tay-Tay videos and bought merch. But Fred sent me this:
I was looking for tix for a show in NYC (Harry Potter) and the show had an absolutely no transfer policy. If the purchaser tried to sell the tix they would be canceled. The vendor agreed to buy the tix back for anyone that wanted to sell. That may be the only solution. Although you have to be pretty certain you can sell them again….