Another TM debacle

So Phish are set to play four nights at Red Rocks; tickets to which aren't set to go on sale until a week from today. Last night, there was a glitch in their system that made tickets available to the public and roughly 4000 4-night passes were sold before the glitch was realized and patched up. I just came across an email to someone who had bought said passes that was posted on another board:

"Dear Phish fan:
Unfortunately, the tickets that you ordered from Ticketmaster for performances of Phish scheduled at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre between the dates of July
30th and August 2nd, 2009 were put on sale inadvertently, allowing you to order tickets before they were supposed to have been released for sale to the
general public. The sale of these tickets prior to the scheduled onsale date was the result of an inadvertent error on the part of Ticketmaster. While
we strive to be perfect, errors do occur, albeit rarely. Per our stated policy and our practice Ticketmaster refunds purchases in such situations and cancels
the tickets. In this case, while we asked the credit card companies for an authorization code at order time, we did not and will not charge your card for
the purchase price and have canceled your order for tickets.

In addition, we?d like to show our sincere regret for this error by providing you with a gift certificate in the amount of $50.00 that is redeemable for
any purchase for tickets to qualifying events on Ticketmaster.com or through our call centers as long as your order was in accordance with our standard
order guidelines. You should receive this gift certificate in the next two weeks.

We are sorry that we were not able to provide you with the tickets you ordered and hope that we will have the chance to serve you better in the future.
We encourage you to visit Ticketmaster at the scheduled onsale for Phish at Red Rocks currently scheduled for Thursday March 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm MT.

Sincerely,
David Butler
President
Ticketmaster North America"


It just hasn't been Ticketmaster's month, has it?

i hope someone sues them for the right to keep their tickets.  when you click the "i agreed" button to buy the ticket, you're signing a contract - and TM is agreeing to it.  i don't know a whole lot about contract law, but this sounds binding to me.  if a store agrees to sell you something, you pay and walk out of the store, they can't subsequently chase you down the street and say "sorry sir, we need to take that back".  it isn't their product anymore, it's yours.  again, i could be wrong, but i don't think that being in a pay-now-deliver-later business allows you to changes the terms.  TM eff'ed up, they should assume the consequences of THEIR mistake.

EDIT: the TM page does state that the onsale date is next week, so TM does have that going in its favor.  also, the fact that they're giving $50 certificates is kinda cool, they could have given nothing.  i'm particularly bitter about this at the moment, another ticketing service has unilaterally changed my excellent seats for mediocre ones - with the offer of a refund if i don't want the sucky tickets anymore.  thanks, a$$holes.  what i want is my original tickets - you know, the ones you sold me?

i know, i know… woe is me.

I think the important thing is that they strive to be perfect. That alone makes them a model for how we should all be in life.

Enron: We Strive For Perfection But If We Don't Achieve It, Whatevs

"If the amount you pay for a ticket is incorrect regardless of whether because of an error in a price posted on this web site or otherwise communicated to you, or you are able to order a ticket before its scheduled on-sale or presale date or you are able to order a ticket that was not supposed to have been released for sale, then: Ticketmaster will have the right to cancel that ticket (or the order for that ticket) and refund to you the amount that you paid. This will apply regardless of whether because of human error or a transactional malfunction of this web site or other Ticketmaster operated system."

Oh, I didn't realize they can fine print their way out of detrimental reliance.

This adhesion contract is harshing my mellow, man.  Last time Phish played Red Rocks there were near riots in Morrison and of course this happened:  http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30330