We all have that one band. The one that makes your heart beat faster just hearing their name. The music brings you to life and makes your heart feel free. The band you are dying to see perform live, knowing when you do it will be one of the best days of your life.
I finally got my chance.
I'm a huge fan of Maroon 5. HUGE. The band is currently on tour, and was performing in Columbia, SC this past Saturday. Naturally, I bought my tickets months in advance and went all out by blowing my paycheck on pit passes. I counted down the days in anticipation of what I thought would be one of the best days of my life.
I was so wrong.
September 10th arrived and my roommate and I excitedly road-tripped down to Columbia. We got ready, pumped ourselves up by listening to a bunch of Maroon 5 and Tove Lo songs, and headed to the arena early so we could snag a good spot.
Upon entering, we were directed by staff to switch out our printed tickets for hard copies. We complied, and waited for 30 minutes in a line of people attempting to do the same. When it was our turn, the staff at the box office declared our tickets as invalid due to the fact that we purchased them from StubHub. The reason? The tickets were in someone else's name rather than ours, and based on the fact that we used a third party website, it was the venue's discretion to not let us in.
I can't even describe my emotions in that moment. My mind was racing and I was not about to let the people at the box office stop me from having my night. We offered to purchase tickets again, but were denied the ability to purchase them in that section. We called StubHub and were given NEW tickets in our names, but the venue asked us to print them out. We ran to three stores asking to use a printer, and finally got someone in CVS to do so. Our new tickets were denied based on the fact they were on photo paper. The venue literally refused to let us enter based on the type of paper the tickets were printed on. The venue further refused to print out the tickets for us based on the fact they were StubHub tickets. The venue also refused to use a mobile ticket, even though it was their lack of clarification that resulted in this situation to begin with.
?!?!?!?!?!
Ultimately, after hours of back and forth, talking in circles, speaking to multiple managers and supervisors, we had to purchase tickets for the back section of the stage. We went from the pit standing area to the nosebleeds. We missed both opening acts and the first few songs of Maroon 5. And the worst part? It wasn't just us.
There were at least a hundred people that went through the same situation that night. People who had flown in for the concert, bought tickets months in advance, taken time off work, saved up paychecks---we were all denied entry based on the fact that Colonial Life arena chose to not associate with StubHub. The tickets were valid, but the customer service was intent on being unsupportive, disrespectful, and condescending the entire night.
I'm pretty sure that the two major goals of service jobs are to ensure the customer is satisfied, and to make a profit. At this point, customers were angry, upset and frustrated. The arena was losing money by leaving a pit section not filled up, but selling nosebleed seats instead. The individuals in the box office may have "won" that night by enforcing whatever policy they were attempting to uphold, but they have lost the business of hundreds of customers based on their incompetence and inflexibility.
We all have that one band. The one that makes your heart beat faster just hearing their name. The music brings you to life and makes your heart feel free. The band you are dying to see perform live, knowing when you do it will be one of the best days of your life.
I got my shot, but Colonial Life Arena took it from me.
They won't be receiving my business again.
