Post by postscript on May 21, 2006 12:25:57 GMT
Hi everyone!
This applies to the UK only. It is something I have not encountered before and if others have but have different experiences, or other similar experiences of which we ought to be forewarned, please post.
It is to do with the new postal de-regulation and in my view has ominous overtones of singular inconvenience for all of us theatre-goers generally. A case where progress is a step backward!
To be fair to ticketmaster they do emphasise on the Newmarket concert that a signed receipt will be required on delivery of the ticket. What they do NOT say is that they are not using The Royal Mail!
.
The Royal Mail, which has over 100 years of experience delivering letters does so geared to the convenience of the recipient. Modern alternatives seem geared contrary to the convenience of the recipient but geared to the casual disinterest of the sender!
If the Royal Mail requires a signature and you are not in, they slip a card through the letter-box advising when the drop was attempted; when the item will be at the sorting office; the times of opening of the sorting office and its location; and the card itself, when presented, is sufficient proof of ID. This means I usually collect when shopping. No hassle.
Securemailservices, used by ticketmaster on this occasion, do not work like this. They do not even leave you a note that they attempted to call, advising where the depot is for collection should you wish.
They send notification through the mail (their mail system presumably) for you to ring them to arrange a day when yoo are prepared to be in ALL DAY to wait for the next delivery attempt!
In my case I had to stay in on Saturday last from 9:00a.m. to nearly 4:00pm for the tickets to arrive, delivered by a chap in presumably his private car! Implicitly all the way from Reading (20 miles or so away!). On top of which I, at my own front door, am required to identify myself with either a driving licence, bank card or PASSPORT!!!!
They do, however, offer the option of having the tickets delivered to your work address!
Why should this be regarded as 'cost-effective' by ticketmaster, since I paid for the service in the first place when buying the ticket and would rather have paid an extra £1 or so for convenience to me (who is, after all the paying customer) I don't understand. ???I do not see how such a service, especially if lower-priced than the Royal Mail, can be cost-efficient for securemailservices either.
To date, suppliers to me tend to use three services for 'signed for' deliveries. Royal Mail, Securicorps mainly, or two services similar to Securicorps but rarely. With the Securicorps system, as with ticketmaster, I order over the internet. They send a confrmatory email and a consignment reference. This enables me to access Securicorp's web site and track the parcel, so I know half a day ahead when the chap is going ro ring my bell within a two-houir leeway, unless there is a hiccup, in which case I can ring if he is running late or pick up the details about 4 hours behind fact on their web site.
The point of all this is that a serious (several days) delay can arise if one does not happen to be in when (uninformed in advance) the delivery arrives willy-nilly.
Okay, Newmarket is six weeks away (don't ne pedantic, Richard, I'm writing colloquially!
) but I think they said tickets would be despatched with the fortnight prior. For a hiccup on delivery as llusrated above, that is cutting things a bit fine.
However, why worry about such security in the first place? Most ticket agencies use ordinary Royal Mail.
Perhaps this is a warning of less convenient web buyinfg of theatre tickets!
Yes, okay, one can collect from the box office on the day, but that requires queuing and a certain arrival time ahead of the convenience of how one's day is running on teh day and whether or not one is taking-in a dinner before theatre.
Any views or comments?
Peter
PS: I shall be writing to ticketmaster for their views and if necessary I may do a letter to the key national press as well as the postal regulator. I'll keep members posted with developments.
PPS: (modified 1:46pm) I forgot to mention that with Securicorps they have a hand-held electronic swiper on the bar code label stuck against the dellivery signature and that reorts back periodically to central control so they know within an hour or so where he is. securemailservice donot seem to employ this initiative.
This applies to the UK only. It is something I have not encountered before and if others have but have different experiences, or other similar experiences of which we ought to be forewarned, please post.
It is to do with the new postal de-regulation and in my view has ominous overtones of singular inconvenience for all of us theatre-goers generally. A case where progress is a step backward!
To be fair to ticketmaster they do emphasise on the Newmarket concert that a signed receipt will be required on delivery of the ticket. What they do NOT say is that they are not using The Royal Mail!
.The Royal Mail, which has over 100 years of experience delivering letters does so geared to the convenience of the recipient. Modern alternatives seem geared contrary to the convenience of the recipient but geared to the casual disinterest of the sender!
If the Royal Mail requires a signature and you are not in, they slip a card through the letter-box advising when the drop was attempted; when the item will be at the sorting office; the times of opening of the sorting office and its location; and the card itself, when presented, is sufficient proof of ID. This means I usually collect when shopping. No hassle.
Securemailservices, used by ticketmaster on this occasion, do not work like this. They do not even leave you a note that they attempted to call, advising where the depot is for collection should you wish.
They send notification through the mail (their mail system presumably) for you to ring them to arrange a day when yoo are prepared to be in ALL DAY to wait for the next delivery attempt! In my case I had to stay in on Saturday last from 9:00a.m. to nearly 4:00pm for the tickets to arrive, delivered by a chap in presumably his private car! Implicitly all the way from Reading (20 miles or so away!)
. On top of which I, at my own front door, am required to identify myself with either a driving licence, bank card or PASSPORT!!!! They do, however, offer the option of having the tickets delivered to your work address!
Why should this be regarded as 'cost-effective' by ticketmaster, since I paid for the service in the first place when buying the ticket and would rather have paid an extra £1 or so for convenience to me (who is, after all the paying customer) I don't understand. ???I do not see how such a service, especially if lower-priced than the Royal Mail, can be cost-efficient for securemailservices either.
To date, suppliers to me tend to use three services for 'signed for' deliveries. Royal Mail, Securicorps mainly, or two services similar to Securicorps but rarely. With the Securicorps system, as with ticketmaster, I order over the internet. They send a confrmatory email and a consignment reference. This enables me to access Securicorp's web site and track the parcel, so I know half a day ahead when the chap is going ro ring my bell within a two-houir leeway, unless there is a hiccup, in which case I can ring if he is running late or pick up the details about 4 hours behind fact on their web site.
The point of all this is that a serious (several days) delay can arise if one does not happen to be in when (uninformed in advance) the delivery arrives willy-nilly.
Okay, Newmarket is six weeks away (don't ne pedantic, Richard, I'm writing colloquially!
) but I think they said tickets would be despatched with the fortnight prior. For a hiccup on delivery as llusrated above, that is cutting things a bit fine.However, why worry about such security in the first place? Most ticket agencies use ordinary Royal Mail.
Perhaps this is a warning of less convenient web buyinfg of theatre tickets!
Yes, okay, one can collect from the box office on the day, but that requires queuing and a certain arrival time ahead of the convenience of how one's day is running on teh day and whether or not one is taking-in a dinner before theatre.
Any views or comments?
Peter
PS: I shall be writing to ticketmaster for their views and if necessary I may do a letter to the key national press as well as the postal regulator. I'll keep members posted with developments.
PPS: (modified 1:46pm) I forgot to mention that with Securicorps they have a hand-held electronic swiper on the bar code label stuck against the dellivery signature and that reorts back periodically to central control so they know within an hour or so where he is. securemailservice donot seem to employ this initiative.
