09.18.07
Football Vegas Style
On Thurs, Sept 6, hubby and me and my good friend from Madison headed off to Las Vegas to see the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers play football against the University of Las Vegas-Nevada on Sept 8.
But actually the story starts several months ago, in June, when we first decided to go and started the quest for tickets. No tickets to be found on the UW Alumni site. So I checked out UNLV’s site. They had an announcement “Single tickets are not expected to be available for the Badger game.” (Keep in mind, this is BEFORE tickets even went on sale. Plus there was no link, so I couldn’t even TRY to get a ticket). Back to the UW Alumni site for more digging. Came across a little note. “UNLV suggests buying season tickets to get into the game.” Well, that seemed a bit over the top, buying season tickets to get into one game. So I didn’t buy.
Next came Stubhub.com, where I checked weekly for tickets. No luck, and they were getting more expensive. At one point, I went back to UNLV’s site to see about the season tickets only to discover they had sold out of those as well.
My friend, who’s forever traveling to sporting events around the country, told us not to worry about Stubhub and just buy our tickets at the game.
Well, I decided if we were meant to get in the game we would. On our way out to stadium on stadium we stopped and found someone who would sell us 3 tickets, right on the 40 yard line for $125 each. Fabulous. Great tickets. It all worked out perfectly.
So, imagine our surprise when we weren’t allowed in the door with those “great” tickets. Yep, you guessed it. They were a counterfeit. And a really good one for that matter.
As upsetting as getting taken by a couple of con artists were, what was more upsetting to me was how UNLV treated us. Their response was blunt: “Well that’s what you get from not buying from a licensed vendor.” When I pointed out their Web site told me they were sold out and what exactly was I supposed to do to get tickets, they responded with this: “We’ve NEVER sold out. I can sell you tickets right now. You must not have been on the right Web site.” (Did I mention they were also extremely RUDE?)
While I agree it was my fault for buying counterfeit tickets, I really didn’t need UNLV rudely telling me I didn’t know how to correctly navigate a Web site.
So did we make it in? Well, as I was arguing with UNLV, my hubby and friend had lined up a deal with a ‘”licensed ticket broker” (whatever that means) who sold us seats for $20 each, way up in the nose bleeds. Not the 40 yard sideline seats, that’s for sure. However, Miss UNLV ticket officer was planning on selling me those same seats for $60 each, so I still got a better deal. And yes, those tickets did work.
We ended up sitting with lots of other Badger fans, some who had paid far more than our $20 (but less if you count the $125 fiasco). And remember, how UNLV told Wisconsin to buy season tickets to get into the game? Well, they had an announcement that Badger fans could “donate” their season tickets to the Clark County School District. Maybe that’s why UNLV invites Wisconsin to come play, so they’ll sell out their season tickets.
I must say the UNLV fans were very nice and polite (probably because they knew how much money they were making off Badger fans). However, I can’t say the same for a lone (drunk) Ohio State fan, whose main purpose for being there was heckling us. Not even a conference game and we end up with a conference rival at the game. (Sigh.)
At least the Badgers beat UNLV after all that (although it was a nail biter).
Michele PW (Pariza Wacek) is the author of 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make That Kill Their Sales…And How To Prevent Them. Ready to turn lookers into buyers and watch your business skyrocket? Click here to learn more about this special report, free for a limited time.
