FanPost

Buying Yankee Tickets

One of the worst experiences of my life! Ok, nobody died, nobody was hurt, and nobody lost their livelihood, but let me tell you, I almost lost all of my hair.

For those of you who are not aware, I am planning a trip to New York this summer. My friend and I have been talking about going to New York for years and this year the A's just so happen to be hitting the Mets and Yankees in the course of a week, so this was the perfect time to plan our trip.

Incase you are planning a similar trip or ever want to purchase Yankee tickets, please continue to read and take this as a warning!!

Yankees tickets went on sale this morning at 10am East Coast time. I knew this was going to be an adventure, so I set my alarm clock for 6:45. (I am normally up at 8:30, just so you have an idea what kind of sacrifice that time is to me!) I turn on my computer and crawl back into bed to sleep another 3 minutes while it boots. I log on to Yankees.com to begin the process. I frantically hunt for any sign of a ticket services phone number with very little success. Finally I find a phone number to the main office or whatever. I dial the number all while clicking through the website, trying to buy tickets online.

"Beep, beep, beep" <hangs up, dials again>
"We're sorry, all circuits are busy at the moment, please try again later!" <hangs up, dials AGAIN!>
"Hello! This is Derek Jeter, Thank you for calling the New York Yankees, someone will be with you in a moment!" GAH! Listing to Swish is so much more fun!
"Yankees!" - Hold Music -
"Hello? Uh, I would like to buy tickets? Hello?" <silence>
"You need to call 202-blah, huh, huh, dee, dee, dah"
"I am sorry, what was that number?" - Hold Music - "Hello?"
"You need to call 202-blah, huh, huh, dee, dee, dah" - Dial tone! DAMN IT! <hangs up>

All the while I am clicking on the website, trying to get through and the website is telling me 15 minute wait, and is not changing, so I sit patiently watching the hour glass flip over. <dials again>

"Beep, beep, beep" <hangs up, dials again>
"We're sorry, all circuits are busy at the moment, please try again later!" <hangs up, dials AGAIN!>
"Hello! This is Derek Jeter, Thank you for calling the New York Yankees, someone will be with you in a moment!" Good Grief!
"Yankees, please hold" Well at least he said please this time.
"Yankees, how may I help you?"
"Hello, I would like to buy tickets."
"You need to call 202-blah, huh, huh, dee, dee, dah"
"I am sorry, could you please repeat that number?"
"202-307-1212"
"Ok, thank you!" <hangs up, dials the number>
"Ring, Ring, Ring" <continues to watch hour glass>
"Ring, Ring, Ring" <continues to watch hour glass> <checks MySpace> <watches hour glass>
SILENCE! <looks at phone, sees: Call Failed> "DAMN IT!!" <dials AGAIN>

At this point the online screen finally goes through. It shows me tickets for Top Teir, 25, Row J. Well crap, that sucks. But I am tired and frustrated, so I just hit buy.
"We're sorry, but your session expired, you took to long to make up your mind, you suck and will never get tickets!" "<censored><censored><censored>" <closes the window and starts over><watches the hour glass>

Back to the phone:
"Ring, Ring, Ring" This is out of control!
"Hello?"
"Uh, hi, is this ticketmaster?"
"Hello? Hello?"
"Yes, Hello! I would like to buy Yankees tickets."
"Well, this is the Department of Justice. You need to call 212!" Ok, SERIOUSLY!!
"I am sorry, thank you." <hangs up, dials CORRECT number>
Busy Signal - Ok, really, I am very close to giving up, I can't take it. Over and over I call and get busy signals all while watching the time pass on my computer.

Finally my screen changes on my computer, they have found me seats, in row W. GOOD GOD!!! I can't take it anymore. I hit Buy. I throw my phone across the room and let out a screen! "ROW W!! SERIOUSLY!!" All that work for row W!?! Here it is, 45 minutes after I first get on the line at 7AM, the first day that single game tickets are on sale, and I end up in Row W! I never did get through to a human!

I couldn't believe it. That was absolutely out of control! I couldn't take it! 45 minutes of pure frustration for the worst seats in the park! OK, I know, I am spoiled. I sit practically in the bull pen's laps at the Coliseum, but honestly!

So why am I telling you all this? Well, for one, I needed to vent this frustration before I exploded at some unsuspecting co-worker who was just making small talk, asking how my day was.

For another, I knew ya'll would understand WHY I was so vigilant in my pursuit of tickets. Many would have given up and moved on with life. Well, I needed to get my hands on tickets. I plan to look into stub hub or other outlets to get better tickets, but I wanted to be sure I had SOMETHING before I flew all the way to New York.

And finally, I wanted to express to you, not only a cautionary tale, but also let you all know we should be GREATFUL for the ease of ticket services in our neck of the woods. They make it so easy to purchase tickets at the Coliseum. I have never waited longer than 10 minutes to get tickets. I always get through to a human who is pleasant and happy and would NEVER hang up on me! And while I wait I get to listen to Nick Swisher!

When I got off the phone, I wanted to call the A's ticket office and tell them how much I love each and every one of them for making my Ticket buying experience so pleasurable! If I was a Yankees fan, I would have stopped being one a very long time ago just because they make it impossible to buy tickets!

So, the next time you call the A's and try to buy tickets, even if your experience is a bit frustrating or you are on hold longer than you would like, just remember this story. And before you hang up with them, THANK them for being so accommodating to the A's fans. I feel like giving them all hugs for being so wonderful! Sad that I never knew how good I had it until I was forced to experience the dark side of life for a moment.

I am so Happy to be an A's fan right now! Thanks ya'll for letting me vent for a moment! I appreciate it.