Bruins make switch to 100% electronic ticketing - no paper (PDF's) accepted

[tarheelhockey]

You do know that lumping people groups together is just as bad as lumping any other people groups together right? Also mocking people after taking something away from them makes me think you drive a big 'ol pick up truck, Aaron.

There are demographics in play here. This policy absolutely will have more negative impacts on Boomers than Millennials.

Whether or not you expect people from those two demographics to behave differently under the stress of a customer service disappointment, is none of my business. You do you, boo boo.

 

[YEM]

a "print-at-home" option would cost them nothing but they won't include that?
for shame

 

[robert terwilliger]

don't you know? only boomers and stupid people who just won't get with the times have printers at home!

 

[GuelphStormer]

Folks are suggesting the team is cheaping out by going this way but Im not sure that this new approach is any less costly than printing (and mailing) hard tickets. The Bruins (or someone) will surely pay a fee for each ticket, and STH passport, issued electronically and there is likely a tremendous cost of infrastructure. Add to that the extra time staff will devote to STH complaints and dealing with confusion at the box office and I can see this actually being more expensive, at least in the beginning.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Folks are suggesting the team is cheaping out by going this way but Im not sure that this new approach is any less costly than printing (and mailing) hard tickets. The Bruins (or someone) will surely pay a fee for each ticket, and STH passport, issued electronically and there is likely a tremendous cost of infrastructure. Add to that the extra time staff will devote to STH complaints and dealing with confusion at the box office and I can see this actually being more expensive, at least in the beginning.

problem is their end game in this.

if its all electronic, they can force the 2nd hand market in house, collect multiple fees from the buyer and seller, and get paid 2-3x on 1 ticket

 

[Rob Brown]

just another way for the owners to make more money and to alienate all those that don't use smartphones, seniors with loads of disposable income and a growing number of other age cohorts that are saying **** you to mobile devices

I had one of the utilities call me and ask me why I still have not switched to e-bills yet?

I said I would if that meant I was going to receive a financial incentive to do so as a result of that company saving approximately $15.00/month by saving on costs such as printers, ink, paper, envelopes, postage and staff to process my paper bill/invoice. The agent said that they did not think I would receive any financial incentive; I then told them that I would not switch from paper bills until I received financial compensation to do so.

I then asked the Agent why they thought I was going to do the the companies job for them only to see the companies profit margins go up at the same time they pass on those same costs for printer, ink, paper and labour to my pocket book.

It's convenient the Agent says..., I said convenient for who?

ridiculous society we live in now.

Heaven forbid companies try to cut down on needless paper waste and other resources...

 

[Boris Zubov]

This is nothing new to us here in Vegas. The Knights have been strictly electronic since the beginning. The shady part of it is the team signed up all their STHs and collected full payment before disclosing any of this information. We don't even have the STH member card that the Bruins are offering. Everything is mobile phone entry or the credit card linked to your account.

During their initial sales pitch they were happily telling all potential customers they could resell any games you were unable to attend without issue. Less than a year after they began play that same team decided they were unhappy with STHs selling games & randomly began revoking memberships without any official policy in place. Nor have they disclosed what their standards are for violating said policy.

To make matters worse, the team has cornered the market on our resale options. We have to use their shitty platform in order to list our tickets & they can turn off that function at any given time. Anyone caught listing their seats on Stubhub, Vivid etc will have their seats immediately revoked.

Playoff tickets are even more shady, the Knights don't even give us access to our seats until the day of the game.

I could go on & on, but the message is loud & clear....Pro sports teams don't care about their customers.

 

[featherhawk]

Heaven forbid companies try to cut down on needless paper waste and other resources...

No problem with that but I have a problem with them not passing on some of the savings to the customer.

Big difference

 

[Rob Brown]

No problem with that but I have a problem with them not passing on some of the savings to the customer.

Big difference

Who cares? It's a marginal difference, it's more convenient for you and cuts down on waste. Imagine being this difficult towards a call centre employee making minimum wage. Just say no and get on with your life. Those people make zero decisions about cost savings going to the customer.

 

[CTHabsfan]

Who cares? It's a marginal difference, it's more convenient for you and cuts down on waste. Imagine being this difficult towards a call centre employee making minimum wage. Just say no and get on with your life. Those people make zero decisions about cost savings going to the customer.

I think there must be more than a minimal cost-savings for teams getting rid of paper tickets (that includes the Canadiens, this isn't some jab at the Bruins). If it saved money, teams would probably print tickets on styrofoam 2x4s.

 

[objectiveposter]

how will this effect stubhub or craigslist ticket purchases from strangers? I usually use those methods to get tickets

 

[LeHab]

how will this effect stubhub or craigslist ticket purchases from strangers? I usually use those methods to get tickets

Assuming the account is not compromised, reduces fraud risks as paperless tickets can't be easily duplicated.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Assuming the account is not compromised, reduces fraud risks as paperless tickets can't be easily duplicated.

There is zero way to defraud someone with an electronic ticket other than taking their money & failing to deliver anything in return.

 

[mouser]

a "print-at-home" option would cost them nothing but they won't include that?
for shame

It's just the next step in undermining the Doctrine of First Sale. You might have paid for that sporting event ticket, but you don't really own it.

 

[GuelphStormer]

Who cares? It's a marginal difference, it's more convenient for you and cuts down on waste. Imagine being this difficult towards a call centre employee making minimum wage. Just say no and get on with your life. Those people make zero decisions about cost savings going to the customer.

that's the problem. for some it is more convenient, for others it is prohibitive ... not everybody has a smartphone (with data).

 

[Rob Brown]

that's the problem. for some it is more convenient, for others it is prohibitive ... not everybody has a smartphone (with data).

My assumption is that almost everyone has an e-mail, though.

My main point is that this guy bitching about cost savings to a kid at the call centre is pretty stupid.

 

[Icedog2735]

I have nothing against going all mobile but I do think teams should invest to make sure their infrastructure is up to date and can support thousands of phones trying to access WiFi/mobile networks in the area at one time. Case in point, I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan who went to the AFC Championship Game. Both parking and ticket were mobile only, again, which is fine because I'm tech knowledgable enough to handle it. But it took an awkward 30-45 seconds sitting with the parking attendant because my phone would not connect to their specific app because the network was overloaded. Perhaps it was an individual issue with my phone but my gut says that connectivity going down could cause a major issue at some point, whether it be NFL, NHL, etc.

 

[varsaku]

I have nothing against going all mobile but I do think teams should invest to make sure their infrastructure is up to date and can support thousands of phones trying to access WiFi/mobile networks in the area at one time. Case in point, I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan who went to the AFC Championship Game. Both parking and ticket were mobile only, again, which is fine because I'm tech knowledgable enough to handle it. But it took an awkward 30-45 seconds sitting with the parking attendant because my phone would not connect to their specific app because the network was overloaded. Perhaps it was an individual issue with my phone but my gut says that connectivity going down could cause a major issue at some point, whether it be NFL, NHL, etc.

You can link your driver license or credit card to the account so that you don’t need your phone. I have that as back up incase my phone is dead so that they can just swipe my card to pull up the tickets at the gate.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Who cares? It's a marginal difference, it's more convenient for you and cuts down on waste. Imagine being this difficult towards a call centre employee making minimum wage. Just say no and get on with your life. Those people make zero decisions about cost savings going to the customer.

Not only are the savings kept by the company and not passed to the customer — but the ticket itself is worth less under this system. You lose flexibility to re-sell it on your own terms, and are forced into a system which is intentionally designed to gouge its customers with transaction fees.

What that means on a practical basis is that if the market value of the ticket is $100 — meaning you could get $100 in cash for a paper ticket by selling it on Craigslist with no fees — then under this system you are going to lose about $15 of that value to team and Ticketmaster fees. It also means the ticket is less likely to sell at all, simply for the fact that there is only one marketplace and not a whole ecosystem of options. And when you are on the buying side, you have no way to negotiate or to avoid the fees. You’re pinned down in a noncompetitive ticket economy... your choices are to pay out the nose or to find a sports bar.

Make no mistake, this system is deliberately designed for the company and its ticketing partners to get their hands on value which has traditionally gone to the customer.

I agree about taking the frustration out on some call center worker.

 

[Rob Brown]

Not only are the savings kept by the company and not passed to the customer — but the ticket itself is worth less under this system. You lose flexibility to re-sell it on your own terms, and are forced into a system which is intentionally designed to gouge its customers with transaction fees.

What that means on a practical basis is that if the market value of the ticket is $100 — meaning you could get $100 in cash for a paper ticket by selling it on Craigslist with no fees — then under this system you are going to lose about $15 of that value to team and Ticketmaster fees. It also means the ticket is less likely to sell at all, simply for the fact that there is only one marketplace and not a whole ecosystem of options. And when you are on the buying side, you have no way to negotiate or to avoid the fees. You’re pinned down in a noncompetitive ticket economy... your choices are to pay out the nose or to find a sports bar.

Make no mistake, this system is deliberately designed for the company and its ticketing partners to get their hands on value which has traditionally gone to the customer.

I agree about taking the frustration out on some call center worker.

The guy I was responding to was complaining about a utility company asking if he wanted to switch to paperless billing. He wasn't even complaining about tickets.

 

[NCRanger]

Who cares? It's a marginal difference, it's more convenient for you and cuts down on waste. Imagine being this difficult towards a call centre employee making minimum wage. Just say no and get on with your life. Those people make zero decisions about cost savings going to the customer.

How is it more "convenient" for the customer?

I'm all for paperless bank statements, as most of that can be done immediately online anyway.

But for actual bills? Nope. What if you miss the e-mail? All of us get 78734365 stupid spam emails each day that may or may not be filtered. Sign-up for "auto-drafts"? Then you might overdraft your account because of a forgotten bill, or a larger electric/gas/power bill that month. The paperless crap requires YOU to do something in addition to just receiving a bill and mailing a check/paying online. Certainly NOT more "convenient" for the customer.

 

[Rob Brown]

How is it more "convenient" for the customer?

I'm all for paperless bank statements, as most of that can be done immediately online anyway.

But for actual bills? Nope. What if you miss the e-mail? All of us get 78734365 stupid spam emails each day that may or may not be filtered. Sign-up for "auto-drafts"? Then you might overdraft your account because of a forgotten bill, or a larger electric/gas/power bill that month. The paperless crap requires YOU to do something in addition to just receiving a bill and mailing a check/paying online. Certainly NOT more "convenient" for the customer.

Speak for yourself then. I don't lose my e-mails and know what bills/utilities I have to pay each month. And a paper bill also requires you to do something. You still have to check your mailbox, go online and pay it. Or you can check your e-mail or set notifications on your calendar around the time it's due and then pay online. It's the same thing but cuts down on needless waste.

 

[featherhawk]

The guy I was responding to was complaining about a utility company asking if he wanted to switch to paperless billing. He wasn't even complaining about tickets.

The issue is all about businesses pushing people to do everything electronicaly, saving money in the process and thus increasing their profits and pushing more costs to the consumer, you say its more convenient and for some that may be but for others it absolutely is not.

There is nothing more convenient IMO then getting your ticket delivered to your house placing it on your fridge till game day and taking it off your fridge on game day and passing it to someone at the gate.

There are also lots of people that don't have emails or mobile phones and credit cards for that matter.

Apps suck.

 

[Rob Brown]

The issue is all about businesses pushing people to do everything electronicaly, saving money in the process and thus increasing their profits and pushing more costs to the consumer, you say its more convenient and for some that may be but for others it absolutely is not.

There is nothing more convenient IMO then getting your ticket delivered to your house placing it on your fridge till game day and taking it off your fridge on game day and passing it to someone at the gate.

There are also lots of people that don't have emails or mobile phones and credit cards for that matter.

Apps suck.

I wasn't even talking about tickets, I was responding to your post complaining about companies asking if you want to switch to paperless billing. Sorry, but I fail to see how checking your mailbox and going online to pay an internet bill is any more convenient then checking your e-mail or balance online and then paying online anyway.

I actually prefer hard tickets and have kept every single ticket for every single sporting event since I was a kid, so it bothers me too. NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL games across North America, plus football/soccer games in England. As an example, I went to all the Leafs home playoff games in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and only have hard tickets for 2013 against Boston, which frustrates me. So while I agree on the ticket front, I disagree with your points about bills.

 

[featherhawk]

I wasn't even talking about tickets, I was responding to your post complaining about companies asking if you want to switch to paperless billing. Sorry, but I fail to see how checking your mailbox and going online to pay an internet bill is any more convenient then checking your e-mail or balance online and then paying online anyway.

I actually prefer hard tickets and have kept every single ticket for every single sporting event since I was a kid, so it bothers me too. NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL games across North America, plus football/soccer games in England. As an example, I went to all the Leafs home playoff games in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and only have hard tickets for 2013 against Boston, which frustrates me. So while I agree on the ticket front, I disagree with your points about bills.

if you have an email, or computer, not everyone does you know and if I was going to recieve paperless billing why would the company not pass on some of those savings to the customer instead of increasing profit margins?

I will tell you why, its greed.

same thing with online pay statements, HR departments save tonnes of money by doing this yet staffs wages don't increase accordingly, just the companies profits and they pass on the expense of printing the pay statements on to the staff member