Have to Miss Columbia - Emergency Situation -

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Comments

  • walkunafraidwalkunafraid Posts: 2,557
    jeffbr said:

    jeffbr said:

    Dude, call 10c. They will understand. Circumstances beyond your control for sure.

    10c doesn't give a shit about us or our emergency circumstances, so I'd save the effort.

    No compassion or empathy. It's cool for the band to bail on their obligations to fans, but the club makes no concessions for changes initiated from the other side of the equation.
    Maybe this wouldn't be the case if your fellow 10c members didn't abuse the transfer rules back in the day.....
    I'm sure that's true, and I understand the reason for the rule. But there are often exceptions made to rules, and I would think having a doctor's note, or a police report (if it was an accident), or some form of documentation would allow 10c to use their critical thinking skills and make circumstantial decisions. But that would require effort and would require shits be given.
    Your situation and ChadsStillAlive's situation are vastly different in that your friend showed up at the venue with your documentation hoping/expecting to get your tickets whereas Chads called and worked out a refund of the money. While I sympathize with the nature of your emergency and inability to attend the show at the last minute, allowing your friend to get those tickets would have required a judgment call on the part of the 10C in believing that he was indeed your friend and that you were indeed gifting him those tickets without making any money off of them. While I believe that you were sincere in your instance, having 10C make that sort of judgment every time somebody comes forward with an emergency and needs to transfer tickets opens up a can of worms that is best avoided altogether.

    Let's face it -- scalpers are everywhere, and more than willing to provide copies of driver's licenses, faking doctor's notes, etc. in order to make money. I've seen scalpers go to much more dramatic measures than that to bypass anti-scalping rules. Forcing 10C to differentiate who is being sincere in their emergencies vs. who is a good storyteller and making something up in order to scalp 10C tickets (which will undoubtedly make them a tidy profit) is just too much to ask. I've been on your side in terms of having to cancel last minute (I ended up asking the 10C to donate tickets to fans who got shut out, which they did), so I know how much it sucks to lose out completely, but I completely understood/understand that if they start make exceptions on transfers people are going to start taking advantage of the situation by scalping, and we'll all lose out in the long runs if that happens.

    Bottom line is that 10C is in the right by disallowing transfers in all circumstances as it's simply an unfair expectation to have them judge members' honesty on an individual basis when it comes to transfers. That being said, I think the refund idea makes sense and hope they can somehow work that into a consistent policy (perhaps as a one-time option for the length of your membership?) that makes room for these type of emergencies while keeping the scalpers away forever.
    Everything has chains...Absolutely nothing's changed. - PJ

    “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” - Albert Camus
  • jeffbrjeffbr Seattle Posts: 7,177

    jeffbr said:

    jeffbr said:

    Dude, call 10c. They will understand. Circumstances beyond your control for sure.

    10c doesn't give a shit about us or our emergency circumstances, so I'd save the effort.

    No compassion or empathy. It's cool for the band to bail on their obligations to fans, but the club makes no concessions for changes initiated from the other side of the equation.
    Maybe this wouldn't be the case if your fellow 10c members didn't abuse the transfer rules back in the day.....
    I'm sure that's true, and I understand the reason for the rule. But there are often exceptions made to rules, and I would think having a doctor's note, or a police report (if it was an accident), or some form of documentation would allow 10c to use their critical thinking skills and make circumstantial decisions. But that would require effort and would require shits be given.
    Your situation and ChadsStillAlive's situation are vastly different in that your friend showed up at the venue with your documentation hoping/expecting to get your tickets whereas Chads called and worked out a refund of the money. While I sympathize with the nature of your emergency and inability to attend the show at the last minute, allowing your friend to get those tickets would have required a judgment call on the part of the 10C in believing that he was indeed your friend and that you were indeed gifting him those tickets without making any money off of them. While I believe that you were sincere in your instance, having 10C make that sort of judgment every time somebody comes forward with an emergency and needs to transfer tickets opens up a can of worms that is best avoided altogether.

    Let's face it -- scalpers are everywhere, and more than willing to provide copies of driver's licenses, faking doctor's notes, etc. in order to make money. I've seen scalpers go to much more dramatic measures than that to bypass anti-scalping rules. Forcing 10C to differentiate who is being sincere in their emergencies vs. who is a good storyteller and making something up in order to scalp 10C tickets (which will undoubtedly make them a tidy profit) is just too much to ask. I've been on your side in terms of having to cancel last minute (I ended up asking the 10C to donate tickets to fans who got shut out, which they did), so I know how much it sucks to lose out completely, but I completely understood/understand that if they start make exceptions on transfers people are going to start taking advantage of the situation by scalping, and we'll all lose out in the long runs if that happens.

    Bottom line is that 10C is in the right by disallowing transfers in all circumstances as it's simply an unfair expectation to have them judge members' honesty on an individual basis when it comes to transfers. That being said, I think the refund idea makes sense and hope they can somehow work that into a consistent policy (perhaps as a one-time option for the length of your membership?) that makes room for these type of emergencies while keeping the scalpers away forever.
    I agree with your last paragraph that they need to amend the no refund policy to cover for these emergencies. I would have gladly taken a refund. But they publish a no refund / no exception policy that apparently now allows for exceptions. What those exceptions are may depend on how the 10c ticket agent is feeling that day. The documentation given to my friend was only after contacting 10c and receiving no response. And my friend is a long time 10c member, so the tickets wouldn't have been going to a scalper. But again, I understand the reason for the no transfer rule, and would have preferred a refund anyway. So hopefully this current example now sets a new precedent for how the 10c moves forward, and we'll get some sort of policy clarification. The policy that they currently publish is clearly not the actual policy (which now seems to allow for exceptions to be made - and rightly so).
    "I'll use the magic word - let's just shut the fuck up, please." EV, 04/13/08
  • jordn6971jordn6971 Posts: 675
    After the Raleigh cancellation it would have been nice for the 10C to allow those members who cancelled their trip as a result to transfer their Columbia or other tix to fellow members.
    "There was a band playing in my head, and I felt like getting high"
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,473
    edited April 2016
    I agree that they should always refund the cost of tickets if people can prove with documentation that they have a legit reason for missing the show. They would need some guidelines for that. I.e. medical emergencies, death in the family, physical incapacitation (i.e. I broke my back last month). If they limited refunds to those three types of circumstances, that would be cool. Obviously this would mean that more paltry reasons to miss the show would always be denied. I.e. NO refunds for things like the babysitter cancelling, the boss said I have to work, I just found out my cousin's wedding is that weekend, etc.

    I am glad the OP got the refund.... but, as made clear in the GA thread, I do believe in using the same rules for everyone. If they are willing to make an exception for medical emergencies, I sure hope they are doing it consistently.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • walkunafraidwalkunafraid Posts: 2,557
    PJ_Soul said:

    I agree that they should always refund the cost of tickets if people can prove with documentation that they have a legit reason for missing the show. They would need some guidelines for that. I.e. medical emergencies, death in the family, physical incapacitation (i.e. I broke my back last month). If they limited refunds to those three types of circumstances, that would be cool. Obviously this would mean that more paltry reasons to miss the show would always be denied. I.e. NO refunds for things like the babysitter cancelling, the boss said I have to work, I just found out my cousin's wedding is that weekend, etc.

    I am glad the OP got the refund.... but, as made clear in the GA thread, I do believe in using the same rules for everyone. If they are willing to make an exception for medical emergencies, I sure hope they are doing it consistently.

    The problem with this is that it just requires too much management and judgment and, frankly too much hassle, on the part of the 10C. It sounds like a high school student having to submit a doctor's note or other documentation to validate an absence. Plus, it's pretty damn easy to fake a doctor's note, and what exactly qualifies as a medical emergency? A broken back, sure, but how about the flu? A severe migraine? Do I need doctor's notes for these?

    I understand your point, but it's way too much of a burden on the fan club and too open to objective interpretation, and would just create more complaints about unfairness and lack of compassion etc etc.

    Better solution is just to allow each fan club membership one cancellation/refund for the length of their membership, without any questions or documentation, and let it be at that. Most people will never need it, but if they do, they have been made aware of the policy and have no grounds to complain if they need to cancel again in the future.
    Everything has chains...Absolutely nothing's changed. - PJ

    “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” - Albert Camus
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,473
    That's a good idea.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
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