Epic Disappointment: Pearl Jam Fenway 1

sadsworld

Hey All, my name is Christopher and I was super excited to be able to attend Fenway 1 on August 5th. On August 4th I was rushed to the hospital and needed to have emergency heart surgery. I was in the hospital for over a week and I was bummed that I couldn't go to the show. I sent a message to Ten Club to see if there was anything they could do to help me in the future. Here's the response I got:

Hi Christopher,

We are sorry to hear that. We have heard from no less than 10 other members also having emergency surgery today, so you may just end up bumping into another fan to commiserate with while you recover in hospital.

Unfortunately tickets cannot be exchanged for another show date. We hope to catch you next time The band is in Boston.

-10c

Anybody else think this was hard and out of poor taste? Not something to joke around with. I then responded with:

Dear Ten Club,
I understand your ticket policy and rules. I felt that the previous email by you was sent in poor taste and there is no room for sarcasm or whit in such format. Having emergency heart surgery is not something to joke around with. It is inexplicable to use such vernacular when dealing with such a matter.

I hope that the curator of the email gets a stern talking to and gets some advice on how to properly respond to emails especially to your best fans.

Christopher


Hope this finds the way to the right people and something is done to have a teaching moment with an employee. I have not heard back from them.

dmbolp

Do you have a doctor's note?

KC138045

I think you are over reacting a bit to their email. I hope your recovery is going well.

SVRDhand13

Where'd that popcorn emoji go?

bootlegger10

KC138045 said:

I think you are over reacting a bit to their email. I hope your recovery is going well.

If I was actually in surgery that day and received that email I would be pissed too. Unfortunately it sounds like a lot of fans fake reasons to get 10c ticket refunds and so someone at the fan club got annoyed.

MayDay10

Yeah, I saw this play out last week on the book of faces. IMO, it isn't a big deal, and should be let go. It isn't a travesty, nobody got hurt, and thank God or what have you, you made it through surgery alright.


Whats the final goal here? Get someone fired for having a bad day at work (in a hectic situation?) Get free stuff?

RS65573

I was going to Netherlands in 2006 and got hit by a car right before the trip. Got a very similar email.

I just asked they try to give the tickets to someone who was shutout that night, they said they would.

Hope your doing better, but I think this is standard, "OMG there are just too many people and tickets to do exchanges" policy.

MayDay10

bootlegger10 said:

Unfortunately it sounds like a lot of fans fake reasons to get 10c ticket refunds and so someone at the fan club got annoyed.

This is just it. The current lottery system seems to encourage people to press luck and over-buy, as tickets are trade bait now. I'm sure that dealing with 40,000 fans with extra 10c allotment for 2 shows in a weekend produced a lot of farcical excuses people couldn't make it. Unfortunately, a percentage of people have valid emergencies.... with that said, it couldnt be more clear that there are no refunds, exchanges, etc.... Someone was probably stressed out and vented briefly without thinking it through. IMO no damage was done.

2-feign-reluctance

I agree with the OP. Bad taste. I teach college courses online and when I get these kinds of e-mails from students about major ER stuff coming up that prevents them from turning in work I always send out a courteous, professional response that tows the line.

know1

Over-reaction. I think what they said was fine.

2-feign-reluctance

know1 said:

Over-reaction. I think what they said was fine.

Why even bring in others into the convo though? Deal with the e-mail directly, politely and with no snark.

slightofjeff

I agree with the OP. Not being able to exchange the tickets is understandable. Joking about emergency surgery is not. I think his email in response was fair, too.

2-feign-reluctance

Also, OP glad you are ok man!

mr bungle

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

JimmyV

10C has a habit of communicating with fans and paying customers in a manner that is at best unprofessional and at worst outright rude. It isn't always easy dealing with customer complaints and issues but there are certain things that you just don't do. It doesn't matter that other people have been dishonest about emergencies in the past. All that matters in customer service is the customer you are dealing with at that very moment. The correct response is to gently say that unfortunately the policy is the policy, and to wish the customer a speedy recovery. It is not to basically insinuate the person is lying. That reflects poorly on the organization.

slightofjeff

JimmyV said:

10C has a habit of communicating with fans and paying customers in a manner that is at best unprofessional and at worst outright rude. It isn't always easy dealing with customer complaints and issues but there are certain things that you just don't do. It doesn't matter that other people have been dishonest about emergencies in the past. All that matters in customer service is the customer you are dealing with at that very moment. The correct response is to gently say that unfortunately the policy is the policy, and to wish the customer a speedy recovery. It is not to basically insinuate the person is lying. That reflects poorly on the organization.

Yep. It sounds like someone at 10C was having a bad day.

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob

OP, I'm glad you're okay, but I cannot stand it when people post private e-mails on public forums. The ticket policy states that all ticket sales are final. No refunds. No exchanges. No name transfers. No exceptions. I don't understand why people are constantly pestering the 10c about this. If you can't go, it sucks, but you eat the tickets and leave the 10C staff to get other work done.

pjhawks

if this is a true email from the 10C it is incredibly unprofessional. now i'm sure they deal with this kind of crap all the time, but their is no reason to get snide like that with a paying customer. a polite 'per our policy no exchanges are allowed' email would have been more than sufficient.

2-feign-reluctance

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob said:

OP, I'm glad you're okay, but I cannot stand it when people post private e-mails on public forums. The ticket policy states that all ticket sales are final. No refunds. No exchanges. No name transfers. No exceptions. I don't understand why people are constantly pestering the 10c about this. If you can't go, it sucks, but you eat the tickets and leave the 10C staff to get other work done.

Hey, I'm sure you get this all the time, but your board name rules!!

Washed

Best of luck OP - be well and don't give up on PJ because of this email.

drakeheuer14

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob

Thanks. I'm glad youuuuu (you!) feel like I do about the name. But I'm a little bummed there's not space for that second Mayo at the end! It would really tie the name together.

slightofjeff

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob said:

OP, I'm glad you're okay, but I cannot stand it when people post private e-mails on public forums. The ticket policy states that all ticket sales are final. No refunds. No exchanges. No name transfers. No exceptions. I don't understand why people are constantly pestering the 10c about this. If you can't go, it sucks, but you eat the tickets and leave the 10C staff to get other work done.

He's not complaining about not being able to make the exchange. Did you read his entire post?

slightofjeff

drakeheuer14 said:

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

So what if they are tired of it? It's a basic rule of customer service: You can enforce your policy without being rude to a person that, as far as you know, might be on the verge of death.

on2legs

That reply was kind of funny although I agree maybe not so funny if he actually had surgery. But still clever nonetheless.

drakeheuer14

slightofjeff said:

drakeheuer14 said:

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

So what if they are tired of it? It's a basic rule of customer service: You can enforce your policy without being rude to a person that, as far as you know, might be on the verge of death.

The way I read it, it seems it was humor taken the wrong way. Humorous from the responders side only I guess.

mr bungle

drakeheuer14 said:

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

I disagree.. You're right, they don't have to do anything per the "rules". But in extreme circumstances that can be validated, they could easily refund his money. Those tickets were released back to the box office and resold anyway.

know1

It's only rude or snarky if you perceive it that way. I think it is fine.

slightofjeff

drakeheuer14 said:

slightofjeff said:

drakeheuer14 said:

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

So what if they are tired of it? It's a basic rule of customer service: You can enforce your policy without being rude to a person that, as far as you know, might be on the verge of death.

The way I read it, it seems it was humor taken the wrong way. Humorous from the responders side only I guess.

Sure. I'm not saying there was malicious intent or that anyone should be fired or anything. Just saying I understand the original poster's sentiments.

KC138045

mr bungle said:

drakeheuer14 said:

mr bungle said:

i'm very surprised about the rude response.. They have time to investigate 10 "medical emergency" claims. If a 10club member is lying, kick them out of the club. If they are legit, help them out.

Im not sure they have a responsibility to help out. It would be cool, but no reason they need to or should. They have clear rules and they enforce them. Not sure what OP expected or is expecting, but very glad you are okay. They are probably just tired of people trying to be the "one" exception.

I disagree.. You're right, they don't have to do anything per the "rules". But in extreme circumstances that can be validated, they could easily refund his money. Those tickets were released back to the box office and resold anyway.

They do that once then everyone with a reason they can't make a show will expect the same treatment. The 10c has the rules/policies in place and have to enforce them.

F Me In The Brain

Probably should have left out the joke but I get not being able to help you.

Very glad that you are OK, that sounds like a tough thing to go through. Certainly more important things in life than 2 tickets to PJ, as much fun as that can be. Be well.