Dismaland – still trying

Another batch of tickets went on sale today and, yet again, I failed to get any. Yet again I managed to grab some and push them into my basket, whizz off to Paypal, fill in all my details, back to the site, complete the terms and conditions and ……. all sold.

This is just bad customer relations, pure and simple, a dreadful user experience caused by a mishandling of the overload. I also have a beef with a bit of information sleight of hand. The Dismaland website clearly says that tickets (limited availability) are £3 on the door. The first page of the See Tickets Dismaland area says “Tickets on the door are limited and priced at £3. Tickets can be bought in advance online for £5 including booking fee.” – note the “including booking fee”, why? Because when you get through to tickets, if you do, it clearly states that the Face Value is £5.

They also have trouble connecting their system as the particular page from which I took this should not be available – all online tickets are sold out and yet the 17th Sep 11:00 slot is still clickable (all others are marked “Sold Out”) even though it then says “Tickets not Available”.

Selling limited tickets to highly sought after shows is technically challenging – but I don’t think the challenge is being risen to here. Of course, a number of people point out that this is just part of the Dismal Experience … and perhaps it is.

The ticket sales process is, according to STAR Guidelines, supposed to make clear the rules on transfer and resale (basically you are not allowed to do either in this instance) – I have yet to notice any such warning on the site, though in fairness I am usually rushing pointlessly towards trying to complete!

Next tickets available at 10am on 16th September.

p.s. someone I know has grabbed tickets in two batches … they have used them so I don’t begrudge them the luck …. much

p.p.s. eBay are still allowing the resale of tickets which is not allowed by either their own rules about prohibited items or the terms and conditions of the tickets themselves. What’s more, they are promoting StubHub‘s resale of tickets (StubHub is an eBay company) … it is amazing how many people who managed to buy tickets now apparently either (a) can’t go or (b) have friends who can’t go … odd that

Categories: Tickets

Dismaland dismal ticket experience A Curious Incident