To be outraged on friends behalf re not being able to buy Olympic tickets

[Shinyshoes1]

Ok outraged is a bit ott but...
My friend from school has just posted on her FB status that she tried to by tickets at the Olympic park for the men's gymnastics as there were loads of empty seats and was til 'no'
She tried to buy them online outside the park but because her email had already been registered she couldn't buy them that way either.
So far from what I've seen on telly , there have been plenty of empty seats on both the gymnastics and the swimming events .
Surely if she wants to buy them and there are seats left she should be able to

Empty seats don't mean that they weren't sold, it might mean that people didn't turn up

Like the article says, they're contracted to keep a certain number of seats aside for "the Olympic family", but they can't guarantee people will turn up for them.

We were at the men's gymnastics this morning and was shocked by the amount of empty seats. The upper tier (i.e. the cheap seats) where we were were full, but the rest was quite empty.

Apparently LOCOG are investigating and it sounds like seats given to sponsors which were left empty.

Always happens at Olympics, many recipients of sponsor tickets don't turn up!
Makes me wonder when folk say that sponsors make the event more affordable, just how many free tickets do they get to schmooze their unappreciative clients with?

"free seats" given to sponsors. Surely sponsors have poured money into the games thus the seats are courtesy not "free"?.

But FWIW I have the same irritation with the Cup Final, Always a bank of empty seats where they are quaffing their champers etc in hospitality. No problem with that - just pass the ticket on to someone who likes footy.

They should reserve the shit seats for them

I work for a company that works with one of the big sponsors. In the grand scheme of things we are a teeny customer of theirs and yet they have been throwing tickets at us. Every day last week there was an offer for tickets for different events courtesy of sponsor. As we are 200miles away from London I don't think anyone has taken them up on it.
My mind boggles at how many tickets they must have had and couldn't give away!

Seb coe is outraged and siad he will name and shame

I won some p&g tickets and we are using them, but looking at the swimming centre where our seats will be on Friday is very empty.

It's because a lot of people have caught the first flight home after watching the opening ceremony last night.

Seems very stupid to just hand them out like this.

Also schools were given them. Best will in the world I wasn't picked out of the draw for the tickets (criteria was we had to accompany 10 children) - some TAs were, and handed them back on the last day of term when they found out they weren't being paid. I would have loved to have gone.

I applied for eventing in Greenwich Park and didn't get them, and I have seen comments elsewhere from people who were there today saying there were loads of empty seats. I am A Noid.

There were empty seats at the opening ceremony last night.

They were the expensive seats LadySybilde, they did say they were going to give unsold tickets to troops/children but I don't know if that happened.

I'm sure they were. It seemed like such a shame though.

I think it demonstrates that they overpriced the tickets, if they'd been more reasonably priced I'm sure they would have been snapped up.

But mose of the events are sold out Frankel? Think the issue is not the pricing (not saying it wasn't expensive) but aht the sponsors/Olympic committee took too many seats?

Same at Basketball today - cheap seats were full and there was a great atmosphere but the sponsors seats close to the court were empty.

No they specifically said that they hadn't sold all the expensive seats for the Opening Ceremony. I'm talking about the seats priced £1500+.

The ticketing system is rubbish too, we have been considering getting some last minute ones over the last few weeks, keep browsing the website, but why oh why can't they just allow you to see what is available without having to search everything individually? Even where our search has come up with available, when you select them into your basket it says not available. Grrr.

The empty seats were apparently sold for corporate/sponsors and they've bloody not used the tickets they guzzled up! Very annoying!

So yes, officially sold out... But people not showing up to use their seats... Like it Joe Public but corporate tickets.

Good idea waswandering. Absolutely.

*sorry, wondering not wandering!

Just watching the Men's gymnastics,mtherecare loads of empty seats.