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Original poster

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

134 replies

Shinyshoes1 · 28/07/2012 18:01

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' Hmm
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

OP posts:
TheDoctrineOfEnnis · 31/07/2012 15:48

But Solde, the reason is that hundreds of people are checking the site for very few returns - if one beats you to the basket, then there will be no tickets when you go to purchase, though there were when you searched. No system can sOlve that problem except a ballot...

SmallWhiteWine · 31/07/2012 16:20

blackandgold Are you just looking a the search events page? Just because a price bracket is indicated on there, does NOT mean any tickets are available at that, or indeed any, price when you try for them. If you ARE getting all the way through to the payment page just to "check", getting through all the other stages on the way, then for God's Sake STOP IT as you are arsing the system up for those of us, card in hand, desperate to buy any ticket for particular events.

HappyJoyful · 31/07/2012 16:22

Sorry that's total rubbish BlackandGold... Do you think people are ranting and moaning and there are tickets for sale ? Myself and my sister have spent ages trying to get tickets as have millions of people complaining on BBC website.
The official site shows brackets that were available, scroll down and then click further down the buy and the only tickets for sale for Closing Ceremony are £995 and above and there is not a single ticket in the Athletics for sale.
Sorry, to pick up on this but don't want to save everyone reading a wasted moment!

HappyJoyful · 31/07/2012 16:24

YA100%NBU... it's a disgrace.. empty seats at lots of venues.

Colleagues have however been to Ticket Collection West at Wembley Stadium and been able to buy tickets for tonights womens football. This is FACT and happened an hour ago, no queues. £45. If anyone is interested.

BlackandGold · 31/07/2012 16:30

Sorry guys - have I got it wrong then?

I've looked at the search events page and yes, the various events and ticket prices are listed there!

A colleague at work was talking about getting tickets just to enter the Olympic Park so I thought I'd see what was available.

Foiled again it seems!

HappyJoyful · 31/07/2012 16:45

I have smoke pouring out of my ears.. fuming is an understatement here! Shockingly appallingly bad.
Yes, I don't understand the pupils and teachers comments either. All a load of tosh.
So far after a day of research all I can gleen is that I can wait till Midnight the night before I want to go and then live in hope that something maybe released.

HappyJoyful · 31/07/2012 16:47

Yep, BlackandGold.. totally wrong.
Loads listed but none available as others have said you can even select tickets of choice for some events (Womens Wrestling - cheapest I've found for next week) and then when you go to confirm a message comes up saying sorry not available.
Can't get tickets either to enter Olympic Park either

Stokey38 · 31/07/2012 16:50

Not sure if of any interest but lots still available for Paralympics, have just booked Equestrian and Athletics.

undergroundernie · 31/07/2012 18:17

We had and used tickets for basketball and hockey this weekend. As someone else mentioned the ticket is for 2 matches but I only stayed for one with the dcs as it was too long for them. They scanned our tickets as we left the arena then resold them, more people came to sit next to my husband for the second match. The box office within the park had queues there, so if people have park tickets they can queue and get stuff at short notice.

Rhubarb78 · 31/07/2012 18:48

been trying all day for tickets, just keep hoping i will be on line at the right moment. its soooo frustrating, they leave events on there for ages after they have sold out so it looks like there are a lot of events but they have no availability.

BettySuarez · 31/07/2012 19:01

Stokey, we are trying paralympics and it is showing athletics available for the 31st August, but when I try to order them it says none available Sad

BettySuarez · 31/07/2012 19:10

So whats the best way to do this?

Should I keep the same tickets in my basket and then just keep pressing the 'request tickets' button to see if I strike lucky?

Rhubarb78 · 31/07/2012 19:28

I just got handball tickets! not an amazing event but get to look round the olympic park etc

BettySuarez · 31/07/2012 19:49

Well done Rhubarb [smile} did you book online? How long did it take?

OhYouGreatGreatBritain · 31/07/2012 19:58

I too am trying for paralympic tickets. 5 minutes each time to find out nothing available.

Rhubarb78 · 31/07/2012 20:04

all day betty :) I have been checking literally all day, think i was just lucky with the timing. the site is really slow now

BettySuarez · 31/07/2012 20:07

Thanks Rhubarb Smile

Sorry for all the questions but did you get the message to say 'no tickets found' but then just refreshed your basket and kept trying again?

This is what I am doing but don't know if I am wasting my time or not

BettySuarez · 31/07/2012 20:51

Have managed to get through on ticketing hotline (finally!) and they were able to confirm that no seats available for the event we want but more tickets might be released nearer the time (fingers crossed)

OldernotWiser47 · 31/07/2012 21:29

I just managed to get tickets for the Badminton oo Saturday, complete fluke. Were going , yay yay yay!!!

Rhubarb78 · 31/07/2012 21:40

betty i just kept emptying my basket and trying new events. i think once you get no tickets found thats it for that event, they just seem to leave it on for some reason. i just kept searching and when a new event got added, tried for that. good luck and yay older need to go to bed now, got to set off at 4am!

Peppapigsarse · 31/07/2012 22:10

We got tickets for para olympics but nothing for the standard olympics, at least we get to go to the stadium and my eldest can say going to school she went!

We did think that the fact that it was the para olympics might show that is diversity in sport...

Other events that appear to be still available Wrestling (don't fancy) and boxing (A sport I disagree with!).

Very frustrating....... whilst I appreciate they are giving spare tickets to the armed services but what about the police/fire/ambulance many who have a blanket ban on any leave for the whole period of the games.........

Whatever they do they aren't gonna be happy! its madness the ticket prices are extortionate in some cases!

OldernotWiser47 · 31/07/2012 22:28

AND Paralympics tickets for Athletics final Wed 5.9, finals and all, for 8 of us. The Paralympics tickets are much easier to get hold of, I agree

QuintessentialShadows · 31/07/2012 22:57

We just cant afford more than hundred pounds per ticket. Sad

But we might also go to the paralympics athletics finals!

Mamahotfoot · 31/07/2012 23:32

We managed to get Olympic Park tickets a few months back after giving up on ever getting tickets for something we wanted to see at a price that we could afford. We live just up the road from Stratford and I really wanted my 5 yo to get a taster of what is happening on her own doorstep. It would be so sad when she looks back in years to come and asks me why we didn't go to the Olympics when they were right here in London.

Anyway, we trekked off yesterday with our picnic for the evening session. It was utterly heaving and quite overwhelming. We were about to leave around 9 pm when a rumour went around that there were going to be some tickets released at the basket ball office around 10 pm. These were resales from the basket ball match where people had paid for an evening session but left the venue after the first game (GB v. Canada). We waited in line and finally got to the front of the queue just as the next game started, USA v. Angola. We got in, 2 adults and 2 children for £11 (my 2 yo pretended to be a babe in arms and got in for free as he was asleep in the sling!). I would never have chosen to see this particular game but it was great fun and we had a wonderful time. The best bit was the entertainment in between play. My daughter especially enjoyed doing the Mexican wave!

So the hot tip is: if you are in the park or near a venue, keep in touch with the box office / volunteer staff to hear if there will be any resales. They will typically be for tickets returned where there was more than one session, particularly if there is a popular event that finished. Also if you can stay late in the evening you may get lucky as people return their tickets if they have to leave to travel back home.

We also got tickets for the Para Olympic Athletics - so will get our full dose of Olympic action then.

ravenAK · 01/08/2012 00:20

Re: the 'students & teachers' thing - I'm a teacher.

A colleague of mine sorted it out, so I don't know the details, but we were offering the tickets to the kids a couple of months ago, & it was entirely dependent on sufficient teaching staff volunteering to run the trip during their hols.

I made myself scarce every time she came round trying to recruit volunteers, tbh - I like school trips generally, but no interest in the Olympics & it was going to be a PITA to sort out childcare for my own dc.