AIBU to myself over stressing about the seating plan at the Taylor Swift Era's tour

[Swiftie1989]

I thought I would type this here purely because someone may actually know and its stressing me out really bad. We have tickets for the Wembley event and thought we had an unobstructed VIP ticket - There are no indications on the seating plans of any obstructions and the seats are advertised as the best views. However in the press for the Edinburgh event people are reporting that their VIP view was blocked by a tent with electrical equipment in it. I thought this would not affect me as the tents are shown on the seating plans for Edinburgh and there are none shown on the seating plans for Wembley. However none are shown on the seating plans for the Liverpool event either but drone shots clearly show these tents have been put up.

I have tried asking AXS if that despite being advertised as the best views are there any notes in my T&Cs for the tickets that my view may be obstructed but they wont answer the question.

Wembley will not engage in any conversation at all about seating.

I imagine on the day I would just have to ask to move but does anyone have any advice - I think I am just being really unreasonable to myself to worry at this stage to the extent that I am stressing.

I have attached a sample picture of what I am talking about.

I am not sure why people are so out of sorts that I called Citizens Advice. I filled out a web form and the right person called me back when Wembley and AXS brushed me off. Then after reading the ticket and the T&C I was advised there could be a contract breach as “they” have committed to inform their customers of obstructed views in their code of conduct. They told me how to deal with it and what evidence to record. They also gave me contact details to get help to claim a partial refund which would be assessed based on what I got vs a reasonable expectation, all of which they would guide me through. I was really impressed with their knowledge and gave me comfort where AXS and Wembley would not engage in any sort conversation.

We had been saving our money for this from the moment we preordered the Midnights album knowing we would get a presale code to something. It took a long time to save so of course I wanted some resemblance of value for money and that did not include looking at a tent.

I am also not sure how some people posting can quote what Citizens Advice love. The girl I spoke with had all the time in the world for me and never once suggested any irritation.

But I suppose everywhere has haters who have just got to hate.

Haters gonna hate hate hate. Shake them off 😂

@ThisNaiceLemonSloth
Tickets were sold a year ago. They had no idea then what the set up would be like, so no, they didn’t knowingly sell obstructed tickets.

There was no “shitty” behaviour. There was, however, “oh shit, the tents/rigs they’ve put in place are obstructing people’s views and now we need to move them”.

C'mon, of course it shitty. It's not a surprise there is going to be lighting rigs etc. Thats why it not uncommon to hold the sale of some tickets back and only sell them when the layout has been finalised. They have done this with some of the Taylor Swift tickets, I think they are called production tickets.
They showed the location of the tents when the tickets were first on sale so although they may not be exactly where they were first planned the organisers knew they were going to be there and where they would be roughly. It would be hard to plan around that.

Anyway @Swiftie1989 did you have a brilliant night?

Yes thank you, it was absolutely stunning. The band played loud and the crowds went wild. And the stadium lit up with 80’000 screaming fans arm bands all in time to the music.

That's good to hear
🪩💃🏼

Daily Mail running an article on vip seats obstructed by the tents today

We are going in August and unfortunately it looks like the view from our seats will be blocked by the VIP tent. I really don't understand why they even need a roof on the tents (must make it really hot inside too) as a lower structure would improve the viewing and concert experience for hundreds of fans who've paid good money for the tickets. If we can see the stage at all does anyone know if we will get a refund?!

Can't see the stage I mean!

In case it rains

OP can you explain exactly what you needed to do to get moved? As I’ve posted before I have tickets for that block in row 5 so the view will be crap. I can’t believe I’ve paid so much for that. DD is going with friends so I will need to explain to her in detail what to do to get moved.

I’m in exactly the same situation, I’ve spent my savings buying these tickets for my girls, they’re only 8 and 9, I’m in block 122 row 4 so according to what I’ve seen posted our view is completely restricted by the ‘sound’ tent and we won’t be able to see hardly anything, I’ve worried all night since I saw this reported, it’s so distressing and upsetting, I don’t know what to do of anything can be done, these tickets were so expensive and said nothing about obstruction at time of purchase.

So despite that I wouldn’t know TS if she stood up in my soup I have become strangely obsessed with this tour.

So when I saw this post online I thought of this thread straight away.

This is someone’s view tonight.

@BiscuityBoyle thats a naff view but I hope that person paid £58 for it. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve paid £600 per fucking ticket for the view the OP posted. I feel sick.

They said it was £60 each.

I’m in block 117 does anyone know what that one will be like?

After spotting the issue I told my daughter I needed a loo break. She seemed uncertain why we were unable to see the whole stage so I could tell her mind was working. I found my way to the information desk and spoke to the gentleman explaining the issue from my daughter’s point of view. He started with nothing can be done but after a bit of persistence asking things like can we stand on the steps etc he told us to come back in 20. We went back as asked and he simply produced a book of what looked like 50+ tickets. We got the two off the top which were in the same block (but opposite) but further back so we were high enough for the tents to be out of sight.

A few strange things though. There clearly were shenanigans taking place as Wembley must have known the issue - when I spoke to the stewards to find the information desk, they responded amongst themselves as I was “another one”. So Wembley must have known but must have been hoping people would put up with it. Then their first suggestion was that it is a AXS problem and to talk to AXS for a refund. But from my research with Citizens Advice ;) I knew to hold out and to resolve it on the night. Furthermore and something that blew my mind was that most people from my row down to the front never even seemed to try to do anything. If I could not see the stage then they really couldn’t but just sat there.

And if someone suggests you can see the end of the stage and that where most of the performance is, this simply isn’t true. You need at least to see the diamond and up against the huge video wall. I see a lot of press today suggesting restricted view tickets were somehow better but there is so much going on they could not see against that video wall.

I really want to launch into a rant about this because I find the whole fake VIP ticket thing really distasteful. From what I hear about the love Taylor and her team (Taylor Nation) has for the fans I am really surprised they Tolerate It. (Wait for the comments, doesn’t Taylor have enough on her plate and so on). But in honesty no I don’t - she constantly thanks Swifties like me who bought every album since 2008, who supported her through every stage of her career and the Taylor’s Version thing and who sang EVERY word and danced for the whole three and a half hours. She tells us we make her tour possible and it then feels like a massive two fingers up at us once they have our hard earned savings in ticket sales. Simply so they can give free tickets to their celebrity friends showing how much the public support really means. Taylor Nation (her management team) seem alert enough to spot stuff in the crowd and post about it but after 100+ shows Taylor Nation have not spotted some fans who have spent a fortune can’t see? Really???

Sorry, just wanted that rant - of course Taylor has better things to do but it’s her reputation that gets affected. Not some random stage designer who needs to go back to relearn their trade.

We have followed her career since 2005 and pretty much only listen to Taylor’s music. Financially we have never been able to afford live shows and this one was a real struggle to afford. And now this will be our lasting memory of the Eras Tour 2024.

Apologies if my rant has offended anyone.

You are exactly right - so much takes place up against that large video wall that they just can’t see. And that smaller video screen only shows a small portion of what you can see on stage.

I totally agree. Personally I think there should be a rule around the % price of a restricted ticket. Eg they have to be sold at 10% of the proper tickets

No I don't? I'm really confused why you responded to me in that way.

OMG I'm trying to get resale tickets for the grandchildren and I'm now thinking are people going to be selling shit seats now that she's held a few concerts. That would seriously piss me off seeing VIPS stood in those tents blocking views of people who've actually paid for a ticket! Good for you OP not putting up with any crap when you'd paid good money to SEE Taylor. Not just hear her.

You are in the same position I was when I started the thread. And there probably isn’t any comforting advice coming from Wembley or the sales agents. Having personally survived the Great War (another Taylor reference before anyone complains), the advice I would give is that on the day be on your toes. Get there early so you are towards the front of the queue, and note the position of the information desks as you go in. Leg it to your seat and grab photos. You never know they might have woken up by then and fixed it. Then just one of you go to the help desk and put the case from your daughters point of view. Don’t take the first rejection either.

I don’t think anyone will guarantee you can be moved but we were moved and others did get moved after us. We were all sorted and in good seats before the first act came on.

Having spent many a night awake thinking about this, please remember you can’t do anything until the day so there is no point worrying. Which I know is easy to say when you are invested in SEEING Taylor and not just hearing her.

And something else for everyone to note is that you need to get screenshots of all your ticket information from your phone.

I am not after a refund but have noticed all trace of me attending has gone from my AXS account. I can see the receipt but seat numbers, package purchased etc has all gone.

Oh! That is SNEAKY.

Thanks so much for sharing your story