Having trouble getting 1 ticket for Hadestown in Ticketmaster

[pamela_lim]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 5:53am

Hello.  Hoping someone can help me.  I am trying to get just one Hadestown ticket, but Ticketmaster is not allowing the purchase of only 1 ticket, as they are requiring me to buy two seats next to each other. This is not the case though for the other Hadestown shows.  There are other seats next to each other for the 7:30pm show, but they can be bought separately.  I wonder why it is restricted for the 2pm show.  I have already chatted with a Ticketmaster representative and their reply was:

"Looking at the order, I do show that the venue has a restriction on the seat. You will need to purchase 2 seats in order for the purchase to go through."

Is there anyone here with a similar experience? If I purchase directly from the box office, will the seats also have restriction?  Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 6:15am

You might be looking at a "companion" seat. Also, they dont like single seats left...so if there's three (or more) next to each other, you can buy 1...but not if yhere are only 2. (Leaving behind a singleton.

[pamela_lim]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 7:06am

Oh I see.  Is this the same policy if buying only one ticket at the box office?

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 7:57am

pamela_lim said: "Oh I see. Is this the same policy if buying only oneticket at the box office?"

No, the box office will always sell single seats. If you haven't already, try calling the Ticketmaster Arts Sales line, since they tend to be more helpful. That number is 800 982-2787, and they open at 9 a.m.

[pamela_lim]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 8:07am

Thanks for that number.  I will try calling Ticketmaster later.  If that fails, I will try the box office. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 8:43am

For re-sale tickets, Ticketmaster doesn't let you "leave" just a single seat behind. But there's a work-around:

1) Open ticketmaster in a private browser / incognito mode. Don't sign in. Put the seat you don't want in your cart.

2) Open a new window or tab of Ticketmater in non-private browser tab/window. Sign in. The first seat you selected before shouldn't be available, allowing you put the two you want in your basket. 

3) Finish the transaction before you close out the private browser. 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 8:49am

raddersons said: "For re-sale tickets, Ticketmaster doesn't let you "leave" just a single seat behind. But there's a work-around:

1) Open ticketmaster in a private browser / incognito mode. Don't sign in. Put the seat you don't want in your cart.

2) Open a new window or tab of Ticketmater innon-private browser tab/window. Sign in. The first seat you selected before shouldn't be available,allowing you put the two you want in your basket.

3) Finish the transaction before you close out the private browser."

That will work if you want to buy 2 of 3 seats, but not if you want 1 of 2, since it won't let you put the single in your cart.

[theaterdude2]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 9:00am

I called Ticketmaster when this happened to me. They asked me which single I wanted and put the other seats in the row on hold, which freed up the single for me to purchase. It was very easy and they were very accommodating. 

[greensgreens]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 9:37am

I'm sorry, but it's asinine that you can't just buy a single seat to a show without having to jump through any hoops! The whole point of online booking is you DON'T have to call anyone or wait on hold. The policy is great for couples & groups and gets them the best seating, but I always travel to NY alone and this makes my planning extremely difficult. It's nice to know you can call a line (I didn't know that before), but should I have to do that for four shows every time I want to book a trip? NO. I'll admit that this policy has prompted me to favor Telecharge shows and I have had crummy seats twice because I didn't know you could call in. They should at least publicize the single seat policy and workaround adjacent to the notice that you can't purchase the seat in question, as I have never heard of the phone-in option before.

[pamela_lim]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 9:53am

I tried calling Ticketmaster twice, and was not able to get through, after the lengthy procedures with the automated operator. This is so frustrating, as I am from overseas and imagine each call took more than 7 minutes and still no ticket. Aargh.

[pamela_lim]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 10:48am

CT2NYC said: "pamela_lim said: "Oh I see. Is this the same policy if buying only oneticket at the box office?"

No, the box office will always sell single seats. If you haven't already, try calling the Ticketmaster Arts Sales line, since they tend to be more helpful. That number is 800 982-2787, and they open at 9 a.m."

CT2NYC, thanks for this number, I was finally able to purchase ONE ticket to Hadestown.  Call took 30 minutes waiting time though, but there were no concerns about buying just one ticket.  Thanks again!

[raddersons]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 10:54am

CT2NYC said: "That will work if you want to buy 2 of 3 seats, but not if you want 1 of 2, since it won't let you put the single in your cart."

Good point, I misread the original post.

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 12:10pm

greensgreens said: "I'm sorry, but it's asinine that you can't just buy a single seat to a show without having to jump through any hoops! The whole point of online booking is you DON'T have to call anyone or wait on hold. The policy isgreat for couples & groups and gets them the best seating, but I always travel to NY alone and this makes my planning extremely difficult. It's nice to know you can call a line (I didn't know that before), but should I have to do that for four shows every time I want to book a trip? NO. I'll admit that this policy has prompted me to favor Telecharge shows and I have had crummy seats twice because I didn't know you could call in. They should at least publicize the single seat policy and workaround adjacent to the notice that you can't purchase the seat in question, as I have never heard of the phone-in option before."

This is one of many reasons why I loathe Ticketmaster. Their platform may be less buggy than that of Telecharge, but Telecharge is far more accommodating and customer service-oriented. I've never been prevented from purchasing a single seat through Telecharge, but I've run into this problem MANY times with Ticketmaster.

[MX888]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 5:21pm

Count me in as another frustrated single ticket purchaser on TM! Seriously, I want to say it's like a discriminatory practice (I think I read somewhere that this is dictated by the producers?)  - I hate calling customer service. Forget it if it's a hot-ticket show because while waiting forever on hold, tickets disappear before your eyes UGH...

I also hate how you can't easily look over a wide range of dates like Telecharge. I would definitely choose purchasing through Telecharge over TM any day.

 

[Kruth1]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 5:40pm

Thanks for posting this! I’m having the same issue with Moulin Rouge table seating, will try this number now

[LexiGirl]

Posted: 7/10/19 at 9:32pm

I wish I had known some of these tricks. I had trouble buying two tickets to Hadestown on the date I wanted because the best seats had 3 seats available together. So it wasn’t allowing me to buy just two of the three, which was ridiculous! And they weren’t resale tickets. I ended up buying seats a little farther back. It was very infuriating.

[Olivia11]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 1:13am

I always cross my fingers for Telecharge and groan when I find out a show is Ticketmaster. They are patently awful at customer service.

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:31pm

Kruth1 said: "Thanks for posting this! I’m having the same issue with Moulin Rouge table seating, will try this number now"

Unfortunately, MR table seating is a different beast. I confirmed at the box office that you can only buy them in pairs. A friend wanted a single seat, but was unable to do so online, so we tried at the box office and they said nope, you can't buy single table seats. grr

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:34pm

Olivia11 said: "I always cross my fingers for Telecharge and groan when I find out a show is Ticketmaster. They are patently awful at customer service."

This isn't a Ticketmaster issue. It is something the producers/theater decide to enable, mainly so people don't strand single seats in the middle of rows and such. But many many shows/events/venues don't use this feature on Ticketmaster.

[taylortrensch]

Posted: 7/11/19 at 12:37pm

Olivia11 said: "I always cross my fingers for Telecharge and groan when I find out a show is Ticketmaster. They are patently awful at customer service."

at least ticketmaster's website isn't a sh!t hole

[chi-town_bwayfangirl]

Posted: 7/12/19 at 8:37am

I had same experience with orchestra seats for MR when buying 1 ticket in person at box office. Wanted row G or K but had to settle for M because G and K only had two seats left each and box office said they weren’t able to split them up because ticketmaster’s system doesn’t even allow them to do that at the box office.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 7/12/19 at 8:57am

"I'm sorry, but it's asinine that you can't just buy a single seat to a show without having to jump through any hoops! The whole point of online booking is you DON'T have to call anyone or wait on hold. The policy is great for couples & groups and gets them the best seating, but I always travel to NY alone and this makes my planning extremely difficult. "

I agree and I have had this problem with going to sporting events alone. I could not get seats in a very good location last year for the US Open due to this policy. The only seat I could get were several sections over and much higher up. Why should person buying one ticket not get the best location possible?

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/12/19 at 12:48pm

taylortrensch said: "Olivia11 said: "I always cross my fingers for Telecharge and groan when I find out a show is Ticketmaster. They are patently awful at customer service."

at least ticketmaster's website isn't a sh!t hole"

I'll take a "sh!t hole" website with good customer service over an adequate website with sh!tty service any day.