Are tickets by fax legit?
March 12, 2004 8:31 AM Subscribe
Someone's offered to sell me tickets to an event and tells me they are "fax" tickets -- I can paypal him and he can fax the tickets. Is this legit? I don't know this person.
I imagine I would be faxed a bar code that would be read at the event when I enter. I'm a little concerned this person could be selling this barcode to dozens of people, though. Anyone ever bought a ticket this way?
I imagine I would be faxed a bar code that would be read at the event when I enter. I'm a little concerned this person could be selling this barcode to dozens of people, though. Anyone ever bought a ticket this way?
I would be weary - I've never heard about this. Depending on the type of event, most tickets are expensively produced to make them 'counterfeit' proof, including decals, holograms, etc. Unless you're purchasing tickets to a dental convention in Philadelphia, it sounds like it may be a scam.
Either way, I would check out with the venue to get their final word on it. Who knows? Maybe this is legit.
posted by jazzkat11 at 8:47 AM on March 12, 2004
Either way, I would check out with the venue to get their final word on it. Who knows? Maybe this is legit.
posted by jazzkat11 at 8:47 AM on March 12, 2004
Response by poster: This is a large venue and ticketing is handled by ticketbastard, who verified for me that they do email a barcode that's accepted at the door. If they do this, as jazzkat11 says, why not just have the paper tickets be simple barcode? It think it COULD be legit, but could just as easily be a scam.
I think in this case I'm going to "throw the seafood away," as they say.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:54 AM on March 12, 2004
I think in this case I'm going to "throw the seafood away," as they say.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:54 AM on March 12, 2004
There are barecode tickets, but I'd at the very least be concerned about fidelity from a fax. Barcodes are very exact in their detail, something faxes notoriously aren't.
posted by mkultra at 9:01 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by mkultra at 9:01 AM on March 12, 2004
Even if the fax came through okay, there may be limitations on using reproduced copies of the original ticket. Don't do it unless you can get the original.
posted by yangwar at 9:03 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by yangwar at 9:03 AM on March 12, 2004
The beauty of this is that he can just use a distribution list to fax the same ticket to all his buyers. And one will actually get in!
They are presumably TicketMaster TicketFast (TM) tickets. The ones where they e-mail you a PDF with a bar-code and you print it out yourself. I would be leary of fax quality even if you trust the person. If the space between the bars is screwed up, that's bad news for the scanner at the door and for you. If they are these types of tickets, he should be able to e-mail you the PDF.
posted by smackfu at 9:04 AM on March 12, 2004
They are presumably TicketMaster TicketFast (TM) tickets. The ones where they e-mail you a PDF with a bar-code and you print it out yourself. I would be leary of fax quality even if you trust the person. If the space between the bars is screwed up, that's bad news for the scanner at the door and for you. If they are these types of tickets, he should be able to e-mail you the PDF.
posted by smackfu at 9:04 AM on March 12, 2004
Even if he's emailing you the PDF, he could be emailing it to dozens of people, and only the first people through the door will get in. I think (but am not certain) that with the TicketFast tickets, you still are required to show the credit card that was used to purchase the tickets when you arrive.
posted by some chick at 9:28 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by some chick at 9:28 AM on March 12, 2004
I'm with smackfu... there's nothing to stop this person selling a hundred xeroxes of his legit ticket -- then beating you all there so *he* gets in.
posted by o2b at 9:35 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by o2b at 9:35 AM on March 12, 2004
i've bought ticketfast tickets from someone and didn't have to show a credit card when i arrived at the venue, but i was nervous the whole time i had the tickets that i had been scammed. caveat emptor, but at the very least get the pdf instead of the fax.
posted by whoshotwho at 9:44 AM on March 12, 2004
posted by whoshotwho at 9:44 AM on March 12, 2004
I've bought paper tickets before over the internet that have barcodes on them, but I bought them directly from the venue or Ticketmaster. Then when I went to the event they had people with little machines that were reading the barcodes. I imagine if they sold the ticket to more than one person the little machines would register this and wouldn't let more than one purchaser of the same ticket is.
So, either get some proof from your seller that he's only selling to you . . . or get to the event really really early, before any of the other ticket buyers do. :) If you were buying it from Ticketmaster or some other ticket resource behemoth, though, I wouldn't worry.
posted by onlyconnect at 10:44 AM on March 12, 2004
So, either get some proof from your seller that he's only selling to you . . . or get to the event really really early, before any of the other ticket buyers do. :) If you were buying it from Ticketmaster or some other ticket resource behemoth, though, I wouldn't worry.
posted by onlyconnect at 10:44 AM on March 12, 2004
ticket in. Wouldn't let them in.
Also, the tickets I bought were e-mailed to me, not faxed, but if it's barcoding it's the same idea as long as the fax quality is good enough for the barcode to be readable.
posted by onlyconnect at 12:54 PM on March 12, 2004
Also, the tickets I bought were e-mailed to me, not faxed, but if it's barcoding it's the same idea as long as the fax quality is good enough for the barcode to be readable.
posted by onlyconnect at 12:54 PM on March 12, 2004
If the tickets are 10cents and the gig is in the next street, buy 'em.
If the tickets are $40 and the gig is in the next city, forget it.
posted by Frasermoo at 2:15 PM on March 12, 2004
If the tickets are $40 and the gig is in the next city, forget it.
posted by Frasermoo at 2:15 PM on March 12, 2004
I use TicketFast tickets a lot, but I'd be very wary of repurchasing them. The TicketFast rules say that disputes are solved by asking for the credit card used to purchase the tickets - which you won't have, because you didn't purchase them. So if the guy is scamming you, or the ticketmaster computers are having a bad day and any questions come up, you're definitely going to get screwed.
As others have noted the 'fax' thing is an added concern. There's absolutely no reason for him to be faxing you those tickets instead of sending you the original file. Either he doesn't understand what he's selling, or he's trying some kind of scam.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:09 PM on March 12, 2004
As others have noted the 'fax' thing is an added concern. There's absolutely no reason for him to be faxing you those tickets instead of sending you the original file. Either he doesn't understand what he's selling, or he's trying some kind of scam.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:09 PM on March 12, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by armoured-ant at 8:44 AM on March 12, 2004