[News] Flames introduce paperless tickets

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Are people able to e-mail/forward tickets yet?

Just wondering as I don't think I can yet, I have the seats available in "manage my tickets" but no option from the drop-down menu.

[Sec218]

I'm able to use the pull down menu and then get to the forward tickets page, but unfortunately that's it. I'm unable to complete the transfer process.

Edit: I called customer service and they got it working for me. All good!

[flamesrule_kipper34]

I'm able to transfer them now, as of 9:00AM.

[Lord Carnage]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

If you want to comment about "nobody has a good reason" but you don't read ALL of the comments,. I also wouldn't know what you missed, so you are on your own.

The problem is obvious that when multiple hands get involved confusion about tickets for who and whom gets all screwed up. There is nothing confusing about a ticket in hand. Therefore a much better system for my needs.

So your opinion is the majority, or is there a real survey on this I missed?[/QUOTE]

Likely located in the same place where you found your facts on nothing confusing about a ticket in hand and when muliple hands get involved it all gets screwed up, when refering to email transfers or card based tickets.

Boy, you couldn't have come across sounding more arrogant or ignorant at all, could you?

I split my tickets into quarters, and this system will be harassing to say they least, and of no benefit to me. At least I get the 2 cards, the guys I share tickets with now get nothing for their efforts other than an 8.5x11 piece of paper.

I've also worked at a company where they try to manage giving 4 pairs of tickets to various clients... trying to think their process through, you are now going to almost need an employee dedicated to manage tickets. Seeing as Calgary is SUCH a corporate town, you would think that the Flames would have seen the problem here.

The Flames have an agenda on this one, but it isn't the ease of season ticket holders. I've been a holder since 1980 and never once forgotten tickets to a game at home, or whatever lame excuse they had when 'pimping' this 'feature'. Those are the weak examples for why to do this.

I'm not happy about ,his one bit but I will try it for this year and see how the reason of my ticket holders feel...

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnage

I've also worked at a company where they try to manage giving 4 pairs of tickets to various clients... trying to think their process through, you are now going to almost need an employee dedicated to manage tickets. Seeing as Calgary is SUCH a corporate town, you would think that the Flames would have seen the problem here.

Or just a simple excel spreadsheet and someone that knows how to forward tickets?

BTW, just did my first ticket transfer and it works very slick. Sent tickets to a guy from out of the country and the process was a piece of cake, took less than 2 minutes.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnage

Boy, you couldn't have come across sounding more arrogant or ignorant at all, could you?

I split my tickets into quarters, and this system will be harassing to say they least, and of no benefit to me. At least I get the 2 cards, the guys I share tickets with now get nothing for their efforts other than an 8.5x11 piece of paper.

I've also worked at a company where they try to manage giving 4 pairs of tickets to various clients... trying to think their process through, you are now going to almost need an employee dedicated to manage tickets. Seeing as Calgary is SUCH a corporate town, you would think that the Flames would have seen the problem here.

The Flames have an agenda on this one, but it isn't the ease of season ticket holders. I've been a holder since 1980 and never once forgotten tickets to a game at home, or whatever lame excuse they had when 'pimping' this 'feature'. Those are the weak examples for why to do this.

I'm not happy about ,his one bit but I will try it for this year and see how the reason of my ticket holders feel...

Get nothing for there efforts? What do you mean, they get to go to the game, or were they purchasing the piece of paper they were printed on? When you go on a flight, would you be upset about not having a printed ticket?

And as arrogant / ignorant (I think that's what you said) as I may have sounded, your comment about requiring an employee to figure this out has made you sound incredibly........incompetent. If you find the use of the email system and tracking that difficult, I'm not sure the Flames should really be worrying about that, it's not really hard at all and they can't always manage to the lowest denominator.

[Clever_Iggy]

Spoke with the season ticket rep that handles the account for my company (4 seats in sec 117). He said that they've "definitely received their share of complaints" and understand that the system is not going to work perfectly for everyone. He went onto say that "this year is going to have some growing pains" but that they're hoping to have a range of solutions for all ticket holders including "traditional tickets, smart phone accessibility, season ticket cards and online printing/forwarding".

I told him that from a corporate use perspective, handing a client a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper or having them scan their smart phone is ridiculous compared with the look and ease of handing them a traditional ticket. He understood and said that they are working on a solution for corporate customers (season ticket holders and luxury boxes) that will allow for a more traditional ticket to be distributed.

I understand the Flames' move towards this method, but for $40,000+ a year, they can afford to swallow the extra $100 to print well designed traditional tickets.

[Lord Carnage]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Get nothing for there efforts? What do you mean, they get to go to the game, or were they purchasing the piece of paper they were printed on? When you go on a flight, would you be upset about not having a printed ticket?

And as arrogant / ignorant (I think that's what you said) as I may have sounded, your comment about requiring an employee to figure this out has made you sound incredibly........incompetent. If you find the use of the email system and tracking that difficult, I'm not sure the Flames should really be worrying about that, it's not really hard at all and they can't always manage to the lowest denominator.

Regarding 'having something' - Correct. Whether someone is bringing their kid to a first game and wants the souvenir, or whether you are trying to impress a client and give them something NICE to remember you by, a proper ticket will always do better than some silly laserjet 8.5 x 11 piece of paper...

Incompetent - personally I believe incorrect... rather labelling your point of view as 'inexperienced'.
I ask you to think it through... Before you could just go and arrange tickets from the corporate 'stash' and hand them out. Once gone, they were gone, and could never be doubled up. NOW you could need someone to actually track what has been emailed out and what hasn't. It's also an effort now to see what upcoming game is still available. Remember also that the people purchasing tickets, maintaining tickets, and handing out tickets, are often not always the same 1 or 2 people.

Reading the previous comments, there was someone who had an issue with Oiler tickets from last year that were emailed out twice and someone got turned away at the stadium door. Nobody wants egg on their face with a scenario like the above, so now you need some sort of solid process around something like hockey tickets.

Things also can be forgotten (and do in the fast paced business world). That's why you now need to add it to one employees list of 'todo's ( I certainly didn't mean that was their only job function though) or create a generic spreadsheet that anyone/everyone can manage (and hopefully will).

But my point is this is all a greater effort around HOCKEY TICKETS. It shouldn't be that complicated.

I'm happy the Flames are hearing the complaints and are considering options for the future. I'll really be happy when I see a different approach next year and hope it isn't just placating us this year and figure we'll get used to things.

[Massonite]

I think the cards are a good idea, but they should provide traditional tickets if requested as opposed to forcing this down our throats.

I'm just a guy with a pair of seats. If I sell tickets I can just email them. Fine for me. Sure, I like real tickets. But I'm fine with trying this for the year to see how it goes.

For business, I agree they should have standard tickets. My company got their season ticket package today, and the admin was surprised about the book and cards. I explained what was going on and she seemed a little peeved that it's gonna require all this extra work to give tickets to clients and whatnot.

So hopefully they will have a range of options for everyone next season.

[Laner99]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnage

Regarding 'having something' - Correct. Whether someone is bringing their kid to a first game and wants the souvenir, or whether you are trying to impress a client and give them something NICE to remember you by, a proper ticket will always do better than some silly laserjet 8.5 x 11 piece of paper...

Incompetent - personally I believe incorrect... rather labelling your point of view as 'inexperienced'.
I ask you to think it through... Before you could just go and arrange tickets from the corporate 'stash' and hand them out. Once gone, they were gone, and could never be doubled up. NOW you could need someone to actually track what has been emailed out and what hasn't. It's also an effort now to see what upcoming game is still available. Remember also that the people purchasing tickets, maintaining tickets, and handing out tickets, are often not always the same 1 or 2 people.

Reading the previous comments, there was someone who had an issue with Oiler tickets from last year that were emailed out twice and someone got turned away at the stadium door. Nobody wants egg on their face with a scenario like the above, so now you need some sort of solid process around something like hockey tickets.

Things also can be forgotten (and do in the fast paced business world). That's why you now need to add it to one employees list of 'todo's ( I certainly didn't mean that was their only job function though) or create a generic spreadsheet that anyone/everyone can manage (and hopefully will).

But my point is this is all a greater effort around HOCKEY TICKETS. It shouldn't be that complicated.

I'm happy the Flames are hearing the complaints and are considering options for the future. I'll really be happy when I see a different approach next year and hope it isn't just placating us this year and figure we'll get used to things.

Great comments.

I think the Flames should present their STH with the option and if you opt out and want the original style tickets it should come as no extra charge. I know they are doing that this year but the rep told me there will be a charge for this in coming years. I don’t agree with that, we pay enough money to the Flames for our tickets, having an option at no cost would be nice. I for one have already requested my tickets be sent to me the old school way as it works better for me this way, and I hope that those who get the new scan cards find that they work well and meet their needs.

[Southside]

Got my season cards today. I might suggest they send a nice Flames lanyard for each card. I can see a number of these being misplaced.

[taffeyb]

I like the idea of having the tickets in hand. I look forward to going through the tickets. Also, gifting the tickets is much nicer than having to pass out a sheet of paper. If this is an effort in reducing costs, may I remind the Flames that we have to pay full STH price to watch 1/2 of the team play their first exhibition game?

If we must go paperless, it would be nice if we were allotted more than 1 card per seat. That way, if the tickets are shared, each partner can have a card. The Fanattic discount is embedded in the card so how would you share this discount? Also, what about the game day specials -- the little coupons that come with the tickets? They aren't losing money on either the Fanattic discount or the game day specials. Wouldn't less people take advantage of these due to the paper tickets? Hence, wouldn't the Flames take in less money ultimately?

[chalms04]

If any companies are interested in hiring a dedicated ticket handler, feel free to PM me.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Massonite

I think the cards are a good idea, but they should provide traditional tickets if requested as opposed to forcing this down our throats.

So hopefully they will have a range of options for everyone next season.

The do provide traditional tickets if you request it. This has been mentioned several times. You also still get free printing and forwarding whether you want the ticketless card or printed tickets. No one is forcing anything down a throat. You choose whichever option you like.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

The do provide traditional tickets if you request it. This has been mentioned several times. You also still get free printing and forwarding whether you want the ticketless card or printed tickets. No one is forcing anything down a throat. You choose whichever option you like.

I guess we will see if that is true or not. The 2 pairs of people that I have sold my other 1/2 of the season do not want e-tickets and are going to walk away so I will soon find out if the Flames are forcing this down our throats or not.
Personally I think that the tickets should be printed as usual as we expect and option B should be STH if you would "also" like e tickets they are now available.
Second as mentioned before by other posters, giving an actual ticket as a gift or to customers has more of an impact than a stupid printed piece of paper.
I feel for the elderly STH and from what I have seen there are number of STH that are 50 +. Does the CF really think they are down with e-tickets and printing them off, etc. This is a real BS decision by the Flames and is strictly about saving the cost of them printing out a proper ticket book.

Like I said I guess I will soon find out if they will indeed print out all the tickets.
I'm not losing my ST partners over the Flames being cheap and cutting costs with what is fundamentally so basic like the actual friggin tickets.
Please tell me this is KKings baby so I can have yet another reason to dislike him.
In the Flames lame statement they claim that STH wanted this if so then why weren't we simply emailed with 1 simple question.
Would you prefer an e-ticket that you can print off yourself or the regular hard copy season tickets?
They don't have the balls to really ask STH this basic question instead they prefer to lie and make a blanket statement that we want this. Bollocks.
STH's did not ask for this instead of our regular tickets. It is a bold faced lie of a statement in an attempt to eliminate the cost of STH all together.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Second as mentioned before by other posters, giving an actual ticket as a gift or to customers has more of an impact than a stupid printed piece of paper.

Everyone's going to be giving out those same stupid pieces of paper, so it will be the accepted and expected norm going forward.

Those stupid pieces of paper are already the accepted norm for concert tickets and other events, so today's kids won't even give it a second thought when they see them, and I'd hope grown adults don't care one way or the other.

When I was a kid and got to go to a game, it was a boring little ticket with the Flames logo on the top and the names of the teams and the time of the game printed below, and they ripped it in half and gave you back only half the ticket. That was it, but it was more than good enough because it got you into the Saddledome and gave you a reserved seat to sit in to watch the Flames play. Never once did I think, "gee, I wish the ticket was more visually interesting".

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

STH's did not ask for this instead of our regular tickets. It is a bold faced lie of a statement in an attempt to eliminate the cost of STH all together.

As a STH, I have been asking for this for years. At STH events I've attended in the past, people have asked for this. So, yes, STHs have been asking for this.

[DeluxeMoustache]

This is odd. So if they have 16 000 season tickets x 46 games, they have about ~750 K tickets. You can't tell me they spend a dollar per ticket to print. What do you think it is, 20 cents per ticket in bulk (including card stock plus printing?) .. Plus mailing costs. That is a few hundred K line item max. Less than the salary of one deadbeat fringe player.

I suspect a lot of STH's who are not corporate (with a greater hassle) share tickets with 2-3 others, as I do, and this just sets us up for 1-2 h of forwarding disappointing 8.5 x 11 printouts to our friends. I do not look forward to that pain in the ass.

Jeers to the Flames on this one. Especially given the reduced enthusiasm of people sharing tickets that are supporting a rebuilding franchise that has pretty darn low expectations.


Edit: I have attended a 4th round playoff game where the Cup was on the line, Olympics, Heratige Classic, and milestone games, and have these tickets on display with accompanying memorabilia. That can be a valuable part of the experience. Disappointing decision for less than a half percent of player salaries, never mind revenues

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by getbak

Everyone's going to be giving out those same stupid pieces of paper, so it will be the accepted and expected norm going forward.

Those stupid pieces of paper are already the accepted norm for concert tickets and other events, so today's kids won't even give it a second thought when they see them, and I'd hope grown adults don't care one way or the other.

When I was a kid and got to go to a game, it was a boring little ticket with the Flames logo on the top and the names of the teams and the time of the game printed below, and they ripped it in half and gave you back only half the ticket. That was it, but it was more than good enough because it got you into the Saddledome and gave you a reserved seat to sit in to watch the Flames play. Never once did I think, "gee, I wish the ticket was more visually interesting".



As a STH, I have been asking for this for years. At STH events I've attended in the past, people have asked for this. So, yes, STHs have been asking for this.

no some have I doubt very much the overwhelming majority of STH said hey Flames you know what I would rather not have an actual ticket. I would like a piece of paper from my HP instead. I doubt that very much. A handful yes the majority no.
It's a chicken bleep move by the Flames to cut corners to their customers by providing real tickets.
Honestly they are arrogant do they think we just went to the cup or does it even sink in we had the 6th worst record.
You want to make everything easy for your fan base not this lazy nonsense. Tickets bottom line should have been provided and always be provided and e-tickets should be the option that you can set up if you want it.
Just like a bank, just like utility company, just like the monthly statements from any business in Calgary to their customers. If they want electronic it should be the secondary option not the other way around. Regardless of what some may feel they are forcing this on STH, not smart not wise decision unless they are in now the business of inconveniencing their STH's.
This was an arrogant and not well thought of way the Flames have presented this.
I am not going to give a stupid piece of paper to a customer to go to a game as gratuity to doing business. Flames pony up man up and understand actual tickets should be mandatory like it always has been.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Just like a bank, just like utility company, just like the monthly statements from any business in Calgary to their customers. If they want electronic the option is there but it is not forced on them.

A lot of these companies now charge their customers extra to send out a paper bill/statement each month.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by getbak

A lot of these companies now charge their customers extra to send out a paper bill/statement each month.

and customers have switched suppliers and service providers for less.