Bl**dy Olympics tickets

[Red Light]

So I get to be in the 1 million of unsuccessful applicants for tickets that can apply in this restricted period. Go to the website, select Track Cycling and tick the box to show only events with tickets available.

Much to my surprise the Mens Omnium pops up so select four tickets, press the Request Tickets button and hey presto................No tickets found. Try again selecting just one ticket. Same result.

Try the phone line, go through the selection menu to customer services, get a recorded message saying how busy they are followed by the message "This phone call will be terminated shortly" and then they cut you off.

If ticket sales incompetence was an Olympic event we would sweep the field with Golds.

 

[Pete Hurford]

You've got more chance of getting a ticket by buying The Sun and winning one of their competitions. Or EDF. Or Lloyds TSB. Or BT. Or Samsung. Or Visa. Or Thomas Cook. Or BP. Or BA. Or........

I'm glad I got to see an Olympics in my home country at least once. Seeing this whole process in action confirmed to me that the event is nothing to do with sport and everything to do with money.

 

[festival]

I too have jumped through hoops at various times trying to get tickets to no avail, and not just cycling.​

​

I am sure i am not alone in being sports mad and prepared to stretch the finances to breaking point to get the full Olympic experience, but I feel the whole ticket process has left me deflated.​

Don't get me started on the box hill cock up!​

 

[Pete Hurford]

Tonight I saw that Cadburys are running a competition to win tickets too. Aside from the fact that these companies are taking tickets away from sports-loving individuals, what a good advertisement for fitness, right up there with MacDo and Coke. I'm keeping a lookout for when Pizza Hut or Dominos or the Lardy Lard Fat Co. run their competitions.

I did not apply for tickets on principle and will not watch any of it, again on principle. Even the cycling which I love. And, while I think on, the decisions to force people to pay up-front for tickets they might never receive, and to restrict their payments to Visa only, were totally disgusting. A really nasty taste....

Can I suggest that if you want to stretch your finances to breaking point you get yourself over to France and watch a stage or two of the Tour de France? You could do worse than head to the Champs Elysees, although my preference would be to go to the start or finish of a provincial stage.

Or, to be honest, I had a brilliant day out at last year's Tour of Britain from Taunton to Wells - felt really nice to be able to see the riders up close (not to mention the great Sean Kelly) and say Hi to them. Bet that doesn't happen at TdF. And all that day out cost me was a day off and a hundred miles petrol money.

 

[oldroadman]

Tonight I saw that Cadburys are running a competition to win tickets too. Aside from the fact that these companies are taking tickets away from sports-loving individuals, what a good advertisement for fitness, right up there with MacDo and Coke. I'm keeping a lookout for when Pizza Hut or Dominos or the Lardy Lard Fat Co. run their competitions.

I did not apply for tickets on principle and will not watch any of it, again on principle. Even the cycling which I love. And, while I think on, the decisions to force people to pay up-front for tickets they might never receive, and to restrict their payments to Visa only, were totally disgusting. A really nasty taste....

Can I suggest that if you want to stretch your finances to breaking point you get yourself over to France and watch a stage or two of the Tour de France? You could do worse than head to the Champs Elysees, although my preference would be to go to the start or finish of a provincial stage.

Or, to be honest, I had a brilliant day out at last year's Tour of Britain from Taunton to Wells - felt really nice to be able to see the riders up close (not to mention the great Sean Kelly) and say Hi to them. Bet that doesn't happen at TdF. And all that day out cost me was a day off and a hundred miles petrol money.

And this year to Dartmouth, very interesting finish venue. No Somerset this year, but Devon stage still happens. Then from Fordingbridge Reigate and Guildford are not too far, either. Have a couple of good days out!

 

[Pete Hurford]

interesting actually with the ToB, I never realised until someone told me that the reason they kept having stages in Somerset was because the Somerset council had some kind of sponsorship deal with ToB (which ended in 2011). Just goes to show that money really does come into everything.

Actually what I'd really like to do one year is to follow it around the country. That'd be a great week's holiday.

 

[subaqua]

Tonight I saw that Cadburys are running a competition to win tickets too. Aside from the fact that these companies are taking tickets away from sports-loving individuals, what a good advertisement for fitness, right up there with MacDo and Coke. I'm keeping a lookout for when Pizza Hut or Dominos or the Lardy Lard Fat Co. run their competitions.

No defender of mcDees but, one every now and again isn't gonna kill ya. its plonkers that stuff emselves silly with them every day that have the problem.
A bottle of coke now and again also isn't going to kill you. same for some chocolate.

the reason sponsors are involved is that without them the cost to us the local taxpayer would be even higher than it already fecking is.
somebody asked why there is an official TV for the olympics. fairly simple Panasonic get a shed load of advertising for giving a few million quids worth of tellies which they buy back at the end anyway.

there are 10 103 inch plasmas in one venue- that is close to £500k for that alone.

in reality if anybody deserved to have tickets it should have been those that worked on the park , those that have put life on hold for 3 years to get it acros the line when there were times it looked unlikely. I might not agree with some of the wanton waste and silliness that have been done in the name of the 2012 olympics , but i am damn proud to have worked on it.

 

[jdtate101]

Most people in my office (over 400 people) applied for tickets....not ONE got any. I've given up trying and will watch the cycling event on TV. It's a real shame that it's come down to this level of corporate subservience, when real sports fans get displaced so corporate people can have an "guest event" in their 'box' at the Games. Makes me really angry and sad that a whole generation of young kids, despite the olympics being in their own country, will never get to see it in person.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

I was listening to the radio the other morning and they were discussing how much hotels etc have raised prices for the olympic period, quite a lot of places have raised a room rate by 5 x or more...just wait till you need to buy some food !

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

All of you still looking for tickets, listen up:

Para Olympic tickets go on SALE on a first come first served basis at 11am this morning, similarly 'The Warm Up Games' (normal) go on SALE at 11am on the 23rd, and for all the rest left over, the 29th, about 11ish.

I might (try and) get some for the 'Warm Ups' so if I then can't go, I'll be able to make someone's day!
I'll be going to the Paras (virtually everything I applied for I got, including the cycling at Brands Hatch, so look out for a peep in a CC jersey in the crowd!), but might be in hospital during the 'Warm Ups' you see, so I could potentially help others out. I don't know yet though obviously.

My parents have rather naively said that they will wait until we are down before thinking about getting tickets at the Paras. Maybe they are right, but I think I'll still tell them they can buy some!