GAMES FALSE START
Stuff-ups affect tickets for opening ceremony, weightlifting, table tennis and triathlon
RED-FACED Commonwealth Games chiefs have been forced to admit that thousands of tickets have been issued with incorrect details.
At least 14,000 tickets to the opening ceremony show it taking place on the wrong day.
And tickets to weightlifting, table tennis and triathlon events went out with the wrong times on them.
GOLDOC CEO Mark Peters blamed Ticketek for the embarrassing blunders.
Despite the fiasco, Games Minister Kate Jones said she retained confidence in GOLDOC’s organisation of the event.
“This isn’t good enough,” she said. “(But) my understanding is Ticketek are taking full responsibility.”
GOLD Coast Commonwealth Games bosses were last night scrambling to deal with a ticketing fiasco after revelations opening ceremony passes were not the only ones sent out with incorrect information.
On top of 14,000 tickets issued to the Games showpiece opening ceremony with the wrong day printed, the Bulletin can reveal tickets to weightlifting, table tennis and triathlon went out with wrong times on them.
A Ticketek spokesman conceded the further blunders last night: “Several hundred tickets to a weightlifting session, a table tennis session and the triathlon on 7 April were printed with an incorrect session time.
“Ticketek has contacted all customers and the tickets have been reissued with the correct time to avoid any confusion.”
A Gold Coast Commonwealth Games organising committee (GOLDOC) statement last night said the 14,000 opening ceremony tickets sent out so far were still valid and would not be reprinted.
“GOLDOC wants to reassure ticketholders their current ticket is valid and will gain them entry to the opening ceremony,” the statement said.
However, those wanting a “replica” ticket with the correct day as a keepsake could request one after the April 4 ceremony to “avoid any confusion with their current ticket”.
“GOLDOC have sought assurances from Ticketek there are no further issues in relation to the opening ceremony or any other tickets. Ticketek are working through the night to review all ticketing data to provide this assurance.”
GOLDOC CEO Mark Peters hastily called media to HQ to confirm the 14,000 opening ceremony tickets issued so far had the correct date – April 4 – but wrong day on them.
The Ticketek issued passes incorrectly state it is on Thursday when in fact the Games showpiece is on a Wednesday.
Embarrassingly, it has forced GOLDOC to reiterate to those ticketholders when the Games showpiece opening actually is.
At the time of the press conference, Mr Peters said he was not aware of any other ticketing blunders and the opening ceremony mistake had “emanated” from Ticketek’s end.
Ticketek had confirmed the error about 4pm yesterday after GOLDOC staff noticed social media chatter about a potential problem, he said.
Mr Peters said it had been decided not to reissue new opening ceremony tickets and he was confident everyone would know what day it was on come “Games time”.
“I’m sure when you see all our publicity you will be so excited you will be up early in the morning waiting for it to happen,” he said.
“I’d be amazed if people don’t know what day the opening ceremony is on. I give people of the Gold Coast and Queensland more credit than that.”
Mr Peters added: “Ticketek picked this up and although they picked it up relatively early it’s still a mistake and we are sorry it happened.”
A further 21,000 Opening Ceremony tickets have yet to be sent and Mr Peters said Ticketek would “look at how they reprint the tickets they haven’t done yet”. The Bulletin has been told by a Ticketek source it was “human error” at Ticketek’s end and blamed it on “haste” due to the size of the job.
It is understood several Ticketek staff involved in the process who had worked on it for almost a year were “feeling very sorry for themselves”.
Opposition Games Shadow Minister John-Paul Langbroek said given opening ceremony and now other tickets had gone out with wrong days or times,
I’D BE AMAZED IF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT DAY THE OPENING CEREMONY IS ON GOLDOC CEO MARK PETERS SEVERAL HUNDRED TICKETS TO A WEIGHTLIFTING SESSION, A TABLE TENNIS SESSION AND THE TRIATHLON ON 7 APRIL WERE PRINTED WITH AN INCORRECT SESSION TIME. TICKETEK HAS CONTACTED ALL CUSTOMERS AND THE TICKETS HAVE BEEN REISSUED WITH THE CORRECT TIME TO AVOID ANY CONFUSION.” A TICKETEK SPOKESMAN
Games Minister Kate Jones needed to press for answers.
“She can’t just fob this off as someone else’s responsibility, it’s too important. The Minister needs to find some answers to what’s happening here for the 100s of thousands of people going to Games events.”
Despite the tickets blunder, Ms Jones said she had every confidence in GOLDOC running the Games.
“Ticketek isn’t organising the Games – GOLDOC is. This is a Ticketek issue,” she said.
“This isn’t good enough. (But) my understanding is Ticketek are taking responsibility for their mistake,” she said.
The tickets blunder has come to light a day after she called for LNP to stop “sniping” about the Games from the sidelines after criticism of “politically correct” instructions to volunteers and queries about whether police would be able to handle Labor’s decision to extend liquor licensing an hour during the Games.
Mr Langbroek said of Ms Jones response: “Typical Labor passing the buck – it’s not Kate’s fault, it’s Ticketek’s fault. She tells LNP to get on board but the glitches and stumbles day after day are so embarrassing for our Gold Coast and Queensland community.”
Ticketek added last night: “The Games has over a million tickets and over 270 individual events. Any errors are regrettable, but given the scope of this huge international event the number of affected tickets is very small.”