[LINK] Ticketmaster Web purchases

[rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au]

Hi,

This afternoon, I tried to locate tickets for Fiddler on the Roof using 
the Ticketmaster Website (www.ticketmaster.com.au).

All worked well until I asked the server to search for tickets. Finding 
that the seats on offer for $59.90 weren't in a good location, I asked 
the server to search for successively more expensive seats (using the 
drop-down menu).

Each time I initiated a new search for seats, regardless of price, I 
found myself being offered worse seats than before - so that having 
started at the lowest price, where I was offered R 3-6 (at the edge of 
the Dress Circle, midway towards the back), when I tried again at a 
higher price, expecting to find a seat closer either to the centre, or 
closer to the front - I merely was offered edge seats in row S, and then 
row T.

A more useful level of interactivity would be either:
- to offer a full list of currently available rows, with blocks of 
seats, and price; or
- a venue map showing seats available (perhaps with price colour-coded).

 From experience, I know that other venues manage this; for example, the 
Sydney Opera House accompanies the search with a clear seating plan. 
This allows users to decide, by looking at the seating plan, how much of 
a premium they want to pay for a good position.

To leave the entire decision in the hands of an apprently-dysfunction 
database server doesn't seem to encourage the user to stay online for 
the purchase.

Richard Chirgwin