Need Help On Determining if Tickets Are Real

Islander · Post by **Islander** » April 4, 2003 3:23 pm

I just received my tickets from a "reputable" (I know) broker and they are the ticketfast tickets from TM printed on standard letter size paper.
I have never used these and was wondering if there is any way to tell if they are for real. They are printed in black & white so it seems to me that anyone could copy these any number of times and distribute them. How do these work when you arrive at the show? (ie if someone did have another copy and they show up prior to you). The broker that I used is a major ticket broker and these tickets were listed for sale in the database that they all use. Any comments or similar experiences.

BottleofRum · Post by **BottleofRum** » April 4, 2003 4:16 pm

Well, this is a very interesting point. Anyone could have copied those e-tickets and attempt to use them. The person who gets to the gate first would get in. Plus, when you get the e-tickets from TM all they send you is a .pdf file so the person who made the original purchase could dtill have that .pdf file and keep printing them and selling them. The e-tickets should have the name of the person who made the original purchase but still I don't like the whole e-ticket thing.

Islander · Post by **Islander** » April 4, 2003 4:23 pm

I just read up on these e-tickets on TM's website and what you say is true if copies are made the first one at the gate gets in. I am a bit nervous to say the least. Although the broker is a large broker with tickets listed for all major events so I don't think that it would make sense for him to do this. I did charge them on a cc so I can still cancel the charge.

Islander · Post by **Islander** » April 4, 2003 4:29 pm

One good sign is they are no longer listed as available on the brokers websites!

leebgb · Post by **leebgb** » April 5, 2003 2:21 pm

Since there is no way to tell if ticketfast tickets are fake or not, I would just try to get in the gates a little early so if there are duplicates you'll be the first one in. If the broker doesn't have them on his site anymore I really wouldn't worry about it.

Parrothead911 · Post by **Parrothead911** » April 6, 2003 8:10 pm

Something doesn't sound right here..Maybe it's just me...Is there a bar code on the ticket?Are the bar codes printed on the back of the tickets? I know that last year and I think the year before,tickets were scanned and not torn in half.At least at Great Woods and Atlanta anyway. Just a thought..

Islander · Post by **Islander** » April 7, 2003 7:06 am

I did speak to the broker and he said that he uses the ticketfast at all locations that have it and said there would be no problem. He is in Cal. and uses it for all the sporting events including Laker's games, he did have numerous phone calls like mine when he started to use it when it first became available but since then his customers are accustomed to using it.
The tickets are printed in black and white, he said that is because he uses a laser printer to print them so that the bar code is clear and that the scanner can read it. He used to send the file to the customer to print it themselves but was running into problems with inkjet printers not printing the bar code clear enough so he bought a laser printer and now does it this way. The bar code is perfectly clear on my tickets.
I mentioned the fake tickets that showed up last year at GW and he said he was at the Buffett show in Cal. last year and there were many fakes as well but they were all card stock tickets. His advice was to buy from a "reputable" broker and be extremely careful on ebay.
Oh well I guess I feel somewhat better now