I have been a Pee-wee Herman fan for years — before the Saturday morning shows, before the movies, I caught his HBO special and loved it. (And, had I been living here a few years earlier, I’m sure I would’ve see the show that spawned that special.) Pee-wee is the successor to the great children’s hosts whose programming was also secretly aimed at adults in the know, the best example of this being Soupy Sales. (Whom I also revere.) On August 10th I wrote here about my eagerness to see the new live Pee-wee Herman show. The very next day, 47 minutes after they went on sale, I scored two third-row seats.

Three days ago I got this very unwelcome email from my pals at Ticketmaster (please remember:  This is National Sarcasm Awareness Month).

Message sent on sent on behalf of Goldenvoice, event promoter for the upcoming Pee-wee Herman Show:
Hello, this is Ticketmaster Customer Service with an important alert for your upcoming event sent on behalf of Goldenvoice, the event promoter for the upcoming Pee-wee Herman Show scheduled at The Music Box on Sunday, November 8, 2009 through Saturday, December 19, 2009.

Due to popular demand, the Pee-wee Herman Show is moving to a larger venue and has new dates. It will now take place in downtown Los Angeles at Club Nokia, LA Live. The new dates are rescheduled for January 12, 2010 through February 7, 2010.

As a previous buyer, you have an exclusive opportunity to exchange your tickets for any one of the new shows. Simply call Ticketmaster at 1-800-653-8000 and provide us with your original confirmation number. Seats will be exchanged on a first come, first serve basis. This exclusive opportunity will begin on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 10:00am and will end on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 10:00 pm.  Tickets will be available to the general public on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 10:00 am.

If you don’t exchange your tickets by Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 10:00pm, you will receive an automatic refund. Your original tickets will not be honored at the new venue.

REMEMBER: Please contact us before 10:00 pm, October 14, 2009 to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity to have first crack at tickets for the new venue, Club Nokia. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any questions, please contact Ticketmaster online at:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/h/asktm.html
Thank you for using Ticketmaster. We appreciate your business!

Well, I’ve called that number. And called it. And called it. About 5,000 times since it went live. And I’ve gotten nothing but a busy signal. I also clicked the link to ask Ticketmaster to call me. So far:  nothing but silence.

The people who have gotten through are pretty mad — about as mad as I am, but moreso. Because many of them also booked flights and hotels. (I have — or had — the advantage of being local.)   The email above promised “comparable seats,” but it looks like what’s being forced on us is refunds — and the golden opportunity to buy worse seats at higher prices. This didn’t have to be. Pee-wee could have done the Music Box shows and then moved the event, as more than one former fan has noted:

After getting a busy signal all morning, and being on hold forever this afternoon, Ticketmaster just told me that they are offering only refunds, and that if I want tickets to the rescheduled show, I have to buy them when they become available, just like everyone else. … This stinks. Pee Wee should and could have done “try out” or practice shows for those who had bought tickets and arranged to travel, and then done the larger venue Nokia Live shows later.

That’s exactly right. And now I’m pissed enough to write angry complaining  letters all over the known universe — including to the state Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Fraud Division. Because this stinks of bait and switch. Now I want my refund and more.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 11:08 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.