Ticket Vouchers

Can someone explain why they didn’t just sell tickets to students instead of giving out vouchers to sell them later?

Seems to me to be an unnecessary expenditure of energy and resources. Should have just sold tickets IMHO.

From a logistics perspective, it would have been a nightmare and taken much longer to process payment during Cage Rage. Can you imagine having to do that for the 5000 kids - many of whom were in line starting at 7am that morning? The vouchers process is proven and the way to go when it comes to these situations. Then you spread out the payment process over the next week.

Is it really that hard to process a credit card? It’s not like the customers in this case had anything to think about when it was their turn. Step up, one ticket, pay, next…

Could have easily funneled the line to tables with 10 or more processors and be done in 5 hours or less. Also, didn’t have to wait until 5pm to get started. Should have been selling at 9am latest.

Did you stand in line at the table last year (fan appreciation day fiasco) with the 10+ processors just to pick up season ticket packages? I could just imagine if they were also processing payments we would have been there forever. To me the voucher process demonstrates which students have the most interest in going to NRG. Now those with vouchers can just walk up to the ticket windows (I assume) and buy their ticket this week.

TheMandell - It takes 2-3 minutes to process credit card payment as opposed to seconds to hand out vouchers. You do the math. With 5000 kids, even if you had 10 processors or more, it would still have been a nightmare for those in line. Also, the goal was to get the kids to attend the Cage Rage event - if you started at 9 am, then most would get their tickets/vouchers and then leave immediately after. Then you’d have just a handful actually stay for Cage Rage.

2-3 minutes? No. Even with the new chip reader slowing things down its 30 seconds tops.

Just walk up or wait in line again?

https://twitter.com/JohnDaveFields/status/770215042558025729

Yes maybe for just the credit card processing part (although I find the chip reader to be slower). But the entire transaction with printing the tickets, assigning seats, etc. Likely takes 5 to 10 minutes depending on how slow the customer is in getting their card out, waiting for print, etc. I think this was a decent process, could there be a better one? Maybe so, but however it is done, some people will always be less than satisfied because some people won’t get tickets or won’t get tickets with their friends.

5 to 10 minutes. Now we’re at clown car logic.

And pay no attention to the fact the tickets could be pre-printed and simply handed out.

I buy the ‘get them to the Cage Rage’ floated above and suspect this is the far and away #1 and probably only real reason it was done like this.

If Apple struggles with streamlining an AppleWatch rollout, I’m not going to be too nit-picky of our athletics dept trying to figure out the most efficient way to roll out 5K tickets to an event they aren’t even hosting.

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This also allows kids who couldn’t stand in line together to show up at the same time and buy their tickets in a group. With work schedules and such on the weekend this was a little better way to go. It also sped things up quite a bit

It also drastically slows ticket sales down. You’re practically guarantee to have unused vouchers. And look:

https://twitter.com/UHCougars/status/771499414636470273

On a related note I guess dropping from 7500 student tickets at TDECU to 5000 wasn’t that bad a decision.

They’ll sell, and our student section will be packed every game this season.

Dropping from 7500 to 5000 was a no-brainer. Demand is up, so you capitalize on the revenue potential of those additional 2500 seats. If there is a game where later in the week it doesn’t look like we’ll sell out, I imagine the appropriate measures will be taken to allow as many students in as possible.

Geez, sometimes out ticket department is embarrassing. The vouchers say you have until 5pm today to get your ticket. And now the ticket office has announced they are selling those tickets to people without a voucher. Somebodies are going to get royally screwed. I kinda hope at least as that means we actually sold out our student tickets. Oy.

Next time just sell the damn tickets. If students are excited they’ll go to the Cage Rage regardless.

The ticket office knows how many vouchers it handed out, and how many have been redeemed. Surely they’ve set aside tickets for the unredeemed vouchers, and are selling the balance.

Surely.

I think they did a great job using the vouchers. Has anyone ever been to a Walmart or HEB line in the express lanes on a busy holiday weekend? Now imagine 5000 people with 10 processors. It could have taken hours to sift through. Imagine all the scenarios. Credit card systems go down, credit card won’t swipe, students on the phone while trying to check out and pay, students asking questions at checkout slowing down the line, etc… way too many uncontrollable variables and not worth the risk of having 5000 students ticked off that it’s taking forever. Best to let them grab their voucher, go back and pay for their ticket in the comfort of their dorm or apt. I’ll take zero issues and quick moving line vs uncontrollable/unforeseen circumstances and slow as molasses line thank you very much.

Report on TOS is there are 1000 to 2000 un-purchased/claimed tickets. Not only didn’t we sell actual tickets last Saturday before Cage Rage but we waited until Monday to begin selling them. Then put it in print that students could wait until 5pm the night before the game to get theirs. These are students we’re talking about. Of course they’re going to wait until the last minute. Its what they live for.

This could hit epic embarrassment status, at a time when UH really doesn’t need this, if it doesn’t sell the rest by the end of today.

Just read the other thread. I stand corrected. We really can fuck up a two-car funeral procession.

Well… that was dumb. If UH Athletics gave students the option to wait until the night before, that is on them for making such a short sighted decision. Why on earth would they do that… Argh… we cooged it. :frowning:

The whole voucher system is a not a great idea. It rewards those students that have the time to wait in line and then go wait in another line, instead of rewarding your students that are the most loyal fans.

Students already have to swipe their ID for every football and basketball game. Why not track how many events students show up for. Then when special events come around in which students will have to purchase tickets you allow students that have attended a certain number of games buy their ticket starting on a certain day. You also say at this day it will open up to the next level.

Example:
Saturday football championship game

Monday: Students with 80% home football game attendace can start buying
Tuesday: Students with 60% home football game attendance can start buying
Wednesday: Students with 40% home football game attendance can start buying

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