Vancouver 2010 has e-mailed all prospective spectators at the 2010 Games whether or not their ticket requests were successful, reports the CBC. The organizing committee began charging orders to credit cards a week ago.
Caley Denton, Vancouver 2010 vice president of ticketing and consumer marketing, told the CBC with ticket requests topping $345 million for a limited number of spaces some people were disappointed. He said, “everybody understands where there is more demand than there is supply, that it’s a lottery, and it’s a random thing. They are excited about the idea that they can go into the priority access period and get some tickets and make sure they are still here”.
The priority access sales phase is only for people who requested tickets during the first round of sales. It begins at 9 a.m. local time Friday and will run for just over a week. There are reportedly still tickets available for some hockey and curling events as well as some mountain competitions, said Denton. The sales are first come, first served
As for scalpers using the same software they use to get hockey and concert tickets to “out-click” Canadians in the rush for remaining seats, Denton said it won’t happen. “It’s still the unique website built entirely for this purpose. We haven’t seen any activity like that on the site so far and feel pretty confident that people have to log in one at a time”.
Denton added that organizers will reveal in the new year how many orders were filled in the first round of sales.
Along with the confirmation of ticket orders Vancouver 2010 officials issued a reminder to fans to be wary of tickets offered for sale through channels other than the official Vancouver 2010 website. Denton said, “we encourage everyone to be vigilant about individuals or companies offering ‘guaranteed’ tickets for sale. For most people even a ‘money back’ guarantee is little consolation for the disappointment, inconvenience and embarrassment they’ll experience if they discover at the gate their ticket is invalid”.
The lowest ticket price is $25 for some preliminary events, and the best seats at the Opening Ceremony cost $1,100.
A second phase of ticket sales will be held in February, but a planned third phase was cancelled because of the high demand.
