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Glasgow 2014: Games boss 'sorry' as tickets fiasco continues Glasgow 2014: Games ticket fiasco website to close
(about 2 hours later)
The organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have apologised for an ongoing fiasco with ticket sales which has now entered a second day. The organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are to close a ticket website and phoneline from 18:00 due to an ongoing fiasco with sales.
Chief executive David Grevemberg said they had "let a lot of people down" and were "very sorry". Glasgow 2014 said the measure was necessary to address technical issues which had hampered the sales of 100,000 extra tickets since Monday.
The apology came after the online system was unable to cope with demand for 100,000 extra tickets on Monday. The organiser said it was "very sorry".
Glasgow 2014 said tickets were still on sale but the website was experiencing "some recurrence of issues". So far, about 55,000 of the extra tickets have been bought with diving, swimming, mountain biking, track cycling and the triathlon all sold out.
The latest statement from the Games' organiser said: "As traffic has increased, we have seen some recurrence of issues people were having with the ticketing website. Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg told BBC Radio Scotland's Newsdrive programme that the website and phoneline would be unavailable from 18:00 on Tuesday until the technical issues had been resolved.
"We are continuing to sell tickets, but at the same time we need to investigate the cause of these issues and monitor the queue closely. 'Not satisfactory'
"We will provide an update on this website and our social channels on a regular basis." "We have instructed Ticketmaster, our agent for ticketing, to close the Glasgow 2014 website from 6pm until we can be assured that the technical issues that have been experienced by some of the customers and ticket-buyers over the last 24 hours are resolved to our satisfaction.
By Tuesday lunchtime, tickets for diving, swimming, mountain biking, track cycling and the triathlon had all sold out. "We stated his morning that we completely recognise that this is not satisfactory and is something we've taken very seriously.
The tickets, for all 17 sports and the opening and closing ceremonies, went on sale on a first-come, first-served basis at 10:00 on Monday. "From that time, at 18:00, no further customers will be able to access the website until further notice and customers who are either queuing or logged onto the website at this point should be able to complete their session."
Extra tickets for all 17 sports and the opening and closing ceremonies went on sale on a first-come, first-served basis at 10:00 on Monday.
It quickly became apparent from comments posted on social media sites that the online site could not cope with demand.It quickly became apparent from comments posted on social media sites that the online site could not cope with demand.
Some people said they been trying to get tickets for up to 24 hours. People also reported problems with the phone booking system.Some people said they been trying to get tickets for up to 24 hours. People also reported problems with the phone booking system.
Others told of successfully getting through online, only to be returned to the queue while attempting to pay.Others told of successfully getting through online, only to be returned to the queue while attempting to pay.
Glasgow 2014 was forced to close the site at midnight to investigate the problem. It re-opened again in the early hours of the morning but is not glitch free. Glasgow 2014 was forced to close the site at midnight to investigate the problem. It re-opened again in the early hours of the morning but was not glitch free.
'Incredibly frustrating' Unsold tickets
Chief executive David Grevemberg told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme the situation was "totally unacceptable". Mr Grevemberg said the decision to close the website and phoneline had been taken after the problems persisted for a second day.
"The system we've been using with Ticketmaster is a tried and tested system," he said.
"This particular system was put through a testing regime that was far in capacity than even some of the numbers that we've had.
"The ticket system has not met capacity and has not coped with demand. In the past 28 hours we've gone through a number of technical solutions with Ticketmaster which have not solved the situation."
Mr Grevemberg could not say when the ticket sales would resume but said they would be widely publicised.
He said that about 55,000 of the 100,000 extra tickets had been sold with diving, swimming, mountain biking, track cycling and the triathlon all sold out.
Tickets are still available for other sports and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Earlier Mr Grevemberg apologised for the ongoing fiasco, telling BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme the situation was "totally unacceptable".
"We let a lot of people down which we are very sorry for," he said."We let a lot of people down which we are very sorry for," he said.
"It was an incredibly frustrating and disappointing day yesterday."It was an incredibly frustrating and disappointing day yesterday.
"It's just not in keeping with the experience we are trying to create with Glasgow 2014. To put it simply, the system just did not cope."It's just not in keeping with the experience we are trying to create with Glasgow 2014. To put it simply, the system just did not cope.
"Despite being fully tested, it just did not cope with the churn.""Despite being fully tested, it just did not cope with the churn."
Disappointed sports fan Peter Charlton told BBC Scotland: "People do want to buy the tickets but at the same time, they do have a life to lead. There I am sitting there seven hours later and still waiting.
"Quite bluntly, it is a farce."
After waiting six and a half hours, Jane Waller managed to get two tickets for the gymnastics and one for the Velodrome.
But as she was about to pay, she was put back into the queuing system.
"I wasn't sure if I'd been charged or not so I ended up having to phone my credit card company," she said.
'Not acceptable'
"It's just a fiasco. I was really looking forward to telling my daughter I had tickets for the gymnastics but unfortunately I haven't now."
Mr Grevemberg said: "People waiting seven hours is just not acceptable, or that people were not able to complete transactions.
"We are taking this very seriously and are continuing to deal with it."
He said that after closing down the site at midnight, selling began again at about 01:00.
"Obviously demand was lower because it was the middle of the night but we have had positive indications this morning, but it is not problem free," he said.
"Ultimately, we have tickets to sell and want those tickets to be sold."
Mr Grevemberg said tens of thousands of tickets had been successfully sold.
"We are asking people to be patient and bear with us," he added.
Have you tried to buy tickets? Do you have tickets? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Commonwealth tickets' in the subject heading and including your contact details.