Big concerts are big business. First, you buy the tickets, then the poster and the t-shirt. It's easy to spend a lot of money. We heard from a Lady Gaga fan who was unhappy when his t-shirt arrived damaged. He sent four emails to Ticketmaster with no answer back, so he sent the fifth one to us.
Going to a major rock concert is a once in a lifetime experience for a true fan. For Lady Gaga fans -- or "little monsters" as Gaga calls them -- it's an all-out event.
"We're big monsters. Big monsters," said Wayne Swisher, an Oakland resident.
Swisher wanted to surprise his partner with birthday concert tickets and a t-shirt to wear to the show. The shirt cost $33.
"And we just wanted to wear a t-shirt and at least be part of her gang," said Swisher.
But he was surprised when the t-shirt he bought from Ticketmaster arrived.
"So this is the first shirt that we got in the mail and it's not a big hole, but it is obvious that it was not good to wear because there's a hole in it," said Swisher.
His second surprise was finding out how hard it was to get through to Ticketmaster's customer service. Swisher sent an email and the company sent back an automated reply.
"'Wait 24 to 48 hours and someone will get back to you.' So I did and a week or so went by and still nothing," said Swisher.
So Swisher sent more emails.
"And on the fourth one I was a little bit upset," said Swisher.
This went on for weeks and with the concert quickly approaching, he decided to try a different tactic in his next email.
"I said, 'I'm also sending this to 7 On Your Side,'" said Swisher.
We made a call to Ticketmaster and soon after, the replacement t-shirt arrived.
"That was like, 'Wow, cool. It really worked!'" said Swisher.
Unfortunately, it arrived too late for the concert.
Ticketmaster told us that Swisher's experience is unusual. A spokesperson for the company did not want to go on camera, but sent an email explaining what happened: "While our typical response time to email is less (than) 24 hours, we saw an increase in our email volumes after a large surge in sales. We received a follow up email from Mr. Swish(er) and we immediately secured a replacement t-shirt and sent it out post haste."
Swisher isn't holding a grudge. The concert did turn out to be the experience of a lifetime and he's hoping to wear the shirt next time Gaga comes to town.
"7 On Your Side actually got us a t-shirt that I didn't think we'd ever get, so yes! 7 On Your Side!" said Swisher.
With summer coming up, many of us will be spending big bucks on concerts, so there are bound to be a few problems. If you have an issue, let me know about it.
