‘I have been swearing since 10am’: fans of Hong Kong boy band Mirror left frustrated after struggling for hours to buy concert tickets
- Canto-pop group has gone with a real-name ticketing system for its coming concerts in July and August as a way to combat scalpers
- Some buyers say they could not click into purchase system on Urbtix site while webpage turned blank for others after they entered their particulars
Fans of Hong Kong boy band Mirror were left frustrated after struggling for hours on Tuesday to buy tickets via a real-name ticketing system for the group’s coming concerts.
The popular Canto-pop band last week said a total of about 37,700 tickets for their 12 shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum during July and August would be put up for public sale in this manner as a way to combat scalpers.
In the two hours since the ticketing system operated by Urbtix opened at 10am on Tuesday, only about 6,550 tickets – or 17.6 per cent of the amount available for public sale – were snapped up. All tickets were sold out by 9pm.
Many fans complained they could not click into the site’s purchase system, while some said the webpage turned blank after entering their details.
A 69-year-old Mirror fan named David Tsoi* said he and his daughter struggled for eight hours to enter the platform even though they had used five different devices, complaining there were too few tickets for public sale.
“Of course I am angry. I have been swearing since 10am,” said Tsoi, who failed to get his hands on a ticket. “I used to buy concert tickets for my daughter and I could access the platform at 11.30am after sales started at 10am.”
Tickets for Mirror’s shows range from HK$480 to HK$1,280 (US$61 to US$163). Some tickets were swiftly snapped up during a prioritised sale by an event sponsor. Front-row seats were reportedly offered for HK$438,000 by a scalper.
Under the real-name ticketing system, each person can buy only two tickets at the most each time and must provide his or her full English name – which must correspond to that listed on the buyer’s identification documents – that will be checked at the concert.
The buyer cannot transfer the tickets to another person, nor change the timing stated. Refunds at half price are allowed if the buyer cannot attend.
What is the real-name ticketing system and how does it work in Hong Kong?
Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said sales were slow because of Urbtix’s system rather than the real-name ticketing method.
“It relies on its own server rather than a cloud-based system, which means it cannot increase its traffic size,” he said, adding the number of buyers had exceeded the site’s capacity.
Fong said the site automatically attempted to enter the purchase system every three seconds, which slowed down itself.
“The problem is many people like me have opened seven browsers or more … As a result, the system is kind of attacking itself,” he said.
Fong suggested the platform use a queueing system to inform buyers of their position so they would not have to spend the whole day trying to enter the platform.
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A fan named Tsui, who works in the PR industry, said she felt angry after trying for eight hours to get two HK$480 tickets in the last row.
“I kept clicking nonstop and skipped lunch. It’s so time consuming … It’s only like 10,000 people can have a chance. The organiser should definitely release more tickets for public sale – not 30 per cent, but 70 per cent,” she said.
“The Hong Kong Coliseum is a public place built and maintained with Hongkongers’ money. If the organiser [MakerVille, a member of PCCW Media Group] wants a private party for their friends and sponsors, do that in their own venue and not here.”
Only 30 per cent of the tickets were available for public sale, the minimum requirement at the concert venue, a lawmaker said. The remaining are secured for and sold privately by sponsors or organisers.
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The Home Affairs Bureau said on its Facebook page that Tuesday’s ticketing operation was “generally smooth and orderly”.
The city has faced mounting calls in recent years to crack down on the rampant scalping of concert tickets. Some scalpers also queue for days at box offices or use computer programs to buy tickets automatically from websites and resell them at a higher price.
* Name changed at interviewee’s request
