Tickets for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will go back on sale on Wednesday May 21 after a one-week suspension to sort out problems with the sales system.
Some 100,000 tickets went on sale on Monday May 12 but the website and phone operations were dogged by long queues and errors, and the website and lines were closed on Tuesday evening.
More than 50,000 tickets remain unsold, but these will be released over a three-day period and this time around there will be a free hotline and free postage.
Ticketmaster has undertaken an extensive programme of investigating and testing the performance issues and next week’s re-release of tickets will now offer:
- A phased approach, to help manage demand on the website, releasing groups of sports and ceremonies over a three-day period
- Free postage (previously £4.50 for UK addresses) on all new orders
- A Freephone number for all calls to the Glasgow 2014 Ticketing Hotline
The specific breakdown of which available sports will be released for sale – and on which days – will be announced early next week.
Glasgow 2014 chief executive, David Grevemberg said: “Over the past few days we’ve been working with Ticketmaster with the aim of re-establishing a positive ticketing sales experience for the many thousands of people who want to be part of the Games.
“While we sold more than 60,000 tickets through our ticketing website and hotline last week and saw the most incredible support and enthusiasm from the public, the experience of purchasing tickets was frustrating and unacceptable for some people.
“With additional measures in place aimed at managing demand and the addition of free postage on all orders and a Freephone Ticketing Hotline, we aim to get back to the business of ensuring remaining tickets are sold and that thousands more people can begin to look forward to experiencing the excitement of the Games.
“Our focus now is on enabling everyone who wants to be part of one of the world’s great sporting parties to be able to secure the tickets to do so.”
Chris Edmonds, chairman Ticketmaster UK said: “We are pleased to confirm that we will be relaunching the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ticketing website next Wednesday.
“Our team has been working tirelessly to review, analyse and rectify the issues that were experienced on the site.
“Our priority remains to ensure that customers have the best possible experience when securing their tickets for the Games.”