Wait list issues

[Popeman38]

I know what you are thinking, the much maligned wait list again? But this time, I have hard number to back up my complaint. I have been on the wait kist for years now. I don't remember when I signed up exactly, but I know it has been at a minimum 6+ years. I call every fall, after all the tickets have been turned over to find out where I am on the list. I have been making steady progress over the years, starting in the mid 100,000s and getting all the way to #49,576 after week 2 in 2006.

Now to the point of the thread. I called this morning to find my place in line and to set my calendar to remind me to call next year and find my place in line. Much to my surprise, the number quoted me this year was 222,000+. After I regained consciousness, we went through the process of finding out they had me confused with another Pope in PA. After we straighten out my actual address, I am informed that I am currently #49,912. That's right, I moved backwards almost 400 places in line.

I asked how this could happen, and all I got was the line, "I don't know who quoted you that number last year, but this is the number that shouwed up when I pull your info blah blah blah"... I again ask, how can I go backwards on a waiting list? "Don't worry sir, call back in the spring and you just might find out that you got tickets", like 50% of the entire seating capacity are going to give up their tickets. Exclude the club section, and you are talking about over 65% of ticket holder having to release their tickets.

I am sincerely frustrated here. I read threads of people getting sweet seats after being on the list for very short years, and yet I toil along waiting for mine and I move backward?

Sorry, rant over.

[CallMeGreen]

...we went through the process of finding out they had me confused with another Pope in PA. ...

Sorry, rant over.

Sorry to hear about this mix-up man. You did miss a golden opportunity when they confused you with that person in PA.

Next time you say: "I'm not A pope, I'm THE Pope."

But seriously. How many tickets are you requesting? Maybe there's a longer line for six's and four's than there are for two's. Kinda like waiting for tables in restaurants.

Good luck though.

[Mark The Homer]

The waiting list is whacked. Always has been. Always will be.

[Popeman38]

Sorry to hear about this mix-up man. You did miss a golden opportunity when they confused you with that person in PA.

Next time you say: "I'm not A pope, I'm THE Pope."

But seriously. How many tickets are you requesting? Maybe there's a longer line for six's and four's than there are for two's. Kinda like waiting for tables in restaurants.

Good luck though.

I am on the list for 2. But even if I am on the list for 6, I should do no worse than standing pat. Others behind me may get tickets, but I should not move backwards.

[RedlightG20]

Sorry to hear about this mix-up man. You did miss a golden opportunity when they confused you with that person in PA.

Next time you say: "I'm not A pope, I'm THE Pope."

But seriously. How many tickets are you requesting? Maybe there's a longer line for six's and four's than there are for two's. Kinda like waiting for tables in restaurants.

Good luck though.

Agreed. The waiting list is screwed up a bit, and I tend to believe they target certain types of fans when selecting tickets. I was on the list about 5 or 6 years and just this summer I got the call. I've heard of people being on the list since the Skins were still at RFK.

Going on with targeting certain fans, I think the # of tickets requested does play a factor, as well as your age. Seems like they are targeting younger (maybe more naive?) fans to pay the more rediculous prices, and perhaps will do so for the long run.

Don't give up hope, Pope (ha). The ticket list goes much much faster than you realize. Most of the people they call aren't ready to throw down $1500 or $3000 for tickets when they get the call. They'll call when you least expect it. When I signed up I was ready to wait at least 10 years. Just make sure you have some money stowed away. They only gave me a weekend to fork over the dough since it was only like two or three weeks until the preseason started.

[Popeman38]

The waiting list is whacked. Always has been. Always will be.

But it isn't complicated. A simple Excel spreadsheet would keep things in order. Anybody with any database experience, and I mean any, would be able to maintain the wait list. But quoting a number, and then moving someone backwards is ridiculous.

[Popeman38]

Don't give up hope, Pope (ha). The ticket list goes much much faster than you realize. Most of the people they call aren't ready to throw down $1500 or $3000 for tickets when they get the call. They'll call when you least expect it. When I signed up I was ready to wait at least 10 years. Just make sure you have some money stowed away. They only gave me a weekend to fork over the dough since it was only like two or three weeks until the preseason started.

How can it go faster than expected when I am moving backwards. And I have been on the list longer than you, yet I am still 50k away.

[RFKFedEx]

Popeman, the waitlist is nothing more than a marketing ploy to cajole you into purchasing the immediately available "premium" seating which is aplenty.

General admission season tickets can be had for face value in the weeks leading up to the start of the season on Craigslist.com. The locations offered by current season ticket holders looking to sell are often better than what the TO will offer a first time buyer off of the waitlist, (which is usually upper endzone seating only).

Over the past couple of years, I've found pairs of lower level, endzone seats for face value and numerous sideline seats in the 400 level for face. If you check Craigslist every day, you can even get parking with some packages. I recommend purchasing after preseason, but b/f the start of regular season if you don't want to pay for practice games.

Don't believe the Snyder made myth about the scarcity and demand of 400 level season tickets!

Four seats together will be tougher to find at face value, but for what a season costs, you'd be better off buying on an individual game basis.

[RedlightG20]

How can it go faster than expected when I am moving backwards. And I have been on the list longer than you, yet I am still 50k away.

Don't know what to tell you there, that's something you'll have to take up with the TO, but don't expect to go far. Search around on ES, there are plenty of horror stories just like yours about falling backwards on the list. No one here ever has an answer for that.

As RFKFedEx mentioned, many season ticket holders are started in the 400 level in the endzones. Mine are a bit closer to the Redskins sideline off of the corner, which I find to be pretty good. For the time being, you may be better off just hunting for tix on StubHub or Craigslist. The good thing about buying game packages from people are that they usually cost less (for new season ticket holders, you have to pay a license fee for the first year for each seat, activation fee, etc). Not to mention you don't have to eat $xxx for the worthless preseason games.

[GibbsFactor]

I've been on the wait list for about 5 years now. I've purchased 7 tickets to the past 2 games from them.

Monday I got my call for UL tickets.

[RedlightG20]

Also Pope, may I suggest you perhaps heard the quoted number wrong, or maybe the person you spoke to last season gave you the wrong number? Based on you starting in the 100,000s, 59,000 sounds more like where you should be at considering 6 years later you're at 49,000. Just a thought?

[SkinsNut73]

The waiting list is whacked. Always has been. Always will be.

True.

Two or three years ago they were giving away a free Skins blanket inside the stadium if you signed up for the season ticket waiting list. It was a nice blanket, but I already had tickets.

So....I signed my brother (a long time Rams fan) up for tickets. Did it as a joke so he would get bombarded with Skins stuff in the mail/email. Know what? He was offered season tickets this past summer (not the club level offers he now gets every other week :laugh: , but the general admission 400 level tickets).

...like I said, that was no more than 3 years ago I put him on....

[riggins_44]

A friend of mine is a STH and he said, as a STH, he can get up to 6 season tickets. He currently has two. He said if I give $50 per seat as retention fee, I could conceivably get these coveted tickets. I don't if this is true but I will find out after the season.

Just a theory as to why people on the list move backwards. :whoknows:

Maybe the STH's can shed some light....

[Larry Brown #43]

Here's my story. Back when Spurrier first rode into town in 2002, I signed up for the waiting list at the Ballston Common Mall Redskins Store. Then, I believe in early 2005, I called the team to find out where I was on the list. Turns out they didn't even have me on the list at all. The jackhole from the Ballston store who ENCOURAGED me to sign up for the list, and took down my information, apparently didn't bother to actually ENTER my information. So I had to re-sign up a couple years years ago. Hopefully I'm actually on the list this time!

[celts32]

I waited over 20 years for my seats and at my first game i was seated next to another brand new season ticket holder who told me she waited like 4 or 5 years. There is no rime or reason to anything that ticket office does.

[romank]

A friend of mine is a STH and he said, as a STH, he can get up to 6 season tickets. He currently has two. He said if I give $50 per seat as retention fee, I could conceivably get these coveted tickets. I don't if this is true but I will find out after the season.

Just a theory as to why people on the list move backwards. :whoknows:

Maybe the STH's can shed some light....

I waited close to 8 years and as you mentioned, I was offered up to 6 seats and took all 6 so I suspect that has something to do with the waiting list for others as well.

[BIGJOE44]

This conversation comes up every couple months. The ticket office is just completely screwed up. I went on the list in 1993 and was called 2 years later and every year until I finaly pucharsed tickets this year. A friend of mine bought 2 tickets this year and waited a couple days and called the guy back who sold the tickets and bought 2 more. I wonder if its young kids selling these tickets and getting a commission every time they sell and just sell to who ever and dont follow the list.

[Sharkdart]

How do you find out who to call to see where you are at on the waiting list.

This conversation comes up every couple months. The ticket office is just completely screwed up. I went on the list in 1993 and was called 2 years later and every year until I finaly pucharsed tickets this year. A friend of mine bought 2 tickets this year and waited a couple days and called the guy back who sold the tickets and bought 2 more. I wonder if its young kids selling these tickets and getting a commission every time they sell and just sell to who ever and dont follow the list.

[BIGJOE44]

I never called but I believe you just call the ticket office and ask them where you stand.

[CallMeGreen]

...

Hey, welcome BeatemStompemTouchdown. Two years a member before posting your first post? That's what I call will power.

[Shadowplay]

Craigslist.com. It's the greatest ally that a Skins fan has in getting to pick where they want to sit and for how much. One of my favorite things to do during a football weak is to watch the club seats come down in value from Monday to Saturday. On Monday, people are still delusional and think they might actually be able to MAKE money off these seats. You'll see them for like $300 a piece. Then by Saturday, those same tickets are going for half that...if that!

The only thing I don't like about it is that every now and then I'll sit in a section with fans that I wish I got to sit next to every game. But that doesn't happen very often.

[Shadowplay]

Hey, welcome BeatemStompemTouchdown. Two years a member before posting your first post? That's what I call will power.

The internets travel pretty slow in West Virginia.

[MDRedskinsFan]

This conversation comes up every couple months. The ticket office is just completely screwed up. I went on the list in 1993 and was called 2 years later and every year until I finally pucharsed tickets this year. A friend of mine bought 2 tickets this year and waited a couple days and called the guy back who sold the tickets and bought 2 more. I wonder if its young kids selling these tickets and getting a commission every time they sell and just sell to who ever and dont follow the list.

This is interesting. I joined in January 2006, hoping that by the time I get out of college I'll have my own season tickets. However, they called me in December of 2006 before the Giants game to tell me that my name came up and I was eligible for season tickets. Now, I did out of curiosity call the ticket office and inquire about the price of club seats about 3 weeks before my name came up. I had to turn them down at the time, and I went ahead last month and tried to join the list again, but tried twice and neither time have I received the confirmation email. I wonder if they're planning to call me every offseason and offer tickets like what happened to your friend.

[RFKFedEx]

Craigslist.com. It's the greatest ally that a Skins fan has in getting to pick where they want to sit and for how much. One of my favorite things to do during a football weak is to watch the club seats come down in value from Monday to Saturday. On Monday, people are still delusional and think they might actually be able to MAKE money off these seats. You'll see them for like $300 a piece. Then by Saturday, those same tickets are going for half that...if that!QUOTE]

That's what I'm talkin 'bout. By Saturday evening, the deals are unbelievable, on all seat locations. One could sit in the club level for all eight games at about half of the contract price a club seat holder would pay. And the prices of the 400 level seats are comical. Plenty of lowers at face value are there to be had too.

The only place cheaper than Craigs is the parking lot at FedEx.

[Mark The Homer]

Last year I bought a pair for a game in mid season in the upper level sidelines a couple days before the game. It was something like row 20 in 451. Something like that. It was close enough to me that I drove out to pick them up myself. My total cost: $30.