REDEEMING VOUCHERS:Mark Walsh went to the Electric Picnic during the summer but he travelled without a ticket "as I knew they had not sold out and I had not time to buy one before I left". His plan was to use Ticketmaster gift vouchers to the value of €200 to gain admission but, when he presented his vouchers at the Ticketmaster van on the site, staff refused to accept them despite the fact that they were in date and valid.
"I was dismayed by this, outraged in fact," he says. He decided not to let it spoil his weekend so paid in cash for his ticket. "At the time the highly unhelpful folk in the booth couldn't give me an explanation as to why my vouchers were no good. Surely Ticketmaster vouchers are redeemable by Ticketmaster? If not, then by who?" He e-mailed Ticketmaster customer service soon after the festival but is still waiting to hear from them. "If Price Watch could find out the score on vouchers I'd love to know
A spokesman for Ticketmaster said that it is clearly stated on Ticketmaster vouchers that they are redeemable in Ticketmaster outlets only. "The on-site mobile box office at the Electric Picnic is not an outlet and does not have the same facilities as an outlet. This is why staff there had to refuse to accept the vouchers."
We pressed the spokesman for details on what extra facilities would have been required for the Ticketmaster vouchers to have been acceptable at the Ticketmaster mobile box office but are still awaiting a response.
BUS STOP PRICES
John MacLoone found himself at the Bus Éireann stop in Monaghan in the middle of September where he paid €1.80 for a packet of Pringles while a glass of milk set him back €1.50. "At Busáras in Dublin the price for Pringles was €1.05 on the same day."
PRICE OF A PINT
Michael Griffin was enjoying a drink to toast Kerry's victory over Meath last month and decided to treat some visitors from the Kingdom to a drink in the Gresham. "I am still attempting to reason why a pint of Heineken and a half pint of Heineken each cost €5.30," he writes. "The half pint was in the standard bottle and the pint was draught. The receipt which I received clarified that this was not a mistake."
He says he's "amused" to hear the Vintners Federation of Ireland complain "yet again about the loss of business and employment in the sector". He suggests they should "get real" and lower their prices "to the European average or lower".
