What to Expect from Seatwave (It's really 'Our Manifesto' but
we worried you wouldn't take us seriously if we said it)
Now that we've made Seatwave available to you, the public, we
thought it would be helpful to plainly describe why we created the
service and what you should expect from us - a sort of manifesto to
our customers. Perhaps a simple 'about us' section would have
sufficed. The thing is, a truly immense amount of time and effort
have gone into making Seatwave a reality and we've done this
because we feel quite strongly about a few things. So we thought
we'd spend a little more time telling you about the stuff we feel
strongly about, how we hope to change the world (or at least the
bit that involves us) and why we think that's good news for
you.
Most importantly, we believe in commitment. Specifically,
following through and sustaining what one believes in, and although
we've just met, we want to make a set of commitments to you, our
customer. And, unlike our slippery representatives in Westminster,
we have no intention of slithering out of our manifesto promises.
If you think we have, please shout at us and give us the
opportunity to get it right. And if we're still buggering up then
feel free to burn effigies of us or, even worse, stop being a
customer.
So this then is our manifesto - less revolutionary perhaps than
Marx & Engel's effort but hopefully more valuable than the
nonsense spouted by politicians every few years:
We will help people get to events and we'll help them do it in
a secure way:
We get a big kick out of attending live events - whether
theatre, music, sport or dance. There is a basic, deep-rooted human
desire to share the experience of a live performance. But something
is wrong. We believe that we stand alongside many people when we
say the mechanism by which event tickets are distributed is broken.
We hear fans tell us all the time that "it's nearly impossible to
get tickets today." We're seeking a solution to fix this. We know
any lasting solution will require the cooperation of artists,
clubs, promoters, producers, venue operators, ticketing agents and
consumers - and today that cooperation is not evident. So we will
engage the industry to bring about fundamental changes in the
distribution of tickets. In the interim, we will make every effort
to provide fans with access to the events they want to attend and
we will provide them that access in the most transparent and secure
way possible.
Many people believe that tickets have become just too
expensive…we agree and we undertake to do our best to reverse
this.
It's generally accepted economic theory that transparent markets
are more efficient and help to reduce prices. So we will make sure
that Seatwave operates as transparent a ticketing exchange as
possible. We will also take every opportunity - and even try to
create opportunities - to lower ticket prices for fans. We won't
promise that Seatwave will always have the lowest priced tickets,
but we will promise to try in the short (and long) term, to lower
the average price of all tickets.
We will make it easier to purchase tickets.
Right now, even if you are able to find tickets for the event
you want to see, it's really not that easy to buy them. Dark
carparks, wads of cash and a seller named Vinnie are not really a
treasured part of the live entertainment experience. We have done
our best to make the listings on Seatwave clear and intuitive so
events and tickets are easy to find. We have then tried to make the
information we provide (face value, market pricing, and seat
information) clear and concise so you have all the information you
need to make an informed choice. We also offer
TicketIntegrityTM which gives you confidence that every
ticket you buy or sell on Seatwave is absolutely guaranteed, no
excuses. We tell you when the tickets will ship and monitor the
arrival of them to your home. Through initiatives such as these, we
will always strive to make the experience of buying tickets a
carefree, secure and positive experience - after all this is your
leisure time.
Our experience has been that ticketing agencies treat consumers
badly - to us that doesn't make sense and we commit to treating our
customers with respect.
The history of the ticketing business seems to exclude being
consumer friendly. Have you ever bought tickets to an event and
then tried asking for a refund if you are unable to attend? Trust
us, whatever they say after they've stopped laughing at you won't
be very helpful. Seatwave will always help you to resell your
tickets on our exchange should you be unable to use them - it is
what we do after all.
We also want to make certain to tell you something else about
Seatwave up front, all sales are final. Just to be
clear, 'ALL SALES ARE FINAL.' What does this mean? Once you place
an order for tickets we notify the seller and they then send you
the tickets. This means we cannot cancel the order once its been
placed. Again, this is about informed consumer choice, if you have
this information and choose to use Seatwave then you are fully
aware of our responsibilities and yours. That said, if the event to
which you have bought tickets is cancelled, we've got you covered
with our exclusive and free TicketCover™
product. So if things go awry, whilst no doubt you'll be gutted,
you won't be left out of pocket. Again, this is about informed
consumer choice, if you have this information and choose to use
Seatwave then you are fully aware of our responsibilities and
yours.
We'll admit when we screw things up - then we'll try and make
it right.
When we make mistakes (and I am certain we will make many) we'll
be honest and open about it and if any customer has lost out
because of us we'll do everything we can to make it up to them.
Many people tell us that it's too expensive to operate this way,
that it's "easy" to list the tickets, let people buy and sell and
then collect our commission. They say 'don't offer much in the way
of service, don't fix mistakes - let the market solve the
mistakes.' We believe in free markets, but we don't believe free
markets are infallible, and we think there are times when we, as
overseers of the market, need to step in and make sure all
customers are served in a fast, secure and courteous manner. Our
business practices are based on the belief that serving one
customer one time is not a very good business. We want to earn the
privilege to look after our customers whenever they are in need of
tickets and the only way we'll get to do that is if we treat you
all properly.
We do charge premium fees for Seatwave's service.
I know, that doesn't sound like a very enticing manifesto
promise, so let us explain: Our commissions and fees are fairly
similar to some of the other less consumer-friendly ticketing
services but for good reason. We believe that Seatwave's offering
is, and will continue to be, superior to any other consumer service
that buys and sells tickets. To do that we need to be able to
attract great people to work for us and in higher numbers than
other operators to deliver the level of service we promise. So yes,
Seatwave does charge a premium for its service, no excuses. If we
are unable to offer a service that is better than others, we would
have no right to charge premium fees - in fact, we'd have no right
to exist. So please tell us if you think you're not getting your
money's worth, we'll take what you have to say seriously and, more
importantly, we'll try and do something about it.
We'll try to do what we say we're going to do.
That sounds a little obvious but how often is there a huge gulf
between what a company says about itself and what you experience.
Seatwave should and will be held to a higher standard. If you have
a problem we will communicate with you in a direct and personal
manner and seek to solve your problem - not make it difficult for
you to complain in the hopes that you'll give up. Our promise is
that every Seatwave employee understands, agrees and acts in a
manner consistent with the principles outlined on this page. If
they don't, we'll find them somewhere else to work.
We want to make sure that the buying of your tickets is quick
and easy and the memorable part of going to events are the events
themselves. Again, if you think we've got it wrong we'd like to
know.