Cape Town - Stormers fans wanting tickets for the United Rugby Championship final next Saturday against Munster, were left fuming on Thursday when the Ticketpro website "crashed" under the demand.
Ticket sales for Cape Town Stadium's second consecutive final in the competition went on sale at 10.00 am on Thursday, but supporters looking to buy tickets for the Munster clash were greeted by a "Please be patient ... " notice as patrons were first put in a queue to get onto the website.
By noon, the sold-out sign went up on the Ticketpro website, although there has been no confirmation from the organisers or WP Rugby that the final is completely sold out.
More tickets could be made available in the build up to next Saturday's big final as sponsors and stakeholders return tickets they do not intend to use.
If that is the case, supporters will have a last chance to get their hands on the sought-after Grand Final tickets.
Earlier, during IOL Sport’s investigation, fans were given a number for a place in the queue, and the total minutes it will take to get to the front of the queue and onto the website.
The website kept refreshing to bring the buyer to the front of the virtual queue, but crashed every time when it reloaded. When the buyer eventually got in to select tickets, the stadium plan disappeared and you had to refresh again.
Ticket prices ranged from R80 to R375 for the premium seats, but it was also a struggle when you were eventually online, to find seats together.
Some people were number 3 033 in the queue, while others were 9 636th, and some at number 18 001 with an estimated 218 minutes of waiting time to get onto the website.
Ticketpros has become Ticketfroze #URC
— Justin Ford (@JustinFordZA) May 18, 2023
On Ticketpro’s Facebook page, people were not shy to voice their dissatisfaction with the service after they struggled to get tickets.
"Pathetic ... I suppose this is the service we are used to," Cheryl Ackerman replied on a post by Ticketpro asking patrons to be patient and not to refresh their browsers.
Jovan Liebenberg posted: "Website crashed while in the queue. So disappointing to see time and again that you cannot handle the volume of users, and took away the biggest game of the season from me.”
The TicketPro website is a disgrace.
— Paul-Joffre Esterhuizen (@PJ_Esterhuizen) May 18, 2023
"Useless as expected," was the short response that patron Jannie Pieters posted.
Ticketpro quickly limited responses to the post they put up after it only received complaints about supporters being unable to buy tickets.
While some users were clearly upset about the website’s inability to handle the demand, as tickets to the final were selling like hot cakes.
Really infuriating that Ticketpro site goes down whenever there is just an increase in demand. Throughout the year I buy tickets with no problem & now expecting to attend the final in my favorite seat, I can’t even log on after being kicked out of the system! Really disappointed!
— Mike (@MikeChong0999) May 18, 2023
The lucky ones who got tickets, even in the nosebleed seats, were thankful they could get it.
"Anyone borrowing me a binoculars? Got my seats, but it's far up," Waseemdollie wrote on Instagram.
"Tickets are bought after a long line of wait and refresh," was @nicksylee's response to a Stormers post on Instagram.
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport