Final sprint for Commonwealth Games tickets becomes a marathon as Glasgow 2014 site beset by problems
It was billed as the 'final sprint' for tickets, but for many of those eager to be at this summer's Commonwealth Games it was more akin to a test of endurance.The last 100,000 tickets for the Glasgow games went on sale at 10am yesterday, but organisers were forced to apologise later in the day after being inundated with complaints from sports fans unable to buy tickets online. Some reported that they had waited in an online queue all day without success.
Ticket hopefuls have complained of long queues
@Glasgow2014 What a shambles today, I have spent all day online trying to get tickets time of 0-30 mins in queue hasn't changed since 1pm
— Angela Muir (@AngelaMMuir) May 12, 2014@Glasgow2014 Tried all day yest 4 tickets which I'd applied for during the ballot (disappeared from basket) still no success this morning :(
— Bellann Blake (@bblace) May 13, 2014
Over 12 hours online and finally get screen for customer code. Fill it in and it sends me to start of queue! Not impressed @Glasgow2014
— Anna Davis (@balancedmum) May 12, 2014
Glasgow 2014 chiefs conceded that the ticketing website had not been able to satisfy the "unprecedented demand" and took the site down at midnight to "continue investigations" into why the queuing system had failed.In an update at 7am, they claimed that there were "positive indications that the website experience has improved", but some people trying to buy tickets this morning are still reporting frustrating experiences.@Glasgow2014 Trying to get tickets, keep getting "There has been an unexpected error" when selecting a sport, any ideas?
— Kenny Watson (@KennyWatson86) May 13, 2014
And we’ve now gone from 30-60 mins to over 60 mins. @Glasgow2014 pic.twitter.com/mIN7VOKv5M
— Andrew Roberts (@arob_87) May 13, 2014
@Glasgow2014 Well I'm finally in but now the ticket page won't load to actually book anything :-(
— Liz Hurley (@Hurleybooks) May 13, 2014
@Glasgow2014 I c closing the website has made no difference what so ever. Got the same screen as yesterday. What a shambles. Get it sorted.
— Gerald Segal (@geraldsegal) May 13, 2014
In a statement released on Monday evening, Gordon Arthur, chief communications officer for Glasgow 2014, said: "Thousands of people have successfully secured Games tickets today."However, we are also aware that there are some people who are still having significant issues and have been on the website for a very long time."We appreciate this is an unsatisfactory experience and apologise for the inconvenience caused."Almost 24 hours since tickets went on sale, there is still availability across many sports according to the Glasgow 2014 ticket availability page.