The Sharon ticket scam
 

I went to purchase tickets to The Jersey Boys from the web site. At 8:30 I waited for the ticket site to open. When it did and I went to pick a seat I found that more than 80% of the seats were already sold. All in less than 30 sec.. No computer is that fast. About 20 min later I found another site selling tickets to the Sharon, and what did I find ? all the good seats now for sale on that sit at 2 to 3 times the price. Shame on the owners and management of The Sharon. They are scalping their own tickets to up the profit . I will nerver support your theater again and I hope no one will purchase these scalped tickets.:rant-rave:

Actually they are. There are bots that can do this.

"An Internet Bot, also known as web robot, WWW robot or simply bot, is a software application that runs automated tasks (scripts) over the Internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone."

It is the owners of the other site that are the scalpers. This is a common thing that happens to popular events that sell tickets on line. Before the days of the internet, they used to pay people to stand in line at the box office windows to buy the tickets that would later sell for elevated prices.

Please don't think that it is The Sharon doing this.

So glad you posted this. I went to a website yesterday that I thought was for The Sharon only to find tickets going for $300 each. Couldn't figure out how they could be charging 3x what I paid on Broadway to only see a touring non-Equity tour. Typed in The Sharon and got the actual Villages website. They are typical prices for a touring show. Looking forward to seeing it again.

When the Elton John tickets went on sale for Orlando a few weeks ago the same thing happened. It’s not the venue doing it.

I would say that The Sharon could, for shows they know will be a hit, do box office sales only and still sell out. But they host plenty of other wonderful acts that don’t sell out, even with the online system.

Using "bot" software to purchase tickets is illegal in Florida. But it is legal to resell tickets for a higher than face value price. However, this problem could easily have been prevented by the Sharon. I think they should be ashamed of themselves for letting the situation happen. I hope they will report the bot sales and hopefully have the scalpers prosecuted.

So when you move to The Villages you can take off your big boy pants. Because the family is all knowing, all seeing. and takes care of all things. From ticket scalping bots to sinkholes. :a20:

I think Cisco means that he doubts very much that the Morse family who own The Sharon are scamming anyone.

I am so tired of Morse slamming posts. It is not a crime to be successful. Many people do it without breaking any laws. They build a better mousetrap.

Gracie. A huge fan of the free market.

I don't know if anyone is scamming anyone, but I do know that most legitimate ticket websites have a place where you must insert a code or identify a photo, to prove you are "not a robot". This generally defeats bots - and if the Villages Box Office website doesn't have this protection, or something similar, shame on them.

Just wondering, could the box office limit the number of tickets sold to an individual account per show so that bots hackers can not get enough tix to make it worth their effort? Or can the bots simply create unlimited accounts? Also another thought. Could the box office make tickets available to Villages residents only for the first 48 hours before opening up to the general public, giving residents a window to get the best seats before the bots swoop in and snatch them up?

I think the solution is simple (see post #9). As great as the Morse family is, TV has always been lagging a bit on the technology end. It can be quaint, or it can be frustrating.

You are right. They aren't the latest on internet technology. I'm not either. The word "scam" just flew all over me.

If you look online Ticketmaster gets hit hard by the bots also.
So it appears there is no easy fix if you sell online.

:confused: All good questions..... do you really think they will get answered here?

As long as we're good enough to get on the forum!