THE beleaguered Edinburgh Festival Fringe box office is to reopen today – but ongoing technical issues mean customers will still not be able to get their hands on tickets.
It has been beset by problems with online booking and ticket issuing for the past month. Now, with just eight days to go before the previews open, the Fringe is still unable to produce tickets for the 247 venues where shows are taking place.
Organ
isers closed the box office on Sunday and yesterday – meaning tickets could not be bought over the counter or by telephone – to try to solve the computer problems that have meant briefs cannot be printed.
Staff spent the day talking with venues in an attempt to work out how tickets could be distributed when they become available, and this is likely to vary depending on the site. A spokesman said more than 200 venues had been contacted and the discussions had been “positive”.
Briefs continued to be on sale over the internet and organisers insisted tickets for all shows were still available. The spokesman said internet sales had been on target.
However, although the box office will reopen, customers will still receive only a receipt that they will be able to exchange for a ticket in the future. Those buying online or over the phone also receive only a proof of purchase – either an e-mail or a reference number.
Disgruntled customers vented their frustration on message boards on the Fringe’s website yesterday.
But the Fringe spokesman said: “We have made good progress. We were working with all the venues involved to talk about how ticketing will run throughout the festival.
“We have had a really successful day and worked through some of the technical issues. That will allow us to reopen the box office as planned.”
Staff at Glasgow-based Pivotal Integration, the firm behind the Liquid Box Office system, which has proved too slow to cope with the demands of the Fringe, were working with festival staff to bring it up to speed.
No-one from the firm was available for comment last night.
The big four venues, Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly, insisted they were “experiencing strong ticket sales” despite the problems at the Fringe box office.
The group can sell tickets for their shows through a separate box-office system – although they also sell through the Fringe.
They said in a statement: “Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly are working closely with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to assist the Fringe box office.
“It is understood that the Fringe will outline its distribution strategy for tickets purchased through Fringe phone and online bookings [this] week.
“The four main venues will work with the Fringe to ensure any inconvenience caused by the Fringe’s current box office issues is kept to a minimum.”
How the drama unfolded – and what it will mean for customersWhat’s been happening at the Fringe box office?Up to 150,000 people who have bought tickets have not received them – with less than two weeks to go until the shows start.
Why not?The box office has been unable to print them out. They had been due to be posted out by last Wednesday.
Why could they not be printed?The Fringe did not have a comprehensive box office system working, just a web-based one, which allowed customers to buy tickets online, over the counter or by phone. It did not allow the tickets to be printed and mailed out.
Why doesn’t the Fringe have a proper box office system?It does. It is called Liquid Box Office and is run by a firm called Pivotal Integration – it was implemented on 9 June – but a combination of technical glitches meant the tickets were not being processed quickly enough. Sales were suspended the next day.
Then what happened?A new system was developed, based around the Pivotal system, by the Fringe’s existing web support company, Kraya, and it began on 17 June. That is the system that cannot print and send out tickets.
Are they still using that one?No, they went back to the Pivotal Integration one, having worked on sorting out the glitches. But they found the tickets weren’t being printed out fast enough and they still could not send them out.
Why did they swap systems?The previous system was nine years old and the company that supplied the software no longer supported it. This meant that continuing to use it was a real risk as, if it broke down, there would be no bespoke assistance to get it up and running again. Also, in the nine years it had been in use, ticket sales had increased by 300 per cent.
Who chose to go to the new system?The decision was taken by the Festival Fringe Society, which is headed by an elected board.
What have they done about it?Organisers held four-hour crisis talks in Edinburgh on Friday. They then closed the box office in an attempt to address the computer problems. They are holding talks with the 247 venues for which they supply tickets to ensure all customers get them. They are also going to contact all buyers expecting tickets early this week with information on collection.
What should I do if I have not received my tickets yet?The Fringe is expected to inform all customers this week about collection arrangements. Organisers say all those who have bought tickets will receive them. The latest information is available at
www.edfringe.com.
The full article contains 938 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
