Lessons Learned, Shared knowledge re ticket experience

[TimInSilverlake]

I thought I'd start a topic to facilitate sharing of information learned during the ticket buying process so we can all help cross the bridge to ticket ownership. This is for everyone - those lucky enough to have been selected, who have ticket confirmation, to report their purchase process; those who did not receive tickets to report their experience; those who may have hit a bank issue or stalled out of the process, etc., to report in on what they experienced and observed; how their card behaved during the ticket transaction, what any pitfalls or danger zones, tips, etc. you have to share. This is an unofficial participant-initiated thread. Nothing I write below is official or is intended to be taken other than one burner to another. For official info I defer to the good folks at BM, especially the great Trilobyte of Infinite Patience. This is just my own experience in the ticket process, and hopefully yours added to it.

Here's mine to start - I requested and was successfully selected in the Pre-sale. Here's my observations.

-- I was concerned about using a prepaid card because it has to be tied with a name, never used one before, it was unfamiliar territory, so I avoided it, and used my one and only credit card.

-- First, I paid my card down to cover the cost, plus an extra couple hundred as it was not clear early enough on what extra charges would be.

-- Concerned about an impending expiration date on my current card, I called my card issuer and they rushed me a new card with a new expiration date on it to avoid the card expiring during the sale period, which because of the rules would have been irrevocably fatal to the purchase. (Remember: you get one chance, no forgiveness, and without surgical precision, your next burn may be in 2013 unless you luck out in the final drawing).

-- If you have cards that go to different billing addresses (a home card, a business card, an old address, etc.) don't space that on the form - the purchase may fail. Match the billing address on your statement to what you put on the form.

-- I got to the form online. I shut my door. No distractions. Calm. Slow. Monastic-level concentration and focus. Pretended: I'm a computer, checking for exact letters and spaces, mono-minded, binary, unforgiving. Used a current card statement to carefully enter in the precisely matching information on the card. Double checked each address line one by one.

-- Refocus before you submit. SUBMIT button is UNFORGIVING. There is no "back" there is no "please review your order before submitting," at least as I recall. So read and re-read that form before sending. If you're computer savvy take a screen shot of it so you can use it later to calm yourself when doubt sets in 1 minute after you submit. Oh, you'll get a confirmation but if your address is wrong or you misspelled your street...see you in 2013, I think- unknown whether you'll be notified or kept in the dark until you learn in March that you had wrong or expired card info to begin with.

-- Called my bank back. Told them estimated amount and when selection opens and closes. They noted my account.

-- When I got notified by email that I was selected, I went into my credit card account online and found the billing for the sale. It says this: BURNING MAN SAN FRANCISCO. MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE 7922. There was some other merchant-identifying info as well. I looked up 7922 on the Internet and that code is for ticket purchasing agencies. So, it would appear to me that you could check with your card issuer to ensure that 7922 won't trigger a stop to the sale. No guidance from BM ticket company on this that I know of so hopefully this helps someone.

-- Finally, at the exact same moment the transaction posted, a second transaction posted from same BURNING MAN, same category, for a small amount. Time-stamped same minute, so hard to say which took place first; maybe the low dollar amount was a test of some kind. Or a new tax from somewhere. Not sure what this was, but there it is.

That's it.

To help our brethren burners cross the river to ticket ownership, please list any experiences you have had with ticketing, rejected on technicalities, etc. so that we can all learn from one another. Work together, my friends!!!

I will see you all at the Burn!!

Tim

[trilobyte]

Good information, thanks for sharing. And congratulations on getting tickets! Something I wanted to point out, while the registration process is still open if you believe you made an error (you print the page, hit submit, and then while re-reading the page you realize you got dyslexic on your card info or some other messup), you're not screwed. Send an email to Participant Services at partiserv(at)burningman(dot)com with the name and email address you used for registration, explain what happened and request a reset. As long as registration is still open, they should be able to accommodate you.

[TimInSilverlake]

Thanks for the clarification.

One last tip I forgot to mention: once I submitted the form, I took my credit card out of my wallet and left it at home in a safe place until I got billed. I rarely lose my wallet but knowing my luck, this is when it would happen.

[remi]

Thanks for the info.

I didn't take it as seriously as you did. I just went and filled out the registration, and forgot about it 10 minutes later. I didn't call my cc company (I make a lot of weird and big purchases and never had a problem,) left my cc in my wallet. I know I have more then enough to cover the 2 tickets I required. The only step that was important to me (other then actually getting of my ass and registering,) was to remind my burner friends to register.

It's a pretty straight forward system. Just double check everything before you hit 'submit'. Make sure you have the correct number of tickets, and the correct shipping info.

[shylar]

o man I didnt see where you could PRINT out your submission and now I am nervos that I made a mistake...is there anyother way to check out what we entered, just to tripple make suree its right??? Ill cry if I dont get tickets..I already cried a little. Also my suggestion to burning man is they make it a 18 and over event or even 21 and over for that matter, I know it means alot to some people to bring their kids (although I dont know why, I have a 3 year old and a 15 year old and I would never bring either..reason one is its MY play time, reason two is GEEZE its hot and dirty and seeminly misserable for them.. I saw alot of kids there and 9 out 0f 10 didnt seem into it at all) this would free up a bunch of tickets. <3

[Elliot]

Kids under 12 get in free.

[Savannah]

o man I didnt see where you could PRINT out your submission and now I am nervos that I made a mistake...is there anyother way to check out what we entered, just to tripple make suree its right??? Ill cry if I dont get tickets..I already cried a little.

There may not have been a "print" button. Some folks are taking screenshots of their results, printing the page using no special features--like you can print any webpage (it may not look pretty), etc.

Did you receive a confirmation email when you registered? (If not, did you check your junk mail folder? Can you set your email account to put email from burningman.com straight into your inbox?)

Whatever you do, don't panic. As Trilobyte has already said above, you may send email with your inquiry about your registration to Participant Services, at:

partiserv(at)burningman(dot)com

Also my suggestion to burning man is they make it a 18 and over event or even 21 and over for that matter, I know it means alot to some people to bring their kids (although I dont know why, I have a 3 year old and a 15 year old and I would never bring either..reason one is its MY play time, reason two is GEEZE its hot and dirty and seeminly misserable for them.. I saw alot of kids there and 9 out 0f 10 didnt seem into it at all) this would free up a bunch of tickets. <3

It wouldn't actually free up a lot of tickets. Kids 12 and under get in free, so they don't require tickets at all. Kids between 13 and 17 are actually very rare at the event, from what I've seen over the years. Most parents of teens leave them home because 1) teens do well at almost any friend or relative's house 2) they're at an age where it's easier to get into trouble at the Burn.

I have seen only one person at the Burn that I know for a fact was between 13 and 17 (because I knew his mother. He had a great time, by the way). And we do hear reports here on ePlaya about a few teenagers . . . maybe a few per year. But they're the ones I see the least.

[shylar]

i didnt recieve a confirmation email..

[Savannah]

That doesn't necessarily mean you didn't get registered. Send an email with all your info (full name, the email address you used, the date of registration, all the info you have) to:

partiserv(at)burningman(dot)com

Here on ePlaya, we're just folks like you--none of us are customer service. We don't know what happened. Send the email.

[trilobyte]

@shylar - really? You're actually suggesting that they not allow anyone to bring their children or attend the event until they're 21 because you personally prefer not to have your kids with you? That seems pretty fucked up. How about you just continue to make your own personal choice whether or not you want to bring your kids, and other participants do the same?

As for confirmation of registration, you should have seen a "registration successful" page in your browser at the time you registered (which means your data was entered into the system). That should have been followed with an email notification sent within about 10 minutes. If you did not receive it, you may need to check your email application's spam filter, or check your email provider's spam blocking (some companies block messages at the ISP level, so it would never hit your email app). Make sure you add orders(at)burningman(dot)com to your 'trusted senders' lists (if your provider/application let you specify).

[shylar]

oh my gosh..i never said that,..i also said that i understand that people like to have their kids there and i did say that it was MY personal choice..thanks for calling me fucked up..you totally hurt my feelings..i was just suggessting... way to personal attack

[shylar]

seriously you made me cry.. i was trying to be help full I am not fucked up i am a very loving caring and i was trying to be help full..i guess ill keep my comments to myself..IM SORRY if i offended

[shylar]

seriously you made me cry.. i was trying to be help full I am not fucked up i am a very loving caring and i was trying to be help full..i guess ill keep my comments to myself..IM SORRY if i offended

[shylar]

i was wondering why they had a friend or foe buttons here and now i know..people here are mean.

[trilobyte]

Sorry, I was reading your comment "Also my suggestion to burning man is they make it a 18 and over event or even 21 and over" which you followed by saying that you know if means a lot for people to bring their kids, but you don't want to. My intention certainly wasn't to make you cry, but to question what read as a pretty fucked up suggestion.

[shylar]

it was just my opinion..others commented before you without calling me names but simply stating facts of wich i reconsidered..i have only gone one year and i saw a few uncomfortable kidss there. i talked to a mother of a three year old that regreted bringing her..that is all. i was trying to be helpful not mean. im sorry too..friends??

[remi]

Don't be so fucking sensitive when it comes to this forum.

[shylar]

wow.

[junglesmacks]

Wow is right. And I'm not talking about Trilo.

[mdmf007]

ill double wow that. Shylar it seemed like a pretty self serving comment about not letting kids in ot the event, because you prefer to leave yours at home. Not everyone has the resources to watch the kids while the adults play. It kind of sounds like youd feel less guilty about taking the trip without the kids knowing everyone else couldnt either.

Of course, I have been wrong plenty

later

[shylar]

you guys are killing me... stop reading into that far... its getting creepy.
i dont feel guilty and every one can bring theeir kids..i luv kids gee wiz

[Sail Man]

I love kids too, and have brought my 9 yr old to 4 burns. Swing through Kidsville, you'll see a myriad of age groups.

Now you kids start playing nice or there will be a timeout.

[shylar]

I promis i will.. And ill babysit to make up for my dumb comment..

[junglesmacks]

you guys are killing me... stop reading into that far... its getting creepy.

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

[Savannah]

[maryanimal]

I just read shylar's comment that has everyone's underwear in a knot. I didn't see a darn thing wrong with it. She wasn't saying it should be an 18 or 21 y.o. and up event with malice. Before I went to my first burn, I couldn't figure out why ANYONE would want to bring kids out there, what with the conditions the way they are. But once I got there, I understood fully why folks bring there kids. I had the pleasure of seeing Kiddsville and it was awesome!

shylar, I know you weren't saying anything to be a smartass. And Trilo, the way you spoke to her IMHO was uncalled for with you being a Mod. You're the voice of reason around here. Personally, I feel you owe her an apology. It was just an opinion that was taken the wrong way. And of course everyone has a right to their opinion whether you agree with it or not.

I feel there was a terrible injustice done here. That's just my opinion. Now then, if anyone disagrees with me, let me know! But plase don't lambaste me with verbal attacks!

Thanks for "listening" to me!

[trilobyte]

I strongly disagree. I didn't read malice into her post either, but strongly disagree that someone would want to impose their personal preferences as a policy or a means to basically ban people from being able to attend the event. It's ludicrous, and it's fucked up, just as I thought it was when someone suggested in another thread that sound camps should be banned as a means to reduce attendance/make more tickets available.

[maryanimal]

Well, Trilo, I guess we'll agree to disagree. I've seen a lot worse in here said regarding, well, just about everything under the sun. I do respect your opinion, I just don't agree with it!!

[wh..sh]

I promis i will.. And ill babysit to make up for my dumb comment..

Naah, it wasn't dumb. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when you decide to voice it on here people are going to agree, disagree. Don't stress about it. And if you think what you need is a week away from kids to have your own space, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But there are lot of people who like being there with their kids. It's nice to have that choice, I think.

[shylar]

I know i was joking around to make light of the situation.. Thanks for voicing your opinion nicely, i compleatly agree choice is great. And thanks to both the last commenters for understanding.. I was taken aback with all the others persented hostility, but im over it.. PEACE