Card Verification??

[Arson]

I just registered for the lottery for tickets for me and my wife.
For some reason I assumed that the credit card would be verified by the system when I submitted it. Instead I get an email that said if my card is declined for any reason, AFTER the lottery has drawn, then we would lose our lottery slot. Standard practice for something like this is to do a small charge on the credit card, then reverse it later, thereby ensuring the card info was entered in without any typos, and that a valid card was used.
Now we're contemplating putting in a second order just to be sure there were no typos in our first order!
Is there any way for us to verify the info was entered in correctly before the lottery??

[britzbitz]

I submitted my registration, which I checked then double checked. And then afterwards I started second guessing myself. What if I made a typo? Well, then I'm screwed.

...not entirely thrilled that there was no verification.

I know I've used some sites in the past that won't let you enter a cc# if it's not actually a valid cc#. I was kinda hoping it'd be like that, especially since you only get one shot.

[Dr. Pyro]

This is the Burning Man version of the Darwin Awards.

[britzbitz]

I would imagine that a lot of orders simply won't go through because of this.

If our ticketing dept at Shambhala is any example (and our festival population is only 10k), a lot of mistakes are made when filling out order forms.

[BBadger]

This is the Burning Man version of the Darwin Awards.

Or the "hanging chad".

[Shambala]

I would not enter the information again, as the lists are being culled for duplicates and one of your applications will be dropped.
Take a deep breath and have faith that you did it right. There are plenty of tickets to go around.

[halffast]

i doubt there's a high correlation between not being able to enter in a credit card number right and people who injure themselves or are otherwise a burden on the event.

But there's probably a decent correlation between folks who can't fill out a form correctly and folks who will have another chance to get tickets outside the lottery.

I guess it's yet another one of the ways the lottery isn't random.

[trilobyte]

If you hadn't thought to print the registration page (for your own sanity's sake) and believe that you may have entered your information incorrectly, then contact Participant Services regarding re-entering your registration info.

Perhaps next year they'll consider jacking up all the service fees to cover the costs of running additional pre-authorization charges per registrant. In the meantime, bone up on your radical self reliance skills and double check your info before you hit the submit button.

[britzbitz]

If you hadn't thought to print the registration page (for your own sanity's sake) and believe that you may have entered your information incorrectly, then contact Participant Services regarding re-entering your registration info.

Perhaps next year they'll consider jacking up all the service fees to cover the costs of running additional pre-authorization charges per registrant. In the meantime, bone up on your radical self reliance skills and double check your info before you hit the submit button.

Solid advice. Excitement got the better of me. -_-

In hindsight, eating my lunch first so I wasn't so flightly/jittery would have been the best course of action. It's not like registration is going anywhere for 2 wks. But, but....it was Noon!

Keener fail.

[fenwick]

In the confirmation e-mail regarding successful completion of registering for the initial lottery - is a URL you can use to review, edit and make changes for your submitted information.

or you can throw caution into the wind and keep the fingers crossed


After reviewing your information above, If you feel you've made an error while filling out your registration form please contact us immediately by visiting http://tickets2.burningman.com/contact no later than January 22. Absolutely no corrections can be made after that date.

If you need to change your shipping address after your purchase is complete, you may do so by visiting http://tickets2.burningman.com/contact

Sincerely,

Burning Man Tickets
http://tickets.burningman.com


At least this year - you had to "tick" the agreement before proceeding to the final page. Last year - no tick to the agreement was required, but at the last page some waited months for the credit card transaction to be processed, some still waiting. This year that was changed to mandate an acceptance of everything, before the final page. Successful registration for the lottery returned an e-mail, mine was date and time stamped 8 minutes after noon PST

[Psycho]

Not sure if the ticket site is using this or not, but there's a simple checksum calculation that can be performed on a CC# to verify it's at least a valid type of number. It doesn't verify the account is real, but it would catch a simple typo when entering a real CC#... Hopefully the service is at least verifying it that far...

[bigdane]

I somehow knew it would be a mistake reading this thread...sorta like ya know Buckleys cough syrup tastes like ammonia and pine needles and ya drink it anyway

[BBadger]

Not sure if the ticket site is using this or not, but there's a simple checksum calculation that can be performed on a CC# to verify it's at least a valid type of number. It doesn't verify the account is real, but it would catch a simple typo when entering a real CC#... Hopefully the service is at least verifying it that far...

Yes, the ticket form does have a credit card validator.

[trilobyte]

No worries. Deep breaths and relaxation techniques and all that good stuff. If you're having a bona fide freakout or have a genuine concern that something was entered incorrectly, send an email to Participant Services and they can help you out (they'll do what they need to do on their end and then have you re-enter your registration). Excitement, dyslexia, and typos happen.

[theCryptofishist]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Cough Syrup.

[asaxon]

Since It was recommended to call the CC issuer to warn them of the pending charges - who should I say the charge will be from? Burningman LLC?

Sending my wishes that it all goes peacefully and well

[BBadger]

Since It was recommended to call the CC issuer to warn them of the pending charges - who should I say the charge will be from? Burningman LLC?

Sending my wishes that it all goes peacefully and well

I think you can just inform them that there will be a large purchase somewhere in the realm of $480-$780.

[trilobyte]

The charge would be coming from Burning Man, your bank should be fine with that.

[unjonharley]

The charge would be coming from Burning Man, your bank should be fine with that.

Called the card company.. They said they could note the surge.. Then it was suggested I call closer to the date and reconfirm

Think I spotted "ticketsburningman" as the name..

[trilobyte]

The charge will appear as "Burning Man"

[theCryptofishist]

Wait, Trilobyte, you've evolved into a gas cloud, like on Star Trek.

Well, at least you're not stuck as a mushroom head.

[Roberto Dobbisano]

funny, i've always sorta pictured him more like this...

[trilobyte]

Jambi!!!! Wait, mushroom head?

[remi]

meka leka hi meka hiney ho....... meka leka hi meka hiney ho.....

[theCryptofishist]

Jambi!!!! Wait, mushroom head?

Don't you remember that alien body head type from TOS, bigger than the body and a sign of higher intelligence. They n ever showed any women like that, however. I suspect because they were using incubators, we're pretty much at the limits of our bipedal useful pelvis size. "Menagerie" is one of the classic mushroom head episodes.

(Of course, Star Trek would be so much better if it were steam punk... Scotty's engine updates would barely change at all...)