Ticket master be damned.

First, my blog is published in red today because it's the only color I see.

Second, don't ever, EVER use Ticketmaster.

Third, Ticketmaster just erroneously cancelled my sweet, sweet, third-row seats to the Paul McCartney concert in October 2005. I purchased them through Ticketbas---ds last Friday, during one of the only pre-sales arranged by Paul's "people". I received the confirmation and my credit card was charged. Done. Not.

Yesterday, I received a voice message on my cell phone from Ticketbas---ds saying "Since we could not reach you to confirm your credit card billing address, your order has been cancelled."

In fact, they had not tried to reach me by phone at all, though they said they had. No messages, no "missed calls" on my cell OR my caller ID or my office phone. The only email I received from them asked me to return the email confirming my billing address. Which I did. The same billing address, I might add, that I've had for 9 years, and the same billing address which every other vendor I've purchase from has had no trouble in verifying. I actually went home and looked at the most recent credit card bill to be sure I hadn't moved. Nope. Same address. Same card. Same name.

Needless to say, I'm devastated. I've waited 40 -- no 41 -- years to hear this man in concert. Since he first stepped on U.S. soil, when I was a mere tot (okay -- I was 11!) I've watched and waited for the Beatles, or the cutest Beatle, Paul, to show up in the Twin Cities. He finally had a gig here. As a registered member of his website maillist, I got in on one of only three pre-sales for the U.S. tour.

And Ticketbas---ds screwed it all up.

Talk about a really bad monopoly, Ticketbas---ds and their subsidiaries have the market cornered. When I went online to try and find contacts for their corporate offices, what I found was about a kazillion people bashing the company because of the problems they'd had with their ticket purchases. It's about impossible to get through to a customer service rep by phone, and if you mess up on any of the 350 options in their automated phone system, you get sent to Purgatory, where you have to wait for 1,000 years for the next customer service rep. Who is Julio, and probably is sitting in an air conditioned cubicle in Chile, and who could care less if you have tickets or ticks. And probably doesn't know the difference. And forget about talking to a supervisor. And don't even imagine that you could find some contact information for corporate Ticketbas---ds.

I'm going to go lick my wounds and listen to some Beatles ... on CD.