Our Washington Nationals posted up this commentary concerning delivery of Season Tickets on Nationals.com this afternoon:
Nationals Season Ticket Holders can expect to receive their 2007 season tickets by Wednesday, March 28. If you have not received your tickets by then, please call 202.675.NATS (6287) or email stcomments@nationals.com.
You may have already received, or should receive, an email with your tracking number shortly.
We apologize for the delay and any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you very much for your continued support and patience.
We look forward to seeing you at RFK Stadium.
This is the link.
And, I put no credence in the rumor on one of the Nats Chat Rooms the statements that just because some one's season tickets are being listed as originating from RFK Stadium on the FEDEX Tracker, then that ticket holder is receiving basic computer generated tickets from Tickets.com and not the well produced perforated printed sheets of tickets that all season ticket holders received the previous two seasons. I would be STUNNED if that was the case. I believe what you are seeing is an attempt, by the team, to appease as many as possible for the lateness of delivery. And employees are getting the word out, by sending the tracking information from their desks at RFK.
Believe me, I understand that March 28th Date is three days before the exhibition game at RFK Versus The Orioles, and five days before Opening Day. I am just passing along the latest information.
18 comments:
I'd hope.
I'm still waiting for my nice ticket booklet from last season though.
And for my tracking number for this year.
SBF, I admire how you can spin.....I think this time you are over matched by our Nats PLANing.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Unless they have a printing press at RFK or they flew to Canada to pick up tickets and then came back to DC to Fed Ex them from their desktops, I think you are going out on a limb to explain this one away.
Time for Stan to be a Man and clean house....My feeling is he is being mislead and it makes him and the whole Club look bad. They often fail to get all the bad news out on the table at once. This like Manny saying Guzman had a great workout in January and could throw 100%. This is like saying Nick is progressing fine in December and then see he can not even walk without a limp in Feb.
This trend just makes you wonder about everything they tell us.
jayb: I believe I have clearly stated the The Washington Nationals could have handled the ticket delivery situation better, and I believe the team realizes that fact. But, at this late stage in the game, its obvious the team is making whatever last ditch efforts it can to appease folks that are complaining. Its far from perfect, but I doubt this situation will ever occur on such scale again. I have no doubt some are unhappy, but no one has missed any games yet. Although they have been unable to trade or sell their seats, if they can't attend any games the first week of the season. That's unfortunate and no one should be in such a position.
I am not overmatched, but I am always optomistic. I see the glass half full, instead of half empty. I look at the entire situation and make my judgements on all the facts, and how it affects my enjoyment of Nationals Baseball, and others, too. I am not backing down from anything I have written. And, its great that some disagree with my opinion. Makes everything far more interesting, quite frankly.
My Guzman post, also from yesterday, clearly states my concern about his health. And, I posted about my worries on his ailing shoulder during my visit to Viera in February, and how strange it seems that he showed up, not 100%, when the team had stated he would be ready beforehand. Even a Nats Beat Writer confirmed his concern towards that fact also to The African Queen and I. And, I wrote that too.
Back in January, The Nick Johnson situation started to arise, first with a report from a doctor saying Johnson would not be ready come Spring Training. Mr. Kasten did not back down from that report in my interview with him. He flat out stated that the team really did not know his status. Johnson was recovering from his broken femur, slower than expected. It was not what they originally expected, but that's what happened.
Nothing is ever perfect. But, alot can be improved. I have confidence everything will get straightened out. That's how I feel. And, its important for me to get out all the information I find, out there, so readers can make their own judgements.
My FedEx tracker shows my tickets arrived at the Rockville FedEx center on Friday. I plan to take Monday off so I can hug the FedEx man when he delivers them, just like in Fever Pitch (even if that was DHL).
jayb: I just noticed on my original post about ticket delivery, a Season Ticket Hodler got his 20 game plan yesterday, and it was as expected. The same deal as last year. No cheap printed tickets.
SKB,
I respect your approach and I agree it is great to even have baseball in DC and I love going to the games too.
I am expecting the same high quality printed tickets to be at my door when I get home Monday...but that is because I know they are coming from Canada again this year.
Problem is the Nats said just days ago that we all will have our tickets Friday or Monday at the latest......now they are saying Wed by the latest....what is next.....will call window is my guess.....Really not acceptable for a $450 Million dollar franchise to do business this way....and I am tired of giving them a pass as you always do just for saying "we will do better next time".
Barry Svrluga is reporting he expects to talk with Stan Kasten later this afternoon about The Season Ticket Delivery Situation. Apparently, Barry is also in a group sharing Season Tickets. It should be interesting to see what he reports.
Of course, the problem is not making sure somebody has a ticket in hand by Opening Day so they can attend that game.
The problem is that there are many people who manage full- or partial-season plans who share them with others. It takes time to divide up the tickets and distribute them to partners.
I myself share a 20-gamer with a partner, and I am quite concerned about getting him his tickets before I have to leave town next Monday.
I am a Plan Kool-Aid Drinker and all that, but the Nats really have to do much, MUCH better than this next year. I agree with Jay B: Kasten/Lerner needs to clean house on the ticket operation and get somebody in who can do it right.
I emailed the Nats about this and did get a phone call back the same day. I won't get my tickets any sooner but it was nice to get the call.
My confirm email was from Mercury tickets. Mercury looks like a high end ticket printing company in Canada.
http://www.mercurytickets.com/
I'm upset since I will either need to overnight OR drive my early season tickets to my group members that have those games.
I would have suggested using 1 day overnight if I were the Nats considering the delay, but it looks like they stuck with the (cheaper) 2-3 day delivery.
I also hope they did not mark them as signature required as this will only delay them even MORE! or make it more of a pain for me to get them.
Not sure if this will have people feeling better or worse, but for what it's worth TheSpouse and I decided to order a 20-game batch of season tickets (2, actually - one for each of us) a few days ago. We ordered it online and it arrived by fedex on Thursday - no signature required. Nicely-printed tickets...
I have no idea about any of the web access stuff for trading tix - haven't looked into that, don't even know if it applies to mere 20-game buyers, but just thought I'd throw another anecdote out there.
SBF -- One of the comments on Barry's report mentions a sign saying fans can't bring food, drink or backpacks into the stadium. The A to Z information on the website is where I found this kind of information last year. It is currently "under construction".
Will this information be on the website before Opening Day? If there is to be a change in policy, will it be publicized ad infinitum, and ad nauseaum, to avoid any possibility of confusion? The possibility of fans finding out about such a change on arrival at RFK,(and the absolutely predictable confusion and hostility should the change be announced by the security guards), is really testing my optimism about the "fan experience".
Janet: I noticed the post. And actually had this discussion with Mr. Kasten back in January. I am looking to clarify it right now. Hopefully will know a definitive answer soon. Thanks.
I checked my FedEx tracking number and it APPEARS that my tickets are set to be delivered tomorrow. I will not be able to take off work so I hope they can be dropped off at my home.
Some Nats fan mentioned discovering the change in food policy from a visit to the RFK Stadium store. I can understand the need for the change (if not this year then next), but this information needs to be publicized IN ADVANCE. There will be a MAJOR PR nightmare if thousands of fans bring their own bag lunches to Opening Day only to find out at the last second that they can't bring them inside the stadium...
Eddie Cunningham
I frankly, refuse to give the organization a pass on this one (the season ticket delivery). This is absolutely unacceptable, and they'd better clean up their act before the season begins, or shortly thereafter, or else i'll find simething else to do than go to Nats games this year. Sure, it sounds extreme, but we're paying good money to see a team whose management seems to have it's head up their ass. That is all.
When I track the location of my tickets using the FedEx tracking number, it clearly indicates that the delivery originated in Washington,DC. As a matter of act,I followed that up by calling FedEx and they confirmed that the delivery originated at 2400 East Capitol Street. As jayb wrote, unless there's a printing press at RFK, it's hard to understand how I could get anything other than the cheap computer printed tickets.
My other question is, should I get those cheap tickets, will the parking passes that I prepaid for come with them?
SBF -- Terrific that you're working to clarify the food/backpack situation. The other question I have is rules on cameras for fans who aren't press. Common sense tells me I can't stand in anyone's way and a tripod would be out of the question, but what are the rules for lenses? What's allowed for telephotos, and can I bring interchangeable lenses?
I hope the RFK A to Z Guide comes up soon. For me, that would be a place where I could get some of my questions answered, and it's a very frustrating (as well as unprofessional) that it's still "being updated" a week before opening day.
Janet: On camera lenses, the offical rule is that telephoto lenses are not allowed in the ballpark by fans. This issue has come up with someone we know at the stadium a couple of times over the first two seasons. In fact, I have noticed a few folks being tossed out by CSC Security for using them during batting practice and games. And the length of any interchangeable lense can not be longer than a $1 bill. That's the standard that has been used in 2005 & 2006.
Even that greedy [fill in your own expletive here] Angelos lets you bring in food. I can't wait for this to be justified on "security" gounds, when all it really is is a grab for cash. This organization has consistently gotten it wrong, from lying to Frank Robinson to keeping Jim Bowden to not even handling ticket delivery right. I accounted for 164 seats in 05, zero in 07. Screw 'em.
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