Ticketmaster, thanks for nothing!

I’ll make this ‘blog entry short and sweet. Well, maybe not so sweet! I just filed a complaint online with the Better Business Bureau against Ticketmaster.com, because they really made me mad.  Here is the complaint:

Complaint Type* Advertising Practices

Complaint Summary (150 characters maximum) Tried to purchase tickets for Radiohead concert at 4/12 10 AM PDT per ad. No tix available within 1 second. Redirected to co-owned TicketsNow.com.

Describe your problem with Ticketmaster Corporation (1500 characters maximum)* Tickets for the Radiohead concert at the Hollywood Bowl and Santa Barbara Bowl went on sale at 10 AM PDT on 4/12/08. Within 1 second of Ticketmaster making the link to purchase active, customers, including me, were redirected to purchase from http://www.ticketsnow.com/ConcertTickets/Radiohead_Tickets.html  at a highly inflated price above the actual ticket cost from Ticketmaster. It is my understanding that Ticketmaster.com also owns TicketsNow.com. It appears that this was all a pre-planned scheme to rip-off the consumer. I have seen hundreds (well, okay… a few)  other blog posts today about this same issue.

So WTF do you want Ticketmaster to do about it?* 1. Stop deceptive ticketing practices. 2. Offer tickets fairly and at the advertised price. 3. Stop exclusive pre-sale offers that exclude the majority. 4. Stop giving preferential treatment to Ticket Brokers. 5. Disclose that they own TicketsNow.com 5. Be prevented from using any bait-and-switch tactics. 6. Provide me and others, with the tickets we could have purchased from TicketsNow.com at the TicketMaster price. 7. Stop charging inconvenient excessive and unreasonable “convenience fees.”

Ticketmaster.com

You are preparing a complaint for:	Ticketmaster Corporation
	3701 Wilshire Blvd 7th Floor
	Los Angeles, CA 90010
Contact:	Geoff Carns (800) 726-8669

 

So, let’s see what happens. I’ll keep y’all posted. If you want to complain too…  http://www.labbb.org/

Peace out!

–gj (acomputerpro)

Warning: MySpace Virus Attack

I love getting new MySpace friends (NOT!) Today I got an email notifying me of a new friend request from Kempfy. Now keep in mind… my normal friend requests come mostly from porn girls trying to entice me to visit their websites. From her photo, Kempfy didn’t appear to be one of “those girls.” That is why I thought it might be a legitimate friend request, from perhaps one of my many thousands of Twitterbuds. Fine then… one of my 1,400+ Twitterbuds.

 

Above is a thumbnail of Kempfy’s MySpace page. (It is safe to click on! You will see a larger image. It’s a .jpg picture… that’s all.) It appears that a Windows Automatic Updates dialog box pops up, telling me to download the latest Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. Well, maybe not “the latest” (clue #1.) Then I thought, that’s a bit odd. Why would Windows Update pop up here? That’s not how it’s supposed to work (clue #2!)

So I got brave and did a test. After all, I do have Windows Vista UAC (user account control) turned on to help protect my computer from malicious software attacks. I tried clicking on the link.

 

The above is a thumbnail ‘picture of what happens,’ if you click on the link.  (You can click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. Don’t worry. It’s safe. It too is an inert .jpg picture image.) I’m assuming that anything downloaded from windowupdate.microsofzsupport5.cn is a virus!

As a matter of fact, Kempfy’s whole MySpace page is a download link to the virus file, no matter where you click.  Oh my!

Bottom line, trust no-one! (Except for A Computer Pro – That’s me)

-gj

P.S. If you’re not following me on Twitter, you should be! *wink*

A Purpose Driven Twitter

You might be aware that I’m not a Christian. I am a little more old school when it comes to my religious belief. I’m happy with that. But I live in a world where most of my friends are Christian. I am well aware of what that means, because I spend a lot of time in Church. I maintain the computer systems and networks for three different Churches. Their Pastors are my good friends. We talk a lot.

Being old school, means I’m pretty set in my ways. My beliefs are strong. I consider myself very spiritual. I believe strongly in prayer. I believe in the Old Testament. I am a believer. I believe that Twitter has a purpose, and we are seeing it unfold in real time. So what is the purpose of me having over 1,000 Twitterbuds in less than two months? What is the purpose of my closest Twitterbuds being (what I consider IMHO) the “good core people” in the Twitterverse? Out of the many thousands of Twitterers, why was Ashley Spenser, aka @ashPEAmama my Twitterbud? What about Susan Reynolds and Preppy Dude? Why did we become Twitterbuds so quickly?

I was told as a child, that I needed to write. It is one of the things I supposedly do best. I was never really motivated to do so, until I found an easy way… in 140 characters or less. So here I am, making friends fast and doing what I was probably created to do. I have found a new purpose, which I believe I shall use for good.

I hardly new my Twitterpal Ashley, but I miss her. I hardly know Susan Reynolds or Preppy Dude Duane, but we have a true friendship and I never want to miss them.

Sure, I make every effort to entertain when I tweet. I also occasionally attempt to make an intelligent point. Rest in peace, Ash. That’s all.

-gj