Scalp Bots Leave Metallica Fans Without Tickets
March 22, 2019 6:08AM CDT
- Although tickets for Metallica’s upcoming show with the San Francisco Symphony don’t officially go on sale until Friday, diehard fans were given first dibs in a special pre-sale Thursday morning. Yet in spite of the opportunity, only a small portion of the early birds ended up with worms as the available tickets sold out in minutes.
- While neither Metallica nor Ticketmaster has commented on the unexpected blowout, the empty-handed fans seem to agree on the identities of the responsible parties: scalp bots. The idea that computer programs snatched up the tickets so scalpers can sell them at a profit isn’t without merit — within minutes, they began surfacing on resale websites like StubHub.
- “How are we supposed to compete with ticket bots?” one fan tweeted. Another complained, “Pre-sale, my arse!”
- The one-off show is set for September 7 at San Francisco’s Chase Centre Arena.
- What can be done to eliminate the scalp bot problem? What’s the most you’ve paid for a concert ticket?
