Filipino ONCEs Slam Local Organizers For “Messy” Ticket Selling Of TWICE’s Concert In The Philippines
Filipino fans of TWICE are taking to social media to express their displeasure at the alleged shortcomings of local concert organizers.
On June 15 and 16, the selling of concert tickets to TWICE’s 5th World Tour, Ready To Be, went live.
One of the issues fans faced during the pre-sale event was being unable to buy tickets after the sole ticketing service for the concert, SM Tickets, failed to send email verification codes to them.
my once friend asked me if i could help him secure and super nakakafrustrate din na it was our turn na but inask kami for verification of email sa sm tickets site. we tried multiple times to receive a code from his email but sadly wala kaming narereceive :/ https://t.co/XOqznrPAMp
— RIA will meet txt! ★ (@0152layla_) June 15, 2023
More importantly, hundreds of ONCEs noticed after their transactions were finalized that their ticket vouchers disappeared from their accounts despite already having paid for them.
Just called smtickets, was told my credit card transaction went through pero my seat wasn't reserved kahit may physical voucher na akong nakuha. 🥲🥲🥲#SMTicketsDoSomething@livenationph @smtickets @jypnation #TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR #TWICEINBULACAN#TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR_BULACAN
— ethan! 🍵 (@ethandelr) June 15, 2023
Though their chosen payment methods confirmed that their transactions pushed through, they did not receive the same email confirmation from the ticketing site itself.
Grabe Gcash Confirmed that the purchase was successful and told me to go to SM to verify but the Sm Dept. store rep can't and adviced me to email Sm tickets, Emailed Sm Tickets (No response) THEY LEFT US HANGING #SMTicketsDoSomething #twiceinbulacan #RTBinBulacan #TWICEINMANILA
— MonsterluhanQt (@Monsterluhanqt) June 16, 2023
Hello! I received an email from SM tickets that they did not received my payment from you this morning for twice concert so I did not receive any voucher. Can you help me refund with this? @gcashofficial pic.twitter.com/MP3y7GJxyA
— 🍓 (@WATERMELOUIST91) June 15, 2023
Increasing their worry was news of ONCEs who escalated the issue to SM Tickets only to be told that the seats they paid for were not credited under their names. They did not receive any assurance that their chosen seats would be reserved for them while the pre-sale event continued.
note i literally have my voucher printed out pero they're telling me the ticket isn't reserved under me? pic.twitter.com/0DVN9mIBYV
— ethan! 🍵 (@ethandelr) June 15, 2023
Local fan account @TWICEVU_ confirmed this in a one-on-one chat with an SM Tickets representative.
They said that for those whose money was deducted, the payment pushed through but the ticket is not reserved. So option one is to find the best available seat within 24-48 hours in the same section or [wait for a refund within] 30-60 days.
— @TWICEVU_
— TWICE VOTING UPDATES 🔆 (@TWICEVU_) June 15, 2023
SM Tickets and head organizer Live Nation PH later posted on social media that the fans’ vouchers will return to their accounts in 24 hours.
Update from @smtickets – For GCash payments, please wait 24 hours for the voucher to be reflected in your SM Tickets account. Thank you!
— Live Nation PH (@livenationph) June 15, 2023
As the golden hour neared and passed, ONCEs grew increasingly agitated.
i should be 100% focused on my ult's comeback today but i can't because i'm still waiting for the ticket i spent 11k for. fucking hell
RELEASE THE VOUCHERS #SMTicketsDoSomething@livenationph@smtickets#TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR #TWICEINBULACAN #TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR_IN_BULACAN— BOUNCY🌶 BRAINROT ‼️ (@insatiabyul) June 16, 2023
They called the ticket selling “messy” and “unorganized.”
messy ng lnph lolz
— eren (@ErenSkies) June 15, 2023
ang messy naman ng ticketing system ng lnph at smtickets, dami ko rin nakikitang cases ngayon na tulad nung sakin sa txt :/
— 꿀⁷ 💜 festa szn (@pdminsg) June 15, 2023
Many are still waiting for their tickets to be credited back to their accounts.
My friend went sa sm customer service cause more than 24 hours na wala pa voucher. Guess what, they told him to wait. Then that's it. He should wait lang daw they can't do anything about it daw cause ongoing ang ticket selling. Gosh bat kasi pinilit ituloy ang gen sale
— 스카이 (Scye); EBBG for FOLLOW Tour~ (@ScyeHong) June 16, 2023
ITS BEEN 24 HOURS SINCE MY TRANSACTION WHERE'S MY VOUCHER MGA ACCLAAAA@smtickets @gcashofficial @livenationph
— jun | voucher where??? (@viviyyihhh) June 16, 2023
it's been 24 hours where are my vouchers??? Sabi ng SM my payment pushed through when I confirmed. Either release my vouchers or refund me now, why do I have to wait for 30-60 banking days when it was your system's fault??? @smtickets @livenationph
— 🦋 (@jjuniecombo) June 16, 2023
How about our vouchers? IT’S BEEN 24 HOURS NA PO :((( https://t.co/4G7ANpyqtG
— nik 🍓 is going to see ot9! (@litoldokyeomie) June 16, 2023
@gcashofficial @smtickets @livenationph di nyo pa nareresolve missing vouchers. More than 24 hours have passed na eh and no updates pa rin. Do something!!! Super disappointing the way you handled the issue
— Hiraeth Meraki (@HiraethMer24894) June 16, 2023
It’s been 24hrs and our vouchers are nowhere to be found. Sm tickets website is still not working
— Ben Joseph Diaz (@benjosephdiaz) June 16, 2023
On top of this issue, the SM Tickets website crashed a few hours after the June 15 ticket selling started. It was only at 6:55PM that they announced that the pre-selling was suspended.
— SM Tickets (@smtickets) June 15, 2023
The site returned just a few minutes before the General Onsale the next day, confusing fans who were waiting since morning for assurance from the organizers that everything will proceed as planned.
Hi sm tickets website is still down until this moment. Will the ticketing go as planned? @smtickets @livenationph
— pat 🌙 | RTB in PH arena !! (@chyngteen) June 16, 2023
ganito pa rin ba sm tickets website sa inyo 🥹🥹#TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR_BULACAN pic.twitter.com/endJJCj75s
— calli 🌤 logged out (@vitaminv_cart) June 16, 2023
sabi ng twice "say something," pero naman sm tix and lnph DO SOMETHING!!
RELEASE THE VOUCHERS#SMTicketsDoSomething@livenationph @smtickets @jypnation#TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR #TWICEINBULACAN #TWICE_5TH_WORLD_TOUR_BULACAN pic.twitter.com/qA1Fo22vUt
— mitang🌙 ia (@introvertmina_) June 16, 2023
Besides problems with the ticketing website, there were also concerns surrounding scalpers who were mass buying tickets only to resell them at higher prices.
Many of us waited for hours on end just to secure our tickets and this bloke gets his hands on some and decided to sell them on a ridiculous price. Do something @smtickets @livenationph @SM_Cinema pic.twitter.com/kwYV7MaCfH
— Miyo IS GOING TO SEE HIRAI MOMO (@Miyolnear) June 15, 2023
One infamous scalper was able to secure 16 VIP tickets by bypassing the system using bots. He resold them for up PHP 40,000 ($716 USD) each, a markup of PHP 22,500 (around $400 USD).
Overall, fans noted that the ticket selling of TWICE’s Ready To Be world tour in the Philippines was rife with issues.
Twice Ready To Be in Bulacan Ticket Presale Summary
-over 100k+ onces on queue
-lumindol at exactly 10:20am
-someone selling vip for 40k
-problem sa pag aadd to cart and payment
-processed payment pero no voucher recieved
-LNPH reserving seats for celebrities and influencers— sha🤓 | 📌 (@bambinayeon) June 15, 2023
TWICE will perform at the Philippine Arena, Bulacan, on September 30, 2023. They last visited the country in 2019 for their Twicelights tour.