Ticketmaster mixup sends out pop-geezers, not pop-punkers

A Twin Cities ticket buyer thought he'd be seeing a concert by his favorite '90s band. Instead, he got three '60s retreads.

Last update: September 10, 2009 - 9:09 AM

Local music fan Chris Stout, 25, thought it odd that one of his favorite pop-punk groups of the '90s, the Teen Idols, was scheduled to perform Oct. 9 at Grand Casino in Onamia, Minn., but that's what he saw on Ticketmaster.com. The site even posted the Chicago band's bio next to the date.

So you can imagine Stout's surprise when he got his tickets in the mail with these names posted on them: Mickey Dolenz, Peter Noone and Mark Lindsay, performers closer to their 90s than they are the 1990s. Turns out, Ticketmaster mistook the pop-punkers for the pop-geezers from the Monkees, Herman's Hermits and Paul Revere & the Raiders, respectively, who are touring together on the so-called "Teen Idols Tour." Wait, wasn't Davy the idol in the Monkees?

Anyway, Stout said he was brushed off once by Grand Casino and three times by Ticketmaster's customer service center -- you know, the company that charged him $13 in "convenience" fees -- before he was finally offered a refund. But the Ticketmaster.com listing still did not get fixed until the Star Tribune called a couple days later (and then it was fixed within an hour or two). A Ticketmaster publicist called the "Idols" confusion "an easy human mistake" and then sent out an e-mail to all ticketholders with the correction and refund details. Stout got all his money back, plus a Ticketmaster gift card, but he remains annoyed.

"It was pretty ridiculous of them not to admit they made a mistake even after stating and repeating my case numerous times," he said. Had he not gotten his money back, he added, "My mom saw the casino ad for the real 'Teen Idols' show the day after I got my tickets. She at least knew who those three guys were."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER