Old man stuck in his ways vent

[GaryPassamonte]

To many of you this will sound like no big deal. It will just be the experience of an old man not willing to keep up with the times. To me it is kind of a big deal because of the impact it has on the way of life I have had for almost seventy years. I will start out by saying I don't have a smart phone. This is a personal choice I have been content with for a number of years. My flip phone is satisfactory for what I need to use it for. Now for my experience. I am going to the National tomorrow. A couple weeks ago I decided to buy tickets for the Thursday night game between the Tigers and Guardians. I purchased the tickets using Seat Geek which I had done a number of times in the past. They had always sent me an email with printable tickets. I printed the tickets and presented them at the game and all was well. Imagine my dilemma when the email I received only provided an app for the tickets. I am and choose to remain "appless". I went to the Seat Geek home page and eventually got into a "chat" with Luis. Luis basically told me that Seat Geek no longer used paper tickets and, since refunds were not given, I was SOL. I prodded him for a phone number which he provided. The customer service number he gave me sent my to Frederico who is based in El Salvador. Frederico said he would check into my problem and get back to me in two hours. I'm still waiting. I called customer service back later in the day and was told by the customer service rep to just bring a copy of the email Seat Geek originally sent me to the game and I would be admitted. After what had transpired the past two to three hours with this ticket transaction, I was skeptical about her proposed resolution. I then called the Cleveland Guardians and spoke to three people over the next two days. At first I was basically told that since I didn't get my tickets through MLB, I could again be SOL. I persisted and was told by the representative that he would look into this further. I called back a couple hours later and eureka. I was told that the Guardians would accommodate me. However, there would be a $5 charge per ticket to have them printed. I accepted this resolution. I was told to find a stadium employee when I get to the game and they would direct me to someplace behind left field where, apparently, a temporary ticket office is now located. We'll see how this plays out tomorrow. What used to take me two minutes had taken me about four hours over two days.
Today I received a generic email from the Guardians telling me among other things that Progressive Field does not accept paper tickets. See above, we'll see tomorrow. And on top of this to make my game experience enjoyable, the email said that Progressive Field is cashless with only credit and debit cards accepted. I guess that is just another nail in the coffin of the fun experiences I have had for many years going to baseball games. I hate to say it, but this will probably be my last major league game. By the way doesn't our paper money say that it is good for all debts public and private. Maybe I'll bring that up tomorrow IF I get into the game.

[cubman1941]

Gary,

I sure can relate to you. I tell people I am the only person in the world without a cell phone of any kind. I understand the use of them and why people who work need them in todays world but I have been retired since 1996 and have no use for them. Fortunately the last game I went to, my son-in-law set it all up. Interesting, we went to breakfast at a local place, sat outside and had to use the phone to access the menu. I ran into this one other time when my wife and I were traveling and went to get something to eat in the airport. Since we didn't have her cell phone with us, after about 10 minutes we just left and went to a fast food place. Anyway, we dinosaurs are being left in the dust and our money with us.

Jim

[GaryPassamonte]

Originally Posted by cubman1941

Gary,

I sure can relate to you. I tell people I am the only person in the world without a cell phone of any kind. I understand the use of them and why people who work need them in todays world but I have been retired since 1996 and have no use for them. Fortunately the last game I went to, my son-in-law set it all up. Interesting, we went to breakfast at a local place, sat outside and had to use the phone to access the menu. I ran into this one other time when my wife and I were traveling and went to get something to eat in the airport. Since we didn't have her cell phone with us, after about 10 minutes we just left and went to a fast food place. Anyway, we dinosaurs are being left in the dust and our money with us.

Jim

What bothers me most about the whole experience is what it reveals. I choose not to have a smart phone, just as you choose not to have a cell phone. I'm sure there are many people that can't afford a smart phone. Also, there are many people that don't have a bank account and don't have a debit card or a credit card. Are these people excluded from access to a game and/or excluded from buying a hot dog and pop at a game because they are poor. This is wrong.

[jayshum]

The stadiums I have been to that are cashless had machines that you could put cash in to put onto a debit card for use at the stadium kind of like a reverse ATM. I haven't had to deal with trying to use paper tickets so can't comment on that.

[GasHouseGang]

I guess what this also means is there won't be any new tickets to collect for the ticket collector crowd out there.

[Jewish-collector]

I completely agree. We can commiserate about it tomorrow night at the dinner. beer chug.gifbeer chug.gifbeer chug.gif

[NiceDocter]

This is a version of me , my beeper, my flip phone, my landline at home, and my fax machine. Basically took a few steps into technology but stalled out 10-20-30 years ago. The world is changing. Your choice is suck it up and move ahead a bit or get left in the dust POed for the rest of your life (and it will only get worse). I will never be at the forefront of these advancements but as the telecommunications companies and others gradually stop supporting the old systems, they won’t even be a viable option at all soon. I guess this is what our parents and grandparents went through with cars vs horses, television vs radio shows, no more ice man, milk man, laundry man, …… as the Chinese Curse goes “May you live in interesting times!!” I feel your pain my friend.

[z28jd]

My dad stopped going to the local minor league team games because the stadium went cashless. He didn't want the hassle, plus the stadium started adding on fees for using cards, even though you have no other option.

I stopped going to games due to the cost. Some of these teams are out here charging more for parking than decent tickets should cost. MLB is already a huge money grab, they shouldn't be making it inconvenient to take our money. One day they are going to price themselves out of the range of the average fan. My brother makes good money and he's down to one game per year over the last two years, after doing between 10-20 each year for around ten years. He said he will go if his team makes the playoffs.

[bmattioli]

Guys, It's 2024 not 1974.. Update and enjoy,,

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by z28jd

My dad stopped going to the local minor league team games because the stadium went cashless. He didn't want the hassle, plus the stadium started adding on fees for using cards, even though you have no other option.

I think that's pretty common now. I go to a lot of Salt Lake Bee's games (Angels AAA affiliate) and they have been cashless for a few years. There are no added fee's though that I'm aware of.

[bnorth]

You are not alone. I am going to The Strongest Man on Earth strongman contest next month. The only way to buy tickets is BLEEPING e-tickets. You have to use the AXS app and it doesn't display a bar code. It is some stupid thing that changes every 30 seconds. Should be awesome fun on my cheap POS Tracfone when I enter the event.

Then even better I am staying at the Hilton across the street from the venue. You pay for self parking by scanning some BLEEPING QR code thing in the parking lot.

[4815162342]

Imagine what dead-ball era fans would have thought of paper tickets with barcodes.

Also, imagine how future fans will react when we refuse to take Elon’s brain implant.

[jchcollins]

Interesting thread.

I can understand a lot of familiar longings for things past here, indeed as all of us ostensibly collect physical things; cards, ephemera, and have found the value in even the “throw-away” tangible things that somehow still exist in the 21st century when they should have wound up on the ash heap of history decades ago if not longer.

That said, (I’m 47) I will also admit that I can’t imagine life and certainly the portion of it that is involved with my hobby now without some of our technological advances and modern conveniences. E-mail, text messages, social media, etc. were all huge improvements to me in this world from my perception as a fairly introverted young person, and even today with cards - we have much better tools than pulling out the latest BBCM to look up a price. I couldn’t have navigated the National last month without my phone, online vendor maps, Uber to get me there, etc. etc. Going further in the hobby - we have a lot more community and sounding boards now than when I opened my first pack of 1986 Topps. Message boards, N54, Facebook, even YouTube and just in general a lot easier means of connecting with folks that have similar hobby interests as you do. None of this existed really even when I went to college in the mid-90’s. While I certainly get the longing for many “analog” ways of doing things, overall I’d have to land on the side that evolution in thought and acceptance of new methods is a necessity.

But hey, I’m Gen X, right? Actually, having been born in 1977, I’m kind of right at that intersection; I once heard it called “Xennial.” Our childhoods at least as little kids were totally devoid of technology as we think of it today, unless perhaps you count the introduction of video games. But the telephones and stereos and televisions I grew up with would have been more recognizable to generations before mine in the 1950’s and 60’s than they would even my own daughters here in the 21st century. Fast forward (excuse the technology pun...) to after high school and college - and my life is now invaded with digital technology. I didn’t own my first cell phone until I was 22 years old, but finding and embracing that type of technology then certainly beats being 50 years older than that and having to accept it, IMO. I guess I don’t care so much about the cashless or stub-less thing, but then again, I’m not a ticket collector. I could understand being pissed about that if I was, LOL.


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[nebboy]

You think your old and things have changed.