Tickets for J.K. Rowling’s signing event at New York City’s Lincoln Center went on sale 12 hours early at 10 p.m. on Sept. 9. Since then, fans have been wondering if the tickets they purchased will be honored at the Oct. 16 event. Lincoln Center has just posted an update to help clarify the situation.
There were to be approximately 1,200 tickets sold for the Casual Vacancy event, and the statement issued by Lincoln Center admits to the mistake, and implies that some seats were in fact double-booked. However, the venue says that “arrangements may be made to honor each ticket purchased,” and promises to offer an update soon.
When Hypable contacted the book’s publisher, Little Brown, on Monday morning, we were told that our information was “incorrect” and no tickets had gone on sale Sunday night. However, hundreds of fans, including several Hypable staff memebers, purchased tickets and received confirmation emails. The next morning, tickets went on sale — online, by phone and at the box office — as scheduled at 10 a.m. ET. Those tickets sold out before noon, although some fans were able to purchase online tickets again around 1:30 p.m.
UPDATE 5 (Sept. 12, 10:30 a.m.): We received an official statement which matches what we told you yesterday in our 5 p.m. update. You can read it below:
On Sunday, September 9, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s ticketing system was breached and an unauthorized link to purchase tickets to the J.K. Rowling The Casual Vacancy event on October 16 was distributed online. This breach did not result in the breach of purchasers’ personal information. In order to accommodate customers who purchased tickets on September 9 as well as customers who purchased tickets on September 10, Jazz at Lincoln Center has secured the David H. Koch Theater at 20 Lincoln Center as the new location for the event. Each customer who purchased tickets prior to the official on-sale date and time will be contacted directly by Jazz at Lincoln Center to process tickets for the event at the new location. The event remains sold out. At this time, only customers who purchased tickets on September 9 and 10 will be accommodated. Although neither Little, Brown and Company nor J.K. Rowling are responsible for this situation they were keen to make sure that no person who legitimately bought a ticket was left disappointed, and are delighted this matter has been resolved in this way and apologize for any confusion that may have been caused in the meantime. Jazz at Lincoln Center apologizes too for any inconvenience and looks forward to welcoming everyone to the David H. Koch Theater on October 16.
UPDATE 4 (Sept. 11, 5 p.m.): We just got off the phone with the Lincoln Center and have solid answers. We were read aloud an internal e-mail stating that the event will move to the David H. Koch Theater at 20 Lincoln Center. ALL tickets purchased September 9 and 10 WILL be honored. The move to the larger theater is to accommodate the larger-than-planned audience. Obviously, you will not have the same exact seat that’s currently noted on your ticket. We’re aware there are other questions and we hope to have them answered in due time.
UPDATE 3 (Sept. 11, 3:30 p.m.): The next statement from Lincoln Center could now arrive as late as 10 p.m. tonight or even early tomorrow morning, customer service representatives have begun telling customers. The delay is because they’re trying to “please everyone,” one Hypable staffer was told when calling the venue. From the sound of the conversation, the Lincoln Center is trying to resolve this in a way that will keep them from voiding any tickets.
UPDATE 2 (Sept. 11, noon): If you purchased your tickets on Monday, a box office employee at Lincoln Center told Hypable, you “more than likely” will have no problems using them. The fans who purchased tickets on Sunday, however, may encounter trouble, the customer service employee confirmed. More information will be available on the Jazz at Lincoln Center around 3 PM ET today, the box office rep told a Hypable reporter, who called as a customer, not a member of the press. We’ll update this story when the statement is made.
UPDATE: As of Tuesday morning, the statement on the Jazz at Lincoln Center website changed from “due to technical difficulties,” and now reads “due to a security breach.”
The full statement, via the Jazz at Lincoln Center website, reads:
Due to technical difficulties on the ticketing website, tickets for the J. K. Rowling event on 10/16/12 were made available prematurely at 10 pm on September 9th. Tickets then went on sale at the previously announced time of 10 am on September 10th. Jazz at Lincoln Center is in the process of investigating how this occurred and what arrangements may be made to honor each ticket purchased, and will provide an update as quickly as possible. Neither JK Rowling nor Little Brown and Company are responsible for this situation. Jazz at Lincoln Center apologizes for any inconvenience.
Calls throughout the day to Lincoln Center provided no concrete answers. Some representatives said that the tickets would be honored, while others were unsure and a few said that the Sunday night purchases were invalid. We’re glad to finally be getting an official statement from Lincoln Center, and we’ll keep you updated as more information is released. Hopefully the venue will make it so that everyone who purchased one of the $43 online tickets will be able to attend an event with J.K. Rowling.
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