Thursday 7 April 2011

O2 ABC Glasgow - Mistreatment of paying customers.

On the 3rd April 2011, I attended a concert held at the O2 ABC Glasgow venue.

The acts playing that night were Machinae Supremacy, Ensiferum, Amon Amarth, and Children of Bodom.

I had been invited down by Machinae Supremacy to see them as a long term fan, and with zero interest in the other bands playing, I decided that it was still worth the 4 hour trip to Glasgow from Inverness to see them. At this point my girlfriend and I spent all the money we had on fuel, tickets, and last minute accommodation, for the only chance we will probably get to see Machinae Supremacy. I personally have waited since 2002 for them to play in the UK.

Upon arriving on time at the O2 ABC Glasgow, We were then told that as box office customers, we had to wait in the other, much longer, slower moving queue for our tickets.

The door staff opened the doors five minutes late (confirmed by the band, denied by the staff), meaning that 1600 people had to collect their tickets and get inside with five minutes till Machinae Supremacy came on stage.

As we picked up our tickets and got into the venue, we saw how small the crowd was, and realised just how many people never made it in to see them play. We were shocked and disappointed to see the stage crew removing the Machinae Supremacy banner, and were then told that they had already played.

As a customer that had spent nearly 300 pounds to attend, I was outraged that the venue could do this to me and hundred of other paying customers who only went to see Machinae Supremacy, and my girlfriend and I decided to contact the venue management.

After going through 2 staff members, I managed to get a short meeting with a man called “Chris”, who refused to provide his last name, would not issue a refund, and was rude and obnoxious throughout the entire conversation, telling us it was our fault for not being at the front of the queue.

Upon returning home to Inverness, I got in contact with the O2 ABC Glasgow, and AMG, the owners and operators of the venue. The first response I received was from “Andy Mackenzie” at O2 ABC Glasgow, who proceeded to say that the doors opened early (untrue), that 500 people were inside when Machinae Supremacy came on stage (untrue, confirmed by the band), and that it was my fault for not arriving on time (also untrue, I arrived long before the stated door opening time of 6:30pm).

The O2 ABC Glasgow and AMG have zero interest in the customer, and as of this being released, deny that this is their fault, and have stated that I will not be receiving a refund. As someone who had spent a considerable amount of money to attend the venue, I will never buy tickets to an AMG ran venue again, and would recommend to everybody else never to do so either.