Can I please just speak with a human?

I know blame my lack of productivity on the fact that trying to get things done can be so tedious and exhausting.

Cincinnati Reds tickets went on sale today. For Christmas, I got Dad a card promising him a day out at a ballgame. We decided to go to the Great American Ball Park to see the Reds take on the Indians. We've seen a lot of baseball games in our time and this will be something different. Once everyone else heard about the plans, they didn't want to miss out either, which I think is great. So it won't just be me and Dad, but rather, Stefanie, Dave, Dave's family, Matt, Staci, the boys Greg and Mom. I'm kind of excited, now that I've got the awful process of buying tickets out of the way.

For months, I've been looking for the date when single game tickets go on sale. Growing up we used to wait in line every black Friday for Indians tickets. Those were the days when they played well and sold out every game. These days are not the same, for any team, apparently. I'm assuming they wait until the last minute to announce when tickets go on sale because I could not find it anywhere. They finally announced this week they'd be on sale Saturday. If I thought finding the date when they were available was a pain, I hadn't seen anything yet.

I went online around 11 to buy the tickets, hoping to get seats in two different rows, rather than in the same row, because there are so many of us. That unfortunately was not an option. I needed to talk with a person to see if I could adjust the seating. Apparently they like you to do everything yourself online, because finding who to speak to about tickets was easier said than done.

First, it was impossible to find a phone number. Once I finally found one, it was not numbers, but letters. Well, I only have a cell phone and the numbers do not correspond with letters. When the number's last four digits spells the words REDS, I can't tell you what those numbers are supposed to be. The S on my phone is a *. I had to call mom to ask what they were on her phone.

After dialing the number successfully, I still did not get a person. I got a computer pretending to be a person. I think she claimed her name was Tina. After listening to Tina ask me questions as if she was a person, I was able to dial 0 to get to a ticket operator. Either everyone was trying to buy Reds tickets when I was, or they are not employing enough people because I was on hold, no joke, for 40 minutes before anyone picked up. 40 minutes!!

Once I finally got an attendant I had already brushed me teeth, got dressed, driven 20 minutes to the mall, turned my car over to Sears to get my tires rotate and was at the mall running errands. Needless to say, it was a little difficult to hear. the gentleman once he finally took my phone call. I tell him what I needs and the seats I would have booked online were still available. Great! I then ask if I can get them in back to back rows.

No.

What?

No.

They do not yet have the ability to override the computer to change the seating options. He says that will be available later in the day.

When?

I don't know.

I ask him what he suggests I do. I don't want to wait hours before ordering tickets, but I'd like to get what I want. I think he was a bit taken back by all my questions. I feel like he was trained to get through each phone call as quickly as possible. He later proves that, but kindly agrees to ask his supervisor if he can make the changes. He comes back and tells me no. I tell him forget it, I'll just get 11 tickets in one row. He starts to place my order and tells me I'll be in section 112, row 11, seats 5 through 12. I say okay, I've got my credit card.

At this point, because I am in a crowded mall, I find a seat to concentrate on what he is saying and I ask him again, you are ordering me 11 tickets correct? He says yes and continues to ask me my credit card number and expiration date.

Now, I am not very good with numbers so while I am spouting off the information from my card, I'm trying to calculate how seats 5 through 12 will be enough for 11 people. I can't get past the number 8 when I'm counting, but again, I'm not so good with numbers, so before I give him my security code on the back of my card, I ask for a third time, is that 11 seats? He then does the math in his head (he apparently is not good with numbers either) and finally has a hard time getting 11 seats out of 8 too. He tells me the computer usually gives two options, enough seats or not enough seats. Apparently the computer doesn't typically give you too few seats. Well rather than trusting that the computer is doing the correct math, shouldn't you be paying attention rather than just trying to get me off the phone because you wanted me to do this myself on a computer anyway?

He then asks if I've given him my security code. I tell him no and then he proceeds to tell me that's weird because it just approved the transaction. These are non-refundable tickets. So in the process of trying to find me 11 seats together, he now has to find a form to reimburse me for the 8 tickets that were never what I wanted to begin with. Unfortunately, the seats are not open anymore, so we are moved to another section a few rows back I think. At this point, I just stop listening, makes sure they are decent enough and say it's all okay. If I wait any longer, there may be nothing left.

It makes me wonder, is it so hard to find a way to get a hold of a person, call them and have them pick the phone up in a timely manner and have them actually do their job rather than relying on a computer that is clearly unreliable?