A Leap of Faith
I am a cynical person. Or perhaps skeptical is a better description?
Regardless, I do not trust easily. I do not readily embrace the unfamiliar. I am leery; always suspicious of the sincerity in almost anything.
I'm not saying this is a healthy attitude and I'm not saying I'm proud of it. It's just how I am.
So no one surprised me more than me when I decided to buy Paul McCartney tickets back in April and I was presented with the unknown. Uncharacteristically, I took a leap of faith.
Since I am a member of McCartney's fan club, I was able to get an early pre-sale of the concert in Fargo. I went to McCartney.com and sure enough, I quickly grabbed terrific seats. But when I went to purchase the tickets, I was redirected to a web site which I had never heard of before: Crowd Surge.
Immediately the skeptic in me said, "Whoa, wait a minute. What is this?" Was I redirected to some rogue site looking to steal my credit card number? Was this some slick way to steal my identity?
Worse yet, I was on the clock. My tickets would only be held for a few minutes. I had to crap or get off the pot, so to speak.
I did the quickest research of my life, opening a new tab in my browser and Googling "better business bureau" and "Crowd Surge" together. I got a favorable response; but it was only response I had to go on.
But this was Paul McCartney. Sir Paul McCartney! My all-time hero.
Screw it. I held my breath and clicked "Purchase." I took the leap.
Then the wait began. And I continued to hold my breath.
It turns out (unbeknownst to me) that Crowd Surge is located in the United Kingdom ("Oh, that's just great!" I sarcastically said to myself). Because of this, Crowd Surge issues concert tickets like they do in the UK: you do not get your tickets months in advance. They wait a couple of weeks before the show, then distribute them ("You have GOT to be sh*tting me!" I yelled at myself).
The rationale for sending out tickets so late is to keep scalping and reselling tickets to a minimum. I can understand that.
But talk about chewing one's nails to the quick if you just want your tickets!
It goes without saying that I finally stopped holding my breath (I was a considerable shade of blue by this point) when I got these in the mail today, 13 days before the show:
So write it down, Skeptical Sam took a leap of faith and it paid off. Crowd Surge is the real deal and they came through.
Unless, you know, these damn things are counterfeit.
Guess I will find out July 12th.
Regardless, I do not trust easily. I do not readily embrace the unfamiliar. I am leery; always suspicious of the sincerity in almost anything.
I'm not saying this is a healthy attitude and I'm not saying I'm proud of it. It's just how I am.
So no one surprised me more than me when I decided to buy Paul McCartney tickets back in April and I was presented with the unknown. Uncharacteristically, I took a leap of faith.
Since I am a member of McCartney's fan club, I was able to get an early pre-sale of the concert in Fargo. I went to McCartney.com and sure enough, I quickly grabbed terrific seats. But when I went to purchase the tickets, I was redirected to a web site which I had never heard of before: Crowd Surge.
Immediately the skeptic in me said, "Whoa, wait a minute. What is this?" Was I redirected to some rogue site looking to steal my credit card number? Was this some slick way to steal my identity?
Worse yet, I was on the clock. My tickets would only be held for a few minutes. I had to crap or get off the pot, so to speak.
I did the quickest research of my life, opening a new tab in my browser and Googling "better business bureau" and "Crowd Surge" together. I got a favorable response; but it was only response I had to go on.
But this was Paul McCartney. Sir Paul McCartney! My all-time hero.
Screw it. I held my breath and clicked "Purchase." I took the leap.
Then the wait began. And I continued to hold my breath.
It turns out (unbeknownst to me) that Crowd Surge is located in the United Kingdom ("Oh, that's just great!" I sarcastically said to myself). Because of this, Crowd Surge issues concert tickets like they do in the UK: you do not get your tickets months in advance. They wait a couple of weeks before the show, then distribute them ("You have GOT to be sh*tting me!" I yelled at myself).
The rationale for sending out tickets so late is to keep scalping and reselling tickets to a minimum. I can understand that.
But talk about chewing one's nails to the quick if you just want your tickets!
It goes without saying that I finally stopped holding my breath (I was a considerable shade of blue by this point) when I got these in the mail today, 13 days before the show:
So write it down, Skeptical Sam took a leap of faith and it paid off. Crowd Surge is the real deal and they came through.
Unless, you know, these damn things are counterfeit.
Guess I will find out July 12th.
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| OMG... what if they are counterfeit?? |
