U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell is calling for stronger government oversight of online box offices after Ticketmaster, flooded Friday morning with buyers vying for Bruce Springsteen tickets, froze.
"I think it's important to note that while many fans were unable to get tickets today, many brokers were able to get their hands on good seats for Springsteen and put them up on secondary ticket sellers' web sites where they were sold at higher prices," Pascrell wrote in a statement.
Indeed, Stubhub and other secondary ticketing sites had seats available Friday for the rocker's April shows at Madison Square Garden and East Rutherford's Izod Center.
While Ticketmaster acknowledged the glitch in a statement, the company didn't indicate what caused the problem or why some buyers were able to get tickets while others were not.
"We have been experiencing highly abnormal traffic patterns on our site this morning that have impacted the fan buying experience for some customers," the statement said. "We are investigating the source of the problem and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible, but tickets are selling so please stay patient. We will update fans as we know more."
Springsteen posted the message on his official website, telling fans he's aware that they may be having trouble getting tickets.
Pascrell, who introduced the BOSS ACT in 2009 to increase transparency in the ticket industry said he would reintroduce the bill to Congress.
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"Whether today's problems are due to honest mistakes or dishonest market manipulation, regular folks who wanted a little entertainment were not able to get what they wanted at a fair price," he said. "The legislation I plan to introduce very soon will help guard against problems that threaten fairness to consumers buying concert."
