OLYMPICS 2012 NEWS:TICKET SALES for the Olympics hit a glitch just hours after sales began yesterday. Sports fans with Visa cards which expire before the end of August found the website could not process their orders.
Visa is the only way to pay online for the 6.6 million tickets. There is a six-week period to April 26th at 11.59pm to apply.
A London 2012 spokesman said: “What Visa is trying to do is to ensure that more people will be able to apply by bringing this threshold forward so that it will only be if your card expires before the end of June that the site will not process your order.
“It means if your card runs out in July you will still be able to apply, but you will just need to come into the process a bit later.”
London 2012 said these buyers could still make their choices of the events they want to see but cannot currently finish the process on the system. A spokesman said: “It is being sorted. It is an issue with Visa rather than the website or our systems.”
He added there was nothing wrong with the site and the chance of getting a ticket is not lost, provided applications are made before the deadline.
The expiry dates are noted on the system but the problem became clear after people started to apply. There has been a steady stream of application since tickets went on sale at midnight, he added. Payments are not taken on successful applications until around June.
London 2012 is urging sports fans not to rush to make their online application – at www.tickets.london2012.com – as it is not a first-come, first-served system and there will be no greater chance of getting a ticket if you apply on the first day rather than later.
The online auction website eBay said it was cracking down on anyone trying to resell tickets. A spokesman for eBay said: “The resale of Olympic tickets is illegal and we are working closely with the organisers of the Games to ensure tough and effective filters are in place to identify and remove such tickets if anyone attempts to sell them.”
Meanwhile, official Olympic timekeeper Omega has confirmed the countdown clock has stopped only a day after it was unveiled in Trafalgar Square. The clock was the centrepiece of celebrations to mark 500 days to go to the 2012 Games, which it counts down in days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Monday’s launch was attended by organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe, London mayor Boris Johnson and heptathlon world champion Jessica Ennis among others and the technical problem is a major embarrassment for Omega.
A statement from the company read: “We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue. The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square.
“We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible.”
The clock, which is 21ft high, 16ft long and weighs around four tonnes, took 10 people two days to assemble. British Olympic champion rowers Pete Reed and Andy Hodge and sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson pulled away the covers of the giant countdown clock on Monday to mark the 500-day countdown to the Games.
