SM Arena Ticketnet -- When You Lose Your Tickets

I just wanted to share a great experience I had with SM Tickets / SM Arena.

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I was not looking forward to celebrating my 30th Birthday. J, with much struggle, tried to find me other gifts, but I persuaded him to just get me the cheapest Aerosmith tickets available. I mean, what were the chances that Aerosmith was coming the eve of my birthday? They MUST be meant for me! The cheapest tickets were quite expensive at P2,600 each, considering they were GA, and he offered to buy more expensive ones. I didn't think it was practical though, since we had just paid a lot of money for tuitions in Woodrose and Zobel.  So he bought the GA tickets at Southmall, handed them over to me, and that was that.

And then, I lost the tickets. That night, I was using a Cambridge satchel bag. I placed the tickets on the front pocket as soon as J handed it over to me. By the next day, the tickets had gone missing. Everything was inside the bag -- except the tickets. Damn you Cambridge, bakit wala kang zipper? (Bliname pa yung bag talaga!)

Palpitations.

Anyways, I tried looking everywhere -- the office, the car, the kids rooms (they might have taken it!), our room. Nada. I tried again after a few days. I even checked our safe in the warehouse, thinking my memory gap may have prevented me from remembering that I kept the tickets in a SUPER SPECIAL PLACE. Still nothing. Heck, I even tweeted SM Southmall (no reply from them, by the way.) I asked J if maybe Kat didn't want us to watch the concert, like, if she took it? (I was grasping at straws here, haha.)

I took it upon myself to figure out what I needed to do. I found out by calling their Hotline that I needed an a. Affidavit of Loss, and b. a police report. I patiently explained to the lady on the line that the tickets were not stolen, they were just missing. She apologetically told me that it was in their list of requirements. As I hung up the phone, J offered to buy me another set of tickets, because he didn't want me to be stressed about getting a police report. He was obviously tiptoeing around me, not wanting me to reach a breaking point. (Technically though, our home was robbed a week earlier, so I could have gotten one, but that would be a bit stressful because I know the robber didn't take the tickets.) Wait, backtrack, you probably want to know more about our house being robbed? I'll write more about that on a separate entry.

Anyways, I told J I'd still try to talk to someone else about the problem. I couldn't shake this feeling though that Kat was sending me a message. Earthquake on the day of the concert? Tidal wave? 

Later that evening, I sent an email to the contact email on the website. I explained the situation, and that a police report would be very difficult to get, considering the report would just say "I lost my tickets at home... or in the car." I clicked on SEND and crossed my fingers.

Within 24 hours:

Did you read that guys? No Police Report needed! I gratefully replied to the email. Henry Lapis, you are too awesome. You guys don't know how much it meant to attend this concert!

Please notice that he CCd his co-employees. The day before the show, he sent another email:

You know, he really took care of it. We went to that entrance, and they asked us to go to the main ticket booth. When we got there, guess what? Our ticket printout was ready for us (not the tickets itself, but information about our transaction that would allow us to enter the premises.)

I read the printout, and it said everything -- date we purchased it, from which branch, our seat numbers, etc. We also provided this information (you have to include these things in your Affidavit), but it was comforting to know that it was in their system all along. I'm assuming that they nullified our tickets, so that whoever picked it up couldn't get in and.. cause a ruckus? Hehe.

Needless to say, we were grateful for the ease of the whole transaction. I know we were just GA, and other businesses probably wouldn't have gone thru all that trouble, but they really took care of it. If they only knew how much it meant to us to be able to watch the concert that day.

So to Henry Lapis (and friends) of SM Tickets, THANK YOU! 

PS - Best. Concert. EVER. Steve Tyler, I love you. 

PSS - On a freaky note that made me almost pass out, before leaving our suki Notary Public, the secretary hands me a folder of Manila Memorial. I felt all the blood drain from my face. She explained that a few months prior, we left the folder by mistake (it contained our receipts for Kat's funeral.) Though we had come back a few times after that, they weren't able to give it to us. But they kept it, and well... there. I awkwardly inserted the Affidavit of Loss with big bold AEROSMITH TICKETS typed in front, inside the folder to keep it dry and wrinkle-free... it was just odd. Like a message. That we couldn't figure out. Anyways. No tidal wave or earthquake, so it's all good.