Two things that have not been said. First the 5 million has the option of being tripled due to Texas law. Secondly they can sue for punitive damages as well. I say go after the NFL they are a multibillion dollar company that on the super bowl alone makes unreasonable money. Take it to them.
Also when you look at it airlines offer better deals if they screw you a lot of times. That isn't saying much.
Tickets were sold for non existent seats. That sounds like fraud. If a scaler did that, they would be arrested.
Hotels routinely take reservations for guaranteed hotel rooms only to over book the rooms. These people are offered other less desirable rooms in different hotels. This is not illegal.
Richard21142 wrote:
Tickets were sold for non existent seats. That sounds like fraud. If a scaler did that, they would be arrested.
Richard21142 wrote:
Tickets were sold for non existent seats. That sounds like fraud. If a scaler did that, they would be arrested.
Scalers are almost never arrested. In 25 years at the station downtown, I've never seen one booked.
These people got screwed and I think $5 million is not enough. That's only $5000 a person. If someone screws me out of a once in a life time opportunity they better be prepared to pay.
-CrackyB
I've heard interviews with several of the displaced fans and they all describe a major cluster flock of an experience.
Bear in mind that the NFL and Stadium officials knew as early as Weds, Feb 2nd, that the seats would not be available yet they did nothing & made no contingency plans until the morning of the game (emailing/contacting NFL employees and bumping them from their seats), which still left about 400-500 fans without seats. All the interviews I've heard describe waiting in hours-long lines to get into the stadium only to be told at the gate that there was "a problem" with their seating and they needed to go to another gate/waiting area (without adequate directions on how to get to that area), then being shuffled from area to area (still without a clear explanation of what happened or what solutions were being explored) for up to 2 more hours, only to wind up 10mins after the start of the game in a basement bar/reception area, from which they could not see the playing field.
It wasn't until half time that a league representative addressed the group and circulated an apparently hastily-composed apology letter. The subsequent offers of free tickets, etc, to future Superbowl games were, unfortunately, only offered after putting these folks through unnecessary confusion and anxiety - basically, the league and stadium officials treated these fans (who were, for the most part, *season ticket holders* of either the Steelers or Packers) like red-headed stepchildren. I think it is fair to say that if these face-saving offers bubbling up from the NFL's PR spin doctors were, instead, offered *as soon as the fans entered the stadium* we'd be hearing a much different story. The league had at least 3 days to come up with a plan but, instead, allowed these people to get schlepped from one disinterested flunky to another while they missed the start of game - for which they all paid one hell of a lot of money to see.
The NFL could have made themselves into heroes if they'd simply sucked it up and offered all the displaced fans reimbursement for their airfare, lodging, and full cost of tickets *plus* offering a ticket to next year's (or future) Superbowl games. The fact is, the NFL got caught with their greedy, grubby hands in the fan's cookie jar and weren't willing to come clean until they were face to face with a large number of justifiably angry fans and then suddenly realized the PR nightmare.
norphxc wrote:
What the NFL is giving the fans that weren't let in:
The league initially said Monday those fans would get $2,400 -- three times the face value of the ticket -- and tickets to next season's Super Bowl. The fans also were allowed on the field after the game and given merchandise and food.
On Tuesday, the NFL added a second option: They can choose to attend any future Super Bowl instead of being limited to the 2012 game and receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. If fans choose that option, they will not get the $2,400.
Taking off work, traveling/meal/accomodations expenses alone will add up to over $2400 when you consider that a single ticket is $1k and they were staying in Dallas. I say $5k is reasonable.
What about- They can choose to attend any future Super Bowl instead of being limited to the 2012 game and receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations-can you not understand
Ralphy wrote:
norphxc wrote:What the NFL is giving the fans that weren't let in:
The league initially said Monday those fans would get $2,400 -- three times the face value of the ticket -- and tickets to next season's Super Bowl. The fans also were allowed on the field after the game and given merchandise and food.
On Tuesday, the NFL added a second option: They can choose to attend any future Super Bowl instead of being limited to the 2012 game and receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. If fans choose that option, they will not get the $2,400.
Taking off work, traveling/meal/accomodations expenses alone will add up to over $2400 when you consider that a single ticket is $1k and they were staying in Dallas. I say $5k is reasonable.
That is exactly what football fans deserve.
I went to the NBA All-Star game last year and other than the 12.5 inches of snow a couple days before the game, I had a great experience.
Aghast wrote:
Hotels routinely take reservations for guaranteed hotel rooms only to over book the rooms. These people are offered other less desirable rooms in different hotels. This is not illegal.
Actually it is. This is why anyone who has that happen to them and raises a stink with the management and threatens lawsuits and such ALWAYS get all sorts of upgrades and free stuff. Same with rental cars. I booked an economy car and they didnt have one despite my reservation and they told me they would have to charge me extra for a full size and i raised a stink, and got upgraded to a luxury car for the same price my econ was going to be.
5 Million isnt unreasonable, as its only 5K per person, and several of them paid far more than that for the superbowl experience. One guy paid 3K for his ticket alone (remember scalping isnt illegal in every state). Claims he paid 9K for the trip. And being sat in a room and allowed to watch it on TV then going on the field after the game IS NOT the same thing. the 400 that werent allowed into the game have legit beef and should get more compensation than they have. The other 600 who just got moved to other seats? Maybe not so much...
I saw where NASCAR* is offering free tickets to the Vegas race AND free accommodation in one of the fancy hotel/casinos to those who got the Texas screw job.
* May actually be the race track or the hotel doing the offering...not 100% sure. Just saw a news article.
M.C. Confusing wrote:
5 Million isnt unreasonable, as its only 5K per person,
The only people who will make out okay in a class action lawsuit is the attorneys. I guarantee what the NFL is offering now will be more than what they will get in the long run.
Is it even possible to get the necessary paperwork and follow all the legal guidelines to file a class action representing 400 people....in 3 days after the event?
Compare this to the famous Montreal Screwjob. Not even close.
OP
I listened to ESPN about one of these people. He is from Pittsburgh. He pre-paid for flights for himself, wife and two children. The hotel roos, meals and shuttles to/from the stadium. He was told when he arrived at the stadium
(not before), that his seats were no longer available (even though he paid for them) The fire marshall found the temporary seats unsafe. The man was told to stay in an area that became a holding pen for himself and a couple hundred others with the same problem. They were not given any opportunity to go in to the stadium, see the field or even go to the bathroom. They stayed in the pen for 4 hours ! Afterwards, some, not all, were lead to a room (I'm not making this up)under the stadium where a TV was set up. They watched the game in this room.
The man was very civil when his interview was played on ESPN radio. "I am not mad" he said. "I am very sad for my children. I promised them a trip to the superbowl. We saved for a long time. We are not rich. We just wanted to see the game"
The NFL has recently told the people that they will offer free superbowl tickets (2) tickets to any superbowl, plus airfare and hotel rooms.
If you had kids, and you experienced this, what would you tell them?
"Hey we, that is your mom and I get to go again if the Steelers make it, not you guys!!"
It's a horrible situation. And do you know what the original cause is?
Jerry Jones.
He wanted to break the all-time attendance record for a superbowl. that's it. He had some un-safe seats installed, and didn't care about the people who sat there.
haha YO wrote:
I apologize for not using a hyphen in my subject line.
No worries, we can add it in like this guy does:
http://xkcd.com/37/