Glastonbury Festival 2011 Ticket Booking System Criticised By Fans

The booking system for tickets to next year’s Glastonbury Festival has been criticised by users.

All 137,500 tickets for the event in Somerset next June sold out within four hours on Sunday (October 3).

But the systems used by organisers - which include online and phone outlets - has come under fire from fans, with many claiming that they couldn’t withstand the high demand.

Organisers have acknowledged that this was the main reason some fans missed out on tickets.

Gigwise has been inundated with comments from fans who were both successful and unsuccessful in their bid for tickets.

On Gigwise's Twitter page, @Kimtikawaka said: “Four hours of refreshing and redialling and nada.”

And @KathyJon said: “Appalling as always! Site kept crashing, constant redialling & refreshing, but did manage to get a ticket after about an hour.”

@BritDawson said: “Tried for 4 hours! Non-stop ringing and refreshing. Six phones. Two computers.”

Many users called for online ticket retailers to take extra steps to ensure their systems can cope with high demand.

Another user, @solamore, who missed out on tickets, said the process was “very stressful”, while @Mopicide was more successful, securing nine tickets on two different attempts.

Responding to the criticism over the ticket systems, organisers said: “We're very sorry to those of you who didn't get tickets, and acknowledge there were some issues with the website/phoneline due to the sheer volume of people trying to get through,” they said. "We wish there was a way to fit everyone in who wanted to come.”

How did you find the booking system? Post your thoughts in the comment form below.

For more information about Glastonbury and all next summer's festivals , check out the Gigwise Festival Guide.