Anyone know how late our friends at the USSF stay? If a fax goes through this time of night, no one may be there to catalog it, or log it in, or whatever they are doing. So I guess we add it to the pile, along with the wave of FedEx and UPS envelopes coming tomorrow at 10 am.
There has to be a better way than faxing. Maybe a ranking system; those that purchase the most MNT qualifying games go to the top of the list. This is a fair system that rewards the most die-hard fans. I've been trying since the first FIFA lottery earlier this year, no luck. It sucks. My wife and I were in Mexico City, Chicago, and Columbus for the big US matches this year. We were in Korea four years ago, too. Now, we can't even get close enough to "buy" tickets. Congrats to the lucky guys and gals that were able to get their fax through. I'm hoping my UPS package makes it to Chicago for consideration.
"7. Will U.S. Soccer be prepared for the anticipated number of orders to be received via fax? Yes. Special accommodations have been made by U.S. Soccer in preparation to receive the large number of anticipated ticket orders via fax." Special accomodations? Yes, leave the Fax line off the hook for 5-6 hours so that people give-up and priority ship their orders. Then people can successfully Fax their orders in once the masses have stopped hammering the Fax lines after 5 o'clock.
They were technically inept and clueless to let this happen. They are totally screwed up if they don't say that all order forms received by 5pm (noon would even be acceptable) Chicago time on Tuesday will be considered as arriving at the same time. If they can't fill the orders that meet that criteria, then they should go to a lottery system. The screw up they had with the fax machine is absolutely ridiculous. BTW...the fact that they didn't say that within the first two hours this afternoon was criminal in and of itself. Nothing posted on their website about the issue and what they are doing about it, just absolutely Keystone Cops!! You know I had the option to deliver the package by 8:00 AM Chicago time for more than double the 10:00AM Chicago time delivery. I would have paid the price if I thought anyone from USSF would have been there to receive it. Not a chance, I thought, I just hope that someone is there at 10!!
I will not spend another dime on USSF related activites until something changes. At least I can go out with a Mexico win. They have the golden goose in a death grip and will undoubtedly kill it within a year or two. Labor disputes, inept management, the list goes on. Our national team is top ten, front office somewhere between Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Based on that criteria alone we should and will never receive a seed at the big dance. I will be sitting at home, saving some cash and watching my HDTV widescreen in June. I will not continue to knock myself out TRYING to give money to these Jackholes. I can't wait until they mention the troubles that Soccer has had finding an audience in the US during the buildup to the WC. Doubt that Rob Stone will mention that USSF treats the fanbase with more contempt than Nicole Ritchie treats a ham sandwich.
Update: I called Chicago and the fax is still broken. I guess, I will miss out on the US being in Germany, while I am in Germany.
LO-F-ING-L! I don't know why I even "WONDERED" if the USSF would try to get away with employing a single 1989 Ricoh fax machine (previous most rigorous use was to send ass facsimiles of Doc Bawb backing his secretary up onto the nearby copier) to play catcher to 1000s of incoming WC Ticket app fastballs. OF COURSE THEY DID. Absolutely FAXINATING! Thank god the postal center I was trying to fax from (nice enough to let me man their fax machine until they closed at 6pm) still had a UPS drop to make after 6. BTW the Colombian bred UPS Driver who witnessed my Fax-inations assurred me the USA would win their group! He even knew who we had to play ("Italy aint Italy anymore" VBG) Mark it down Son. 12/12/05 Tracking number 02-0765889-4 Christian, the WVillage UPS driver sez USA will win Group E!
He just said "their group". Thanks for "covering the bag" tho'. You understand baseball terminology, right?
I decided late yesterday afternoon to continue attempting to fax instead of fed ex. That was before I found out that the hamster running the USSF fax machine tore an ACL and was now hopping on three legs. I had no choice but to try to continue faxing from home. I finally got confirmation that my pages went through at 12:03 am. I dialed that thing about 300 times. Counting the 300 times I dialed at work, I really never want to see a fax machine again. What a joke. Great site by the way.
I know the ussf is incompetent and all, but I have a terribly hard time believing that they would continue to allow faxes to come rolling in (including mine at 11:36pm) without some sort of formal announcement, or by disconnecting the line so faxes can't go through. At least that's what I keep telling myself.
I understand baseball terminology but I'm not sure I know what "covering the bag" means unless it's the same as "covering the bases".
Bottom end fax machines cost $40-$50.Buy 5 of them If they last more than 2 days-great.If not ,who cares. Cost to keep your fanbase-PRICELESS.........
I email them yesterday when it looked like my fax wouldn't go through. I heard back this morning with some form mail that apologized and said keep faxing. I hope they wouldn't send that out if the fax was really down. Then again this is the USSF... Here is the email: Dear U.S. Soccer Fan, As anticipated, U.S. Soccer received a huge response to the ussoccerfan.com pre-sale of 2006 FIFA World Cup tickets today from thousands of members across the United States and abroad. Accommodations were made for the anticipated number of incoming faxes, however, as with any event in such a high demand, the initial start of an on-sale is the busiest period. Please continue to attempt to fax your completed order form to the number provided - (312) 528-7049 – if you have not already submitted your order through another method. Faxes are continuing to be accepted as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding! U.S. Soccer
I phoned & emailed this morning. Via phone, I asked for & spoke with Amy (her name was mentioned elsewhere). At that time, she told me not to believe the rumors on BigSoccer. She added that if I got a fax confirmation on my end, then USSoccer had received my fax. Amy just called me on my cellphone (which should mean that she got my email as well!) to advise me that the fax machine was working after hours & is working now. I thanked her for getting back to me & received her permission to post this & mention her name. Thanks again, Amy!
"As anticipated" my a$$. I quote, FAQ No. 7 on the USSF website: 7. Will U.S. Soccer be prepared for the anticipated number of orders to be received via fax? Yes. Special accommodations have been made by U.S. Soccer in preparation to receive the large number of anticipated ticket orders via fax. OK--so it looks like they did anticipate a large number of ticket orders. But did they actually make special accomodations? The fact that about 3 people on Big Soccer actually got their fax through, and that I basically stood over our company's fax machine from noon to about 5pm yesterday without getting through (hundreds of attempts) indicates to me that they were did not provide special accomodations. It simply cannot be the case that I spent all that time not getting through, and that was the best USSF could do.