The Orioles do not want me any more

[WillyM]

Thanks to everybody for their suggestions.

I took Luismatos4prez's suggestion and used the "Contact Us" feature on the Orioles' website to explain my problem and ask whether there would be any way to get into Oriole Park without a smartphone.

The website says my inquiry is important to them and I can expect a response within three business days.  Normal business hours are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, so I guess I can expect to hear back sometime before 5 PM Wednesday.  That will be plenty soon enough.  I wasn't planning to order any tickets this soon anyway.

I'll let everyone know what they say.

[PHRESH]

On 3/12/2021 at 4:34 PM, WillyM said:

I got an e-mail from the Orioles today, informing me that fans will be permitted to attend games at Camden Yards, up to a limit of 25% of capacity.

I looked at that and I realized how much I would want to go to a game again.  Maybe not until I'd had a chance to be vaccinated, but perhaps later in the season, if I could get a ticket.

Then I read farther into the details and realized that the Orioles apparently will not sell me a ticket that I can use.

They are going to use contactless digital ticketing exclusively.  As far as I can understand, that means the only way people can get into the park is by showing a digital image from an app on a smartphone.

I don't own a smartphone.  I refuse to spend the obscene amount of money it would cost to obtain one of those things.

I've been an Oriole fan for more than 60 years.  I guess they don't want old geezers like me coming around Camden Yards any more.

@WillyM, sorry to hear about your predicament. I know it's not the easiest workaround, but I would suggest you reach out to people here on OH and see if anyone would be interested in going to a game with you. Maybe someone would get your digital ticket and you can pay them back at the game? I'd be happy to do it myself if I wasn't down in FL.

I'm not going to tell you to get a new phone. Hell, I miss my old Nokia candy bar phone and the time before smartphones and social media. 

Best of luck getting to a game this season. Lord knows this team needs every fan it can get. 

[baloriole4]

On 3/12/2021 at 5:51 PM, Sports Guy said:

Except I’m printing the ticket at home.

Do we know that the Orioles are going to continue allowing print-at-home tickets?   The Ravens do not allow print-at-home tickets at all anymore.   Can only use the app. 

Also, the whole thing about mobile-only tickets for covid reasons is big-time BS.   The dirtiest thing (other than a hotel TV remote) is each person's cell phone.    The irony is that a printed up season ticket or game ticket from the box office that is ONE TIME USE is 1000% more sanitary than someone's cell phone that they're touching all day, including when on the toilet.  This is the Orioles  A) saving hundreds of thousands of dollars on ticket printing costs and B) controlling data.    They're using Covid as the excuse to save those hundreds of thousands of dollars on ticket printing, just like they're using Covid to say no bags, no food, no drink brought into the ballpark, and no autographs.     None of these will ever come back.    Well, autographs probably will (might?), but it will take a long time before the team allows that access again.    The team is getting what they want to control us as fans and using Covid precautions as the way to get these new rules in and done forever. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by baloriole4
typo

[WillyM]

The Orioles have gotten back to me and assured me that I will be able to get into Oriole Park without having to purchase a smartphone.

Here is what they said.

The Orioles will most likely not provide printed ticket options upon checkout of my ticketing purchase, but they offered two suggestions on how I can get into a game.

1. Come to the game with a friend or family member who has a smartphone.  If I share my login with them, they will be able to use their smartphone to get me in the gates.

2. Visit the box office on the day of the game with a copy of my order confirmation e-mail, the credit card used to buy the tickets, and my photo ID.

I'm not sure exactly what the box office will do when I show up with my confirmation e-mail, credit card, and photo ID, but I guess they'll give me something that the ticket takers will accept to allow me into the park.

Baloriole4 raised the question of whether the Orioles will allow print-at-home tickets, and from what I was told, most likely they will not.  I don't know why a print-at-home copy of a confirmation e-mail represents less of a health risk than a print-at-home ticket, but apparently somebody thinks it's safer.

Bottom line: while I think they're making it more difficult than they really need to, the Orioles will let me come to a game.  That's good enough for me.

 

[OFFNY]

o

 

2009 was the season in which I got free season tickets for being "Fan of the Game" the the final 3 games of the season the previous September. When I went to the opening series against the Yankees for the 2nd game, I realized that I had lost my tickets just before getting on line to enter the stadium. The ushers at Oriole Park said "No problem", and they printed out new tickets for me. When I tried to use the new tickets that they gave me, they were rejected because whomever had found my lost tickets had already used them to enter the stadium. Once again, the ushers at Oriole Park said "No problem", and they let me into the park through a special side entrance.

 

Overall, I feel that the services/treatment from the employees at Oriole Park have always been better than those from the ones at Yankee Stadium ...... while we're on the topic of fan treatment by the Orioles organization at-large.

 

o

[Carllamy]

I just started a thread with the O's response to an inquiry I sent them pertaining to this issue.

[MurphDogg]

I live a block from the stadium. If this is truly preventing you from going to a game I can load a ticket onto my phone and escort you into the stadium. As long as you have an Orioles account which I presume you must to buy a ticket online, it won't be a problem.

Let me know.

[Explosivo]

This whole thread is hilarious.