Beach & Bay's Real Estate Blog » Natalie Vials

Robbie Williams Mastercard Mishap

Natalie Vials — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:49:47 +0000

Being a music lover I was excited at the news Robbie Williams was having an intimate gig in Sydney (after 3 years of not touring). A little annoying was the fact I had to jump through hoops to apply for a debit Mastercard to purchase the tickets (the only option), but hey it didn’t cost anything so I did it.

The show sold out within minutes and I have since found out that there was an exclusive presale for Mastercard employees the night before. True fans were left scrambling come 9am the next morning and thousands missed out. On top of this tickets are now available on ebay for over $2000 with the lister claiming their “friends couldn’t make it on the night” – only to post 2 more tickets once those had sold.

People are pretty angry to say the least and there is already a huge online debate. The power of social media is not something to ignore and Mastercard may be quite surprised about the backlash that will come because of this. There are already 129 comments of complaint on one website alone, with many referring to reporting it to Office of Fair Trading, A Current Affair and 2BG. Fans are banding together and suggesting ways to really kick up a stink about this.

Some diehard fans had already booked flights and accommodation (a bit extreme) but it does go to show that perhaps the fans should have had the presale, and the Mastercard employees, the general public date.

What do you think about it all? Did you miss out on tickets?

Mastercard you have really botched this one up!

Life’s Easy Choices

Natalie Vials — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:56:22 +0000

I watch in amazement every morning when I drop the kids at school on my way to work, as the cars pull up in the NO STOPPING zones to save their precious children from maybe having to walk 20-50 metres to the school gate. Every week in the newsletter they beg parents not to do this, and the signs are there to stop other peoples precious children from being killed from you lack of responsibility.

Here is your choice, do the right think and park legally or risk the death of a child being on your conscious for the rest of your life. I’m pretty sure that is one of life’s easy choices.

Business is tough, but there is no excuse.

Natalie Vials — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:59:33 +0000

I know business is tough and every commission counts but what is it with agents chasing other agents listings. I know that every training sales seminar teaches us to go for it the second the agency expires and how to trick the vendor into thinking you are just calling to ‘help’ them find their new property, but now agents are calling vendors the day before an auction or a couple of weeks into the campaign [which by the way is illegal] to see how they can ‘help’.

I personally would not dream of calling another agents vendor, we all know that sometimes it takes longer to get a result and we all work really hard, so maybe its time everyone stopped to think about how hard they work for their vendors before knocking on doors pretending to have a secret buyer none of us have heard of. Dream on. It’s the
oldest trick in the book. Here’s a thought why don’t you spend the time you use to chase other peoples listings trying harder to sell the ones you already have. I’m sure your current vendors would appreciate that extra effort and maybe next time you pass an agent in the street try to see them as a person just like you trying to earn a living in a tough market. After all there is enough work out there for all of us to earn a pretty good living in a fantastic industry. And by the way best of luck at your next appraisal.