ANGRY AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has lashed out at Ticketek after high demand on the opening day of MCG ticket sales caused more frustration for fans.
On what was billed "Fee-free Friday" – with Ticketek waiving service fees after its website failed last week – footy supporters were again faced with lengthy delays and error messages.
McLachlan contacted the Melbourne Cricket Club on Friday to express his disappointment in Ticketek's "unacceptable" service.
"While ticket sales have been strong, the service to many fans has been frustrating," McLachlan said.
"As AFL CEO, I am disappointed for AFL members who were impacted this morning.
"We have been in regular communication with the MCC today who share our anger at the standard of service provided by Ticketek.
"While we are thrilled with the high demand for tickets, the number of AFL members who were either denied or delayed by errors in the Ticketek system is unacceptable.
"The system is now working effectively, but this is little help to members who have already been impacted."
Tickets for rounds one to six went on sale to AFL Members at 9am AEDT, three hours before the general public, with the heavy traffic impacting Ticketek's service.
McLachlan said the problems were especially disappointing after Ticketek's system failure last Friday.
"Being forced to postpone last week’s planned on-sales was already deeply concerning," Mr McLachlan said.
"The AFL and the MCG cannot tolerate having our fans impacted this way. I will be working closely with the MCC as the ticketing system must be greatly improved."
Earlier on Friday, Ticketek released a statement denying its website crashed.
"Despite reports to the contrary, at no time today did the Ticketek website crash," managing director Cameron Hoy said.
"There has been exceptional demand and strong sales for both the AFL Member and public on-sales."
Ticketek said queuing pages some fans faced were "common practice" for high demand events.
The Ticket service and handling fee has been waived until 11.59pm AEDT Friday.
The AFL will meet again with the MCC and Ticketek in the coming week.
