Where are the XMAS tickets!? & no response to emails & facilities for the handicapped

[raphidae]

According to this link:

http://www.wacken.com/en/woa2014/main-tickets-shop/tickets/

there is supposed to be an XMAS package available from 5 august 00:01. However, the text/description for both the XMAS and regular tickets is just one big link to the personalisation FAQ. No link to be found to the actual tickets.

So, I have been searching metaltix.com for the XMAS tickets since before midnight until now, but no XMAS ticket to be found.

Only these show up: http://www.metaltix.com/3-days-all-in-ticket-w-o-a-2014-wacken-tickets-29390.html

Then there is this last news item:

http://www.metaltix.com/index.php?view=news&id=195

No links in it to the actual ticket, and it also states: "Pre-sale starts on: Monday, 05.08.2013 at 00.01 o’clock, only at metaltix.com".

Since I couldn't get a XMAS ticket last year, I have set an alarm and have been searching for the tickets from 04.08.2013 23.30 until 05.08.2013 04:30 CEST (CET Summer time), but no XMAS package anywhere to be found on metaltix.com.

I have sent metaltix a message, but I have asked questions five times over the last three years through their form and never received a response. They probably just delete everything or everything not in German.

Actually, while on that subject, I have mailed headquarter@ics-int.com and headquarter@ics-woa.de to inquire about the facilities for the handicapped, which me and my fiancée required, but received no response either. I mailed since security, stewards and the info point did not know much about it and because we don't obviously look handicapped from the outside (i.e. not in a wheelchair or on crutches) we couldn't get any access.

All we were told is that we needed some kind of German handicapped card with a code on it, which we don't have, since we are not from Germany. I doubt we could even get such a German card as foreigners. We had declarations from our doctors (as well as confirmation from the Graspop Metal Meeting Festival/Intro accessibility organisation in Belgium that we went to end of June this year), but since they were in Dutch nobody wanted to take a look at them (even though I am sure a German would be able to understand most of it, just like I can read most written German since the languages are so similar).

Crohns disease which requires immediate access to a toilet at times (my fiancée) and inflamed joints in the legs that make it impossible to stand still for more than a minute, so standing in line is not possible and a shower with a chair is neccesary, (me) are not visible to a security guard or staff at the toilets/showers, and if they even understand what I am trying to tell them, they simply think I am lying to them and tell me to go away.

We actually had to leave early (friday afternoon) and check into a hotel because of this. For such a big "international" festival your communication sucks and the facilities for the handicapped seem limited to those with a visible handicap, which is a little short-sighted and not very inclusive.

Then the WiFi: I bought two WiFi tickets for the festival, but the WiFi was completely useless, we were no more than 20 meters away from the hotspot at the S3 toilets/shower (half way on satan street at the crossing with the path not on the map) and never received any signal at all on our phones (we tried an iPhone 4, S4, 5, Blackberry and Nokia). Only when standing exactly below the tower could we see a Wacken Tower access point for a second or two and then it would disappear again.

That's 16 euro's completely wasted, and also no response to my email about it to wackenlan@wacken.com, and when I called the service hotline, nobody that speaks English was available. Why put the email address in big fat letters on the ticket if nobody will respond?

Anyway, besides these problems I had a great time up until I was forced to leave on friday. I really don't want to be a complaining asshole, but you could easily have made a better effort. Half a festival and being denied access to the handicapped platform and thus being forced to sit in the crowd in the mud without a chair, only seeing what's on the screen is hardly worth the money for the ticket and the trip, is it?

 

[Quark]

Actually, while on that subject, I have mailed headquarter@ics-int.com and headquarter@ics-woa.de to inquire about the facilities for the handicapped, which me and my fiancée required, but received no response either. I mailed since security, stewards and the info point did not know much about it and because we don't obviously look handicapped from the outside (i.e. not in a wheelchair or on crutches) we couldn't get any access.

All we were told is that we needed some kind of German handicapped card with a code on it, which we don't have, since we are not from Germany. I doubt we could even get such a German card as foreigners. We had declarations from our doctors (as well as confirmation from the Graspop Metal Meeting Festival/Intro accessibility organisation in Belgium that we went to end of June this year), but since they were in Dutch nobody wanted to take a look at them (even though I am sure a German would be able to understand most of it, just like I can read most written German since the languages are so similar).

Crohns disease which requires immediate access to a toilet at times (my fiancée) and inflamed joints in the legs that make it impossible to stand still for more than a minute, so standing in line is not possible and a shower with a chair is neccesary, (me) are not visible to a security guard or staff at the toilets/showers, and if they even understand what I am trying to tell them, they simply think I am lying to them and tell me to go away.

We actually had to leave early (friday afternoon) and check into a hotel because of this. For such a big "international" festival your communication sucks and the facilities for the handicapped seem limited to those with a visible handicap, which is a little short-sighted and not very inclusive.

Then the WiFi: I bought two WiFi tickets for the festival, but the WiFi was completely useless, we were no more than 20 meters away from the hotspot at the S3 toilets/shower (half way on satan street at the crossing with the path not on the map) and never received any signal at all on our phones (we tried an iPhone 4, S4, 5, Blackberry and Nokia). Only when standing exactly below the tower could we see a Wacken Tower access point for a second or two and then it would disappear again.

That's 16 euro's completely wasted, and also no response to my email about it to wackenlan@wacken.com, and when I called the service hotline, nobody that speaks English was available. Why put the email address in big fat letters on the ticket if nobody will respond?

Anyway, besides these problems I had a great time up until I was forced to leave on friday. I really don't want to be a complaining asshole, but you could easily have made a better effort. Half a festival and being denied access to the handicapped platform and thus being forced to sit in the crowd in the mud without a chair, only seeing what's on the screen is hardly worth the money for the ticket and the trip, is it?

ON the handicapped issue, since I know all about it myself, following:

A handicapped person can take ONE person for free with him/her. Meaning, the handicapped person has to have a ticket AND an official certificate of his/her (where his is written in the future, it's both his/her) handicap, issued by an official organisation, recognised in his OWN country! In Germany it's a "Handicapped ID" (Behindertenausweis), in Belgium you get a paper from the PFS Social Security, as long as it is a goverment organisation. It has to show at least a grade of handicap on it!

And depending on the handicap, you can ask for extra facilities.
I, myself don't need much more either, except that someone might walk me somewhere, especially with crowds.

And even though my form was in Dutch/French (I recently had it in German), I never had any problems with Wacken!

But then again, I'm not anybody else. I can't sit in somone else's chair and see what it's like.

 

[raphidae]

ON the handicapped issue, since I know all about it myself, following:

A handicapped person can take ONE person for free with him/her. Meaning, the handicapped person has to have a ticket AND an official certificate of his/her (where his is written in the future, it's both his/her) handicap, issued by an official organisation, recognised in his OWN country! In Germany it's a "Handicapped ID" (Behindertenausweis), in Belgium you get a paper from the PFS Social Security, as long as it is a goverment organisation. It has to show at least a grade of handicap on it!

And depending on the handicap, you can ask for extra facilities.
I, myself don't need much more either, except that someone might walk me somewhere, especially with crowds.

And even though my form was in Dutch/French (I recently had it in German), I never had any problems with Wacken!

But then again, I'm not anybody else. I can't sit in somone else's chair and see what it's like.

I don't need to take someone for free with me, everyone that was with us bought their own ticket, so I'm not trying to get something for free.

Since I am the owner of my own company (which does well) I haven't asked the Dutch government for benefits, special status in the workforce or any support at all. The government only gives you some documentation once you have asked something from them first, hence all I can produce is the statement of our doctors.

If I were to claim benefits from the government, then they will rely on the opinion of doctors, since only doctors can actually attest to a handicap, and then the government would supposedly provide me with some documentation.

There is no option to only ask the government to attest to my handicap without it being tied in with some kind of request of the government.

In Belgium the declarations of our doctors were accepted without problems, I don't see why access to the handicapped facilities would need to be reserved for handicapped people that have applied for special status, welfare or benefits from their government.

Granted, most people with a handicap aren't as fortunate as me and do need support from their government, but just because I don't that doesn't mean I don't have a handicap.

And in any case, my main problem is the complete lack of response when I sent a mail explaining our situation.

 

[Quark]

I don't need to take someone for free with me, everyone that was with us bought their own ticket, so I'm not trying to get something for free.

Since I am the owner of my own company (which does well) I haven't asked the Dutch government for benefits, special status in the workforce or any support at all. The government only gives you some documentation once you have asked something from them first, hence all I can produce is the statement of our doctors.

If I were to claim benefits from the government, then they will rely on the opinion of doctors, since only doctors can actually attest to a handicap, and then the government would supposedly provide me with some documentation.

There is no option to only ask the government to attest to my handicap without it being tied in with some kind of request of the government.

In Belgium the declarations of our doctors were accepted without problems, I don't see why access to the handicapped facilities would need to be reserved for handicapped people that have applied for special status, welfare or benefits from their government.

Granted, most people with a handicap aren't as fortunate as me and do need support from their government, but just because I don't that doesn't mean I don't have a handicap.

And in any case, my main problem is the complete lack of response when I sent a mail explaining our situation.

Ik antwoord maar even in het Nederlands, blijkbaar kun je dat ook.
Of je nu iets wil van de regering of niet, dat speelt geen rol. Hoe jij er tegenover staat, is voor mij niet belangrijk. En of ik iets van de (Belgische) regering of niet wil, is voor deze discussie niet terzake doende.

Ik heb je enkel de mogelijkheden gegeven die beschikbaar zijn. Wat jij ermee doet, dat mag je helemaal zelf weten. Dat is je vrijheid. Net zoals ik de mijne heb om er wél gebruik van te maken, ook zonder iets te willen van de Belgische regering. (ben overigens Nederlander, ervaring in NL heb ik ook)
Ik kan verder over mails naar ICS/Metaltix/WOA niks zeggen. Daarop zul je moeten wachten.

En dit is het einde van mijn woordje Nederlands.
Edit Piaf zegt: een graad van handicap hebben impliceert trouwens niet automatisch dat iemand een "profiteur" is, een uitkering trekt of wat dan ook. Het geeft je recht op speciale voorzieningen, die de staat (en dus iedereen) wel geld kosten. En dat mag soms ook, want de kosten van jou die er tegenover staan.....

 

[raphidae]

Ik antwoord maar even in het Nederlands, blijkbaar kun je dat ook.
Of je nu iets wil van de regering of niet, dat speelt geen rol. Hoe jij er tegenover staat, is voor mij niet belangrijk. En of ik iets van de (Belgische) regering of niet wil, is voor deze discussie niet terzake doende.

Ik heb je enkel de mogelijkheden gegeven die beschikbaar zijn. Wat jij ermee doet, dat mag je helemaal zelf weten. Dat is je vrijheid. Net zoals ik de mijne heb om er wél gebruik van te maken, ook zonder iets te willen van de Belgische regering. (ben overigens Nederlander, ervaring in NL heb ik ook)
Ik kan verder over mails naar ICS/Metaltix/WOA niks zeggen. Daarop zul je moeten wachten.

En dit is het einde van mijn woordje Nederlands.
Edit Piaf zegt: een graad van handicap hebben impliceert trouwens niet automatisch dat iemand een "profiteur" is, een uitkering trekt of wat dan ook. Het geeft je recht op speciale voorzieningen, die de staat (en dus iedereen) wel geld kosten. En dat mag soms ook, want de kosten van jou die er tegenover staan.....

Volgens mij praten we langs elkaar heen. Ik bedoelde niet jou persoonlijk, mijn punt is dat ik geen 'bewijs' van mijn handicap heb van de (Nederlandse) overheid heb, en dit dus ook niet kan overleggen.

Jij schrijft:

In Germany it's a "Handicapped ID" (Behindertenausweis), in Belgium you get a paper from the PFS Social Security, as long as it is a goverment organisation. It has to show at least a grade of handicap on it!

Als jij weet hoe ik iets van een bewijs kan krijgen van de Nederlandse overheid zonder een uitkering aan te vragen of een arbeidsongeschiktenkeuring te laten doen dan hou ik me aanbevolen...

 

[Quark]

Volgens mij praten we langs elkaar heen. Ik bedoelde niet jou persoonlijk, mijn punt is dat ik geen 'bewijs' van mijn handicap heb van de (Nederlandse) overheid heb, en dit dus ook niet kan overleggen.

Jij schrijft:



Als jij weet hoe ik iets van een bewijs kan krijgen van de Nederlandse overheid zonder een uitkering aan te vragen of een arbeidsongeschiktenkeuring te laten doen dan hou ik me aanbevolen...

Probeer het UWV als dat nog bestaat. Heb ik toen ook gedaan. En dit als werknemer. Als je een begeleiderskaart van NS hebt moet dat ook gaan. En anders weet ik het niet. Mss de gemeente.

Maar ik ben al 9 jaar uit NL weg.

 

[raphidae]

Probeer het UWV als dat nog bestaat. Heb ik toen ook gedaan. En dit als werknemer. Als je een begeleiderskaart van NS hebt moet dat ook gaan. En anders weet ik het niet. Mss de gemeente.

Maar ik ben al 9 jaar uit NL weg.

Ja precies. Ik ben geen werknemer, ik ben een werkgever. Ik heb ze net ff gebeld, en tenzij ik alrbeidsongeschikt gekeurd wil worden tbv een uitkering kunnen ze niets voor me doen. Gemeente verwijst me door naar UWV.