500 Days of Glitches? 2012 Sponsors Apologize for Problems

March 16, 2011

Yesterday’s, March 15, 500 day countdown to the London 2012 Olympics, accompanied by the launching of ticket sales, hit a number of glitches via official sponsors Visa and Omega. The former has apologised to people who were unable to book tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games on the first day of going on sale, while the latter admitted to being disappointed that the countdown clock in Trafalgar Square had stopped, just a day after starting.

The debit and credit card giant offers the only route to purchase tickets online, and spectators have six weeks to apply. However, those who applied with Visa cards that expire before the end of August found that the ticket website, which launched yesterday, could not complete their orders.

A Visa Europe spokesman told the Press Association: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to those cardholders who are having problems applying for London 2012 tickets. While we are aware that cards which expire before August 2011 are not currently being accepted, as a priority, we are working closely with all relevant parties to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

The spokesman added: “It is important to stress that tickets are not issued on a first-come, first-served basis, and any ticket registration taking place by April 26, 2011 will have an equal chance of success in the ballot. For those cardholders who do not wish to wait, there are a number of alternatives including using a Visa prepaid card.”

A statement from official Olympic timekeeper Omega admitted: “We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue.”

The statement added: “The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square. We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible.”