Errors in the ticketing system of 2018 Asian Games official ticketing partner KiosTix have prevented many would-be buyers from purchasing tickets for the event, prompting the management to hand over the sale of tickets to e-commerce platform Blibli.com on Friday.

KiosTix has been receiving complaints over the poor quality of its service, with customers facing difficulties purchasing tickets online and errors throughout the entire exchange process.

Stephanie Lie, 33, a resident of Cengkareng, West Jakarta, deplored a technical glitch she came across while buying a ticket for the opening ceremony.

She said that, while purchasing a ticket with her credit card last week, the website refused to proceed with her payment.

“It was written on the website that ‘something was wrong’. I had no idea whether my payment was received. While checking my credit card statement, I saw that my transaction was approved,” Stephanie told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

She said she tried to call the KiosTix customer service center several times, but no one picked up the phone. Her complaint via email was also unanswered.

Stephanie said she received a delayed payment notification and an electronic ticket the next day. However, the email did not provide information on how and when she could exchange the electronic ticket with the paper ticket.

She found the answer after checking the KiosTix Instagram account and exchanged the ticket at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

The paper ticket she was given, however, showed a different seat to the one stated on the e-ticket.

“I booked a seat in the ‘lower right’, but the paper ticket shows that I got a ‘lower left’ seat. The officers said the ‘lower right’ seats had been filled,” she said.

Another customer, Donny, a 44-year-old resident of Pluit, North Jakarta, had a similar problem. He questioned the requirement to exchange the e-ticket with a paper ticket.

The process, he said, was more than just time-consuming – it was unnecessary, because the e-tickets came with barcodes that could be directly scanned.

“What’s the point of buying the tickets online when we have to exchange them with paper tickets? It’s better for me to buy tickets on the spot,” Donny said.

Hundreds of people waited in a long line at the KiosTix office in Pejaten Barat, South Jakarta, on Thursday to exchange their tickets. Many of them complained about a staff shortage and a lack of on-site ticket exchange booths.

KiosTix attempted to solve the problem by opening on Friday ticket booths at gates 2, 3, 4 and 7 at GBK.

Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) Secretary-General Eris Herryanto said that, starting Friday, spectators could buy Asian Games tickets on the Blibli website.

To resolve the issue, KiosTix made the decision to team up with Blibli by having sales go through the Blibli server, Eris said.

Regarding the errors in the ticketing system, Eris said INASGOC would not punish KiosTix with sanctions.

 “We see that KiosTix has taken responsibility for what had happened by partnering with Blibli and other companies. They still fulfilled their duties in accordance with the cooperation agreement [between INASGOC and KiosTix],” Eris said.

Hanna Athiyya, marketing communications head of KiosTix, said the ticketing service through KiosTix was currently unavailable because the company was trying to improve the quality of the website by ensuring that it functioned properly with high traffic.

“We handed over the sales to Blibli.com, our official reseller,” Hanna said.

In addition to Blibli.com, customers can buy tickets on Akulaku.com and at offline pop-up stores in Aeon Mall Cakung, East Jakarta; Pacific Place Mall and Menara Mandiri, South Jakarta; and Puri Indah Mall, West Jakarta. Tickets are also available at the KiosTix office and Alfamart stores.

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