Bid to buy a Dome ticket was doomed from the start

10.15am. Filling in the Dome booking form seems simple enough. I want six adult tickets for the day session on Sunday 2 January - two for my partner and me, and four for my brother and his dodgy Spurs- supporting mates.

So I tick "6" next to "Number of Adults"; in the date boxes I tick "Jan" and "2", and in the box marked "Which Session?" I tick "Day". Easy peasy.

10.23am. I get to the front of the queue. The operator, a girl in her teens, slides my application form into the computer, Lottery style.

My first surprise comes when she hands me a single ticket, bearing the words: Admit: Adults 6: Sun 02 Jan: Day. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm expecting six tickets - you know, one each. And since I don't intend to visit the Dome with my

brother and his dodgy mates, I ask to exchange it for separate tickets.

My second surprise is more upsetting than the first. The assistant informs me emphatically that the ticket cannot be cancelled or exchanged. "It's all computerised, you see." I protest vigorously, but she won't budge. The queue behind me is growing restless. "We don't set the rules, it's the people at the Dome," she unhelpfully explains.

I decide to resort to the old journalist's Get-Out-Of-Jail card. Ring the press office.

11.05am. Back in the office, I call the Dome press inquiries line. After much faffing around, I'm told they are unable to help. Apparently it's the responsibility of Camelot, and I'm given the number of its press office.

11.25am. I call the Camelot num-

ber. It seems anyone who is anyone has gone to the grand Millennium Dome opening ceremony, so I explain my problem to a lady called Jenny. She goes off to consult someone else, and there is more faffing around. No one, it seems, is prepared for a simple query like: "Why can't my brother and I have separate tickets?" Jenny agrees to make further inquiries and call me back.

11.45am. I get a message from Jenny saying ticketing is not Camelot's responsibility. She suggests I call the Dome ticket line on 0870 606 2000.

Serves me right for thinking I can get special favours from the press office.

I have a sinking feeling as I ring the ticket line.

In my experience, if the press office can't sort out a journalist's problem, it's un-sort-outable.

12.05am. I call the Dome ticket

line and explain my plight to a very helpful lady called Corinne. She understands completely why I want separate tickets and acknowledges that since today is the first day of sale, there are bound to be a few "teething problems". She consults her supervisor and says she'll need to call me back.

12.15am. Corinne calls me back.

It seems my ticket cannot be changed unless I write an explanatory letter to the customer services department, who may consider changing my ticket at a cost of 3 per head! My blood pressure rises steadily as I rant down the phone to Corinne, who helpfully suggests places I might meet my brother before going in to the Dome. In the meantime, Corinne's supervisor has made a discovery. My ticket can be changed at the point of sale, at the discretion of the store manager, as long as it's within two hours of purchase! But it's now 12.20 and I bought my ticket at 10.23.

12.20am. I call Tesco Surrey Quays and ask to speak to the manager. He's off today. Fine, the deputy manager will do. What is the nature of my problem? Another rant, whereupon the switchboard operator offers to put me through to the customer services manager.

The phone rings so long, it cuts out and I'm back at the switchboard.

She tries again - same result. She tries again, but as I end up back at the switchboard for the third time, it's 12.23am and I'm out of time.

So, it seems I'm stuck with my single ticket. Millennium Dome visitors' ticket for six very, very close friends, anyone?

Rachel hits the jackpot at 1,000

AN AGENCY that has found work at the Millennium Dome for London residents has got a job for its 1,000th recruit.

Rachel Saunders, 19, has just started work with a surveying team run by one of the Dome's main building contractors.

She received the job after approaching the Greenwich local Labour party and Business, the agency set up by Greenwich council two years ago.

Councillor Chris Roberts said: "We worked very hard to build partnerships aimed at bringing new investment to Greenwich."

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