Travel agents have been inundated by Michael Jackson fans on the Island desperate for tickets to his 30th anniversary concert in New York next month - but some have been left bitterly disappointed.

Meyer Travel advertised tickets for the All-Star Salute to Whacko Jacko in last Wednesday's edition of The Royal Gazette, meaning customers had just one day to place their orders before the Cup Match holiday.

A number of people were lucky and had the opportunity to buy tickets for the two separate concerts on September 7 and 10, at a cost of hundreds of dollars.

However, one fan, who did not wish to be named, claimed she was given the runaround by agents at Meyer Travel, who, at first did not know who she needed to talk to and suggested she speak to another branch, and then just took her name and number.

However, when she returned to work this week, she learned that she had not been successful in her quest to buy tickets for the tribute show to one of the world's most famous, and eccentric, pop stars, and she was not happy.

She said: "They advertised tickets for sale on Wednesday, August 1, giving contact names and numbers in both Dockyard and St. George's.

"I called Dockyard on the 1st, only to be told that the woman handling it was not in and was then connected to St. George's.

"I was then told by St. George's that they were expecting the tickets but they had not come in yet and they would be in on Monday. I was asked to leave my name and the number of tickets required, which I did, and was told I would be contacted on Monday.

"I called back to St. George's at 10 a.m. on Monday and was told they did not have any information and that it was being handled by Dockyard. I called Dockyard and was told that the person handing the whole thing was on vacation, but they were to take names and numbers."

She said she then spoke to a manager at Meyer, who said the tickets had been driven too high and Meyer had none for sale.

The woman said she had managed to buy four tickets from the TicketMaster agency, but let them go over the weekend because she believed she had bought some from Meyer.

She added: "How many others sat comfortably over the Cup Match weekend thinking they had tickets because they could depend on Meyer?"

Chief Executive Officer of Meyer Travel, Dianne Carlson, admitted that the promotion may not have been as well organised as they had hoped, but said tickets had been sold to people on the Island.

However, she said it was on a first come, first served basis.

She said: "We did sell quite a few tickets, within the realm of what what the agent was able to get. The lady (that complained) should have been given more direct information at the time of her calling and should have got a more direct response.

"With foresight and getting the feedback I got, we could have handled it better.

"There was so many calls and we were taking names and numbers - it was a demand verses supply and manpower.

"It was not a matter of ignoring her, it was a matter of first come, first served.

"It was not managed as well as we had hoped to manage it. We certainly received a lot of calls - there was a lot of people that wanted to go - but Meyer did not expect that it would be able to offer hundreds and hundreds of tickets."

Ms Carlson said the company had wanted to advertise the promotion last Tuesday, giving people two days to organise their tickets, but said due to unforeseen circumstances they were unable to.

And she apologised to anyone who had been disappointed or inconvenienced.

She said in this woman's case, Meyer was hoping to get hold of additional tickets for her.

She added: "We are seeing if we can get to the broker to see if there is any possibility we could get them for her."

The star-studded tribute shows are set to feature a number of big names, including The Jacksons, Marc Antony, Mary J. Blige, Ray Charles, Luther Vandross, Britney Spears and `n Sync.