iTunes users furious over botched ticket promo

Hundreds of the angry iTunes customers are convening on the company's support forms, demanding to know why they did not receive their Ticketmaster pre-sale code Monday evening as Apple had led them to believe.

In an April press release advocating the promotion, Apple said: "Red Hot Chili Peppers fans who pre-order the album on iTunes will also receive an email with a code that they can use at Ticketmaster.com starting May 9 to purchase concert tickets before they go on sale to the general public on May 13."

A large majority of the customers still had not received their codes by Tuesday afternoon, despite the fact that pre-sales for many of the band's shows had already begun. Some of these customers reported receiving blank emails or emails about the promotion that lacked the special code, while others say they received no correspondence from Apple whatsoever.

One customer looking to purchase tickets for the Chili Peppers' Toronto, Canada show had not received his ticket code on Tuesday when he was informed that floor seats for the show had already sold out.

"I don't have my code yet either. This is the whole reason I pre-ordered Stadium Arcadium in the first place," said another disgruntled customer who plunked down $20 to participate in the promo. "Will someone at Apple please give us a shout?"

Apple has made no official comment on the issue, though several customers who contacted the company's various telephone hotlines were informed "Apple is aware of the problem" and that it is "working to get the emails [with the codes] out as soon as possible."