A sigh of relief was all but audible across Edinburgh today, as the Fringe box office successfully opened its doors.  As the first "Friends of the Fringe" priority-booking subscribers placed their orders, fears of a repeat of last year's calamitous failure began to recede - though the final verdict on the new box office system won't be in until public booking starts on Monday.

But the day was marred by the botched roll-out of a new online booking option for Friends of the Fringe, leaving some who'd paid a minimum of £15 for membership unable to get hold of their promised advanced deals.  Though the Fringe says most sales went through without a hitch, online forums reveal complaints of out-of-date details, inexplicable forced log-outs and hour-long waits on the phone to get the problems resolved.

Posting in the Fringe's official forum, general manager Tim Hawkins said that phone lines were busy, but working well.  The source of the online problems had been identified, he said, and would soon be resolved.

FringeGuru's general editor Richard Stamp, whose own Friends of the Fringe membership was one of those affected, said many lessons had been learned from last year.  "One of the worst failings of 2008 was that the Fringe refused to admit there was a problem," he said, "so it was great to see Tim Hawkins actively posting in the forums today, with a pretty candid and detailed explanation of what's going on.  And those who waited it out on the phone are unanimous in saying how helpful the box office was, once they managed to get through."

Overall, he said, the day was a success, calming nerves set jangling by the disaster which unfolded at the same time last year.  But he added that an ill-planned roll-out of the Friends' booking system risked alienating many long-standing supporters, at the very time that the Fringe needed them most.  Referring to a series of emails sent to Friends of the Fringe members, he said the that plans to deliver the promised service seemed to be in flux as late as Thursday.

If you're not a Friend of the Fringe, public booking opens on Monday - though many venues are already open for public sales through their own websites.  For more details of this year's Fringe programme launch, see our recent Ticket Alert.