Narrative:

On the night of the [date]; a friend (another aircraft) and I went to saint petersburg with the impression that there was a tfr over tropicana field so we filed IFR on the inbound flight. When we started back to ZZZ; we checked foreflight for NOTAMS to which we found none applicable to our departure regarding airspace. However; the map showed that there was a tfr over the area with 'seat-geek' written in parentheses next to the fdc NOTAM name. We ultimately decided we should call FSS to clear up the confusion; so they told us that they were not showing a tfr over the area; but that we should call tampa TRACON to be sure. We called tampa TRACON and the gentleman who we spoke to said that he didn't know of any tfr over the area; but we were not authorized to fly through a tfr. Due to this conflicting information; we asked if we could depart; and he responded we were not authorized through a tfr and that the controller was saturated. After this; we called miami flight service in an attempt to clear up the confusion and to see if they were indicating a tfr. Miami called tampa TRACON through the landline; and later came back to tell us that he had spoken to the same gentleman at tampa; and that he was not co-operating with flight service. We called tampa afterwards in an attempt to get a simple yes/no answer if we were able to depart spg. Tampa was unable to give us a clear answer and simply belittled us by telling us that pilots should be able to identify a tfr and that we should stop calling him. We finally decided that we would depart spg and stay clear of all airspace. The flight back to ZZZ was successful and no further issues.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot reported confusion over whether or not a TFR was active; and reported ATC was unhelpful.

Narrative: On the night of the [date]; a friend (another aircraft) and I went to Saint Petersburg with the impression that there was a TFR over Tropicana Field so we filed IFR on the inbound flight. When we started back to ZZZ; we checked Foreflight for NOTAMS to which we found none applicable to our departure regarding airspace. However; the map showed that there was a TFR over the area with 'seat-geek' written in parentheses next to the FDC NOTAM name. We ultimately decided we should call FSS to clear up the confusion; so they told us that they were not showing a TFR over the area; but that we should call Tampa TRACON to be sure. We called Tampa TRACON and the gentleman who we spoke to said that he didn't know of any TFR over the area; but we were not authorized to fly through a TFR. Due to this conflicting information; we asked if we could depart; and he responded we were not authorized through a TFR and that the controller was saturated. After this; we called Miami flight service in an attempt to clear up the confusion and to see if they were indicating a TFR. Miami called TAMPA TRACON through the landline; and later came back to tell us that he had spoken to the same gentleman at Tampa; and that he was not co-operating with flight service. We called Tampa afterwards in an attempt to get a simple yes/no answer if we were able to depart SPG. Tampa was unable to give us a clear answer and simply belittled us by telling us that pilots should be able to identify a TFR and that we should stop calling him. We finally decided that we would depart SPG and stay clear of all airspace. The flight back to ZZZ was successful and no further issues.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.