Another Ticketmaster rant

[ForeverAutumn]

Seriously, how do they get away with this?!

Hubby and I were thinking about going to see Def Leppard and The Tea Party tonight. General Admission seating was being advertised for $20. It's an outdoor venue, a beautiful night, seemed like a fun thing to do at the last minute.

So, I go onto Ticketmaster to order tickets....

Ticket price = $20.00
Building Facility Charge = $3.75
Convenience Charge = $9.50

$9.50!!!! On a $20 ticket! How can they get away with charging a service fee that is almost 50% of the ticket price? Suddenly a $20 ticket is $33.50!!! There should be some sort of Consumer Gauging law against this sort of thing.

Oh, and let's not forget the $2.50 that I have to pay to print the tickets at home! Why am I paying to use my own printer, paper and ink?

Guess what? We're staying home tonight.

[Davey]

Well, you can always go a little early and buy them at the box office and just pay the facility charge if it's not something likely to sell out. I mean, like how many Def Leppard fans could there be anymore? Molson Amphitheatre, eh? Ticketmaster does suck hangin' hippo parts

[Dave_G]

Could be worse, FA.

At least ya'll get The Musical Box on a regular basis.

Regards,

Dave

[audiobill]

Seriously, how do they get away with this?!
$33.50!!! There should be some sort of Consumer Gauging law against this sort of thing.

Oh, and let's not forget the $2.50 that I have to pay to print the tickets at home! Why am I paying to use my own printer, paper and ink?

Guess what? We're staying home tonight.

Yeah. I feel your pain FA.

We went to see Cirque du Soleil's new show, opening night, at Ontario Place. Ended up doing the Ticketmaster print-your-own ticket. $$$$$$ later, we arrive at OP only to find that there were tickets we could buy at the door.

Sucks,
Bill

[ForeverAutumn]

Well, you can always go a little early and buy them at the box office and just pay the facility charge if it's not something likely to sell out. I mean, like how many Def Leppard fans could there be anymore? Molson Amphitheatre, eh? Ticketmaster does suck hangin' hippo parts

It didn't seem worth the hour's drive in rush hour traffic and the $10 - $15 that we would have had to pay for parking to take the risk. Besides, by that point the whole idea was just sullied.

[kexodusc]

Damn those evil bastards...damn them all to hell...
This is really disgusting. I don't know who to blame though, the musicians, the facilities, TicketMaster, or all 3.
Prices should be set to maximize revenue. Eveyone's trying to divy up their cut of this pie. Whether TM charges the convenience fee or not is irrelevant, one of those camps would such that they maximize predicted revenue.
But if you've got to pay $33.50, I'd rather see that money got to 1) The local facility and owners, 2) The performers, 3) The gouging middleman.
At least this would be them most beneficial to the public.

Oh well.

Poor Pearl Jam found out the hard way what happens when you try to stick it to the man...They're just too powerful...too powerful.

[Dave_G]

I doubt the musicians have any influence on Ticketmaster. They virtually own the ticketing world and can do whatever they want.

Wish there was some competition.

Oh well!

Adrian Belew in a few weeks!

Dave

[kexodusc]

There's been many cases where musicians have battled ticketmaster and won minor victories. But it's never translated into these stupid fees disappearing. They do own the ticketing world, no argument there, but some groups have taken it upon themselves to stick it to them.

Ticketmaster's in it for the buck too...if it means taking a very, very small fee to have a show and make some money, or have no show and make no money, they move from their position. I've personally been involved in negotiations with them when our facility needed permission to alter the contract agreement in order to make the finances work so we could have the show at all. They were quite easy to deal with actually. But we tried to work with them instead of declaring war against them like most artists do, and then trying to get results. They probably don't want to advertise huge discounts.
The performers and their management, and the facilities could use this leverage to their advantage more, but rarely do.

I'm quite surprised that a group of concert halls and stadiums haven't clued in on the huge potential for starting up their own version of ticketmaster. If they're making all the money as the middle-man, why not try to keep that for yourself?

[Dusty Chalk]

Guess what? We're staying home tonight.

If you want to do anything about it, this is the best thing you could have done: voted with your wallet.

Ticketbastard!

[ForeverAutumn]

If you want to do anything about it, this is the best thing you could have done: voted with your wallet.

Ticketbastard!

I couldn't disagree more! Who gets hurt by this? Well, I do for one. What was a potentially enjoyable evening didn't happen (granted it was my choice not to go). But what's worse in my mind, is that the band suffers. How many other people decided not to go because the advertised $20 ticket price was not really $20? I'm willing to bet you $25.50 (what I would have paid in fees for 2 tickets) that we aren't the only ones who decided to take a pass on this show.

I'm sure that Ticketbastard will just make up for the loss by charging higher rates somewhere else.

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, maybe in the short run, I can see how you and the band would be disappointed, but in the long run, it's pretty much the only thing you can do.

[KEXPMF]

PLEASE DO THIS - go to Def Leppard's website and send an email to them, their webmaster, their manager, their agent (if the info is on there). Artists are NOT as aware of this massive amount of money that flows from the pockets of their fans into the hands of the promoters, venue and ticketmaster. (It's generally divided up among these 3, even IF it says it's all Ticketmaster). Some artists care, some don't. But people NEED to complain TO the people that can do something about this. How much MORE money will come out of fans pockets before this is regulated? This has gone on too long.
Write to your representatives in congress also! And Ralph Nader and Elliot Spitzer while you're at it! That's what I do.
It's disgusting. I think they should be allowed a maximum surcharge that they can charge above the advertised ticket price. $3.00 for example should be the MAX.
Or they should be required by law to put the surcharge INTO the price.
Who is the promoter of this show? House of Blues? Clear Channel?
There are 3 culprits, working together: The promoter, the venue and TickeMaster.

[KEXPMF]

Here's the manager's number. Call and get an email address that you can use to write to Irving Azoff, their manager. BCC me on your letter. (I have another way of getting it seen!)
I'll PM you my email address.

310.209.3100

[ForeverAutumn]

PLEASE DO THIS - go to Def Leppard's website and send an email to them, their webmaster, their manager, their agent ....

Here's the manager's number. Call and get an email address that you can use to write to Irving Azoff, their manager. BCC me on your letter. (I have another way of getting it seen!)
I'll PM you my email address.

310.209.3100

Done and done.