You know what irritates me most irritated about Ticketmaster? (He says, recently purchasing tickets to Cesaria Evora using their system.) Not that they outrageously overcharge for tickets, I expect that, but that they hide their costs to the consumer.
Consider this: my ticket today was originally priced at a reasonable $40.
I bought two.
So, $80, right?
Au contraire, mon frere! (Apologies to Olivia C.)
Don't forget the Facilities Charge (2 at $2 each), Convenience Charge (2 at, yes, $10.35 each), and Delivery ($2.50 for the online, aka free, delivery).
At checkout time, my $80 had blossomed to $107.20.
Which, in their favor, they did let me know about before I submitted my credit card.
On the receipt, however, was the extra Order Processing Fee (different, apparently, than the Delivery charge), which was $3.85.
Grand total, $111.05.
Weirdly, if Ticketmaster had told me at the very beginning that each ticket was $55.53, I would be a little happier with the transaction. But, as is (and I'm sure none of this comes as a surprise to you folks who buy tickets all the time), I really love to find to not use their service to pay these incredibly fake charges. Convenience Charge? What could that possibly be for?
The only nice thing about the transaction was that iTunes emailed me two free downloads (2 at .99 each) for my purchase.
Unfortunately, the kudos are going to Apple and not Ticketmaster.
Hey, I expect crazy unexpected charges when I buy a plane ticket, not when going to see Def Leppard's comeback tour.
It's really a case of reverse Marketing, shooting well below the customer's expectations, and it only works in scenarios like these, where the company has a stranglehold on the market (think cable company) and the customer can't do anything but grin and bear it.
Times may be good for Ticketmaster now, but my guess is if they ever get competition (by, say, a court order), the field will be wide open.
And at that point I'm guessing Ticketmaster is going to have a lot of very happy ex-customers.
Ticketmaster is killing the joy of concert going! If they told the consumer $55 upfront per ticket then they would be able to judge the price and pay it if they like. Instead once the consumer agrees the price inflates. The price increased 35% from the time you said yes to the time you paid for it. Crazy. As attendance continues to drop, TicketMaster, LiveNation and other producers are going to be forced to revamp their pricing and marketing strategies. Some strong competition would help level the playing field and further prevent the pillaging of consumers. Oh Concert Gods, please provide us with hope and charity.
don't EVEN get me started on ticketmaster. they even charge you their "convenience fees" if you drive yourself to a damn location and pick the tickets up. what we need is a little friendly competition to drive the cost down from 11 bucks a ticket to maybe 2 or 3. in all honesty, it is one of the reasons i go to very few events that require me to buy tickets. if i am close enough to go to the venue and get them, i might consider it. otherwise, i watch reruns.
Man, you should have been mad since 1994 when Pearl Jam first picked that fight with Ticketmaster. It's a damn shame nothing's been done about their ridiculous fees in 13 years. Earvolution even listed it as on e of rock's "Top 10 Corporate moments." Check it out:
http://www.earvolution.com/2007/03/top-10-corporate-moments-in-rock.asp
Dude....Def Leppard's comeback tour...a dream come true.
DSM - So I'm not crazy, right? I mean, I know I'm going to get bilked if I wanted to buy a ticket for Barbra Streisand (please note, I do not want a ticket to Streisand) at $200 a pop, but this was craziness. If only the concert gods would hear us. I hope they're not passed out somewhere.
Anon - Reruns are fun - and I don't MIND paying fair price for a ticket. We all know the costs will be high for a venue, the bands, staff, etc., but let's let friendly competition tell us what that price is?
Mike - I remember the Pearl Jam fight, and there it is in the article you pointed me to: "Pearl Jam...brought an antitrust suit alleging that Ticketmaster used a monopolistic domination of the ticket distribution industry to secure a near 30% markup on tickets sales." Too bad they lost.
Heather - I'll meet you in the parking lot outside the arena with some PB&Js and a sixer of Mickey's Big Mouths.
the anon was me, EMILY! and i was at that pearl jam concert in 1994. and i dont even LIKE pearl jam! but i had to support it.
Emily, you don't have to hide just because you went to a Perl Jam concert. It's okay! "Hi, I'm Emily and I went to a Perl Jam concert." One day at a time, dude.
i am working the program. the pearl jam program. one day at a time.