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Ticketmaster is a horrible company

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Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#201

Post by United857 »

ishields wrote: post #119
creaghpatr wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a recipient of those vouchers, they were only good for a certain subset of shows and then they didn't work when I tried using them. That said, I never felt baited and switched by TM, the fees are ridiculous but they've always been right there in front of you when you buy the tickets. It was a shock the first time but hundreds of shows later you just kind of accept it. In any case the market drives the show pric…

> "In any case the market drives the show prices for the most part" I completely disagree. Maybe for the ticket face value that may be true but look at the provided example: $18.50 face value for a ticket (driven by the market/demand) + $1.50 "facility charge" + $4.50 "service fee" + $4.00 "order processing fee" + $2.25 "shipping" so no you're paying $18.50 for the ticket plus $12.25 in fees just in order to get your…

WTH is the difference between a "service fee" and "order processing fee"?

Anyhow, this is not limited to Ticketmaster. Think "fuel surcharges" by airlines or "resort fees" from hotels.

The best way to solve it is to require all such mandatory "fees" be incorporated into the advertised base price. Why this isn't law already is beyond me.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#202

Post by ubercore »

ams6110 wrote: post #59
parthdesai wrote: post #41

I wanted to buy tickets for MLS final in Toronto this year. General Sale was at 1pm. I log on at 1pm, site doesn't load. Keep refreshing and all tickets are sold by 1:01pm. And rows appear on stubhub at 1:20pm for ~$500 a ticket. I can fucking watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona (arguably the biggest soccer game in the world after CL final) for a ticket price cheaper than that. Fuck Ticketmaster.

What would be fair is an auction. Then the price would be more representative of the market value. The reason those tickets all sell out in 30 seconds is that they are too cheap.

I feel like a lottery would be more "fair", if you want to use a socially aware definition of "fair".

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#203

Post by dublinben »

Bahamut wrote: post #198
dublinben wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am not going to skip seeing my favorite band in the world, what do you suggest I do? See them somewhere else, in a venue that hasn't sold out to Ticketmaster.

Because people should spend potentially thousands of dollars just to avoid seeing one artist at a venue using Ticketmaster - this is ludicrous. There were a couple of times I had no choice this year but to go through Ticketmaster because they were the only times when the day & location aligned. I had little choice when booking an Iron Maiden ticket, or a ticket to two Dream Theater shows. I generally avoid Ticketmast…

Ticketmaster is immune to a ticket purchase boycott because of people like you who will go to great lengths to justify why they have no choice but to continue purchasing their tickets.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#204

Post by chillwaves »

pvg wrote: post #149
parthdesai wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stadium seats 31K for a side that wouldn't even probably be good enough Segunda division. 2nd Leg of El Classico is usually crucial for title race. Ticket prices for CL final are : Category 4: €70 Category 3: €160 Category 2: €320 Category 1: €440 [0] It IS Ticketmaster's fault that fans don't even get a decent shot at buying the tickets. How do you justify site not loading at 1:00pm and tickets selling out at 1:…

I didn't miss your point, it just makes your comparison even worse. You're comparing secondary market ticket prices to tickets with artificially lowered prices sold through a lottery. Decent El Clasico tickets cost a lot more and the median income in Spain is about half the Canadian one. The relative quality of the games also doesn't really matter, what matters is there are a lot more people in Toronto who want to se…

"but people will pay it" is not a proper response to the argument that people are being gouged. For one, scalpers drive up the price beyond what most would consider a fair market. Secondly, TicketMaster itself allows the resale of tickets on their site. This creates huge opportunities to buy up tickets and resell. But people pay. Yes they do but it the price is not being dictated by true market demand, rather they are being driven up by parasites. The scalpers are creating an unjustified sense of scarcity to feed their bottom line and ticketmaster goes along with it because it's all profit. The 2nd sale on their site is even more free money for TicketMaster.

"but people will pay it" is not a proper response to the argument that people are being gouged. Especially given the monopoly conditions often in place.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#205

Post by FireBeyond »

Spooky23 wrote: post #54
teddyh wrote: post #14

Ticketmaster recently lost a class action suit, but managed to be allowed to pay the customers it unfairly charged not in money, but in coupons for Ticketmaster . http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7370600/ticketmas...

That's a rage item for me. Not only did you get "paid" in Tickemaster scrip, but redeeming it is some onerous process that requires all sorts of nonsense. After that, much of the supposed payment is limited to a tiny list of shows and venues. Last time I checked (October), the closest show was a punk band playing in Maryland. (I live in NY)

Ha! For the first week of that "offer", there was no events west of Chicago, but they were counting down from a global pool of tickets.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#206

Post by FireBeyond »

Fezzik wrote: post #161
teddyh wrote: post #14

Ticketmaster recently lost a class action suit, but managed to be allowed to pay the customers it unfairly charged not in money, but in coupons for Ticketmaster . http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7370600/ticketmas...

This settlement was even more bogus than the bogus sounding words make it sound. It is basically a non-remedy remedy. The judgment gave members of the class 1) 1 $2.xx voucher or 2) a "free ticket" (coupon) to a qualifying show. I was awarded a handful of the money vouchers (maybe 20 or so) and 10 or so of the "free tickets". Low and behold, when I go to redeem either of these awards I can a) only use 2 of the $2.xx…

Yup, and til "outcry" made them "revise" their list, there wasn't an event anywhere on the West Coast _at all_ (let alone with anything other than, shocking I know, "no seats available").

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#207

Post by colinbartlett »

ksenzee wrote: post #104
zdean wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is a testament to our weak antitrust laws that Ticketmaster has been able to gouge the public for decades with no repercussions whatsoever." Genuinely interested to know what is keeping a nimble new startup from stepping in and blowing this up.

No need for a new startup. Brown Paper Tickets is the obvious successor.

There is also TicketLeap https://www.ticketleap.com/

There are plenty of start ups in this space I just don't believe any of them can get exclusive deals with the main huge venues that are part owned by Ticketmaster's parent company.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#208

Post by kingosticks »

csydas wrote: post #51
jbverschoor wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever tried to get a ticket for something popular with TM?

To elaborate for the above commenter, ticket master sales for popular events often sell out within seconds of the sale starting as a swarm of bots attacks the site and buy up available tickets. It usually takes just a few minutes for ticket sales to go up on Craigslist or eBay. Users see just a blank page or ticket masters internal loading errors while scalping bots buy up tickets. I remember trying to get tickets fo…

It's a great deal for TM and the like, they get paid 3 times! 1. Scalper pays fee when buying ticket. 2. Scalper pays fee when selling ticket on TM's reselling platform (stubhub?) 3. Concert goer pays fee when buying ticket from reseller platform.

In the UK there's been some investigation into this business practice (select committee) but I doubt anything will come of it.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#209

Post by FireBeyond »

RRL wrote: post #94
parthdesai wrote: post #41

I wanted to buy tickets for MLS final in Toronto this year. General Sale was at 1pm. I log on at 1pm, site doesn't load. Keep refreshing and all tickets are sold by 1:01pm. And rows appear on stubhub at 1:20pm for ~$500 a ticket. I can fucking watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona (arguably the biggest soccer game in the world after CL final) for a ticket price cheaper than that. Fuck Ticketmaster.

Saw the same exact thing happen at OldChella. Ticket sale starts at 10am. I enter line. Sit in virtual line for 3.5 hours. Get to the front of the line, the tickets I wanted were sold out (The $1700 GA tickets mind you). Right below the 'sold out' button Ticketmaster has a 'Premium Tickets' CTA. I click that. The $1700 GA tickets are being scalped for $5,500 on Ticketmaster's partner sight.

New York City tried to introduce anti-resale laws. Guess who lobbied against them? Hint: not (just) the resale sites.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#210

Post by pvg »

chillwaves wrote: post #204
pvg wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't miss your point, it just makes your comparison even worse. You're comparing secondary market ticket prices to tickets with artificially lowered prices sold through a lottery. Decent El Clasico tickets cost a lot more and the median income in Spain is about half the Canadian one. The relative quality of the games also doesn't really matter, what matters is there are a lot more people in Toronto who want to se…

"but people will pay it" is not a proper response to the argument that people are being gouged. For one, scalpers drive up the price beyond what most would consider a fair market. Secondly, TicketMaster itself allows the resale of tickets on their site. This creates huge opportunities to buy up tickets and resell. But people pay. Yes they do but it the price is not being dictated by true market demand, rather they ar…

I don't know if 'but people will pay for it' is a 'proper' response but it's not one I made.
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