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Ticketmaster is a horrible company

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Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#51

Post by csydas »

jbverschoor wrote: post #8
jarjoura wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it's 100x better than the old days of waiting in 6-8 hour lines to guarantee a ticket to popular events.

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 for my younger cousin to The International and I didn't evn have a chance. Even worse was neither Valve nor ticket master at the time has announced they weren't allowing ticket transfers so trying for tickets from those lucky enough to get some was useless as well. My uncle unfortunately was out $400some on eBay as a result; the guy I found on Craigslist was luckily way more understanding and when he was unable to initiate the transfer after a cash in hand meetup, he gladly offered to stay in contact until he could sort the issue on his side and transfer.

It's honestly a mess and it leaves a lot to be desired for most users. I get that ultimately they can't satisfy all customers because we all want the same scarce product, but it's very hard to shake the feeling that botting and ticket scalpers get too many of the tickets, a

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#52

Post by qntty »

firloop wrote: post #22
nathancahill wrote: post #2

That "Minutes left to complete the purchase" is one of the oldest tricks in the sales book. I felt my blood pressure going up just looking at that gif, and I wasn't even buying tickets! Edit: I know why they do it, but it isn't necessary for most ticket sales. Just turn it on when there's high demand.

Not a huge Ticketmaster fan, but I actually don't have much of a problem with this as they have a complicated problem: allocate demand of a often scarce good (event tickets) in a way that's fair to non automated buyers. By placing a hold on the stock for a few minutes (rather than allocating at final checkout), it gives humans a fair chance to check out as their ability to secure the stock isn't based on how quickly…

Under certain circumstances, sure. But it doesn't make sense to enforce the time limit by forcing you to re-do the purchase when there are still available tickets not being held by an active checkout.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#54

Post by Spooky23 »

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)

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#55

Post by creaghpatr »

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...

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 prices for the most part.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#56

Post by [deleted] »

firloop wrote: post #22
nathancahill wrote: post #2

That "Minutes left to complete the purchase" is one of the oldest tricks in the sales book. I felt my blood pressure going up just looking at that gif, and I wasn't even buying tickets! Edit: I know why they do it, but it isn't necessary for most ticket sales. Just turn it on when there's high demand.

Not a huge Ticketmaster fan, but I actually don't have much of a problem with this as they have a complicated problem: allocate demand of a often scarce good (event tickets) in a way that's fair to non automated buyers. By placing a hold on the stock for a few minutes (rather than allocating at final checkout), it gives humans a fair chance to check out as their ability to secure the stock isn't based on how quickly…

[deleted]

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#57

Post by Bartweiss »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #7

Ticketmaster has been horrible since forever. Having no real competition, Ticketmaster has zero motivation to treat customers decently. They're kind of like taxis before Uber.

And like taxis, they operate in a space where creating legal competitors is incredibly difficult. They just get their legal barriers at one remove - you can't get zoned for new venues, and so by getting venue lock-in they avoid competition.

There are a few groups like SoFar Sound doing the Uber thing of creating safe-but-quasi-legal competition, but it's not a simple task.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#58

Post by TallGuyShort »

Yeah they've been disgraceful to deal with for me too. They once double-booked seats I was in and I was given the option of being seated elsewhere or leaving with a refund. I opted to be seated elsewhere, but the venue took so long to do it I missed the first few songs and ended up seated where the show wasn't even visible. I was then refused a refund because it was too late to choose that option, and the venue insisted it was Ticketmasters fault, and Ticketmaster I had missed my chance for any compensation by entering the stadium to see my other seats.

I eventually only got an offer of credit for Ticketmaster, so I just informed my credit card company that they had not delivered what I had paid for and did a charge-back. Only remotely satisfactory outcome after spending hours on the phone with them. Not even an apology - just constant passing the buck.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#59

Post by ams6110 »

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.

Re: Ticketmaster is a horrible company

#60

Post by Bartweiss »

amelius wrote: post #32

Perhaps time to start a facebook awareness campaign, and have TM boycotted by artists and fans (?)

TM uses venue lock-in to prevent this. Multiple artists have tried, but they quickly have to choose between dealing with TM and abandoning fans in smaller cities that only have a few venues available, all of which are TM-contracted.
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