Ticketmaster US charges

JæKæ

We thought ticketmaster were diabolical here. Well they are but, nothin compared to the US part.
I just bought Interpol tickets for Seattle $27 each. I then had to pay $2 each 'Building facility' charge. Then $9 each 'convenience' charge. Then an 'order processing' charge of $4.85 but I'm doing a box office collection, so I thought there would be no postage fee. But oh no they charge $2.50 'will call' charge!
Total charges: $85, that's $31 in fees.:eek:

John

That's insane but expected in a country where they have the monopoly. I know they have a strangehold here too but tickets.ie is getting bigger and bigger so hopefully things can be kept somewhat sensible.

Doctor J

Don't pay it if you disagree with it, end of story. You are only being charged what they think you will pay. If you choose to pay it, tough ****, smile and bend over and get the butter. You don't have to pay it, you have a choice and at the moment you've decided the extra charges are acceptable.

Write to the band and the band's management. Explain that you'd love to see them play but you disagree with the ridiculous charges that are part of seeing them play and, as long as they use Ticketmaster, you will not buy a ticket to see them play. If people cop on and decide not to be ripped off then these charges will disappear. If you continue to pay the stupid charges, then they'll giggle and see what else they can get you to pay for.

John

But then look at Pearl Jam who tried to do a tour without ticketmaster. Because of the Clear Channel connection with Ticketmaster they were told: "Ok, you can go without us but none of our venues will book you, none of our radio stations will play you and none of our affiliated stores will stock you." In America, they have a cartel going and only an authority stepping in will make a difference as even big bands don't have the power to stand up to them.

Doctor J

They do if they get together, one band isn't going to make a difference by itself, this will have to be driven by the saps who pay the extra charges. Since it means more money of course most of them are more than happy to cosy up. All it takes is some balls, but as we all know, testicular fortitude is in short supply in the music industry. Let's be honest, it's hardly like there's a shortage of football stadiums, ice hockey arenas, civic centres, fields, etc etc etc in the states... and then there's that media outlet they call the internet to exploit too, eh? There is scope to break out of the current status quo, but as long as the bills get paid and the world is crammed full of enough loyal consumers who get ripped off, lap it up and keep coming back for more, who's gonna bother?

John

Depressingly you've hit the nail on the head

Doctor J

Indeed, there's nothing as disappointing as people.

Interesting angle on the topic here

http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2007/08/29/promoters-take-over-as-file-sharing-bug-bites

John

Link no worky

ctrl-alt-delete

John wrote:

Link no worky

It was working yesterday, was a good read.

Not working now for some reason

Dregon

Link is working now, thats an interesting article

John

That is an interesting article.

yevveh

For a big name here - €60 - €80, maybe more depending on how big. In Budapest, €32 for a day ticket to Sziget, with several big names. Much better quality abroad. I'm sure there's at least some people here who've been to festivals abroad which were cheaper and better than ours, though I'll stand fast in saying that Punchestown holds a damn good lineup in general.

Micko23

Its the convenience charge PER TIC that gets to me. just keep remembering how much more it is for tickets over here and try to smile at the fact that you will be seeing such a great band.

Doctor J

Another interesting perspective from Gene Simmons

http://www.metalsludge.tv/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1291&Itemid=52

Third_Echelon

The states is terrible for extra charges especially on ticketmaster. Booked a basketball game and it was something similar... 3 or 4 extra charges of a few dollars etc. Things like 'convenience' charge really annoy me, as its not that convenient to charge me an extra 9 dollars!

The worst those is in hotels.. you've got the rate, then local tax, state tax, whatever tax... pain in the ass!