Ticketmaster Ticket Price advertising for Paolo Nutini

livEwirE

I initially read this poster as...

Ticket price is €49.50 (Inc booking fee)

This gave the impressions that this was the total price. BUT, in small writing underneath you can see 'phone and internet booking subject to a service charge of 12.5%'.

I bought 4 tickets online with a credit card today for €49.65 x4 + €6.10 x4(service charge) = €223

I have no problem paying the servce charge as it is clearly mentioned. What p1ssed me off is that they've included the words 'Inc booking fee' to mask the service charge in a roundabout way, surely this is unfair advertising and a very underhanded practice. If there was no 'Inc booking fee' mentioned I would have no problem with this at all.

On another note, I thought that TM's use of 'service charges' were supposed to be clamped down on a few years back - some kind of EU directive?

Miaireland

I don't really see it as being underhand or anything. They show you the price that you pay if you call to a Ticketmaster outlet and tell you there is an additional charge if you book by phone or online an that this is charged per ticket. I am not sure how else they could word it.

livEwirE

Fair enough, maybe I was having a bit of a rant when posting this one

Still though - I thought that TM's use of 'service charges' were supposed to be clamped down on a few years back - some kind of EU directive?

ohnonotgmail

I dont think there is anything unclear or underhand about it at all. It clearly states in the line underneath the ticket price that there is a 12.5% service charge.

slimjimmc

Two posts deleted. I would like to remind posters to focus on the topic and to avoid posting slurs. Thanks.

Greenmachine

Sound like the policy has been clearly explained. This has been followed, so can't see a reason to complain.

dudara

To be fair, it does seem like a charge on a charge, even if they have explained it clearly. It might be worth asking the Consumer Association or the like for their perspective.

cml387

IMO it is a bit underhand.

If there is already a service charge for using to a ticket master office, how much more charge do they feel is required for you to book online/mobile.

And I would guess also that most people will book online or use phone.

keithclancy

Ticketmaster have really lost their foothold in the Netherlands and Germany due to fees and crappy availability.

At least their IT is better now
http://rundeck.org/stories/mark_maun.html

ohnonotgmail

cml387 wrote: »

IMO it is a bit underhand.

If there is already a service charge for using to a ticket master office, how much more charge do they feel is required for you to book online/mobile.

And I would guess also that most people will book online or use phone.

While i am no fan of TM i dont understand what people think is underhand about what they do. They are very upfront about it.

cml387

It's certainly not illegal and they are (slightly) upfront, but it is shaking down the consumer.

It's also the opposite of the business model of some airlines, who will only charge you if you don't check in online.

ohnonotgmail

cml387 wrote: »

It's certainly not illegal and they are (slightly) upfront, but it is shaking down the consumer.

It's also the opposite of the business model of some airlines, who will only charge you if you don't check in online.

I'm not sure how they could be more upfront. Its on the poster for the event.

rubadub

Miaireland wrote: »

I am not sure how else they could word it.

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I'm not sure how they could be more upfront.

Seriously?! Don't know if you go to gigs regularly, but I am questioned/argue about this quite regularly with people I know. Like guys in work saying tickets are €xxx and I say "and don't forget service charge on top" and them saying "no they clearly said its included", or after having bought tickets for friends having to explain that they owe me more. This happens in the gig forum quite a bit too, people discussing how much it will be and not copping onto the fees.

You really can't see how it could be made more clear?
For starters get rid of any mention of a booking fee, to me this is obviously a deliberate ploy to mislead people. I cannot recall ever seeing a price without the booking fee included on a TM ticket. it was always included, so why do they mention it?

It is easy to see how people might thing a booking fee and service charge are synonymous. I expect many will see the 12.5% and figure it has been included.

if they wanted to be clear in addition to getting rid of the booking fee confusion state the price people will have to pay. Why do they have thousands of customers having to do the math instead of them -oh thats right, to mask the high price, there is NO other reason I can think of not to publish the actual price people will have to pay from the various outlets.

And to be even more clear the PER TICKET would be in bolder and or lager lettering, as this is also a cause of confusion, and you can be bloody sure they know it well, I expect they have hundreds of calls per day about it. The OP spent €24.40 extra to pay credit card, many would think this must be some sort of mistake and that the 6.10 would cover it.

They could also clearly state how you could get the tickets with no service charges, e.g. paying cash at the TM kiosks.

dudara wrote: »

It might be worth asking the Consumer Association or the like for their perspective.

They have been getting away with it for years, nothing new, so I would not waste my time.

http://www.independent.ie/life/smart-consumer/do-we-have-to-pay-high-online-booking-charges-26525668.html

BTW if going to smaller gigs always check if tickets are online elsewhere, like www.tickets.ie where you can pay by credit card and pay no service charge at all. You pay the price TM quote (which always includes the booking fee). You can have them posted for a euro or 1.50, its free if you collect at the box office on the night.

JimsAlterEgo

If theres no way of avoiding a charge it should be the displayed price.

Larsso30

Booking fee and service charge are two completly different things. Maybe those confused should read about the difference between them before complaining?

total former

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

If theres no way of avoiding a charge it should be the displayed price.

You can avoid it. You go to a physical Ticketmaster outlet and you buy the tickets there, saving yourself €4 per ticket.

Once again, this is clearly printed on the poster.

ohnonotgmail

rubadub wrote: »

Seriously?! Don't know if you go to gigs regularly, but I am questioned/argue about this quite regularly with people I know. Like guys in work saying tickets are €xxx and I say "and don't forget service charge on top" and them saying "no they clearly said its included", or after having bought tickets for friends having to explain that they owe me more. This happens in the gig forum quite a bit too, people discussing how much it will be and not copping onto the fees.

You really can't see how it could be made more clear?
For starters get rid of any mention of a booking fee, to me this is obviously a deliberate ploy to mislead people. I cannot recall ever seeing a price without the booking fee included on a TM ticket. it was always included, so why do they mention it?


BTW if going to smaller gigs always check if tickets are online elsewhere, like tickets.ie where you can pay by credit card and pay no service charge at all. You pay the price TM quote (which always includes the booking fee). You can have them posted for a euro or 1.50, its free if you collect at the box office on the

Yes, seriously. Its right there on the poster. what more do you want? Do you think it should be in the same size font as paolo nutinis name?

JimsAlterEgo

total former wrote: »

You can avoid it. You go to a physical Ticketmaster outlet and you buy the tickets there, saving yourself €4 per ticket.

Once again, this is clearly printed on the poster.

its €2 I think looking at the poster, I stand corrected as its a little blurred. If no there is no way to avoid paying at least €2 so it should be the advertised price.

Larsso30

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

its €2 I think looking at the poster, I stand corrected as its a little blurred. If no there is no way to avoid paying at least €2 so it should be the advertised price.

Need to learn the difference between booking and service chargrs.

Its the Promoter who advertises the gig hence why they don't advertise ticketmaster service charge.

ohnonotgmail

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

its €2 I think looking at the poster, I stand corrected as its a little blurred. If no there is no way to avoid paying at least €2 so it should be the advertised price.

depending on whether you buy online or buy from an agent the the service charge is different. So they cant just include it in the price.

JimsAlterEgo

Tickets from 51.65 inc booking fee :P

rubadub

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Yes, seriously. Its right there on the poster. what more do you want?

I would like the suggestions I made, the font size one was a small point, there are probably more minor ones. I mentioned the font size since that issue often comes up too -and was just illustrating that -yes, you could in fact make it clearer, if you wished to.

Those 2 posters were in effect saying they could not come up with any idea of how it could possibly be clearer. I came up with several. You say "yes seriously", about their comments, so can you confirm that you seriously think all my suggestions would have made it less clear? or just no difference at all.

The airline industry was forced to make their additional charges more clear to the public, I expect if it had come up in this forum many would have jumped in saying "its all there in black & white, I cannot see how it could be made clearer"

Larsso30 wrote: »

Booking fee and service charge are two completly different things. Maybe those confused should read about the difference between them before complaining?

Maybe ticketmaster should just not mention it. They don't tell you the advertising costs involved, or the light & heat costs in their offices.

If this thread was in the gig forum I have no doubt it would have been very different...

total former

rubadub wrote: »

Maybe ticketmaster should just not mention it. They don't tell you the advertising costs involved, or the light & heat costs in their offices.

But then how do you advertise the fact that there are different costs associated with online vs physical purchases?

rubadub wrote: »

If this thread was in the gig forum I have no doubt it would have been very different...

Probably. You'd have a lot of people saying things like "Oh my god, you like Paolo Nutini, WTF??"

But the issue here is obviously that the OP doesn't avail of Ticketmaster's services very often, that wouldn't be the case in the gig forum where everyone should be fully aware of the costs.

ohnonotgmail

rubadub wrote: »

I would like the suggestions I made, the font size one was a small point, there are probably more minor ones. I mentioned the font size since that issue often comes up too -and was just illustrating that -yes, you could in fact make it clearer, if you wished to.

Those 2 posters were in effect saying they could not come up with any idea of how it could possibly be clearer. I came up with several. You say "yes seriously", about their comments, so can you confirm that you seriously think all my suggestions would have made it less clear? or just no difference at all.

Its in a slightly smaller font than the ticket price. If they made it the same size as the ticket price people would still be complaining. Its our national pastime.

rubadub

total former wrote: »

But then how do you advertise the fact that there are different costs associated with online vs physical purchases?

Very easy, you state the 3 prices, I thought people would have picked up this obvious way from my previous posts. And get rid of the mention of a booking fee, do you still not think they should at least do that? or do you think it is clearer when they do say it?

total former wrote: »

Probably. You'd have a lot of people saying things like "Oh my god, you like Paolo Nutini, WTF??"

Not what I was getting at. The gig forum is not frequented by as many legatlistic pedants as here, its comical sometimes, like watching a movie with a sleazy lawyer in court defending what many would think is clearly misleading or deceitful. People in denial that it could have been done any other way.

Also in the gig forum I expect many would have heard of this issue for many years and heard all sorts of confusion before about it. It comes up with reselling tickets too, on the likes of toutless, let alone amongst friends. When you get a ticket the service charge is usually only stated on the extra "receipt ticket".

Booking fee and service charge are two completly different things.

Need to learn the difference between booking and service chargrs

The Garth Brooks gig saw plenty of confusion about it. Here is an article.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ticketmaster-asked-to-refund-booking-fees-274794.html

Fans aren’t to blame, said Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony, calling on Ticketmaster to refund booking fees.

“Customers paid up to €6.10 per ticket, which quickly adds up if you are buying multiple tickets. In many cases, families had planned to go together, and if booking fees are not refunded they will be left considerably out of pocket.”

http://www.independent.ie/life/smart-consumer/do-we-have-to-pay-high-online-booking-charges-26525668.html

The cost of the tickets was €69.50 plus a €6.35 booking fee per ticket bringing the cost of the transaction to €758.50.

if you search boards.ie you will see loads of people using the terms interchangeably. If you can think of a reason to include mention of it I would love to hear it.

Larsso30

rubadub wrote: »

I would like the suggestions I made, the font size one was a small point, there are probably more minor ones. I mentioned the font size since that issue often comes up too -and was just illustrating that -yes, you could in fact make it clearer, if you wished to.

Those 2 posters were in effect saying they could not come up with any idea of how it could possibly be clearer. I came up with several. You say "yes seriously", about their comments, so can you confirm that you seriously think all my suggestions would have made it less clear? or just no difference at all.

The airline industry was forced to make their additional charges more clear to the public, I expect if it had come up in this forum many would have jumped in saying "its all there in black & white, I cannot see how it could be made clearer"

Maybe ticketmaster should just not mention it. They don't tell you the advertising costs involved, or the light & heat costs in their offices.

If this thread was in the gig forum I have no doubt it would have been very different...

Ticketmaster don't do the advertising, the promoters do?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

L1011

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Which is bloody ridiculous as the kiosk operator has to be paid a commission but the website clearly doesn't.

Only difference is a lot of them don't take cards but the processing fees a firm the size of Ticketmaster will have negotiated will be very small.

JimsAlterEgo

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

the charge is €2 I think for this concert at a kiosk? someone with better eyesight might clarify what's in the small print

jayobray

TM charge €2 at a kiosk, other outlets charge different prices per ticket, so it's not as easy as just printing it on the posters. The Sound Cellar, for example, charges €1 per ticket.