Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Ticketmaster not refunding service fees

2»

Comments

  • #52
    PTH2009
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 38,910 ✭✭✭✭PTH2009


    applied for a refund today

    Id prefer my money back and then buy a ticket newer to the new date if i feel arsed going


  • #53
    Irishphotodesk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭Irishphotodesk


    Deleted User wrote: »
    They don't have to deal with 5k people when they sell tickets for a gig with 5k capacity, they only have to deal with the small minority of those 5k who have issues, want a refund etc.

    Now though for these rescheduled events they have to deal with a much larger fraction of these people. That plus the fact they are likely currently short-staffed and also have to deal with rescheduling many events all at once means you are not comparing like-for-like.

    If it's only been a week, I wouldn't stress too much. Many companies take much longer to issue a refund with or without a pandemic. While I'm completely on the bandwagon for hating Ticketmaster for not refunding service fees, I'm not judging them too harshly in terms of the speed of refunds as I think they're doing fine in that regard given the current circumstances.

    Maybe I didn’t make my point clearer..... when they are selling tickets, there isn’t an orderly queue, there’s usually over 5000 people (mainly online) trying to get tickets at the same time....hence my comment about them being able to deal with over 5k people when it comes to ticket sales.

    As regards the timeframe, the government announced, no public gatherings of people on 27march,
    - they announced gigs and things involving groups of 5000 or more will not happen until at least September on 21 April.
    The band announced the European leg of the tour is not happening 3 weeks ago.
    https://www.loudersound.com/news/guns-n-roses-cancel-european-tour

    So TM have had from 21 April to offer people something, even an email to say, gig isn’t going ahead, just so we know are you more interested in refund or happy to wait for rearranged date....this could have helped them to have a list of people seeking refunds and a list of people happy to wait, instead they have said (in the case of this gig anyway) .... it isn’t cancelled yet, it it’s cancelled yet, we haven’t heard that it’s cancelled.

    I’m frustrated that they have chosen to ignore the ticket buyers who have asked for a refund, financially I’m struggling massively, I have had 15days of work since mid March and don’t receive payments from the government (I had Covid payment for a few weeks but because I was offered and took some work, I’m earning less than Covid payment but I’m working and have applied for unemployment benefit, being self employed with effectively 2contracts and seasonal work means I have to jump through massive hoops to be assessed.

    It may only be €200 but it could be the difference in paying a electric or gas bill or both, I would prefer if TM gave me my money, they have had it since last December when I purchased the tickets.


  • #54
    Irishphotodesk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭Irishphotodesk


    Just also to add .... Ticketmaster still have tickets for sale for this gig, so they are happy to continue taking money knowing this gig can’t/won’t go ahead.


  • #55
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Maybe I didn’t make my point clearer..... when they are selling tickets, there isn’t an orderly queue, there’s usually over 5000 people (mainly online) trying to get tickets at the same time....hence my comment about them being able to deal with over 5k people when it comes to ticket sales.

    Yeah but again that's an automated process, not the same thing as issuing refunds one at a time.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    As regards the timeframe, the government announced, no public gatherings of people on 27march,
    - they announced gigs and things involving groups of 5000 or more will not happen until at least September on 21 April.
    The band announced the European leg of the tour is not happening 3 weeks ago.
    https://www.loudersound.com/news/guns-n-roses-cancel-european-tour

    So TM have had from 21 April to offer people something, even an email to say, gig isn’t going ahead, just so we know are you more interested in refund or happy to wait for rearranged date....this could have helped them to have a list of people seeking refunds and a list of people happy to wait, instead they have said (in the case of this gig anyway) .... it isn’t cancelled yet, it it’s cancelled yet, we haven’t heard that it’s cancelled.

    As a business, they have decided it's better to wait until they have a confirmed date for the rescheduled gig so that people don't all ask for refunds when it turns out that many of them would have attended on the rescheduled date had they known what the date was. Perhaps not the best approach in some people's minds, but not the worst either. However, if you are annoyed by the long time it took to reschedule the gig, the blame is on the promoter and not on Ticketmaster. It is at least not as bad as some ticket agents who are merely offering credit and not cash refunds.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    I’m frustrated that they have chosen to ignore the ticket buyers who have asked for a refund, financially I’m struggling massively, I have had 15days of work since mid March and don’t receive payments from the government (I had Covid payment for a few weeks but because I was offered and took some work, I’m earning less than Covid payment but I’m working and have applied for unemployment benefit, being self employed with effectively 2contracts and seasonal work means I have to jump through massive hoops to be assessed.

    It may only be €200 but it could be the difference in paying a electric or gas bill or both, I would prefer if TM gave me my money, they have had it since last December when I purchased the tickets.

    I understand that that can be difficult and I'm sorry to hear it's placed a burden on you. I'm sure there are many people who have a similar financial strain but who don't have the added benefit of knowing they will get a Ticketmaster refund soon down the line. But again, I'm sorry to hear that.


  • #56
    Irishphotodesk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭Irishphotodesk


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Yeah but again that's an automated process, not the same thing as issuing refunds one at a time.
    Given that gigs are not permitted to happen, it should be simple ...automate the process of issuing refunds and issue everyone with a refund.

    Or as I suggested, contact people and see if they prefer a refund or wait, so they could create a list which could be used to automatically refund people.

    Deleted User wrote: »
    As a business, they have decided it's better to wait until they have a confirmed date for the rescheduled gig so that people don't all ask for refunds when it turns out that many of them would have attended on the rescheduled date had they known what the date was. Perhaps not the best approach in some people's minds, but not the worst either. However, if you are annoyed by the long time it took to reschedule the gig, the blame is on the promoter and not on Ticketmaster. It is at least not as bad as some ticket agents who are merely offering credit and not cash refunds.
    Ticketmaster are the ones I gave my money to .... not the promoter, Ticketmaster are the point of contact for me if I’m purchasing a ticket, do you blame the manufacturer if a shop sells you a bad product... you bring it back to the shop, ie your point of contact.... hence why Ticketmaster are the ones I BLAME
    Deleted User wrote: »
    I understand that that can be difficult and I'm sorry to hear it's placed a burden on you. I'm sure there are many people who have a similar financial strain but who don't have the added benefit of knowing they will get a Ticketmaster refund soon down the line. But again, I'm sorry to hear that.

    I’m sorry but that’s just utterly condescending..... the added benefit of knowing they will get a Ticketmaster refund, really.


  • #57
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Given that gigs are not permitted to happen, it should be simple ...automate the process of issuing refunds and issue everyone with a refund.

    If the gig is cancelled, then yes. If it's rescheduled, no. There would be many people (including myself) very annoyed to find out that they got automatically refunded without asking minus their booking fee and then had to re-book tickets again.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Or as I suggested, contact people and see if they prefer a refund or wait, so they could create a list which could be used to automatically refund people.

    Again, as a business, they know that many people who who will ask for refunds would have instead kept their tickets if they had known when the rescheduled date was.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Ticketmaster are the ones I gave my money to .... not the promoter, Ticketmaster are the point of contact for me if I’m purchasing a ticket, do you blame the manufacturer if a shop sells you a bad product... you bring it back to the shop, ie your point of contact.... hence why Ticketmaster are the ones I BLAME

    If a product that is being a sold in a shop is being recalled for whatever reason, then I blame the manufacturer of that product, not the shop.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    I’m sorry but that’s just utterly condescending..... the added benefit of knowing they will get a Ticketmaster refund, really.

    My apologies if it sounds condescending, that was not my intent. But like I said, they are fully within their rights to simply issue you credit for a refund like many other ticket selling agencies are doing, so I would just be thankful that they aren't doing that. :)


  • #58
    GoldenTickets
    Closed Accounts Posts: 469 ✭✭GoldenTickets


    Surprised by the ludicrous defence of Ticketmaster being made on here. As if Ticketmaster have the ticket holders best interests at heart! TMs priority right now is to hold on to concertgoers money for as long as they possibly can. No surprise there - big business gonna big business.

    The suggestion that TM just want to ensure ticket holders are fully aware of rescheduled dates and that's why they're not making the refund process easier is laughable. There is nothing stopping them from stating clearly that refunds will be made available when they announce a concert date is to be rescheduled - they're deliberately not doing that because they want to buy time and keep a hold of as much money as possible for as long as possible. It's the height of naivety to believe there is any other motivation behind it.

    Punters have enough sense to decide for themselves whether they'll be able to make a rescheduled date. If most people are going to hold onto their tickets anyway then what do TM have to fear by facilitating straightforward refunds for those who don't wish to do so?

    By all means cheerlead TM if your a fan of their shady business practices, but the suggestion that they're champions of the people really belongs in the Humour forum.


  • #59
    hynesie08
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,866 ✭✭✭hynesie08


    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Just also to add .... Ticketmaster still have tickets for sale for this gig, so they are happy to continue taking money knowing this gig can’t/won’t go ahead.

    If you actually buy tickets for a gig this summer at this point, you probably shouldn't be trusted with a credit card anyway......


  • #60
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    GoldenTickets wrote: »
    Surprised by the ludicrous defence of Ticketmaster being made on here. As if Ticketmaster have the ticket holders best interests at heart! TMs priority right now is to hold on to concertgoers money for as long as they possibly can. No surprise there - big business gonna big business.

    Ticketmaster are holding on to the money they make from your tickets (the service fee) either way so the point you're trying to make makes no sense.

    Ticketmaster would actually make the most profit if they immediately refunded everyone (minus the service fee) as they would make on average twice as much from service fees from each gig than they usually would when people then go and buy tickets for the rescheduled dates.


  • Advertisement
  • #61
    Zardoz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,890 ✭✭✭Zardoz


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Ticketmaster are holding on to the money they make from your tickets (the service fee) either way so the point you're trying to make makes no sense.

    No they aren't.
    They have to refund the service charges on tickets they sold before they changed their terms last month .

    Ticketmaster are technically only the service agent ,they sell the tickets on behalf of the promoter.
    The face value fee collected then goes to the promoter so its effectively the promoter who have the bulk of the money now.

    However the dominant promoter in Ireland happens to be MCD which is owned by Livenation who also own Ticketmaster.
    So Ticketmaster are both the promoter ,service agent and in some cases venue owner.
    They have their finger in alot of pies .
    Ticketmaster would actually make the most profit if they immediately refunded everyone (minus the service fee) as they would make on average twice as much from service fees from each gig than they usually would when people then go and buy tickets for the rescheduled dates.

    Ideally they do not want to refund customers as that means extra work for staff and it also means unsold tickets that will have to be resold in an uncertain climate .
    Those tickets may not be rebought and Livenation will lose out as well as other promoters.


  • #62
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Zardoz wrote: »
    No they aren't.
    They have to refund the service charges on tickets they sold before they changed their terms last month .

    You're right. So they'll make a loss on refunding some tickets and a profit on refunding others. But anyone who has a mindset of seeing Ticketmaster as a "shady business" just because they don't like that their service fees exists in the first place is going to see them as taking the greedier option whichever of those two options they pick.
    Zardoz wrote: »
    Ticketmaster are technically only the service agent ,they sell the tickets on behalf of the promoter.
    The face value fee collected then goes to the promoter so its effectively the promoter who have the bulk of the money now.

    However the dominant promoter in Ireland happens to be MCD which is owned by Livenation who also own Ticketmaster.
    So Ticketmaster are both the promoter ,service agent and in some cases venue owner.
    They have their finger in alot of pies .

    Ideally they do not want to refund customers as that means extra work for staff and it also means unsold tickets that will have to be resold in an uncertain climate .
    Those tickets may not be rebought and Livenation will lose out as well as other promoters.

    Don't you mean that Livenation are the promoter, service agent and in some cases venue owner?

    Anyway, I think the idea that they are not releasing refunds immediately because their parent company sat them down and told them not to is a bit far-fetched. It's much more likely that they believe many people would actually want to attend the gigs on the rescheduled dates and would be annoyed if their tickets were cancelled without notice (myself included, I have great seats for a gig! :D).


  • #63
    Irishphotodesk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭Irishphotodesk


    Deleted User wrote: »
    It's much more likely that they believe many people would actually want to attend the gigs on the rescheduled dates and would be annoyed if their tickets were cancelled without notice (myself included, I have great seats for a gig! :D).

    Why not give the people that option.... why not send batch emails out to those who purchased tickets and see who wants money back, who wants to hold on?

    To be fair, this gig isn’t sold out and was not sold out prior to pandemic, so the likelihood is very slim that someone would be upset/annoyed if they were refunded and told you can purchase again if/when it’s rescheduled.

    Ticketmaster could easily facilitate those who want their money, but are choosing to ignore them, the problem with that tactic is that those disgruntled customers will eventually grow to a point where Ticketmaster will need to address the situation publicly.


  • #64
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Why not give the people that option.... why not send batch emails out to those who purchased tickets and see who wants money back, who wants to hold on?

    Again, as I stated twice already, they are a profit-making business and they know that many people who who will ask for refunds would have instead kept their tickets if they had known when the rescheduled date was.
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    To be fair, this gig isn’t sold out and was not sold out prior to pandemic, so the likelihood is very slim that someone would be upset/annoyed if they were refunded and told you can purchase again if/when it’s rescheduled.

    Try telling that to the people who were refreshing the page like crazy to get front-row seats. :pac:
    Irishphotodesk wrote: »
    Ticketmaster could easily facilitate those who want their money, but are choosing to ignore them, the problem with that tactic is that those disgruntled customers will eventually grow to a point where Ticketmaster will need to address the situation publicly.

    It's purely a combination of being short-staffed and having to deal with an unheard of amount of rescheduling/ refunding all at once. They are facilitating everyone just fine, you're going to get your refund and you know you will. It's not like they're just sitting at their desks and twiddling their thumbs in the hopes that you forget you bought your ticket and don't ask for a refund.

    And they won't need to address anything publicly, they are taking the same approach as the majority of other ticket selling agencies.

    I booked a gig in Manchester and only received a credit refund for the cancelled gig, and that credit can only be used on gigs in the UK as the promoter doesn't do gigs in Ireland. So I now have to hope and pray that I can find a different gig that I'm somewhat interested in before the credit expires in one year and that also has flights nearly as cheap as my flights for my original gig. So, it could be worse. :pac:


  • #65
    okidoki987
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,625 ✭✭✭✭okidoki987


    Be thankful for what we have!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-8370485/Tickets-seller-Eventim-accused-penalising-customers.html

    Seemingly the world's 2nd biggest ticket selling site (I've never heard of them!), taking 12-14% of ticket price before refunding the money. :eek:


  • #66
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,482 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    Yep, Ticketmaster left me a few £ short on my refund for a rescheduled gig. Not good enough really.


  • Advertisement
  • #67
    okidoki987
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,625 ✭✭✭✭okidoki987


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    Yep, Ticketmaster left me a few £ short on my refund for a rescheduled gig. Not good enough really.

    Which gig?
    It's only kicked in since the **** hit the fan and they changed the refund process.


  • #68
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,482 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    okidoki987 wrote: »
    Which gig?
    It's only kicked in since the **** hit the fan and they changed the refund process.

    The Weeknd in London. I called them up on it and they're refunding the handling fee "as a one time gesture of goodwill". How nice of them.


  • #69
    okidoki987
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,625 ✭✭✭✭okidoki987


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    The Weeknd in London. I called them up on it and they're refunding the handling fee "as a one time gesture of goodwill". How nice of them.

    It sure is or maybe it was because it said it in their t&c's before they changed them!


  • #70
    LillySV
    Registered Users Posts: 1,750 ✭✭✭LillySV


    Lads after all my moaning we got our money back today :)


  • #71
    CBCB
    Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭CBCB


    I requested a refund for GNR about three weeks ago and it was refunded in full, including booking fee yesterday so no complaints here.

    I may well decide to go to the new date but will make that decision next year.


  • Advertisement
  • #72
    Sheog
    Registered Users Posts: 200 ✭✭Sheog


    Ticketmaster are an absolute cartel and are allowed to operate as they see fit. They don't have any real competitors (in the Irish market anyway) which means they can charge whatever they like and get away with things like sneakily changing their T&Cs, not providing clear steps for refunds and poor customer service.

    The competition authority should force them to provide clear refund information on their website, their app and when they are informing customers via e-mail of rescheduled events.

    After spending ages on their website and their app to try to find out how to request a refund, I rang their Irish customer service number. Waited about 25 mins and when I eventually got through the girl I spoke to said she couldn't issue a refund over the phone that I had to go through the website.

    She told me to click on the Covid information link and fill out a contact request form. (Nothing at all anywhere actually saying 'click here to request a refund') She then said you will get 2 generic e-mails back and you need to specifically reply to the second one requesting a refund, which will only then put you in a queue for a refund. Eventually someone will asses your case and confirm back if they will refund you, and a refund can take up to 60 days.

    By the end of all that I felt that I nearly had to promise them my first born child! I eventually did get a reply saying 'Good news, we will give you a refund'. (I was thinking to myself; I should bloody expect as much buddy!)

    Anyway, a simple solution would be for ticket master to stick a link to a refund form on the e-mails that they send out informing fans of a change of date or venue.


  • #73
    hkjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 396 ✭✭hkjohn


    Agreed. TM are the absolute pits.

    When the Who were rescheduled for 5/3/21, there was no offer of a refund, just notice of the - rather optimistic - rescheduling.

    A few weeks later, I received an email letting me know that the Grant Lee Philips show I had tickets for in October had been rescheduled for the same night.

    Of the two, I'd far rather see GLP (smaller act, more intimate venue). When I asked TM to cancel my Who ticket about six weeks ago, they sent back some number and then nothing.

    When I re-issued the request the same time last week, the same thing happened.


    EDIT: In fairness to Ticketmaster, they did refund me the cost of the Who ticket but unfortunately do not seem to have emailed me to let me know


  • #74
    r0chf0rt
    Registered Users Posts: 262 ✭✭r0chf0rt


    hkjohn wrote: »
    Agreed. TM are the absolute pits.

    When the Who were rescheduled for 5/3/21, there was no offer of a refund, just notice of the - rather optimistic - rescheduling.

    A few weeks later, I received an email letting me know that the Grant Lee Philips show I had tickets for in October had been rescheduled for the same night.

    Of the two, I'd far rather see GLP (smaller act, more intimate venue). When I asked TM to cancel my Who ticket about six weeks ago, they sent back some number and then nothing.

    When I re-issued the request the same time last week, the same thing happened.

    Absolute disgrace

    The default mail they send in reply to a refund request is just some generic text and it states that the case is now closed. You need to reply to this requesting the refund again to reopen the case. Once you do this the refund will be approved and you will get the cash back in 3 or 4 days.


  • #75
    okidoki987
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,625 ✭✭✭✭okidoki987


    Just make sure you get the full refund including the service fee.


  • #76
    hkjohn
    Registered Users Posts: 396 ✭✭hkjohn


    Cheers, guys


  • #77
    phunkadelic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 971 ✭✭✭phunkadelic


    r0chf0rt wrote: »
    The default mail they send in reply to a refund request is just some generic text and it states that the case is now closed. You need to reply to this requesting the refund again to reopen the case. Once you do this the refund will be approved and you will get the cash back in 3 or 4 days.

    Yeah they send an automatic reply mail to acknowledge your request, but it assumes that you require no assistance (sly on their part)
    So just reply to that mail to say you still need help.

    If you don't reply the ticket is automatically closed


  • #78
    bayslarry
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭bayslarry


    okidoki987 wrote: »
    Just make sure you get the full refund including the service fee.
    Well, my friend I having been many time at Ticket Master and I had many time booked ticket for myself and my loved ones and also cancel it but they never provided me service. So, you might be also. If you did like to have full refund follow Ticketmaster Return Policy in order to fulfill their policy for return. For claiming the ticket insurance, call on (800) 334-7525.


Advertisement