Ticketmaster Still Pissing Me Off After All These Years
I have to apologize for Ticketmaster. They are corporate assholes that
are ruining the concert industry. We have talked about this in depth in
the past (link). It has been a while since I have had to use Ticketmaster to
buy tickets.
In Philadelphia, our concert venues tickets are sold through Comcasttix or Live Nation. Now Live Nation isn't much better than Ticketmaster, but at least they TRY to get your business through their "NO Service Fees" policy (link). The fees for Comcasttix are not as bad as Ticketmaster.
I bought a 24.00 Danzig ticket last night. My total price (fees included) was 45.00. For those math challenged individuals, that is an increase of 21.00 dollars over top of the ticket fee. I got nailed with a Convenience charge, an order processing charge, a building facility charge, and a Ticketfast charge (which was mandatory).
This article we wrote (link) breaks down the different fees. I'll give you a quick synopsis though:
Convenience fee is a fee that allows Ticketmaster to keep their website up and running at all time. It is for YOUR convenience to buy tickets anytime you want.
Building Facility - used by the building for security
Order Processing - a fee for buying tickets online or by phone and sending you those tickets.
How many companies do you buy from online? How many of them charge YOU for the convenience of being open 24 hours a day online? Does Amazon or Wal-Mart.com charge you a convenience fee for buying on their site? Nope. Do they charge you an order processing fee to package your purchase? Nope. Sure they charge you for shipping and I am ok with that because they shouldn't have to pay to ship MY item to me.
However, Ticketmaster forced me to use Ticketfast. That is a PDF of my tickets. They didn't ship my tickets to me. They didn't arrange for me to pick up my ticket at the box office. They are creating a PDF and sending it to my email. No reason for an order processing fee.
It has been a while where I had to buy tickets through Ticketmaster and I have forgotten what a luxury it is NOT to deal with them. Instead of using Ticketmaster, you should use Barry's Tickets for all your ticket needs. You don't pay service fees on Barry's Tickets.
In Philadelphia, our concert venues tickets are sold through Comcasttix or Live Nation. Now Live Nation isn't much better than Ticketmaster, but at least they TRY to get your business through their "NO Service Fees" policy (link). The fees for Comcasttix are not as bad as Ticketmaster.
I bought a 24.00 Danzig ticket last night. My total price (fees included) was 45.00. For those math challenged individuals, that is an increase of 21.00 dollars over top of the ticket fee. I got nailed with a Convenience charge, an order processing charge, a building facility charge, and a Ticketfast charge (which was mandatory).
This article we wrote (link) breaks down the different fees. I'll give you a quick synopsis though:
Convenience fee is a fee that allows Ticketmaster to keep their website up and running at all time. It is for YOUR convenience to buy tickets anytime you want.
Building Facility - used by the building for security
Order Processing - a fee for buying tickets online or by phone and sending you those tickets.
How many companies do you buy from online? How many of them charge YOU for the convenience of being open 24 hours a day online? Does Amazon or Wal-Mart.com charge you a convenience fee for buying on their site? Nope. Do they charge you an order processing fee to package your purchase? Nope. Sure they charge you for shipping and I am ok with that because they shouldn't have to pay to ship MY item to me.
However, Ticketmaster forced me to use Ticketfast. That is a PDF of my tickets. They didn't ship my tickets to me. They didn't arrange for me to pick up my ticket at the box office. They are creating a PDF and sending it to my email. No reason for an order processing fee.
It has been a while where I had to buy tickets through Ticketmaster and I have forgotten what a luxury it is NOT to deal with them. Instead of using Ticketmaster, you should use Barry's Tickets for all your ticket needs. You don't pay service fees on Barry's Tickets.
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6/20/2010 11:55 AM
Blogs N' Roses wrote:
A long line snaked around the block awaiting entrance to The Trocadero on Arch Street in Philadelphia on Saturday June 19, 2010. Taking stock of the line revealed a gaggle of individuals who haven't seen the sun light since 1990 or earlier. They also haven't changed their wardrobe (black shirt, black pants) since then. The only man who can bring these individuals from the basement is the timeless Glenn Danzig. I have never seen someone hold to the "No Photography, No Audio" policy as Danzig does. He is serious about his picture not being taken during ...
Ticketbastard.
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I hear you Craig. I gave up on Ticketmaster and the likes years ago, and get my tickets from ticket brokers like CelebritySeats.com.
I might pay more for the tickets, but at least I know that I'm getting good seats.
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