Not that this is a newsflash or anything, but holy living Christ God Almighty does Ticketmaster suck big, wet ones or what? I mean, REALLY? Are they EFFing serious?!?

Paul Lundgren Jul 24, 2009 21 Comments

Tickets to Daniel Johnston at First Avenue are $14 each. So, two tickets would be $28, right? That seems reasonable to me.

What? Oh, there’s a service charge. Well, I suppose that’s not a big deal. How much more could it be, really?

What? Over 60 percent more? All right, in that case I guess I’ll just throw my keyboard through my monitor and change my plans for Aug. 13.

Advance tickets/ages 18+ with valid ID — US $14.00 x 2
Total Building Facility Charge(s) — US $1.00 x 2
Total Convenience Charge(s) — US $4.95 x 2
Additional Taxes — US $0.74
Order Processing Charge(s) — US $4.57
Standard Mail — No Charge
TOTAL CHARGES US $45.21

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21 Comments

Danny G

about 14 years ago 

Plus, you're being doubly punished because you have to watch a Daniel Johnston show!

vicarious

about 14 years ago 

While both Danny G and Daniel Johnston are tortured, only one of them is a genius.

enealio

about 14 years ago 

if you're in the cities any time before that, you can get them service fee free at the fetus.

Danny G

about 14 years ago 

vicarious...I am definitely not a genius, but thank you.

Bret

about 14 years ago 

Only $4.95 for an entire batch of "conveniance"?  That's a bargain.  Actually, I bought my Bob Mould tickets through ticketmaster and don't recall all these fees (but maybe I should double check and pay closer attention!).  Then again, it's Bob Mould and it my anniversary of seeing him at 7th Street Entry 20 years ago right after Workbook came out.  Oh yeah.

Calk

about 14 years ago 

THey don't call it TicketBastard for nothing. Did you hear about the Springsteen bullshit, how people tried to get Springsteen tickets from Ticketmaster when they first went on sale for his last tour and TicketBastard re-directed people to their new website that re-sells tickets from people (like Stub Hub) for higher prices? The tickets had just gone on sale for god's sakes!

Danny G

about 14 years ago 

Didnt Pearl Jam try to stop TM a while back or something?  Whatever happened with that?

Also, I'm curious as to TM's political affiliations.  Does anyone know who those bastards support?  D's or R's or both?

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago 

"Pearl Jam bows to Ticketmaster"
New York Times, 1995

adEm

about 14 years ago 

I once waited in line AT the venue where the show would be. Line stretches out the door. Me and mine are somewhere between 5th and 10th.

The ball drops and within 30 seconds we are at a window.

"Row H."
"Sure."
"Oh those are sold."
"Row M?"

Etc. until we are practically reaching through hole in the glass for her throat. Anything, please, hit the GD button.

We got nosebleeds, and maybe if people were buying single seats, the 20th person could maybe MAYBE paid for a ticket.

You could go anywhere in the world and sign on the site and get better seats in less time than the poor mopes who spent their day being in the right time and the right place. That's what the "service" charge is, the license to fuck over jerks like me. You fly in from Podunksville and sit in the front row, and I get to listen to you get drunk and heckle from 300ft above.

How about, Ticketbastard has to wait 30 minutes seconds before they sell everything out. How about 30 seconds? How about Ticketbastard only sells even rows and the venue sells odd. How about only 1 Ticketbastard sale per 5 seconds? 

I feel strongly about this.

speechie

about 14 years ago 

Ticketmaster's crazy fees kept me from seeing Silversun Pickups next month. :(

Calk

about 14 years ago 

adEm, my friend and I went to the DECC to get tix to see Cher a few years ago. Long line snaking throughout the DECC. So we drove to my office and bought tix online. Not great seats, but I don't think we would have done better standing online. I agree with you -- the faster your Internet connection, the better your chance of scoring a ticket. It is unfair. And people like me with fast internet connections -- and scalpers -- benefit, while people who don't are screwed.

jenny

about 14 years ago 

My favorite is the 'convenience charge'. What a meaningless euphemism.

Barrett Chase

about 14 years ago 

Similar to the "convenience charge" is the charge some businesses (usually banks and utilities) charge you for paying your bill online versus through the mail. I can only guess this is to make up for the late fees they miss out on collecting when people pay their bills online in a timely manner, versus paying with a check and forgetting to bring the bill to the mailbox or drop-box on time.

Liz

about 14 years ago 

Oh, Paul, yer right - those g.d. service charges on the Tixmaster tix -yuck - after I agreed to buy a couple tix one time to a show it was like wtf?!  Doesn't matter what show, Tixmaster sure does get theirs on us doesn't it?  I agree with Jenny's comment, what "convenience charge"?

Purple

about 14 years ago 

The Mason Jenning's tickets I bought last fall were about 25% more with the ticketmaster fees. I was o.k. with it since I'd seen him for free so many times before.

wildgoose

about 14 years ago 

Barrett: The "convenience" charge for paying my mortgage over the phone is, I think, $16.  I know, you say, just pay it on time by check, and we often/usually do.  But if you are anywhere near late, they really have you over a barrel.  Plus I'm not so sure it's is "instead of" because if you pay by phone and are late then they get to charge for both.  Fees fees fees are just one more stream of revenue for a money-oriented, money grubbing industry. And Paul, Ticketmaster was a pioneer in this field.  I remember when I was very new to banking and ATMs were all free and they even gave you a free atm card with your account, even for savings.  If the money wasn't in there you didn't get it, no overdrafts, no nothing.  Plus they dispensed cash in $5 increments to make that easier.  What a bunch of pushers! That was a brilliant plan, getting ppl hooked on that convenience because now they are everywhere and so are the fees.  

In that movie "maxed out" (I think), someone says that banks and credit companies earn the overwhelming majority of their profits from the very lowest income people who are the most leveraged to begin with.

mrashley

about 14 years ago 

When I've safely booked tickets for shows in other parts of the country/world it is convenient, but it sucks for your own backyard.

mrs. g

about 14 years ago 

I'm seeing Tori Amos next week.  The tickets were 51.50 each.  After fees and crap two tickets came to 139 and change.  Geesh.

yada

about 14 years ago 

I'm skipping a Social Distortion show b/c of exorbitant fees by LiveNation....  $26 ticket with $13.50 in fees tacked on....  Bullshit, I just won't go... esp when I saw a kickass Supersucker's show for $15 earlier this summer.

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago 

By the way, my TicketMaster story has a happy ending.

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago 

And in a related story ...

First Avenue opposes the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger.

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