Peter Kay tickets - cancelled but no refund of fees from Ticketmaster?

gavcradd · 13 December 2017 at 2:03PM

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In common with a lot of people, I booked tickets to Peter Kay's tour. He has cancelled the tour today and looking through Ticketmaster's terms and conditions, they will automatically offer a refund but minis the fees...

I paid £70 for two tickets, and another £8.80 in "service charge" and "facility charge" fees. I find these fees very high but just include them as part of the ticket price, but now the event has been cancelled and they won't be refunded... I can't accept that.

Any hints (or anyone else thinking about) how to claim the whole amount as a refund? I paid on my credit card, but as it's not over £100 it's not covered under section 75. Perhaps something along the lines of the fees not being actually necessary (millions of people each paying £8.80 when the actual cost is far less). Just thinking aloud.

Any input welcome!

lisyloo · 13 December 2017 at 2:12PM

I don't think you'll have any chance with this.
It pays for not only the website development and provision, but also tickets provision, delivery etc.
They will also have to pay for payment processing and keeping your details safe - this would involve anit-virus software, firewalls etc.
They will also keep backups of their data and test their backup and restore procedures.
All these cost still exist if the event is cancelled.

I'm sympathetic but I don't think you have any legal case, mainly because you ticked a box to say you accepted the Ts&Cs.

Which part of the above services do you think are unnecessary BTW?

I would agree that £8.80 is high for 2 tickets and I would have looked round for a cheaper alternative and probably paid it if there wasn't an alternative, but I don't think you can tick the box to say you "accept" the terms and conditions and then change your mind later. If they are totally unacceptable then you should boycott the event and ticketmaster.

In this case I'd advise just getting on with life and accepting it's just one of those things that has to be paid for and the ticket company still have all the costs even if you think they are too high.

briant2001 · 13 December 2017 at 2:21PM

haha - shop around for alternatives? Fact is Ticketmaster has a near monopoly on this, and now even on the disgraceful resale market.

I've bought 4 tickets with £4.90 fees per ticket - I had no choice but to pay this fee if I wanted to attend the event.

I begrudgingly on the rare occasion I get to go out, and would even understand them being high if the high on ALL events was to cover those they have to refund due to cancellations.

I refuse to believe it costs ticketmaster even NEARLY a fiver per ticket for infrastructure, particularly one that crashes anytime there's a massive event going on sale.

These fees ARE unfair and there is NO choice but to pay them if you want to attend an event - I think they should have NO choice but to refund them

There was a huge cancelled Grath Books fiasco in Dublin a few years ago and I seem to remember they refunded the fees then so... precedent set??

HogMan · 13 December 2017 at 2:21PM

It pays for not only the website development and provision, but also tickets provision, delivery etc.
They will also have to pay for payment processing and keeping your details safe - this would involve anit-virus software, firewalls etc.
They will also keep backups of their data and test their backup and restore procedures.

Given the volume of tickets that Ticketmaster sell those costs probably amount to no more than a few pence per ticket

lisyloo · 13 December 2017 at 2:39PM

There was a huge cancelled Grath Books fiasco in Dublin a few years ago and I seem to remember they refunded the fees then so... precedent set??

If they voluntarily chose to do this, then I don't think it sets any precedent in a legal sense.
If you want to start a campaign then I'll join you but you'll actually need to find some hard evidence to back up statements like

These fees ARE unfair

those costs probably amount to no more than a few pence per ticket

Ticketmaster has a near monopoly on this

Apologies, I buy tickets to shows in London ALL the time (like every other night) and I usually have a choice of ticket sellers. I do spend some time shopping around to get the cheapest or one that offers the best service (like choice of seats). Most often I have a choice, but I appreciate on ocassions you don't.
I almost never use ticketmast and use ATG, SEE tickets, delfont mackintosh, direct with the theatre or eventim.

I would say I have a very strong sense of fairness, but on this occassion I think I'd live with it for £8.80 as it can (depending on your disposition) be quite damaging emotionally and to your health to get wound up about things.

There is still of course the (legal) argument to overcome that you ticked the box at the time. I'm not sure you can claim it was under-duress when you had a choice not to go.

lisyloo · 13 December 2017 at 2:47PM

Given the volume of tickets that Ticketmaster sell those costs probably amount to no more than a few pence per ticket

I don't think this is true.
For example, visa & mastercard probably charge a few %.
Then if they are using a payment system e.g. something like sage pay then that's probably a fixed % on top.
I cannot justify £8.80, but I do think the combined costs of website, infrastructure, payment system and payment processing fees will be easily more than a few pence per ticket.

I am not sure how you would prove such figures are unfair.

briant2001 · 13 December 2017 at 3:21PM

isn't it interesting though that if I brought a purchase back to Debenhams because it was unsuitable they don't start to argue about refunding me minus a processing fee because they use a payment processing system - as a retail business they take it on the chin because they want your future custom.

For most major events (outside London) there are 2 big ticket sellers Ticketmaster and GigsandTours - both of whom charge booking fees so if you want to go to an event you have to accept them and as the OP stated you kind of accept it as part of the cost of what you're paying, so while it is not under duress I would certainly make the argument that they are benefiting from a pretty unfair system with no where nearly enough competition.

A few more entrants into the market and you'd see each trying to undercut the other.

The fact that TM owns reselling sites where much greater fees are charged - where tickets become available minutes after big tours sell out also sits uncomfortably, but legalised touting is another discussion

BuffalloBill · 13 December 2017 at 3:48PM

I got an email from Eventim saying all fees and postage being reimbursed and Ticketmaster have stated they are doing the same. Could be Mr Kay had something to do with that decisions ??

glentoran99 · 13 December 2017 at 3:51PM

If a concert or gig is cancelled all fees are usually refunded

glentoran99 · 13 December 2017 at 3:56PM

https://help.ticketmaster.co.uk/cancelled-altered-events/cancelled-altered-events/

We're more than happy to issue refunds for cancelled and rescheduled events. If your event is cancelled, we'll usually issue a refund automatically.

If your event is rescheduled, we'll need you to return any tickets you've received to our address below, and once we have them back we'll refund the face value plus the service charge onto your card

spadoosh · 13 December 2017 at 4:03PM

Out of curiousity whats deemed fair?

I think people need to be careful about this.

I mean i could hire a cleaner, they might want to charge me £12.50 an hour. It certainly doesnt cost that much, it probably costs about 37p in direct costs depending on how much their public liability is.

Even better, lets look at accountants. Fantastic value for money so everyone who suggests people should see an accountant if starting up a business says yet they have one of the highest mark ups in any industry.

Solicitors do the same, why? because they can.

Its a case of people needing their hands held. If you dont wnat to pay it and deem it unfair, its really simple, dont pay it. You wont get the tickets but your point will be made, if everyone agrees they wont sell tickets and might think about dropping the fees. People are wanting the laws/government to do something because they dont want to miss out but carrying on paying the fees.

Theres normally always choices, the problem is its up to you which ones you take.

Peter Kay tickets - cancelled but no refund of fees from Ticketmaster?

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