Ticket master rip off

hubballi

I booked 2 tickets to see Jean Michel Jarre at manchester Opera House for £65 each. Expensive but worth it (just) I phoned ticket master as the Opera House website,s online booking took me to them. I booked but to my horror they charged a £7 admin fee each as well as £3 postage. £17 added to the ticket fees which totals £147 !!!

I feel very angry about these rip off companys who make ou pay through the nose when you have already paid good money to see someone.

Chris25

I agree - it really ticks me off too. I can understand a single admin charge and p&p (if the tickets can't be collected in person) for the whole transaction, but not per seat.

saveaholic68

I agree I ordered some tickets for myself and my sister and they added a £10 charge.

photome

I am guessing that these ticket places only make their money from the admin fees.

I may be wrong of course.

If that is the case how much do you think is a fair charge for the company to make a profit?

superscaper

photome wrote: »

I am guessing that these ticket places only make their money from the admin fees.

I may be wrong of course.

If that is the case how much do you think is a fair charge for the company to make a profit?

Well this is their own explanation:

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Why do I have to pay a booking fee?
Ticketmaster bring tickets to customers via our ticket centres and into your home by telephone and the Internet. We are open seven days a week and twenty-four hours a day, Ticketmaster provides customers with the ability to save time and often money, by not having to travel to the box office to buy tickets. The booked fee is charged per ticket to pay for our credit/debit card processing services, merchant fees, the distribution network, the installation and maintenance of computer hardware and software, telephone lines, labour and all other costs associated with a ticket transaction.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]As an authorised ticket agent we negotiate our fees with venue operators, promoters and others based on costs involved in both their presentation and our ticketing of their events. The actual amount is determined by agreement with the venue or promoter for each event.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Please note that the booking fee is sometimes referred to as service charge or convenience charge.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Is the booking fee always the same no matter where I buy my tickets?
No, the Service Charge will vary depending upon where you purchase the tickets. There is typically no Service Charge when you visit a box office to purchase tickets. A Service Charge is applied when you purchase from the Internet, phone or ticket outlet.

Why is there also a handling charge?
The cost of our handling charge is used to operate a large postal and administrative department. This is responsible for the distribution of up to 10,000 letters per day. Tickets are generally sent out by first class, with an additional charge being sent out for special delivery.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]In accordance with the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) by whom we are regulated, a Ticketmaster agent or our internet sales site will always clearly identify the face value and any additional convenience or handling charge before proceeding with the transaction. This carefully scripted information is to ensure the customer knows how the total price is constructed consequently and gives them a choice to continue or decline.[/FONT]

LilMissEmmylou

photome wrote: »

I am guessing that these ticket places only make their money from the admin fees.

I may be wrong of course.

If that is the case how much do you think is a fair charge for the company to make a profit?

You are indeed correct And its with the agreement of those who want to sell the tickets that the ticketing agents can charge 10% (on average) as their commission. Which would mean you paid £6.50 ish for their commission on the tickets.

I know we all hate paying it but tbh they r providing a service and so should be paid, although i do wish they would charge those selling the tickets directly (so they would put up the prices to cover it) and then people would stop moaning about it

custardy

yup dont see a problem since you have the 'free' option of buying at the box office.
however often i see tickets sent out via standard 1st class which surprises me.
not all of them though,perhaps i depends on the tickets face value?

Chris25

custardy wrote: »

yup dont see a problem since you have the 'free' option of buying at the box office.

but the OP has stated that the venue's own site re-directed him to Ticketmaster so he may not have had the option of buying direct and avoiding the admin charges.

SUESMITH_2

A lot of venues sell only through ticket master, when you ring the box office it redirects you to them so unless you live locally and can get into the box office you have to pay their ridiculous fees.
i find it disgusting that their fees are so high, and you still pay a postage charge for each ticket even though they are posted out in on lot.

custardy

Chris25 wrote: »

but the OP has stated that the venue's own site re-directed him to Ticketmaster so he may not have had the option of buying direct and avoiding the admin charges.

well you would need to raise that issue with the venue/organiser.
they are saving money(i assdume) by using ticketmaster to sell the tickets

superscaper

From what I've read Ticketmaster get £1 profit from each concert ticket and £2 from each festival ticket (source: Independant) so if you want Ticketmaster to reduce their earnings even if they worked as a non profit organisation you're still only reducing the fees by a quid or so.