MSE News: Concert booking fees getting beyond a joke, Which? says

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Former_MSE_Helen
Former_MSE_Helen Posts: 2,382 Forumite
in Theatre, concert & events tickets
"Which? launches a push to reform fees that can add over a third extra to the cost of music, comedy and theatre tickets..."
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Concert booking fees getting beyond a joke, Which? says

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  • pawlala
    pawlala Posts: 1,416 Forumite
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    Still cheaper than the secondary market.
    Mortgage free I: 8th December 2009!
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  • matty_art
    matty_art Posts: 219 Forumite
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    pawlala wrote: »
    Still cheaper than the secondary market.

    Not really the point is it?

    What frustrates me is when bands have a pre-sale, you are forced to buy from one ticket vendor to guarantee tickets, so no opportunity to compare. Buying 2 tickets of £32 recently paid a booking fee of £2.95 per ticket, but then on top of that, a transaction fee of £6.50. It's never clear what these two different fees represent or what you get from them/how you can avoid them.

    Even buying from the venue doesn't help sometimes as the WMC in Cardiff tried to charge me £12 (£3 a ticket) just for paying with credit card recently. I just went over the road and withdrew £200 from a cash point instead.
  • nomoneytoday
    nomoneytoday Posts: 4,866 Forumite
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    I can understand paying for delivery, but £lots when simply posting 2nd class, or paying to print yourself is IMHO ridiculous :)
  • dawyldthing
    dawyldthing Posts: 3,438 Forumite
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    i know jason manford told people to boycott somewhere due to there fees. as for secondary tickets its all about timing as i went to the big reunion for 27.50, 5 rows from the front when it should have been 48 each
    :T:T :beer: :beer::beer::beer: to the lil one :) :beer::beer::beer:
  • Damian808
    Damian808 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    I go to many concerts so I spend a lot of money and time organising everything, but that doesn't make the extra fees and charges much more predictable.

    Apart from supporting the Which? campaign, my two pieces of advice would be to:

    - Sign up to Songkick and use their ticket comparison

    - If possible, try and find a ticket office near you for pickup (I use Stargreen as they're close to my work)
  • james_dean1986
    james_dean1986 Posts: 42 Forumite
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    I use the ticket factory quite a lot and noticed than when the regulations changed regardin booking fees, theirs simply changed to a fulfilment fee, then on top of that they charge an admin fee and a renovations levy.
    Booked some tickets the other day from the Wolves Civic... they charge you to print out your own tickets.
    Just all about squeezing every last penny out of you!
  • A_Flock_Of_Sheep
    A_Flock_Of_Sheep Posts: 5,332 Forumite
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    It's high time credit and debit card firms ban companies from charging more than the actual fee for processing the transaction. If they can't take cards their business would be in ruins.

    But if fees were banned they would simply be rolled into the ticket price.
  • matty_art
    matty_art Posts: 219 Forumite
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    A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »
    But if fees were banned they would simply be rolled into the ticket price.

    Which would at least be more transparent.
  • MrChips
    MrChips Posts: 1,010 Forumite
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    Is it just me, or did these fees not exist 10-15 years ago? Perhaps I'm looking through rose-tinted specs, but my recollection is that you used to pay a £1-£2 fee max when buying tickets, and that these would be per transaction rather than per ticket?? What's changed to justify the exponential increase?
    If I had a pound for every time I didn't play the lottery...
  • stuart1000
    stuart1000 Posts: 10 Forumite
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    I booked tickets to see Beyonce through her website on Saturday morning. Her website redirected you to an agency called Turnupgroup. On top of an £85 ticket they charged me £8.90 Convenience Fee per ticket, £4 Processing Fee per ticket and £11 for delivery. Overall, it ended up costing roughly £105 per ticket. That's almost a 20% increase in cost. Of course, by the time you know anything about these fees you've gone through the whole buying process and there is very little you can do.
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