Ticket selling practices under fire
February 10 2009 by Ellen Roseman
Companies usually co-operate when I send them complaints. But tracking down a contact at Ticketmaster Entertainment to get things resolved wasn’t easy, as I mentioned in my column last Saturday
Ticketmaster spokesman Albert Lopez in California has his hands full. No wonder he’s slow to respond to media calls.
Last week, rocker Bruce Springsteen complained that New Jersey concert buyers were redirected to TicketsNow, a resale site owned by Ticketmaster, when box office tickets were still available.
This week, two law firms launched a class action lawsuit, seeking $500 million in compensation for contravention of anti-scalping laws in Ontario.
And yesterday, Ticketmaster announced a merger with Live Nation, a big concert promoter that was planning to sell tickets directly to the public in competition with its former partner. Critics say they’ll fight for a review under U.S. anti-trust laws.
Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Canada, is critical of Ticketmaster’s sales practices. Tickets for the Springsteen concert in Toronto on May 7, which went on sale last Friday at noon, were gone two hours later. But he found 894 tickets available for sale above their face value at TicketsNow.com.
“I was shocked to see so many resale tickets at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, which has a capacity of 17,000,” he says. “They have to be scalpers selling them. This isn’t just a convenience for those who can’t go to the performance.”
Check out the Consumerist’s attack on Ticketmaster, “an evil monpoly that steals cash from defenseless consumers.”
Even when you buy tickets from the box office, you may pay about 30 per cent extra in surcharges. The most annoying is the convenience charge, the price you pay for printing out the tickets you bought.
CBC Marketplace ran an item on Ticketmaster last month.
We buy a couple of seats to Britney Spears’ top-selling concert tour from Ticketmaster for $65 each. We get hit with a $4.25 service charge and a “convenience fee.”
Over at TicketsNow, the reseller site that Ticketmaster owns, we find tickets in the same section but the price is 50 per cent higher. And off those second-hand Britney Spears tickets, they take 15 per cent of the resale price.
So TicketMaster, you’re busted for double dipping, making money off the same tickets, twice.
SR
Feb 10 2009
We have been reading your columns for ages. There is a lot of subjects we can relate to and thank you for bringing them to the public’s attention. Also thank you for all the help you have been giving to people who are at their wit’s end trying to solve consumer problems.
My focus here today is Ticketmaster. My husband and I have had a very sad experience.
We had tickets for the Neil Diamond concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto for Dec. 3 last year at 8 pm. We arrived early and were in our seats when my husband seemed to pass out (just before the concert started).
The ACC sent emergency services who attended to him, then took him out by stretcher to a room on another level. They revived him and then called an ambulance who took him to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where he spent the evening and was released. Of course, we missed the whole concert.
A few days later, my daughter tried phoning Ticketmaster. It took many tries (many days) to get through their lines. She was told it was too late to get a refund. The tickets cost a total of $274.25. I have the tickets and receipt of payment.
This sounds similar to your column of Feb. 7. Do you think you could possibly help us as well? It doesn’t look like my husband will be attending any more concerts in the future.
PT
Feb 10 2009
On Nov. 23, 2008 I placed an online order for tickets for a play in Toronto. I used my President’s Choice Financial MasterCard to pay.
As soon as I had completed the transaction, I realized that I had made the purchase through Northside Tickets, a merchant in Texas.
This did not make sense to me, as the event was to take place in Toronto and I live in Oshawa, 65 km away.
I immediately tried to contact the vendor by email and telephone to cancel the transaction. The email I sent was returned with a ‘permanent error’ message and there was no voice message capability at the listed telephone number.
I then immediately contacted PC Financial MasterCard. I was told the transaction could not be stopped as it was electronic. The individual I spoke with checked my account and told me that the transaction had not gone through.
Later I again checked with PC Financial MasterCard. I was told that the transaction had still not been processed. I was also told that since the transaction did not show by this time, it was likely there had been a problem at the vendor’s end — and in view of the time that had passed, it was unlikely that the transaction would go through.
Based on this information and the commitment I had made to take my grandchildren to the play, I purchased five more tickets from Ticketmaster at a cost of $274.25.
I was, therefore, shocked to see my credit card statement of Nov. 27 with a charge of $795.03 from Northside. It was also glaring that on my bill, this transaction was listed after my transaction with Ticketmaster.
I made the second transaction based on a statement that the first transaction would not go through by an employee of PC Financial MasterCard. Their tape of that conversation confirms this comment was made.
The information was inaccurate and should not have been communicated. Staff at PC Financial MasterCard has acknowledged that their employee acted inappropriately. In my most recent conversation, I was offered 20,000 PC Points as compensation for my troubles!
I believe that PC Financial MasterCard has erred. That error resulted in my spending an additional $274.25 unnecessarily and I believe I should be reimbursed for their error.
I have tried to escalate it within PC Financial MasterCard and have been told that it is pointless as they are not prepared to budge!
KH
Feb 10 2009
I knew exactly what website I was using and it was http://www.ticketmaster.com. At no time was I aware that I had been transferred to TicketsNow in the U.S.
As far as I was concerned, I was buying: 4 x $65 (CDN) tickets to Disney on Ice at the Rogers Centre.
The site made it appear the tickets were moving very quickly and gave me a limited time to complete the transaction, therefore I’d better decide fast.
Yes, I did agree to pay $517.55 (Canadian) for four $65 tickets. It wasn’t until I ended the transaction and did the math that I realized something was out of whack.
If that wasn’t bad enough, my Visa bill came in and the $517.55 (Canadian) was now $654.80 (U.S.) after the currency conversion.
Then it got even worse. The tickets arrived, in someone else’s name, and they were $35 seats, not the $65 seats I had originally entered.
I was furious and called the 800 number on the ticket and I was told that they were owned by Ticketmaster. When Ticketmaster didn’t have the seat I requested, I was automatically transferred to TicketsNow… but at no time was I ever aware of this fact.
I could have gone to the Rogers Centre and bought four $65 seats for $270, but due to health issues, that was not possible. How is this legal?
HL
Feb 10 2009
I have been scammed by Ticketmaster.ca. My daughter likes Brad Paisley. I decided to take her to the Brad Paisley show at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
I went to Ticketmaster.ca as a trusted source to get tickets on Jan. 30. I chose two tickets in the $49.50 price level and proceeded to checkout.
The bill showed $106, plus a service charge of $15.90 and shipping charge of $29.95. I accepted the transaction.
Then, the total transaction from TicketsNow was displayed as 2 x $106, plus service charge of 2 x $15.90 and shipping of $29.95. Total $273.75. ALL CHARGES IN U. S. DOLLARS.
I IMMEDIATELY called Ticketmaster and was told that Ticketmaster was sold out and I had been linked to TicketsNow. A later check at a Ticketmaster booth in Burlington Mall said they had tickets available at ALL levels.
Ticketmaster stated they had no responsibility in my purchase from TicketsNow. (TicketsNow is trademarked as a Ticketmaster company.)
I called TicketsNow and requested cancellation. They said they had already purchased the tickets for my order and could not cancel.
I called Visa (CIBC) and they also would not void the bill. The total charge will be $342.77 (Canadian) for two tickets at $49.50. Can you help reduce the sting of this scam?
RL
Feb 10 2009
Last Friday, I went online to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets. As an avid fan for 25 years and having bought tickets online many times before, sometimes successful and sometimes not, I accepted trying and getting shut out.
Tickets went on sale at noon. I started trying at 11:59 am and stopped at 12:30 pm.
I knew that if you can’t get anything in the first couple of minutes, you’re toast. In the end, I am without tickets.
The question of the day:
I tried many times for about 30 minutes. I couldn’t even get into the site.
Why is it that when I checked a couple of ticket broker websites an hour later, they listed as many as 25 sets of tickets for the Toronto show?
Karren King, President’s Choice Financial spokeswoman
Feb 11 2009
Ellen, I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the inquiry you received from PT about his concert tickets.
A thorough investigation has confirmed Mr. T received incorrect information from one of our representatives and his experience was not typical of the level of service we strive to provide.
Mr. T should have been advised that transactions often take several business days to post.
In response, we will reimburse Mr. T’s PC MasterCard account in the amount of $274.25 for the purchase of the additional tickets from Ticketmaster.
We will also award him an additional 50,000 PC points for the inconvenience he incurred.
We have contacted Mr. T to advise him of the actions taken to rectify this issue.
PT again
Feb 11 2009
Hello Ellen. Thanks for forwarding my concern.
I have just spoken with Karren King at PC Financial. Her investigation has shown that I was given misinformation. She apologized and said that the full $274.25 would be refunded. She also gave me 50,000 PC points!
I really appreciate your escalating this for me. It is sad that the customer service organization did not resolve this without this additional effort.
This is the second time recently that an organization has attempted to act in an underhanded manner. Direct Energy sent me a renewal contract recently, offering what they touted as an excellent rate. I researched and found that it was out of line. When I called Direct Energy I was immediately offered a $.05 per unit lower rate! On principle I declined and took my business elsewhere.
You are doing great work. Please continue to hold organizations accountable.
LR
Feb 11 2009
On Monday, Feb. 2nd, Jerry Seinfeld tickets became available for an April 18th show at Massey Hall in Toronto.
I went online to Ticketmaster and asked for two tickets (best available). The screen showed me various availabilities and since I had already downloaded the seat section sketch for Massey Hall, I chose two seats in the balcony section.
As I saw what appeared to be two tickets at a total cost of $461 (although expensive), I pressed “buy me”. I filled out fields for my mailing particulars and payment choice.
Once everything went through, I was advised that the total sale was $922, plus a service charge of $138.30. plus a shipping fee of $29.95, for a total of $1,090.25.
I was further advised at a later time that this payment was in American funds and was charged an additional $299.41 for a grand total of $1,389.66. The price at Massey Hall is $125 per ticket.
Once I received confirmation of my order, this is when I noticed that I had purchased tickets from TicketsNow, a Ticketmaster company. To my dismay, I did not realize that I was bumped from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow.
To my further disbelief, they had confirmed that I was in row K of the balcony section.
I called Massey Hall box office and they confirmed that there was no row K and that TicketsNow was a scalping website.
I then called Ticketmaster and TicketsNow to find out that TicketsNow had sold me “spec” tickets, i.e. they had no tickets available at this time, but they would find tickets that were “comparable or better”.
I asked to cancel my order and subsequently wrote 2 emails asking for a refund. This prompted the floor manager to call and explain that the tickets were already purchased and no refunds were permitted – all sales are final.
I asked her to tell me where my seats were. She could not tell me.
I also called Visa Fraud Response Centre so I could dispute the charges and hoped they would find some fraudulent conduct on the part of Ticketmaster and TicketsNow.
I want everyone to know that Ticketmaster, in conjunction with TicketsNow, is operating a deceitful and outright scam to all unsuspecting purchasers. People need to speak up and shut them down!
I am hoping that someone will listen to my story and save themselves the anguish of a wasted day on the phone and the ridiculous charges that I incurred.
HB
Feb 12 2009
I too have been affected by a TicketMasters equivalent, TotallyTickets, ripping me off!
I and three girlfriends decided to go to the Britney Spears Concert at the ACC in March. After going around in circles on the Ticketmasters website trying to buy pre-sale tickets, we gave up and decided to try again the day they went on sale.
Once again, we were frustrated because we couldn’t purchase “cheap” tickets. Everything was over $200 in crappy seats.
Since none of us have copious amounts of money, I decided to try my luck on different websites, thus coming across Totally Tickets. I should have known from the get-go that it seemed to good to be true.
We compared prices and seating to the ACC concert map to make sure we were going to be seated somewhere decent. And after a couple of hours, we decided to purchase 4 tickets at $100 apiece for 2nd row seats in the balcony.
When my order was processed, I was taxed $96 (which seemed extreme), but thought “Oh well, We are going to see the infamous B-Spears.”
Well, clearly, my initial gut feeling about everything being “too good to be true” was right on par.
A month later, my Mastercard statement came in saying I owed $648 to Totally Tickets! I compared the printout I had of my confirmation for the tickets and it did, in fact, say $496. I not only got charged tax, but got charged again for the exchange rate, shipping and more tax!
And the kicker? Nowhere on the Totally Tickets website was it ever mentioned that any of the tickets were being sold in US dollars.
When I was filling out my payment method, it offered the option as to which country you lived in and calculated the tax and shipping accordingly. If they can do that for shipping purchases, surely they would adjust the prices to reflect Canadian dollars if specified.
I don’t purchase a lot of concert tickets, but I would have thought that if I am specifying that I am looking for concert tickets at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that the tickets would be sold to me in Canadian dollars unless stated otherwise, which it wasn’t.
Even on the receipt I got in the mail with my tickets, the total payment was shown as $496.
Knowing I am not the only one who has been fooled by these companies that take advantage of people is comforting, but it’s also sad in how dishonest people can be just to make a buck.
I hadn’t called Totally Tickets about this situation because I thought I had been scammed and there was nothing else I could do. But after reading your article, I will be making a call tomorrow to talk to someone to see if I can get some of the $150 back that was sucked out of my wallet.
Needless to say, I or any of my girlfriends won’t be purchasing tickets from TotallyTickets in the future.
KE
Feb 13 2009
SHOULD INDUSTRY CANADA BE INVESTIGATED FOR NOT FULFILLING ITS MANDATE? OR HAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOT PROVIDED THE WAYS AND MEANS FOR AN EFFECTIVE REGULATOR?
1) Ticketmaster - it is the hot issue now, but they have had some questionable practices (and complaints) in the past and have now taken this to a new level.
2) Fuel prices - if the current trend continues, if a barrel of oil drops to a penny, a litre of gasoline in Toronto will be 50 cents at every station in the GTA - lower if you get closer to the U.S. border. (I would like to see the price of gas equation on the Grade 6 provincial math test.)
3) Cable and satellite TV services own broadcasters and tier them according to ownership. CRTC approves the ownership and has nothing to say about pricing. To get TSN high definition on Rogers will cost $20/month more than the Rogers-owned Sportsnet; TSN 2 is not available because it is owned by the competitor.
Industry Canada (and I have it in writing) has no issue with this. Rogers is not considered a dominant distributor of cable television. Can I switch to another cable company?
4) Auto Insurance - Industry Canada refuses to entertain auto insurance matters as it is considered a provincial matter. Everybody, list all the items that are subject to PST but not GST and you will find why Ontario lets auto insurers do what they wish.
5) Access fees for telephones/ internet bandwidth.
On the one hand, we smugly look at the Americans and say the regulators failed. It cannot happen in Canada - maybe because everyone knows we only regulate certain things.
Why are people having to launch class action suits against Ticketmaster and Bell? Does Industry Canada go any further than ensuring the $500 concert tickets are bilingual?
We are not a litigious society and certainly the threat of court costs prevents an individual from suing, as a large monopoly or government can keep you in court until you are bankrupt.
No one anticipates recovering anything from these class action suits other than satisfaction. Maybe the difference is Bernard Madoffs are not caught in Canada.
We can have people fly out of planes in a worldwide mining scandal and find no one guilty. We appear to rely on Americans to catch our fraudulent Canadian businessmen. Are we promoting cheating as long as certain cultural laws are adhered to?
If I am mad a Ticketmaster, I do not buy a ticket. Fuel and a phone are necessities and often required for employment. It is illegal to drive without auto insurance.
This country, at all levels of government, has regulating bodies. Are they doing anything, other than lying, in trying to help people get a product/service at a fair price?
We let Industry Canada decide if they will investigate, but a year goes by without comment. Meanwhile, no one can comment on an ongoing investigation that may or may not be ongoing or going on.
Government can come up with all the money it wants to fix the economy. How much money does it take to inspire confidence?
Perhaps start by showing people that the regulatory bodies can and will support honest consumers, rather than allowing certain industries to gouge and hide behind an impotent agency.
rob summerby
Oct 12 2009
I just realized that Ticket Triangle ripped me off for over $700 on 7 tickets that I purchased for Chicago, the musical, performed at the Ottawa NAC in June ‘09.
My online receipt from Ticket Triangle dated May 4 shows that I paid $764.50 for 7 tickets.
My Visa statement shows a payout to “Northside Tickets” for $924 (the ticket seller) on May 7. I realize there was $160 charged in Canada to US exchange.
I just checked my ticket stub & the seats (which were at the absolute back of the top balcony in the theatre) were actually worth $30 each.
How do I get this fixed?