http://www.ebay.co.uk/

 

By coincidence, the Chicago Sun-Times printed an article on TicketMaster's underhand practices (as they are practiced in the USA) just last week,  and it makes sadly familiar reading:

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/derogatis/856399,SHO-Sunday-dero23.article

From The Simpsons, Series 7, Episode 152 (First Folio):


Burns: And to think Smithers, you laughed when I bought TicketMaster. "Nobody's going to pay a 100% service charge."

Smithers: Well, it's a policy that ensures a healthy mix of the rich and the ignorant, sir.

This has worried me for some time, IRF.  I usually try to buy tickets in person from the box office if at all possible as I simply can't see any justification for any charges other than recouping expenses over and above basic operating costs.  In other words, it is part of the seller's responsibility to provide basic availability free of charge (or included in the ticket price whichever way you want to put it).  If, as you say, you want the convenience of having the ticket posted to you it's reasonable that you should pay for the stationery and postage, but the actual issue of the ticket is not, in my opinion, something that can reasonably be regarded as an ancillary service - it has to be done anyway so what are they charging for?

You are right in your observation that this kind of thing is less prevalent in 'classical' circles but even there you can find some very annoying tendencies.  Now that the four-year Ring cycle is over I shan't be booking any Proms in advance this year.  They charge about £5 for the brochure containing the booking form but when you fill out the form they charge another £2.50 (?) just for using the form you've already paid for!  They then allocate the seats they select for you and issue non-refundable tickets.  By not booking ahead I'll save far more than the £7.50 brochure/booking costs because I won't be lumbered with tickets for Proms I can't attend and have to give them away (this always happens when I book in advance); and I'll be able to choose my own seat from the (often huge) range left after advance booking rather than just telling them my preferred price band and accepting what they give me. 

The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall charges an extra fee per ticket just for booking on line and, if my experience of doing this for the Wayne Shorter gig is any guide, issues 'best available' on the basis of what's best for them rather than for the customer.  I simply don't book in advance any more and, judging by the surprisingly large numbers of empty seats for names as big as Shorter and Ian Bostridge, I'm not the only one with this policy. I might go there on April 5th, though, to hear the Durham concerto you recommended - that depends on whether there are tickets left and whether I feel able to sit through the Michael Nyman piece that opens the concert!

I don't know how we can fight this tendency.  I suppose the OFT is the first port of call but it seems to me this trend is of a piece with the way we have all been forced to have bank accounts/credit cards and use direct debit and the OFT hasn't helped there.  I bet if you complain to the venues or the agencies you'll be told the customer has chosen to use these services.  But like bank accounts, credit cards and DD payments this is, at least for pop/rock concerts, pretty much Hobson's choice.


That reminds me of the system in place for most venues in Germany (and Belgium?) where you actually get charged extra for the privilege of booking in advance. If you wait until the day of the performance you don't pay the advance booking fee and quite often you can benefit from various 'last-minute' and 'standby' offers.  To be fair, though, the fee isn't very large and the ticket often entitles you to free public transport from several hours before the gig until the next morning (a very worthwhile concession in my experience).

I can understand that, Andy.  If you express it as a discount for advance purchase rather than a premium on the door it's pretty unremarkable.  And, as most concerts are outside office hours there is, arguably, an extra cost involved in having somebody on hand to sell tickets in the evening or at the weekend.  Subscriptions are priced at a discount - sometimes quite hefty; when I used to get subs for the LPO and Philharmonia you could choose as few as three concerts in a season and still get a discount.  A guest ticket for four of the nine concerts in our Concert Society's season will amount to more than the annual subscription (I'm seeing Evgeny Sudbin there next month - should I be excited?).  I should imagine the big point against BCMG's scheme is that it's utterly incompatible with a 'standby' scheme, which some venues find very useful for attracting people who wouldn't otherwise attend.

If your hunch is right, Mary, it is indeed disgraceful.  Did you go to the Durham Concerto last night?  The front stalls looked quite full.  I didn't stick my head over the parapet to see the rest of the stalls but the rear circle had hundreds of empty seats.  But, as I said elsewhere, the same was true of the other concerts I've attended recently.  Were you aware that the Phil's online booking system, as well as charging a booking fee per ticket, only sells full-priced seats.  I went to the box-office to buy my tickets for last night and, just in case, I asked if there was a reduction for youngsters as my 14-year-old nephew was keen to go.  I was told it was half-price for under 25s. Realising that I'd probably paid about £12 more than I needed to for the Wayne Shorter concert I asked how one enters the concessions  on the internet booking form and was told one can't.  I can't think of any logical reason why this should be so but, apparently, it is.