Ticketmaster is still the worst
Over two years ago I wrote about Ticketmaster being a dick. Things have definitely not changed.
I hate Ticketmaster and their damn monopoly on the event ticket market. I still use them whenever a good concert comes along, but only because I have no other choice. I’m already grumpy today, and after just purchasing two tickets to see alexisonfire this weekend, I’m pretty mad at Ticketmaster and their shenanigans. Check it out:
Tickets were worth $67 even. That leaves $23.50 in service charges. I can understand there being a $1 facility charge per ticket. The $9 “convenience fee” per ticket is pure robbery. And then they tack on the $3.50 “order processing charge”. I can’t think of any other retailer, online or offline, that would charge you $3.50 to buy something, especially after they already ripped you off with other charges.
After all this time, Ticketmaster still sucks balls. But, sometimes they are the only place to buy tickets for an event, so you have no other choice.
December 14th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
There kind of is a little bit of a way to avoid the “highway robbery” as it were. It doesn’t really work for fellas like us who live not in Toronto. There’s 2 record stores called Rotate this! and soundscapes. You can see all the available tickets (just about everything in Toronto) at www.rotate.com They charge a bit more than the actual price, but there is no convenience charge for sure and every time I’ve dealt with them it’s been pleasant and much cheaper than ticketmaster.
If you tally it up though the gas money spent going to and from Rotate This! would put you at about even costs of Ticketmaster, but you’re still not dealing with ticketmaster. Which is always good. Also Rotate This! is a wicked cool record store. Like Star Records but cleaner.