"convenience fees" on concert tickets

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
 

These rates are no different than "parts and labor" when your car is worked on. . [/b]

HUH!? Not defending the car business, but when you are charged 'parts and labour' when your car is worked on, it's because some 'parts' were used that had to be purchased and someone who needs to be paid 'laboured' on your car!! A 'convenience' charge is a made up charge to simply get more money out of the punter.

[definitivedoodle]

no matter what someone will up the price of tickets to get some more money. like 9:30 or tickets.com if you wait to long for a show and buy them online, you end up still paying $3.95 to PICK them up at the window.

[Seth Hurwitz]

my wife wants a new car
 
 the money's gotta come from somewhere

[Herr Professor Doktor Doom]

If you can't afford the service charge, you need to talk to your parents about an allowance increase!

[Sailor Ripley]

Originally posted by xcanuck:
   Doesn't matter. Ticketmaster and Clear Channel are big business and control the market. I'm just thankful that the 930 doesn't use them. At least there is some semblance of competition.

Except the fees are about the same but Tickets.com sucks worse. Bring back Ticketbastard, at least their system is better.

[Sailor Ripley]

It's funny when people try to defend the extra charges. When you buy other merchandise you don't get hit up with extra fees. The business builds it into their price and gives you the bottom line.  Buy something at BestBuy.com and they don't tack on a fee for getting it online, you'll get charged shipping (which is legit) if it's mailed, but that's it. You can even go pick it up in the store and not have to pay a "convenience" fee, a handling fee or any of the other creative names the concert industry comes up with.

[SpiralMadness]

Originally posted by Random Citizen:
   

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
  my wife wants a new car
 
 the money's gotta come from somewhere

Remember the dealer built that dealership to make it more 'convenient' for you to go buy a car, so no bitch'n bout dem convenience charges y'all!!! Oh, and no need to buy the 'undercoating' 'acid rain protection' 'scotchguard' or 'extended warranty'....all car business versions of 'convenience charges'
 
 Seriously, why is the price of a ticket broken down into service, convenience, one-time somethingorother....just add it all up and call it the price of the ticket. That way this thread won't keep reappearing every other week.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by O'Mankie:
 all car business versions of 'convenience charges'

the more obvious example would be the "destination and delivery charge" of $800 or so

[edbert]

Originally posted by Dave Stoller:
  When you buy other merchandise you don't get hit up with extra fees. The business builds it into their price and gives you the bottom line.

Not always.  Occassionally I'll check out at some hotel and the bill will have a bogus fixed per diem that wasn't in the rate quote.  At one place it was "electricity surcharge".  It's the same thing Birchmere does... just a dishonest way to advertise something cheaper than customers can actually get it for. In either case they're just arbitrarily enumerating one of their costs of doing business.  At the Birchmere they call it "surcharge for Box Office Staff, Parking, & Security" ($3.50 now per ticket you buy @ box office night of show), but they could just as easily call it "electricity surcharge". Much love to 930 for not pulling that crap

[xneverwherex]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
   

Originally posted by toodles2004:
  Actually, the 9:30 club does charge them. That's where I was buying the tickets. Tickets.com and Ticketmaster.com are the noted options And if there's some other way to buy the tickets---it isn't remotely evident on the 9:30 Club website.
 
 Which says to me that 9:30 more than capitulates to the effers who've hijacked the process.  They support them.
 
 --T

I would caution you to do some research before making sweeping statements.
 
 FYI -  The 9:30 box office offers all tickets for only a $1.00 service charge. In addition, any tickets sold the night of shows, for that evenings performance, are offered with no service charge at all.
  [/b]

good to know about no service charge on the same-day shows. means i can save $1 on my english beat ticket tonight    will have to do this more often, and just hope the show wont sell out.

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by you be betty:
   

Originally posted by sonickteam4:
   

Originally posted by toodles2004:
   there appears to be NO WAY to buy the ticket w/out the fee(s).
 

there is no convenience fee when you pay at the door, the night of the show. [/b]

yeah; but then the show sells out four people before you in line [/b]

thats decidedly inconvenient then isnt it.  hence the term "convenience charges"

[Shadrach]

Originally posted by O'Mankie:
     

Originally posted by Shadrach:
 

These rates are no different than "parts and labor" when your car is worked on. . [/b]

HUH!? Not defending the car business, but when you are charged 'parts and labour' when your car is worked on, it's because some 'parts' were used that had to be purchased and someone who needs to be paid 'laboured' on your car!! A 'convenience' charge is a made up charge to simply get more money out of the punter. [/b]

My comparison was in regards to the separate fee's charged by the mechanic. Parts would never cost as much as they charge if you were to purchase the parts yourself. And labor would be free if you installed them on your own. But the fact is most of us are too lazy and or busy to go buy auto parts and then spend a Saturday afternoon thumbing through a do-it-yourself book on how to change brake pads. In most cases we would rather have the "convienience" of having someone else "service" our vehicle.
 
 tickets.com is a company that employs real people and has real hardware to maintain, plus like every company in the world, they're trying to earn a profit. So they charge what the market will bear.
 
 Again I point to the fact that for almost all of our shows you can come to the box office in person and save money.

[Guiny]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
 spend a Saturday afternoon thumbing through a do-it-yourself book on how to change brake pads.  [/QB]

Hopefully you buy your brake pads from Tommy Callaghan Jr.

[vansmack]

Would this argument end if they called them "Screw you" charges instead of "convenience" charges?