Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Live Nation Convenience Fees Suck

For some reason, I got it in my mind that I wanted to go see 3 Doors Down during the opening week at House of Blues Boston. Lots of hits. New venue. Why not?

My friend Tye said he'd come. Perfect. I'll get tickets.

Or so I thought.

The show has not been an immediate sell-out, but I still possess no tickets.

Why?

Live Nation service fees.

Boy is this a sign of my cheapness. But it's plain and simple robbery when the only method of purchasing tickets is online, and they tack what amounts to $11 of convenience / facilities / whatever fees to EACH $38 ticket.

$40 for Hoobastank and 3 Doors Down? Sure, why not.

$50? Pushing it.

I thought I would go to the House of Blues Box Office, inconveniencing myself but saving $20. Unfortunately, their website has no phone number for the venue. Perhaps the box office isn't open yet, as the venue sure isn't.

So I thought I would call some of the other Live Nation venues in Boston to see if I can purchase tickets for shows at other venues.

I tried calling the Paradise Rock Club, resulting in a recording with information and such, but no live person. There was a "for further information" number which I called, but that simply rang and rang.

I called the Orpheum. Recording. No option for further assistance. "Live Nation" is clearly a misnomer.

Bank of America Pavillion. Recording. Box Office opens in May...but there was a general information number for Live Nation.

So I called that number. Live person. Sweet.

She mentioned that some Blockbuster stores would soon become ticket outlets for Live Nation, a fact of which livenation.com had already made me aware. She looked up my zip code and learned what I already knew - the Blockbuster option in Boston is "Coming Soon."

I asked if Live Nation venues were able to sell tickets for events at other Live Nation locations, but she wasn't certain.

I then asked for a phone number for House of Blues Boston, and she had one! So I called it.

Busy signal.

Busy signal? Who hears these anymore?

All this just to save $20 and avoid paying the absurd convenience fees. I still haven't succumbed yet, but I now realize how INconvenient they make it otherwise for people seeking tickets.

This reminds me of the days when online banking cost $5 per month. It was a joke. I was saving the bank money by banking online, and they were charging me a fee for something that they were promoting and making their lives easier. Fewer humans and branches needed. Savings to them. Yet they still charged consumers. Good thing that's now a free service.

But there's lots of banks. They need to stay competitive. There's few outlets to purchase tickets from non-brokers. It's a total racket and unfair. I'd rather them charge me $49 for a ticket than $38 plus $11 in fees. Sometimes knowing less is more.

7 comments:

eileen said...

I completely agree, and if Ticketmaster is just as bad if not worse.

FYI- The paradise and the orpheum both have a box office that's open monday-saturday. Look online for their hours. They don't make the info easy to find but if it saves you $20 a show, it's worth it.

Pawtucket Pat said...

With you 100%, man. Ticketmaster is even worse, because then they'll try and charge you for printing the tickets on your computer to boot! It's just a joke. It's why I don't go to many concerts anymore.

The Fuz said...

I totally agree! They lure you in with their decent ticket prices and then kill you with those horrific fees. I've even tried to purchase tickets for $10 at the Pavillion on a promotion - and they tried to charge me $15 in fees! How is that even allowed?

Emily said...

I went over to House of Blues on Jan. 23 to buy tickets and as of then, the building itself was still under construction, with no box office in sight.

Unknown said...

It's brutal...I got hit for over $10 in fees per ticket on $30 tickets for Ryan Adams at the Orpheum. Nothin' says lovin' like a 33% markup!

Augustus Bostick said...

Guess who are in talks of a merger....Ticketmaster and Live Nation

Anonymous said...

I'd almost rather go with a ticket broker instead of LN or Ticketmaster!