String Cheese Incident 'hacks' around Ticketmaster sales

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/arts/music/string-cheese-incident-takes-on-ticketmaster.html

by NickKampe • 14 years ago

39 10 14 years ago

Zak• 14 years ago

But buying a ticket on the band’s Web site has its own added cost: $12 to mail tickets by United Parcel Service, with no other delivery option offered. [snip] There was simply no way around that fee, Mr. Luba said.

That seems like a very high price for shipping a piece of paper. I'm certain USPS will do it for significantly less, with insurance and delivery confirmation. I wonder why that isn't a viable option in this case.

DavidAbrams3• 14 years ago

Yes, I'm sick of this bullshit where something that easily fits in a standard envelope isn't sent by USPS for less than 50 cents.

ROFISH• 14 years ago

$12 is very high. Even from UPS, it should be $7 tops.

ktsmith• 14 years ago

I just bought tickets to a show from ticketmaster as it was the only option available. They charge $2.50 to print your ticket at home or if you don't mind waiting 2-4 weeks you can get them mailed to you for free. Every other option was in the 1000-2000% markup on the shipping costs.

DavidAbrams3• 14 years ago

WTF, New York Times? Look at this bullshit editorializing:

"the band wants to ignore valid contracts and deprive theaters and promoters of standard revenue sources."

First off, they bought the tickets FROM THE THEATER BOX OFFICE. So no, they're not depriving the theater.

What they're doing is looking out for the FANS, which have been victimized by a far more complete and consumer-harming monopoly than Microsoft ever was. Ticketmaster should've been shut down decades ago. I've written to senators about it. These scumbags violate antitrust law in a way that should be a case study in schools around the world. Yet our "representatives" do nothing.

Ticketmaster even scalps its own tickets, which is inexplicably allowed while the same act by private citizens is illegal.

Bend over and take it, America.

jedahan• 14 years ago

BOATI was the name of my ticketmaster clone for a college CS class. I was livid about convenience charges for 'virtual' tickets.

Bend Over And TIcket

DavidAbrams3• 14 years ago

Love it.

gouranga• 14 years ago

You're paying for the gold-plated toilets, gold plated sandwiches being delivered and gold plated whores that they use.

Having interviewed at a couple of ticketing outfits and working at one for a single day (before I decided over an meatball marinara subway at lunch that it was a scam touting outfit and I'd probably end up on Channel 4 Dispatches [small hint]), I can say that they are the most corrupt, disgusting businesses on the planet and should fuck right off this planet pretty quickly.

antihero• 14 years ago

I don't understand, what exactly is preventing them selling their own tickets? Is it that the venues are opting to go with TicketMaster when booking them? Can they not just refuse to go with TicketMaster and then sell their own tickets? I don't understand...

cynix• 14 years ago

Yes, the theatre mentioned in the article opts to go with Ticketmaster for all their ticket sales, so the band couldn't sell their own tickets.

String Cheese Incident 'hacks' around Ticketmaster sales

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