The World’s Largest Scam?

Do you ever wonder why you wake up at 10:00 AM to purchase tickets to your favourite show and all Ticketmaster can give you is either upper bowl for concerts, or behind the net for hockey games? Ticketmaster potentially could be the world’s largest scam. How is it humanly possible for GM Place to sell out 41 Canucks games in 3 minutes flat. 18,000 people are on Ticketmaster purchasing select tickets to every game? I don’t think so. The Seattle Seahawks last year sold out in 2 minutes off Ticketmaster. Possible? Absolutely not.

Why is it not possible? Ticketmaster will list a date that tickets go on-sale to a select show, and by that time they have already put aside around 75 % of the tickets for their prized sponsoring companies that buy bulk tickets at a low cost. Most of the time, the company probably has no interest in the show, and probably some of them re-sell those tickets on eBay or Craigslist for 3x the amount. If you also look closely you would see about 4 or 5 different pre-sale options as well that radio stations offer or Canucks Season Ticket Holders. How is that fair? If you’re offering a pre-sale, maybe offer up 300 tickets, not pick whatever you want for 1 or 2 days. If Ticketmaster is sold out, what happens? They give you a link to their partner website called TicketsNow where you can purchase tickets. Sure, “purchase” tickets being the keyword if you want to pay 10x the amount, plus a heck of a lot more in taxes and “convenience” charges. How can a charge be convenient?

To add some insult to injury, Ticketmaster can have “un-expected errors” if you are trying to purchase tickets, and POOF those tickets aren’t available anymore when you go back. Funny how that works. Oddly enough, Ticketmaster doesn’t allow you modify any orders. I had an experience a few years back where I bought 2 tickets to a Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays game and contacted them asking them if the seat on either end of my tickets had been purchased, they said no. I asked them if I could add it to my order, and they said no? Go figure.

You compare that to any other company in the world today. You go to McDonalds and say, “Hey, actually can I add a small fry to that order.” They say sure. Go to a car dealership and ask for an extra add-on, they say sure. Ticketmaster doesn’t allow any changes or even refunds. What a joke. They also have a “Contact us by email” off their website, I have emailed them a few times regarding any issues I have had and they have never responded. What kind of company doesn’t respond to a customer’s comment or question?

Why can Ticketmaster get away with all of this? Simply, they are the only major company in Canada that sells tickets. If Ford was the only car dealership in Canada, they could charge $40,000 for a Ford Fusion if they wanted, because no one could compete with them. If Tim Hortons was the only place that selled coffee, they could sell a Large at $3 if they wanted to. The only company even remotely having a chance to compete with Ticketmaster was Live Nation. However, there are reports that Live Nation has agreed to a merge with Ticketmaster. Lucky us.