Ticketmaster Responds To Which? Report On Ticket Fees
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Written by Elliott Batte
Ticket giant Ticketmaster has responded to a recent Which? report on hidden fees and charges.
The consumer watchdog has launched a campaign to make companies "play fair on ticket fees", having compiled a report following a mystery shopper survey covering 15 events and 20 ticket outlets.
They found that mark ups hit 38% at See Tickets - £9.50 in charges on a £25 ticket - to see Jimmy Carr at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, while fees for the same ticket came in at 19% at Gigantic and Ticketline. The report was also critical of charges incurred to print tickets at home, with TicketWeb and Eventim, and for box office collection with Ticketmaster.
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said:
"Consumers tell us they are feeling ripped off by the level of ticketing charges and the lack of transparency means it is almost impossible for people to compare prices when booking online. We want to see the ticketing industry Play Fair on Ticket Fees, so that all charges are displayed upfront and with a clear explanation of what they’re for."
Ticketmaster, one of the agencies included in the report, has now responded. In a statement released to Music Week, a spokesperson has branded the report "utterly misleading and factually incorrect".
“To suggest that ticket fees are hidden is utterly misleading and factually incorrect. Before a customer purchases a ticket, any additional fee is always displayed clearly. The fees cover a wide range of costs to provide the services which ensure the best and easiest possible experience for our customers from purchasing a ticket to accessing the event.
"The per ticket service charges and per booking order processing fee are often the only source of revenue to our business for the delivery of these services and in many instances, we don't retain all of these fees as the client may also receive a percentage of these fees.
“Tickets printed at home using our TicketFast option must be scanned and validated at the venues by our access control technology. Ticketmaster installs this technology at our own cost and the fees paid by the ticket buyer contribute to the cost of this service.
"Going forward, we are looking at how we can incentivise more of our customers to use print-at-home and mobile tickets and we are already in discussion with some of our clients to look at different levels of fees, dependent upon how they receive their tickets.”
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