TicketMaster… a cynical, jaded company

Manager Peabody Opera House
1400 Market St.
St. Louis, MO 63103

Dear Sir/Madam:

I found out Emmy Lou Harris is coming to the Peabody Opera House.  Both my girlfriend and I were as excited as we are both huge, huge fans of hers.

I started looking into buying tickets and at first blush they did not seem too bad.  Then I realized I would have to buy them from TicketMaster, who in my humble opinion is one of most jaded, cynical companies in America.   I looked into buying them directly from the Peabody Opera House box office, and I discovered this was not an option.  So I bit the bullet and went online to purchase tickets from this evil, evil company.

I chose two $37 seats.  A $3 facility charge per ticket was added, and then a $9.20 convenience charge.  My $37 ticket was now up to $49.2.    Next they wanted to charge me to deliver the tickets to me, including an outrageous charge of $2.50 for me to print them myself????? But they were not done yet.  As I was checking out they added a $4.25 order processing fee.

There were 2 or 3 points in the whole processed I was so angered by the process that I nearly just closed the browser, but I did want to make my girlfriend happy.

Part of the thrill of going to these events is the anticipation.  After the ticket purchase process I have a bad taste in my mouth, and frankly feel violated.  My anticipatory fever has evaporated.

There really should be another option for buying your tickets beyond TicketMaster.  Failing that they should have a face value that includes all these additional charges so purchasers do not feel raped after the process. 

Sincerely,

———————–

These folks seem to have a monopoly on ticket sales in just all the markets I am aware of.   Why don’t we bust up monopolies like we used to.  Oh I forgot, our politicians are bought and paid for by these folks