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TheGreek
Here in the US it is beginning to look like there could be Federal regulation of Ticketmaster because of the report of how Ticketmaster is in Cahoots with the scalpers (I:E Ticketmaster them selves ) How absurd and ridiculous it has become to attend in North America any sporting event or Concert and have to be robbed blind for an evening of entertainment and everyone my self included votes with there wallet and my wallet is closed to being ripped off by this nonsense . Guess what -I don't miss it because I like my money better to be able to buy goods and services instead .Ha Ha Ticketmaster enjoy being regulated

Very glad to hear it, I sincerely hope it happens ...

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

the truth is out.

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paulywaul

Quote
TheGreek
Here in the US it is beginning to look like there could be Federal regulation of Ticketmaster because of the report of how Ticketmaster is in Cahoots with the scalpers (I:E Ticketmaster them selves ) How absurd and ridiculous it has become to attend in North America any sporting event or Concert and have to be robbed blind for an evening of entertainment and everyone my self included votes with there wallet and my wallet is closed to being ripped off by this nonsense . Guess what -I don't miss it because I like my money better to be able to buy goods and services instead .Ha Ha Ticketmaster enjoy being regulated

Very glad to hear it, I sincerely hope it happens ...

Whatever the federal government does, it most likely won't make concert tickets any cheaper or easier to get.

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Dan

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paulywaul

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TheGreek
Here in the US it is beginning to look like there could be Federal regulation of Ticketmaster because of the report of how Ticketmaster is in Cahoots with the scalpers (I:E Ticketmaster them selves ) How absurd and ridiculous it has become to attend in North America any sporting event or Concert and have to be robbed blind for an evening of entertainment and everyone my self included votes with there wallet and my wallet is closed to being ripped off by this nonsense . Guess what -I don't miss it because I like my money better to be able to buy goods and services instead .Ha Ha Ticketmaster enjoy being regulated

Very glad to hear it, I sincerely hope it happens ...

Whatever the federal government does, it most likely won't make concert tickets any cheaper or easier to get.

Cheaper probably not , but hopefully level the playing field for the consumer !

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TheGreek

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Dan

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paulywaul

Quote
TheGreek
Here in the US it is beginning to look like there could be Federal regulation of Ticketmaster because of the report of how Ticketmaster is in Cahoots with the scalpers (I:E Ticketmaster them selves ) How absurd and ridiculous it has become to attend in North America any sporting event or Concert and have to be robbed blind for an evening of entertainment and everyone my self included votes with there wallet and my wallet is closed to being ripped off by this nonsense . Guess what -I don't miss it because I like my money better to be able to buy goods and services instead .Ha Ha Ticketmaster enjoy being regulated

Very glad to hear it, I sincerely hope it happens ...

Whatever the federal government does, it most likely won't make concert tickets any cheaper or easier to get.

Cheaper probably not , but hopefully level the playing field for the consumer !

Best case scenario is it removes the small ticket broker out of the equation.

Then you see full on dynamic pricing with all the money going to TM & the artist. And even higher prices and more platinum tickets and holdbacks as TM/LN/Promoters won't have the third parties to assume some of the risk.

Remember Cable TV regulation that was supposed to make your bill down but you were paying double within a few years?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-21 17:51 by Dan.

What I would love to see is Ticketmaster/LiveNation lose there monopoly on the concert/sporting ticket industry .Nothing better than competition for the consumers dollar/euro . This should be the end of the monopoly for the money hungry greedy Ticketmaster/Livenation . How many times and how many ways should Ticketmaster/livenation pile on the fees and resale fees ? They are not the airline industry who gouges plenty but does have safety concerns where the concert industry only care/concern is getting your money , they could hardly care about your safety and well being after you fork over your money for there over priced ducats and the heck with you in there facilities as I do know something about that issue but that is for another conversation .

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TheGreek
What I would love to see is Ticketmaster/LiveNation lose there monopoly on the concert/sporting ticket industry .Nothing better than competition for the consumers dollar/euro . This should be the end of the monopoly for the money hungry greedy Ticketmaster/Livenation . How many times and how many ways should Ticketmaster/livenation pile on the fees and resale fees ? They are not the airline industry who gouges plenty but does have safety concerns where the concert industry only care/concern is getting your money , they could hardly care about your safety and well being after you fork over your money for there over priced ducats and the heck with you in there facilities as I do know something about that issue but that is for another conversation .

Not sure if they are really a monopoly now that AXS/AEG is a major player though a duopoly might be a more appropriate term.

Keep in mind this is a great deal for the artists who can continually run their own fees up and the government can't realistically do anything about it. The best and worst case scenario is further concentrating the profits among the major players.

One more thing, this is just entertainment. There are always plenty of inexpensive entertainment options almost everywhere and it's fully within the power of the consumer to bring concert prices down.

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TheGreek

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Dan

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paulywaul

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TheGreek
Here in the US it is beginning to look like there could be Federal regulation of Ticketmaster because of the report of how Ticketmaster is in Cahoots with the scalpers (I:E Ticketmaster them selves ) How absurd and ridiculous it has become to attend in North America any sporting event or Concert and have to be robbed blind for an evening of entertainment and everyone my self included votes with there wallet and my wallet is closed to being ripped off by this nonsense . Guess what -I don't miss it because I like my money better to be able to buy goods and services instead .Ha Ha Ticketmaster enjoy being regulated

Very glad to hear it, I sincerely hope it happens ...

Whatever the federal government does, it most likely won't make concert tickets any cheaper or easier to get.

Cheaper probably not , but hopefully level the playing field for the consumer !

That's pretty much all that most people want, a more level playing field. The question is ... how exactly to redress the current 'imbalance' (for wont of a better word/expression) ?

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

And Ticketbastards weigh in... [www.thestar.com]

Ticketmaster responds to Star/CBC investigation, vows to root out mass scalpers
By MARCO CHOWN OVED Investigative Reporter
Thu., Sept. 20, 2018

Ticketmaster has launched an internal review of its ticket reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that scalpers who use bots to circumvent purchase limits aren’t using Ticketmaster’s resale software.

The announcement came the day after the Star and CBC published an undercover investigation in which Ticketmaster employees told journalists posing as scalpers that the company turns a blind eye to how resellers acquire tickets.

“We do not condone the statements made by the employee as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service,” read a Ticketmaster statement published in Variety magazine.

“Ticketmaster’s Seller Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets that exceed the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts for the purpose of circumventing ticket limit detection in order to amass tickets intended for resale,” the statement read.

Star and CBC reporters were told by two Ticketmaster employees on two different occasions that scalpers who use the company’s Trade Desk software will not be scrutinized, even if they have far more tickets than the ticket limit allows.

Trade Desk software allows scalpers to synchronize multiple Ticketmaster accounts, each with a different name and credit card number — a common method used to access tickets beyond the limit.


“I have brokers that have literally a couple of hundred Ticketmaster accounts,” said one Ticketmaster salesperson at the Ticket Summit 2018, a conference for scalpers held in Las Vegas this July. “They have to because if you want to get a good show and the ticket limit is six or eight (seats), you’re not going to make a living on eight tickets.”

“We don’t spend any time looking at your Ticketmaster.com account. I don’t care what you buy. It doesn’t matter to me,” said the Trade Desk salesperson.

In March, CBC and Star reporters downloaded a copy of Trade Desk and were offered a live tutorial via video conference with a Ticketmaster employee.

“We’ve spent millions of dollars on this tool, so the last thing we’d want to do is, you know, get brokers caught up to where they can’t sell inventory with us,” the Ticketmaster employee said. “We’re not trying to build a better mousetrap. I think the last thing we want to do is impair your ability to sell inventory. That’s our whole goal here on the resale side of the business.”

The Star/CBC report has ignited fierce public reaction in Canada and the United States, where it has been picked up by Rolling Stone Magazine and CBS News.

Ticketmaster, which has a virtual monopoly on box office sales for sports and live music events in North America and the U.K. has long denounced scalpers, especially those who use bots to harvest thousands of tickets in seconds, making it much harder for fans to get tickets at face value.

Prior to publication of the report, the Star and CBC send a list of questions to Ticketmaster detailing the investigation’s findings. Ticketmaster declined to address any of the allegations directly, and instead sent a general statement by email.

Ticketmaster’s Thursday statement in Variety says the review began before publication of the investigation.

“The company had already begun an internal review of our professional reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that our policies are being upheld by all stakeholders. Moving forward we will be putting additional measures in place to proactively monitor for this type of inappropriate activity.”

Ticketmaster’s full statement to the Star and CBC:

It is categorically untrue that Ticketmaster has any program in place to enable resellers to acquire large volumes of tickets at the expense of consumers.

Ticketmaster’s Seller Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets that exceed the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts for the purpose of circumventing ticket limit detection in order to amass tickets intended for resale.

A recent CBC story found that an employee of Ticketmaster’s resale division acknowledged being aware of some resellers having as many as 200 TradeDesk accounts for this purpose (TradeDesk is Ticketmaster’s professional reseller product that allows resellers to validate and distribute tickets to multiple marketplaces). We do not condone the statements made by the employee as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service.

The company had already begun an internal review of our professional reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that our policies are being upheld by all stakeholders. Moving forward we will be putting additional measures in place to proactively monitor for this type of inappropriate activity.

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SomeTorontoGirl
And Ticketbastards weigh in... [www.thestar.com]

Ticketmaster responds to Star/CBC investigation, vows to root out mass scalpers
By MARCO CHOWN OVED Investigative Reporter
Thu., Sept. 20, 2018

Ticketmaster has launched an internal review of its ticket reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that scalpers who use bots to circumvent purchase limits aren’t using Ticketmaster’s resale software.

The announcement came the day after the Star and CBC published an undercover investigation in which Ticketmaster employees told journalists posing as scalpers that the company turns a blind eye to how resellers acquire tickets.

“We do not condone the statements made by the employee as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service,” read a Ticketmaster statement published in Variety magazine.

“Ticketmaster’s Seller Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets that exceed the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts for the purpose of circumventing ticket limit detection in order to amass tickets intended for resale,” the statement read.

Star and CBC reporters were told by two Ticketmaster employees on two different occasions that scalpers who use the company’s Trade Desk software will not be scrutinized, even if they have far more tickets than the ticket limit allows.

Trade Desk software allows scalpers to synchronize multiple Ticketmaster accounts, each with a different name and credit card number — a common method used to access tickets beyond the limit.


“I have brokers that have literally a couple of hundred Ticketmaster accounts,” said one Ticketmaster salesperson at the Ticket Summit 2018, a conference for scalpers held in Las Vegas this July. “They have to because if you want to get a good show and the ticket limit is six or eight (seats), you’re not going to make a living on eight tickets.”

“We don’t spend any time looking at your Ticketmaster.com account. I don’t care what you buy. It doesn’t matter to me,” said the Trade Desk salesperson.

In March, CBC and Star reporters downloaded a copy of Trade Desk and were offered a live tutorial via video conference with a Ticketmaster employee.

“We’ve spent millions of dollars on this tool, so the last thing we’d want to do is, you know, get brokers caught up to where they can’t sell inventory with us,” the Ticketmaster employee said. “We’re not trying to build a better mousetrap. I think the last thing we want to do is impair your ability to sell inventory. That’s our whole goal here on the resale side of the business.”

The Star/CBC report has ignited fierce public reaction in Canada and the United States, where it has been picked up by Rolling Stone Magazine and CBS News.

Ticketmaster, which has a virtual monopoly on box office sales for sports and live music events in North America and the U.K. has long denounced scalpers, especially those who use bots to harvest thousands of tickets in seconds, making it much harder for fans to get tickets at face value.

Prior to publication of the report, the Star and CBC send a list of questions to Ticketmaster detailing the investigation’s findings. Ticketmaster declined to address any of the allegations directly, and instead sent a general statement by email.

Ticketmaster’s Thursday statement in Variety says the review began before publication of the investigation.

“The company had already begun an internal review of our professional reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that our policies are being upheld by all stakeholders. Moving forward we will be putting additional measures in place to proactively monitor for this type of inappropriate activity.”

Ticketmaster’s full statement to the Star and CBC:

It is categorically untrue that Ticketmaster has any program in place to enable resellers to acquire large volumes of tickets at the expense of consumers.

Ticketmaster’s Seller Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets that exceed the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts for the purpose of circumventing ticket limit detection in order to amass tickets intended for resale.

A recent CBC story found that an employee of Ticketmaster’s resale division acknowledged being aware of some resellers having as many as 200 TradeDesk accounts for this purpose (TradeDesk is Ticketmaster’s professional reseller product that allows resellers to validate and distribute tickets to multiple marketplaces). We do not condone the statements made by the employee as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service.

The company had already begun an internal review of our professional reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that our policies are being upheld by all stakeholders. Moving forward we will be putting additional measures in place to proactively monitor for this type of inappropriate activity.

This is the bit that intrigues me ..........

<<< Ticketmaster’s full statement to the Star and CBC:

It is categorically untrue that Ticketmaster has any program in place to enable resellers to acquire large volumes of tickets at the expense of consumers.

Ticketmaster’s Seller Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets that exceed the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts for the purpose of circumventing ticket limit detection in order to amass tickets intended for resale.

A recent CBC story found that an employee of Ticketmaster’s resale division acknowledged being aware of some resellers having as many as 200 TradeDesk accounts for this purpose (TradeDesk is Ticketmaster’s professional reseller product that allows resellers to validate and distribute tickets to multiple marketplaces). We do not condone the statements made by the employee as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service.

The company had already begun an internal review of our professional reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that our policies are being upheld by all stakeholders. Moving forward we will be putting additional measures in place to proactively monitor for this type of inappropriate activity >>>

Little by little, the squeeze (pressure) is on Ticketmaster. Whether it comes from the threat of some form of federal regulation, or whether it stems from the relentless barrage of (mostly) bad press about their various manoeuvrings and shenanigans, as public and governments in the various countries in which it operates are increasingly vocal in their criticism of current practices - it is there and it is increasing exponentially !

Where it's all gonna lead to and how it's all gonna end ... I would be loathe to predict. For most of us, that simply want a slightly more level playing field as we go in search of a ticket for this & a ticket for that, the fact that there is now a great big fat spotlight on this entire phenomenon of 'ticket re-selling' can only be a good thing ..... may the spotlight shine ever brighter and may Ticketmaster find itself ever more on the defensive !

It's taken bloody long enough for the clamour to be heard, jeez !

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out their tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Fully agree with you .....

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-21 23:12 by Dan.

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Dan

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.

Yes, federal oversight to ensure that the parties engaged in the business of selling event tickets do not enact nefarious practices that skew the system so bloody much in their favour - and at the total and utter expense of the humble event goer. As with most things in life, there is a balance, a happy medium. The mere fact that there is such a debate now raging and such a bright spotlight focused on the practice of ticket 're-selling' should in itself tell you that 'the system' is currently way way way out of balance. And the public are getting f***ed !

The mere fact that one sole individual - Dan in LA who sees 200 plus shows per year - and is obviously astute enough to navigate his way through the minefield that is buying a cheap (i.e. below face value) ticket these days, is irrelevant. I'm pretty astute myself, and if there's a system to be played ... then I know how to play it and on the occasions I have done so (or been forced to do so I should perhaps more importantly say), have emerged from it in good shape and unscathed financially.

And that is precisely the point. That if federal oversight is required to rid the world of the sort of practices that force the public to devote god knows how much time and energy to becoming 'street smart enough' to navigate their way through the minefield created by such a skewed and biased system - then so be it.

If there is a debate raging and a spotlight upon the 'industry' at the moment, and they consider it unfair and unwelcome, then perhaps the companies involved in the business might wish to consider that is they and they alone that have brought this situation about ..........

Try and look at the bigger picture will you ?

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-22 12:07 by paulywaul.

Hagens Bergman offers to fight for you! Seems pretty easy...

[www.hbsslaw.com]

Hagens Berman is one of the most successful consumer litigation law firms in the U.S. and has achieved more than $260 billion in settlements for consumers in lawsuits against technology corporations, automakers, big banks and others. Hagens Berman won a suit against Apple and various publishing companies in 2016 that settled for a total $560 million on behalf of purchasers of e-books who had been forced to pay artificially high prices due to Apple and the publishing companies' price-fixing. Your claim will be handled by experts in consumer law.

NO COST TO YOU
There is no cost or fee whatsoever involved in joining this investigation. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will decide a reasonable fee to be awarded to the class' legal team. In no case will any class member ever be asked to pay any out-of-pocket sum.

Quote
FrogSugar
Hagens Bergman offers to fight for you! Seems pretty easy...

[www.hbsslaw.com]

Hagens Berman is one of the most successful consumer litigation law firms in the U.S. and has achieved more than $260 billion in settlements for consumers in lawsuits against technology corporations, automakers, big banks and others. Hagens Berman won a suit against Apple and various publishing companies in 2016 that settled for a total $560 million on behalf of purchasers of e-books who had been forced to pay artificially high prices due to Apple and the publishing companies' price-fixing. Your claim will be handled by experts in consumer law.

NO COST TO YOU
There is no cost or fee whatsoever involved in joining this investigation. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will decide a reasonable fee to be awarded to the class' legal team. In no case will any class member ever be asked to pay any out-of-pocket sum.

Off you go then, and don't forget to re-visit us here on IORR and keep us updated on how you're getting on ...........

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Quote
paulywaul

Off you go then, and don't forget to re-visit us here on IORR and keep us updated on how you're getting on ...........

Sounds like a good deal for someone who wants to join in on a class action lawsuit.

Myself? I've never bought an overpriced ticket in my life, I tend to buy tickets at the last minute from people who need sell a ticket at the last minute (of course, I will buy regular tickets if the price is reasonable). Macca's rolling into town in November and I will likely get in for less than face value :b

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FrogSugar

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paulywaul

Off you go then, and don't forget to re-visit us here on IORR and keep us updated on how you're getting on ...........

Sounds like a good deal for someone who wants to join in on a class action lawsuit.

Myself? I've never bought an overpriced ticket in my life, I tend to buy tickets at the last minute from people who need sell a ticket at the last minute (of course, I will buy regular tickets if the price is reasonable). Macca's rolling into town in November and I will likely get in for less than face value :b

Same here, 'reasonably priced' face value tickets, OR - just wait it out !

I'm desperately trying to recall if I've ever bought an 'overpriced' ticket in my life. I don't think so. I have bought very damn expensive tickets, such as for the Rolling Stones in Shanghai in 2014 (that was approximately an £800 ticket - face sodding value too), but it was not off the secondary market, and thus not 'overpriced' !

I think that's the way to do it these days. Don't permit yourself to get caught up in all the nonsense (especially these days) that goes on when tickets for an act 'initially' go on sale. If you don't get f***ed by the 'dynamic pricing' palaver that Ticketmaster puts into play, then you'll simply get f***ed by the industrial scale allocation of tickets to the secondary market - where the predictable price mark-ups take place !

So, forget about the event, and closer to the day .... start looking for those price drops.

This isn't really the way it should be, but because the secondary market was permitted to run amok for so many years before we've now reached the point where we're hearing a lot of noise about regulation in order to curb its insane excesses - it's regrettably the way it is !

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Quote
FrogSugar
Hagens Bergman offers to fight for you! Seems pretty easy...

[www.hbsslaw.com]

Hagens Berman is one of the most successful consumer litigation law firms in the U.S. and has achieved more than $260 billion in settlements for consumers in lawsuits against technology corporations, automakers, big banks and others. Hagens Berman won a suit against Apple and various publishing companies in 2016 that settled for a total $560 million on behalf of purchasers of e-books who had been forced to pay artificially high prices due to Apple and the publishing companies' price-fixing. Your claim will be handled by experts in consumer law.

NO COST TO YOU
There is no cost or fee whatsoever involved in joining this investigation. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will decide a reasonable fee to be awarded to the class' legal team. In no case will any class member ever be asked to pay any out-of-pocket sum.

Great, more useless vouchers and discount codes on the way.

And this won't bring ticket prices down or make access any easier.

Quote
paulywaul

Quote
Dan

Quote
TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.

Yes, federal oversight to ensure that the parties engaged in the business of selling event tickets do not enact nefarious practices that skew the system so bloody much in their favour - and at the total and utter expense of the humble event goer. As with most things in life, there is a balance, a happy medium. The mere fact that there is such a debate now raging and such a bright spotlight focused on the practice of ticket 're-selling' should in itself tell you that 'the system' is currently way way way out of balance. And the public are getting f***ed !

The mere fact that one sole individual - Dan in LA who sees 200 plus shows per year - and is obviously astute enough to navigate his way through the minefield that is buying a cheap (i.e. below face value) ticket these days, is irrelevant. I'm pretty astute myself, and if there's a system to be played ... then I know how to play it and on the occasions I have done so (or been forced to do so I should perhaps more importantly say), have emerged from it in good shape and unscathed financially.

And that is precisely the point. That if federal oversight is required to rid the world of the sort of practices that force the public to devote god knows how much time and energy to becoming 'street smart enough' to navigate their way through the minefield created by such a skewed and biased system - then so be it.

If there is a debate raging and a spotlight upon the 'industry' at the moment, and they consider it unfair and unwelcome, then perhaps the companies involved in the business might wish to consider that is they and they alone that have brought this situation about ..........

Try and look at the bigger picture will you ?

To me the bigger picture is this is entirely consumer driven and it's up to the consumers to fix it. Buyer discipline is the only way to stop relentless profiteering as well as bring overall prices down. Of course you are not going to see artists and promoters and ticket companies espousing this point of view.

The willingness of fans to pay ever higher prices for the concert experience is what has perpetuated the system of escalating costs and opportunists creating these additional profit points.

But then I can't imagine the government doing anything but make it worse than it already is. And America is split down the middle with a good half of the country opposing nanny state measures, probably even more so when faced with something as trivial (when looking at the bigger picture) as ticket prices.

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Dan

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paulywaul

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Dan

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.

Yes, federal oversight to ensure that the parties engaged in the business of selling event tickets do not enact nefarious practices that skew the system so bloody much in their favour - and at the total and utter expense of the humble event goer. As with most things in life, there is a balance, a happy medium. The mere fact that there is such a debate now raging and such a bright spotlight focused on the practice of ticket 're-selling' should in itself tell you that 'the system' is currently way way way out of balance. And the public are getting f***ed !

The mere fact that one sole individual - Dan in LA who sees 200 plus shows per year - and is obviously astute enough to navigate his way through the minefield that is buying a cheap (i.e. below face value) ticket these days, is irrelevant. I'm pretty astute myself, and if there's a system to be played ... then I know how to play it and on the occasions I have done so (or been forced to do so I should perhaps more importantly say), have emerged from it in good shape and unscathed financially.

And that is precisely the point. That if federal oversight is required to rid the world of the sort of practices that force the public to devote god knows how much time and energy to becoming 'street smart enough' to navigate their way through the minefield created by such a skewed and biased system - then so be it.

If there is a debate raging and a spotlight upon the 'industry' at the moment, and they consider it unfair and unwelcome, then perhaps the companies involved in the business might wish to consider that is they and they alone that have brought this situation about ..........

Try and look at the bigger picture will you ?

To me the bigger picture is this is entirely consumer driven and it's up to the consumers to fix it. Buyer discipline is the only way to stop relentless profiteering as well as bring overall prices down. Of course you are not going to see artists and promoters and ticket companies espousing this point of view.

The willingness of fans to pay ever higher prices for the concert experience is what has perpetuated the system of escalating costs and opportunists creating these additional profit points.

But then I can't imagine the government doing anything but make it worse than it already is. And America is split down the middle with a good half of the country opposing nanny state measures, probably even more so when faced with something as trivial (when looking at the bigger picture) as ticket prices.

Yes well, the poor bloody average consumer has become understandably confused as the years have gone by, many these days for example are completely incapable of distinguishing between a primary ticket agency like Ticketmaster or (here in UK) Seetickets, and (what used to be) four 'secondary market' sellers: Seatwave, Getmein, Stubhub, Viagogo). I say 'what used to be' four, because TM recently closed the first two I've mentioned there. How come ? The reason is because the industry has benefitted from no regulation or intervention whatsoever, the 'secondary market' has been permitted to flourish and evolve to such a ludicrous degree that to considerable extent, the secondaries have usurped the primaries. No wonder the public has become confused, alongside getting royally f***ed !

You will never persuade me in a month of Sundays that people are generally willing to pay ever higher and higher prices for the concert experience of their choice. In general, they're not ! But when a monstrous proportion of tickets from a primary ticket agency are deliberately siphoned off to a secondary marketplace, or placed on a 'resale platform' within the primary agency itself - as appears to be what TM are now doing - the public hasn't exactly got much choice in the matter ! They (consumers) are not driving the phenomenon, they're having to bear the unfortunate and undesirable consequences of a runaway and uncontrolled phenomenon ! You surely must be able to see the difference ?

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

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paulywaul

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Dan

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paulywaul

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Dan

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.

Yes, federal oversight to ensure that the parties engaged in the business of selling event tickets do not enact nefarious practices that skew the system so bloody much in their favour - and at the total and utter expense of the humble event goer. As with most things in life, there is a balance, a happy medium. The mere fact that there is such a debate now raging and such a bright spotlight focused on the practice of ticket 're-selling' should in itself tell you that 'the system' is currently way way way out of balance. And the public are getting f***ed !

The mere fact that one sole individual - Dan in LA who sees 200 plus shows per year - and is obviously astute enough to navigate his way through the minefield that is buying a cheap (i.e. below face value) ticket these days, is irrelevant. I'm pretty astute myself, and if there's a system to be played ... then I know how to play it and on the occasions I have done so (or been forced to do so I should perhaps more importantly say), have emerged from it in good shape and unscathed financially.

And that is precisely the point. That if federal oversight is required to rid the world of the sort of practices that force the public to devote god knows how much time and energy to becoming 'street smart enough' to navigate their way through the minefield created by such a skewed and biased system - then so be it.

If there is a debate raging and a spotlight upon the 'industry' at the moment, and they consider it unfair and unwelcome, then perhaps the companies involved in the business might wish to consider that is they and they alone that have brought this situation about ..........

Try and look at the bigger picture will you ?

To me the bigger picture is this is entirely consumer driven and it's up to the consumers to fix it. Buyer discipline is the only way to stop relentless profiteering as well as bring overall prices down. Of course you are not going to see artists and promoters and ticket companies espousing this point of view.

The willingness of fans to pay ever higher prices for the concert experience is what has perpetuated the system of escalating costs and opportunists creating these additional profit points.

But then I can't imagine the government doing anything but make it worse than it already is. And America is split down the middle with a good half of the country opposing nanny state measures, probably even more so when faced with something as trivial (when looking at the bigger picture) as ticket prices.

Yes well, the poor bloody average consumer has become understandably confused as the years have gone by, many these days for example are completely incapable of distinguishing between a primary ticket agency like Ticketmaster or (here in UK) Seetickets, and (what used to be) four 'secondary market' sellers: Seatwave, Getmein, Stubhub, Viagogo). I say 'what used to be' four, because TM recently closed the first two I've mentioned there. How come ? The reason is because the industry has benefitted from no regulation or intervention whatsoever, the 'secondary market' has been permitted to flourish and evolve to such a ludicrous degree that to considerable extent, the secondaries have usurped the primaries. No wonder the public has become confused, alongside getting royally f***ed !

You will never persuade me in a month of Sundays that people are generally willing to pay ever higher and higher prices for the concert experience of their choice. In general, they're not ! But when a monstrous proportion of tickets from a primary ticket agency are deliberately siphoned off to a secondary marketplace, or placed on a 'resale platform' within the primary agency itself - as appears to be what TM are now doing - the public hasn't exactly got much choice in the matter ! They (consumers) are not driving the phenomenon, they're having to bear the unfortunate and undesirable consequences of a runaway and uncontrolled phenomenon ! You surely must be able to see the difference ?

I say they have been driving it by a willingness to pay more and more in the last two decades regardless of where or how they buy the ticket. And as usual my own unique experiences have hardly suffered from my own insistence on paying less and less. And let's not forget the annual (North American) Live Nation $20 ticket dump every May.

Would still love to see one of these "real fans" testify before Congress or anyone outside the bubble though. As your typical fanboy obviously suffers from sort of mental illness, however benign, and may not cut as much of a sympathetic character as some here might assume.

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Dan

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paulywaul

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Dan

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paulywaul

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Dan

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TheGreek
It's all fine and dandy but it is not reasonable to expect Ticketmaster/Livenation to police it self without Federal oversight and Federal regulation . Ditto for losing there exclusivity that they are the only ticket broker/ ticket seller and so on . Competition is the only way to address this and bring Ticketmaster/Livenation to it's knees and make them beg and grovel for a contract to provide there overpriced gouging organized crime tactics. I would like to see artists and there management firms bid out there tours in a RFP to ticketing firms that provide the proper services instead of this monopoly /duopoly including AEG who I suspect is somehow backdoor affiliated with Ticketmaster/Livenation . I have no fantasy or illusion that this will mean more reasonable priced sporting events or concert tours at all .

Federal oversight for concert tickets? Really, do I need big brother holding my hand to buy a concert ticket?

In LA there is a lot of competition among promoters and ticketsellers Live Nation is by no means the biggest here and the increased competition does not mean lower prices, because it's usually the highest bidder that gets the event. Which means higher ticket prices.

But in my neighborhood thousands of people are being cast into the streets because housing costs are too high so I would be really upset if the legislators set their sights on ticket prices at the local level.

And to say AEG is affiliated with Ticketmaster basically proves how little you know what you are talking about. They are separate companies in direct competition with each other except they do rent out their buildings and services to each other.

Yes, federal oversight to ensure that the parties engaged in the business of selling event tickets do not enact nefarious practices that skew the system so bloody much in their favour - and at the total and utter expense of the humble event goer. As with most things in life, there is a balance, a happy medium. The mere fact that there is such a debate now raging and such a bright spotlight focused on the practice of ticket 're-selling' should in itself tell you that 'the system' is currently way way way out of balance. And the public are getting f***ed !

The mere fact that one sole individual - Dan in LA who sees 200 plus shows per year - and is obviously astute enough to navigate his way through the minefield that is buying a cheap (i.e. below face value) ticket these days, is irrelevant. I'm pretty astute myself, and if there's a system to be played ... then I know how to play it and on the occasions I have done so (or been forced to do so I should perhaps more importantly say), have emerged from it in good shape and unscathed financially.

And that is precisely the point. That if federal oversight is required to rid the world of the sort of practices that force the public to devote god knows how much time and energy to becoming 'street smart enough' to navigate their way through the minefield created by such a skewed and biased system - then so be it.

If there is a debate raging and a spotlight upon the 'industry' at the moment, and they consider it unfair and unwelcome, then perhaps the companies involved in the business might wish to consider that is they and they alone that have brought this situation about ..........

Try and look at the bigger picture will you ?

To me the bigger picture is this is entirely consumer driven and it's up to the consumers to fix it. Buyer discipline is the only way to stop relentless profiteering as well as bring overall prices down. Of course you are not going to see artists and promoters and ticket companies espousing this point of view.

The willingness of fans to pay ever higher prices for the concert experience is what has perpetuated the system of escalating costs and opportunists creating these additional profit points.

But then I can't imagine the government doing anything but make it worse than it already is. And America is split down the middle with a good half of the country opposing nanny state measures, probably even more so when faced with something as trivial (when looking at the bigger picture) as ticket prices.

Yes well, the poor bloody average consumer has become understandably confused as the years have gone by, many these days for example are completely incapable of distinguishing between a primary ticket agency like Ticketmaster or (here in UK) Seetickets, and (what used to be) four 'secondary market' sellers: Seatwave, Getmein, Stubhub, Viagogo). I say 'what used to be' four, because TM recently closed the first two I've mentioned there. How come ? The reason is because the industry has benefitted from no regulation or intervention whatsoever, the 'secondary market' has been permitted to flourish and evolve to such a ludicrous degree that to considerable extent, the secondaries have usurped the primaries. No wonder the public has become confused, alongside getting royally f***ed !

You will never persuade me in a month of Sundays that people are generally willing to pay ever higher and higher prices for the concert experience of their choice. In general, they're not ! But when a monstrous proportion of tickets from a primary ticket agency are deliberately siphoned off to a secondary marketplace, or placed on a 'resale platform' within the primary agency itself - as appears to be what TM are now doing - the public hasn't exactly got much choice in the matter ! They (consumers) are not driving the phenomenon, they're having to bear the unfortunate and undesirable consequences of a runaway and uncontrolled phenomenon ! You surely must be able to see the difference ?

I say they have been driving it by a willingness to pay more and more in the last two decades regardless of where or how they buy the ticket. And as usual my own unique experiences have hardly suffered from my own insistence on paying less and less. And let's not forget the annual (North American) Live Nation $20 ticket dump every May.

Would still love to see one of these "real fans" testify before Congress or anyone outside the bubble though. As your typical fanboy obviously suffers from sort of mental illness, however benign, and may not cut as much of a sympathetic character as some here might assume.

Well with all due respect, I think that has now changed - or is changing ! I think there is so much (dirty) water under the bridge now, that the pursuit of some marginal level of fairness/openness/transparency in the context of event ticket sales has reached fever pitch !

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

Class Action suit: [www.thestar.com]

Ticketmaster facing class action lawsuits over ticket resales
By ROBERT CRIBB Investigative Reporter
MARCO CHOWN OVED Investigative Reporter
Sat., Sept. 22, 2018

Class action lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. are in the works against Ticketmaster — the world’s largest ticket seller, with a virtual monopoly on major events across North America — following a Toronto Star/CBC investigation that revealed new details about the company’s selling techniques.

Regina-based class action firm Merchant Law Group LLP, which already has a class action filed against Ticketmaster alleging inflated ticket prices, has confirmed it intends to expand that claim to include Star/CBC reporting, captured on hidden cameras, that Ticketmaster actively recruits scalpers to resell its tickets through its TradeDesk “professional reseller program.”

The web-based software, which was promoted by Ticketmaster employees at a Las Vegas scalper convention in July, empowers scalpers to manage large inventories of seats obtained from Ticketmaster.com and resell them with commissions for both the scalpers and Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster responds to Star/CBC investigation, vows to root out mass scalpers

“It’s a result of the Star/CBC investigation that got us looking at whether we can advance a claim successfully for breach of competition and consumer affairs legislation,” said firm principal Tony Merchant. “We knew about the issues of scalpers. But we did not know there was evidence available of them working conjunctively with scalpers. Getting those things on camera are things a court will listen to … You’ve sent us back to the drawing board. ”

Total damages against the company could top $100 million, Merchant said in an interview Saturday.

In the U.S., law firm Hagens Berman has posted on its website an open invitation — under the headline “Ticketmaster’s TradeDesk Scalping Scheme” — to anyone who has purchased inflated Ticketmaster seats to sign up.

“Reports indicate that Ticketmaster accepts kickbacks by secretly facilitating ticket sales through scalpers at a higher cost, collecting profits from both the original and secondary sales of tickets,” the online posting reads. “Ticketmaster has actually facilitated the sale of tickets to the secondary market in order to receive a second cut on each ticket — one that is even more than the cut Ticketmaster received on the original ticket sale.”

Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuits Saturday.

After reading the Star/CBC stories, Torontonian Lyne McMurchie signed on to the class action on the Merchant Law website, still smarting from her experience with Ticketmaster earlier this year.

On May 7, McMurchie and her husband went to Ticketmaster’s website the minute tickets went on sale for a show by Korean pop band BTS in Hamilton. They clicked furiously, trying to find seats for their 15-year-old daughter, a “super-fan.”

“I’d click on an open seat and it would turn and turn and then tell you someone else got that seat.” McMurchie said. “After 25 minutes, panic sets in and you get scared you’re not going to get anything.”

When they finally landed two available seats priced at $1,173 apiece, they begrudgingly ponied up.

“In that moment, it felt like do or die. So we did it.”

McMurchie has since gone back to Ticketmaster.com and found comparable tickets for the concert, taking place this weekend, available for less than half the price they paid.

“I don’t understand the system. But I feel like I’ve been ripped off because those seats aren’t far from the ones we got,” she said.

And because the band’s fans are overwhelmingly teenagers who need adult accompaniment, families are forced to pay twice the inflated seat price, she added.

“I think they really know how to take advantage of the parent dynamic with teenagers … Knowing now what Ticketmaster seems to be doing behind the scenes, it certainly gives me pause for thought.”

The Star/CBC investigation showed ticket selling techniques, including “dynamic pricing” of seats for a Bruno Mars show in Toronto, in which the price for individual seats varied dramatically during the sale period; the “hold-back” of seats listed for sale to drive up demand; and the company’s courtship of international scalpers — once described by company officials as “pirates” — as “partners” in the lucrative resale market.

Star and CBC reporters working undercover and posing as scalpers were told by two Ticketmaster employees on two different occasions that scalpers who use the company’s TradeDesk software will not be scrutinized, even if they have far more tickets than the posted limit allows.

In Las Vegas, a Ticketmaster sales executive told reporters that the company turns a blind eye to TradeDesk clients who hold massive inventories and multiple Ticketmaster.com accounts in breach of the company’s purchasing limits of typically six to eight seats per show.

Ticketmaster officials did not answer detailed questions about TradeDesk and the sales pitches in the weeks before publication and instead sent a brief general statement.

On Thursday, a day after publication of the Star/CBC story, the company announced that it has launched an internal review of its ticket reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that scalpers who use bots to circumvent purchase limits aren’t using Ticketmaster’s resale software. It also said the company does not condone the statements made by its employee “as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service.”

Richard Powers, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said the company’s response makes clear “the cat is out of the bag.”

“I think it is a bit ingenuous to think that Ticketmaster brass were unaware of these practices taking place,” he said. “While acknowledging that the practices violate their own Seller Code of Conduct, and specifically denouncing the statements made by their own employee, they do not indicate anywhere that the practices were not taking place. Which leads to one conclusion — they were.”

Reg Walker, a security consultant and expert on ticket scalping in the U.K., called Ticketmaster’s response “nonsense.”

“How on earth do they think scalpers acquire tickets in such large numbers? Are they suggesting they all went to Hogwarts and learned how to magic them out of thin air? The point is no one ever asks the scalpers how or where they obtained the tickets as they already know the answer. The lack of due diligence is appalling and demonstrates a singular contempt for genuine music and sports fans who are unable to obtain tickets at face value due to industrial ticket harvesting by scalpers.”

If Ticketmaster executives really didn’t know these practices were happening, “the directors are clearly not in control of the business,” Walker said. “And if they did know, are they fit and proper persons to be directors?”

Merchant Law first filed a class action against Ticketmaster in January, alleging Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, employ so-called “drip pricing” — a technique in which an initial advertised price is inflated with added fees, taxes and charges — to “jack up” the face price of tickets.

That class action has not been certified. Merchant said an amended statement of claim will be added within a week that addresses the Star/CBC findings.

Walker, Merchant and Powers all said governments have a strong role to play in protecting consumers from ticket price gouging.

“The (federal Competition Bureau) has power to demand documents and investigate that Merchant Law doesn’t have and the Toronto Star doesn’t have. You’ve brought all of this information and shone the light. But the courts aren’t as effective a way to address this as the Competition Bureau.”

In January, the Competition Bureau sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation over allegations that they “employ deceptive marketing practices” — including the practice of “drip pricing” — that can inflate the face price of a seat by more than 60 per cent.

Good news, TM is going to have a lot of explaining to do ! And it's going to have to be better than that ridiculous press release they put out about that rogue employee, hehe...like that sales executive explained "TradeDesk" makes no sense if people who use it follow the rules and have only bought 6 or 8 tickets !

@paulywaul - about the cap, it seems that like in France, "verified resale" will be limited to face : "From October, you’ll be able to sell your tickets on Ticketmaster at the price you originally paid or less" as seen at the top of the page on [www.seatwave.com]

So at least in the UK and France, TM "realize" that allowing extortionate prices for "verified resale" on their site is WRONG. Naturally TM will still tack on their 25% commission but at least the "verified resale" dots won't overwhelm the seating chart as there will be no incentive to rip off fans and only legit fans who can't make it will be using the platform, UNLIKE on TM USA, at least for now.

As a side-note there is a "broker" in France called pariseventicket that have "presales" where they let you "reserve" seats for in-demand shows without having to fight it out on your computer during office hours for a fairly modest fee of about 18%. I'm actually ok with that as they provide an actual service and the markup remains reasonable compared to what you see on all the "resale" sites and even in forthcoming TM "verified resale" with its 25% markup.

--------------
IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-23 20:02 by gotdablouse.

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gotdablouse
Good news, TM is going to have a lot of explaining to do ! And it's going to have to be better than that ridiculous press release they put out about that rogue employee, hehe...like that sales executive explained "TradeDesk" makes no sense if people who use it follow the rules and have only bought 6 or 8 tickets !

Actually brokers who do consignment sales may have many more than the limit.

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SomeTorontoGirl


After reading the Star/CBC stories, Torontonian Lyne McMurchie signed on to the class action on the Merchant Law website, still smarting from her experience with Ticketmaster earlier this year.

On May 7, McMurchie and her husband went to Ticketmaster’s website the minute tickets went on sale for a show by Korean pop band BTS in Hamilton. They clicked furiously, trying to find seats for their 15-year-old daughter, a “super-fan.”

“I’d click on an open seat and it would turn and turn and then tell you someone else got that seat.” McMurchie said. “After 25 minutes, panic sets in and you get scared you’re not going to get anything.”

A in demand event's sale page should automatically default to choose best available, not the interactive map. No one gets anything for a major event if it's the interactive map. Of course someone buying for the first time may not understand this.

Quote

When they finally landed two available seats priced at $1,173 apiece, they begrudgingly ponied up.

“In that moment, it felt like do or die. So we did it.”

Or die. Another example of how the superfan will sound completely nutso to someone outside the bubble.

And as a lifelong concert goer, I keep wondering who the @#$%& who pay thousands just for a concert.

Again, not a sympathetic character.

Yeah from now on we might see a disclaimer about dynamic pricing on the main page and prices will still start out high and maybe go down. Or not.

Also when the resale laws were put into effect in Ontatio, part of it was supposed to include full disclosure on the amount of tickets available but Live Nation successfully lobbied to have that stipulation removed saying acts would stop coming to Canada.

Ticket brokers should sue Ticketmaster for using the scarcity ploys to trick them into buying millions of tickets that were later sold at a loss.

From a non TM page:

These are the best tickets that were available at the moment you requested them. Better seats may become available at anytime, including on the day of the event. By purchasing these tickets, you are committin to purchase THESE TICKETS, for THIS DATE, and all sales are final. Refunds & exchanges will not be honored if additional seating becomes available.

Hold on- I've actually gotten into b-ball games (College) much cheaper with better seats. If you buy from a crook, make sure you have the arena map handy . Side seats may not be as they seem. But, remember - patience is virtue Do not let others steal out of lack of patience. YOU WILL GET A GOOD SEAT BECAUSE WE LOVE THE STONES. Check everything about the ticket and walk with the seller to the counter to ensure truthfulness and honesty

Yes it is easier to have great to have premium seats before arriving to the event but that is not how life works- for us fighters Also - best bargains can be found at Amphi -theater concerts such as CCR - Henley - etc..

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SomeTorontoGirl
Class Action suit: [www.thestar.com]

Ticketmaster facing class action lawsuits over ticket resales
By ROBERT CRIBB Investigative Reporter
MARCO CHOWN OVED Investigative Reporter
Sat., Sept. 22, 2018

Class action lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. are in the works against Ticketmaster — the world’s largest ticket seller, with a virtual monopoly on major events across North America — following a Toronto Star/CBC investigation that revealed new details about the company’s selling techniques.

Regina-based class action firm Merchant Law Group LLP, which already has a class action filed against Ticketmaster alleging inflated ticket prices, has confirmed it intends to expand that claim to include Star/CBC reporting, captured on hidden cameras, that Ticketmaster actively recruits scalpers to resell its tickets through its TradeDesk “professional reseller program.”

The web-based software, which was promoted by Ticketmaster employees at a Las Vegas scalper convention in July, empowers scalpers to manage large inventories of seats obtained from Ticketmaster.com and resell them with commissions for both the scalpers and Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster responds to Star/CBC investigation, vows to root out mass scalpers

“It’s a result of the Star/CBC investigation that got us looking at whether we can advance a claim successfully for breach of competition and consumer affairs legislation,” said firm principal Tony Merchant. “We knew about the issues of scalpers. But we did not know there was evidence available of them working conjunctively with scalpers. Getting those things on camera are things a court will listen to … You’ve sent us back to the drawing board. ”

Total damages against the company could top $100 million, Merchant said in an interview Saturday.

In the U.S., law firm Hagens Berman has posted on its website an open invitation — under the headline “Ticketmaster’s TradeDesk Scalping Scheme” — to anyone who has purchased inflated Ticketmaster seats to sign up.

“Reports indicate that Ticketmaster accepts kickbacks by secretly facilitating ticket sales through scalpers at a higher cost, collecting profits from both the original and secondary sales of tickets,” the online posting reads. “Ticketmaster has actually facilitated the sale of tickets to the secondary market in order to receive a second cut on each ticket — one that is even more than the cut Ticketmaster received on the original ticket sale.”

Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuits Saturday.

After reading the Star/CBC stories, Torontonian Lyne McMurchie signed on to the class action on the Merchant Law website, still smarting from her experience with Ticketmaster earlier this year.

On May 7, McMurchie and her husband went to Ticketmaster’s website the minute tickets went on sale for a show by Korean pop band BTS in Hamilton. They clicked furiously, trying to find seats for their 15-year-old daughter, a “super-fan.”

“I’d click on an open seat and it would turn and turn and then tell you someone else got that seat.” McMurchie said. “After 25 minutes, panic sets in and you get scared you’re not going to get anything.”

When they finally landed two available seats priced at $1,173 apiece, they begrudgingly ponied up.

“In that moment, it felt like do or die. So we did it.”

McMurchie has since gone back to Ticketmaster.com and found comparable tickets for the concert, taking place this weekend, available for less than half the price they paid.

“I don’t understand the system. But I feel like I’ve been ripped off because those seats aren’t far from the ones we got,” she said.

And because the band’s fans are overwhelmingly teenagers who need adult accompaniment, families are forced to pay twice the inflated seat price, she added.

“I think they really know how to take advantage of the parent dynamic with teenagers … Knowing now what Ticketmaster seems to be doing behind the scenes, it certainly gives me pause for thought.”

The Star/CBC investigation showed ticket selling techniques, including “dynamic pricing” of seats for a Bruno Mars show in Toronto, in which the price for individual seats varied dramatically during the sale period; the “hold-back” of seats listed for sale to drive up demand; and the company’s courtship of international scalpers — once described by company officials as “pirates” — as “partners” in the lucrative resale market.

Star and CBC reporters working undercover and posing as scalpers were told by two Ticketmaster employees on two different occasions that scalpers who use the company’s TradeDesk software will not be scrutinized, even if they have far more tickets than the posted limit allows.

In Las Vegas, a Ticketmaster sales executive told reporters that the company turns a blind eye to TradeDesk clients who hold massive inventories and multiple Ticketmaster.com accounts in breach of the company’s purchasing limits of typically six to eight seats per show.

Ticketmaster officials did not answer detailed questions about TradeDesk and the sales pitches in the weeks before publication and instead sent a brief general statement.

On Thursday, a day after publication of the Star/CBC story, the company announced that it has launched an internal review of its ticket reseller accounts and employee practices to ensure that scalpers who use bots to circumvent purchase limits aren’t using Ticketmaster’s resale software. It also said the company does not condone the statements made by its employee “as the conduct described clearly violates our terms of service.”


“I think it is a bit ingenuous to think that Ticketmaster brass were unaware of these practices taking place,” he said. “While acknowledging that the practices violate their own Seller Code of Conduct, and specifically denouncing the statements made by their own employee, they do not indicate anywhere that the practices were not taking place. Which leads to one conclusion — they were.”

Reg Walker, a security consultant and expert on ticket Richard Powers, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said the company’s response makes clear “the cat is out of the bag.”
scalping in the U.K., called Ticketmaster’s response “nonsense.”

“How on earth do they think scalpers acquire tickets in such large numbers? Are they suggesting they all went to Hogwarts and learned how to magic them out of thin air? The point is no one ever asks the scalpers how or where they obtained the tickets as they already know the answer. The lack of due diligence is appalling and demonstrates a singular contempt for genuine music and sports fans who are unable to obtain tickets at face value due to industrial ticket harvesting by scalpers.”

If Ticketmaster executives really didn’t know these practices were happening, “the directors are clearly not in control of the business,” Walker said. “And if they did know, are they fit and proper persons to be directors?”

Merchant Law first filed a class action against Ticketmaster in January, alleging Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, employ so-called “drip pricing” — a technique in which an initial advertised price is inflated with added fees, taxes and charges — to “jack up” the face price of tickets.

That class action has not been certified. Merchant said an amended statement of claim will be added within a week that addresses the Star/CBC findings.

Walker, Merchant and Powers all said governments have a strong role to play in protecting consumers from ticket price gouging.

“The (federal Competition Bureau) has power to demand documents and investigate that Merchant Law doesn’t have and the Toronto Star doesn’t have. You’ve brought all of this information and shone the light. But the courts aren’t as effective a way to address this as the Competition Bureau.”

In January, the Competition Bureau sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation over allegations that they “employ deceptive marketing practices” — including the practice of “drip pricing” — that can inflate the face price of a seat by more than 60 per cent.

Sorry to be boring and do the 'highlighting' bit, but to those of you that are reading/following this thread, it might be useful in terms of drawing your eye to the more relevant and galling bits contained within the mass of articles on the this subject, as the controversy continues to rage and the water seems to get ever murkier and ever dirtier ...

<<< Richard Powers, an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said the company’s response makes clear “the cat is out of the bag.” >>>

No truer thing said ! I love it ..........

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]