Complain about a product or service

Ticketmaster

Demelza of Stoneham MA (05/14/08)
I bought 4 tickets to the April 5th Margaret Cho show in Boston. I was unable to get 4 tickets together in a row and almost bought 2 pairs that were totally on the opposite sides of the venue from one another, but then asked about back to back. My friends were in from out of town, so it would be nice to sit near one another especially at a comedy show. I was told there were indeed 4 seats back to back on an aisle in the orchestra section at $45.50 each. I was psyched, but asked the sales rep to confirm that they were back to back on the aisle, and he replied yes. He then told me they were all seat 14 and in aisles: E,L,M &O. Now as a teacher I know those letters are not back to back! So I again asked for him to check that they were back to back and he said yes, it's just they way the venue made their rows. After driving the guy crazy with questions and running out of time to order I said OK and bought them.

Get to the show with my friends and am entirely embarrassed when we are told that they are not only NOT back to back (except for L&M of course) but at the end of the aisle against the wall. I didn't get to sit even close to my friends and had to enjoy the show with complete strangers who cackled so loudly the entire time that I didn't hear many of the jokes! (that was NOT Tickemaster's fault I do realize!!!)

So... call Ticketmaster the next business day to complain and the representative is very apologetic. She takes my complaint and says it will be reviewed and I would hear back within 7 business days. Well 3 weeks later I realize I haven't heard from them and call them to investigate. I spoke with a rep who quickly told me that matter had been resolved. I said I didn't hear a thing and she said something about it being taken care of internally and she apologized that I didn't hear from them. Great, ok so what came of it?

Well, it was determinded that since I called them after the event had taken place there was nothing they could do for me. Well.... yah I called after because I couldn't have realized the seats were wrong until I got there to see for myself!!! Hello?!?!? She said again there was nothing they could do. So, I asked if I could speak to someone who could explain to me why it was dismissed so quickly since it was their bad. She said there was no one I could speak with and again nothing can be done. I asked again to speak with a supervisor, she said no one for me to talk to. So I said what can I do about this? She said nothing.

So I said, this mistake was not mine, it was a Ticketmaster agents and I remember being told my phone call when I ordered would be recorded for what ever reasons, so the agents mistake was recorded.... She said fine, I'll make a record that an agent gave out false information, but that's not going to help you. I gave up.... What can I do about this??? I spent $228.75 at a comedy show to sit with strangers and have my out-of-town friends out of even my sight lines!!! There must be someone I can complain to!

Tom of New York, NY (05/12/08)
Ticketmaster has the despicable habit of adding an extra charge on the very last page when you check out. There's no warning that this charge is going to appear, and no explanation as to what you are getting for your Order Processing Fee (as opposed to the Convenience Fee). I went through the process again carefully - you can fill your shopping cart, you never see this charge until the very last step after you've filled in your credit card where you confirm.

$2.50 from millions of ticket goers, 95% of whom I'll bet never realize they're being ripped off.

Behzad of Vancouver WA (05/06/08)
I purchased 4 tickets through Ticketmaster web site. The seat locations were row 12 in left section as was written in the order confirmation. I picked up the tickets and bang... , there were Lower baloc. They charged me 50$ for a 34$ ticket ! Even after I talked to them at the theater nobody was responsible. I pretty sure that the make a vague direction of seats in order to sell the cheap tickets ! You see how it ruins your night when you expect to seat in a close seat to the stage and all of the sudden it turns to the farest seat !

Cece of San Francisco CA (05/02/08)
Went online at start of Flight of Conchords sale (5/29 Davies Hall in S.F.) Could not buy any tickets online. Called Ticketmaster only to find the tickets were all sold out at the beginning of the public sale event! --BUT tickets are available on Ticketsnow.com. This reseller is now owned by Ticketmaster. They are reselling tickets at astronomical prices.

Ironically, many of the tickets for sale by Ticketsnow are the orchestra A-L tickets that are will-call pickup only, ie: if they can't scalp them someone could buy them at the venue the night of the event. Please everyone google complaints about ticketmaster to find out about their acquisition of the reseller Ticketsnow. Quite a sad predicament for fans of this duo.

Diana of Pensacola FL (05/01/08)
February 16, 2008 called Ticketmaster by phone (cannot get handicapped seats on-line)to purchase Elton John tickets for handicapped seating. I explained to the person I needed handicapped seating for an electric wheelchair and a seat for the care taker of the handicapped person. I also told them that this person could not be transfered from the wheelchair to a seat as she is terminally ill. They said it wasn't a problem there was handicapped seating available for the wheelchair and a chair next to it. This concert was her wish come true to see Elton John before she passed on.

Well things did not work out so well. We got there only to find out that our seats were down in regular seating in front of the handicapped spots. I found a Customer Service Representative to explain our situation and in turn she found a Supervisor. The Supervisor seated us right above our origianl seats in the handicapped seating. People complained we were in their seats so we were moved down to the other end of the same row in handicapped seats. People came and got in my face yelling and screaming out of control at us about being in their seats.

The Customer Rep returned to move us yet again but this time all the way behind the stage. I told her we didn't pay to sit behind the stage and I was informed that alot of people did and I said but I didn't. The view was terrible. She asked me if why I didn't buy my tickets at the box office and i told her because I work seven days a week so I had to call as they do not take handicapped requests on line. She told me we were on our own and had to take it up with Ticketmaster (which is no help at all as no one cares). More went on but this is it in a nutshell and I am just mortified at how people are treated, especially terminal handicapped people. As long as companies receive their money they do not care about the customer these days.

My friend was upset crying and embarrassed by everyone's actions or lack of and missed about 45 minutes of the concert trying to get things sorted out. We ended up going back to the original seats and since I had to physically help her out of her wheelchair and down the steps we both almost fell. Then I had to get a concert goer to help get her back up the steps to her wheelchair in which she was very embarrassed by. We were not allowed to keep the wheelchair close by as the Civic Center made me take it to a lobby and check it in. So when she had to go to the restroom I had to run back and forth trying to get the chair, find a complete stranger willing to help transfer her back and forth and so on. Not a good last wish for anyone or not able to relax and enjoy the concert. Total cost of tickets for a bad time $214.75.

Joanne of Foster City CA (04/29/08)
Went online to purchase Neil Diamond tickets at $134.50 at 10:00a.m. and I did not like the tickets that were coming up so I kept clicking try again and after 20 min. was kicked off of site and cannot get back on. I have tried closing my computer but to no avail. Checked with 4 of my friends and they had no trouble getting onto Ticketmaster. I have had the account for over 20 years. What can I do.

Eiren of Los Angeles CA (04/28/08)
If you try to buy tickets on ticketmaster and they're sold out, ticketmaster will take you to a page that says: We couldn't find tickets that matched your request. And guess what, if you look down from that message, there is another one that says: Cant find the tickets you want? Check our partner site TicketsNow for seats. Ok, then you click on the Find Tickets link and it'll take you to TicketsNow, the partner of Ticketmaster.

There, you'll sure find the tickets for the shows that you want to go to. Great, isn't it? But check out the price. They're X times more than the face values. Got it now? Why're tickets sold out so quickly? Why're there so many tickets on TicketsNow, the partner of Ticketmaster, for X times the face values? Ummm... There's no better way than this to make more money for Ticketmaster if you ask me...

Dave of Concord CA (03/16/08)
Waited online March 16th, prior to 10 am sale of Eddie Izzard tickets for show in July. The show was completely sold out by 10 am. The so-called 'ticket brokers' had tons of tickets for sale, starting at double the cost when I went online seconds later.

I won't be able to attend the show. It should not be legal for Ticketmaster to completely sell out to brokers; in fact, brokers should be excluded for one day.

Susan of Spring Hill FL (03/12/08)
Last year I had a problem with Ticketmaster. Of course when you have a problem there isn't a phone number that you can call to get an actual person, it is always automated. You can't get help from the help link on the site either. I finally received some help last year after posting on a few sites about my experience. So I thought that I would give ticketmaster another shot. Last year I got online at the exact minute that tickets went on sale and pulled the best available seats, I bought them, and three days later I got on the site and pulled much better seats. So much for best available. I was told by a person at Ticketmaster that if I wanted the best seats that I would have to join the fan club (Tim McGraw).

I joined the fan club this year, paid the money so I could get presale. I received my presale code and went on there today to buy the tickets. I bought one pair of tickets, and they certainly are not the best. I was told last year that fan club gets the front sections. Well, this fan club member never pulled close to the stage at all! I logged back on to find another pair of tickets (because as a fan club member I am allowed 4 per venue) and the site locked me out! I cannot get in at all. Angry, frustrated, devastated... that doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. This concert is 3 days after my 30th birthday! This was suppose to be a huge birthday celebration for me - and now I can't even buy the tickets! Once again, totally let down by ticketmaster!

Jeanine of New York NY (03/09/08)
On Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 10:00 a.m., I attempted to purchase tickets from Ticketmaster.Com for a Counting Crows concert and all the tickets were already sold out. When I called Ticketmaster the woman on the phone explained that although the tickets just went on sale they were already sold out due to a presale. She explained if I wanted more information I could contact the venue. I attempted to contact the venue via internet and was unsuccessful. I was able to reach another ticket vendor, NewYorkTheater.com, selling the originally price tickets of $38.50 for $482. This is not the first time I've encountered this issue. It is becoming too common place that ticket scalpers are able to obtain tickets for shows before the fans and then fans are forced to either skip the show (because the tickets are too expensive) or pay a price which performers, venues, etc. aren't being compensated. Something must be done about these presales and illegal ticket scalpers. I'm not sure it's legal to be sold out of items before they are actually on sale.

I was unable to obtain tickets for a show that I was on time to buy because they were already sold out before they actually went on sale.

Angie of Indianapolis IN (03/03/08)
I just purchased Jimmy Buffett tickets this morning. Now, I already know that I will pay a lot for pavilion seats and on top of that, a beer will cost me $8 once I get there; but the excessive fees that Ticketmaster is charging are totally out of hand. The face value of the tickets were $133/ticket. My final bill was $312.45. I also chose the free shipping option. The $46.45 in fees would buy a you a decent ticket to most shows. I don't understand how this is not regulated and how this is not seen as a monopoly. We used to attend 10 or so concerts a year, but out of frustration with Ticketmaster alone, we now only attend a few and most are smaller shows where tickets can be purchased from a separate box office.

James of Los Angeles CA (02/27/08)
The Ticketmaster online order page said that I could order eight tickets to the George Strait concert in Carson CA, for March 29, 2008. Nowhere did their website or information say that there was a limit of four tickets in the American Express presale; so like the website offered, I ordered six tickets (three transactions of two tickets each). Without informing me that they had canceled one pair of tickets, they canceled the best pair, which was thirteen rows from the stage. I contacted Ticketmaster, and they acknowledged that they were in error and that the ticket that they canceled were still available and that I could still purchase them. After repeated attempts with various service representatives, they finally say they can do the transaction and sell to me the original tickets. However, they send me tickets at the back of the floor rather than the front floor section as they had promised repeatedly.

Again, I'm calling the Ticketmaster service line to try to get the tickets they had promised, but now they tell me that the only seats are worse than the wrong seats they had just sent. I ultimately decided that I didn't want to deal with Ticketmaster any longer and told them to cancel the transaction, and I would send them the wrong tickets. They even tried to make me pay the service fees for the tickets that were messed up by their own fault. Through all the promises that I'd get the tickets as I ordered, I feel as thought this was a bait and switch sales ripoff.

I got Ticketmaster to refund all of my purchase money, including the fees they tried to weasel out of me. The main thing I didn't get from anyone at Ticketmaster was an apology for the hours I spent trying to get them to live up to their promise. Nor did I receive any offer of credit or compensation for my time or anguish. Ticketmaster is clearly a company that is completely distant from their consumers and doesn't care about commitment to providing a quality customer experience.

Kelly of Lombard IL (02/18/08)
I called Ticketmaster in December to get my Mother tickets to see Jersey Boys in Chicago at the LaSalle Bank Theatre. Well she loved it. Ad even I found it to be a great play. Anyway back to December I had specifically asked the agent if there were any handicapped seating because there was a good chance that someone handicapped would be there. He said no but I can get you seats to where you will be comfortable and have easy accessability. Well come to find out last night while reading the playbill that there is a number to the theatre if you need special needs. I would love to file a complaint with Ticketmaster for not telling me that I would need to call the theatre to make those arraingements. I had a wonderful time but dog gone it it wouldve been a lot better had Ticketmaster given me that number willingly rather than later finding it in a program guide. Thank You Kelly M. Ciesielski

Tight seating and no room to have my left leg comfortable

Debbie of Edison NJ (02/08/08)
I wanted to buy tickets to see Cher in Las Vegas. Ticketmaster sent out an email on Feb. 7 at 10:00 AM EST. When I went to the Ticketmaster web site, a notice at the top of the screen said tickets went on sale at 7:00 AM. All the good seats were already sold before anyone even knew they were on sale. I think it is obvious Ticketmaster is giving advance notice to brokers. The brokers get all the good tickets and sell them at huge mark ups, making 200% to 1000% profits. I bet Persons at Ticketmaster are surely receiving some form of 'kickbacks'. There should be a class action lawsuit against ticketmaster and/or a federal investigation.

I wanted to see Cher, but I am disabled. If I can't get a seat near the front, there's no point in going. People in front of me stand up and block my view. Ticketmaster gives brokers 3 hours advance notice on ticket sales before offering them to the public. I have no choice but to buy my tickets from a broker. That means I will have to pay a broker hundreds of dollars more than the price of the ticket. I believe there are laws against this practice. They should be enforced. In the very least, the IRS should be auditing these brokers to see if they are paying their taxes on their obscene profits.

Cindy of Belleville OTHER (01/23/08)
Ticketmaster should not only accept American Express. Other people in the world who do not own AMEX want to purchase tickets for big events and get front row, VIP tickets that are extremely expensive, but can't because we don't own an American Express credit card. Mastercard and VISA are other big name credit cards and should be accepted by Ticketmaster.

Extreme disappointment. This is my favorite band and I cannot go and see them because I don't have AMEX. I will never go on Ticketmaster again until they change their credit card acceptance!

John of London OTHER (01/17/08)
This is a general complaint about the appalling way Ticketmaster operates in the UK - and I'm sure it's very similar in the US too. I believe ticketmaster is the worst way to get tickets, online or otherwise, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I spent hours trying to find some standard theatre tickets, using some ticketmaster vouchers I had bought (never again). Eventually after much time wasted, I was told I would have to call an 0870 number (high cost call) to order the tickets. This took far too long and the whole process made me swear never to use ticketmaster again.



Natalie of Las Vegas NV (01/03/08)
On Sept 30, 2007, I bought my Hubby tickets to see the San Francisco 49ers play on Dec 23, 2007. It was to be his Christmas present. I booked the whole trip from Las Vegas airfare, room, etc. with a cost over $1000. I got 2 e-mails from Ticketmaster, one on Sept 30 to comfirm my purchase for the 2 tickets to the game on the 23 of Dec at 5:15 P.M. and the second e-mail was to tell me my tickets were being printed and sent out and that was on Oct 6, 2007. I got the tickets about a week later and they said the date and time as 5:15 pm. Well, we left for San Fran on Dec 22, 2007 and we went to the game the next day. When we got there at 5pm, the game was over. The time of the game was 1:15 pm not 5:15, it was never set as a night game and our trip and Christmas were ruined.

I called Ticketmaster when I got home and they told me that I would have to go through Monster Park for a refund, but I explained that I bought the tickets through them, not Monster Park and they screwed up, not Monster Park. Their next answer was, "oh we sent out e-mails to notify people of the time change of the game." I explained that I never got any e-mail like that and when I asked when they sent it they claimed they didn't have that info and they refused to help me. I guess I will have to sue them to get my money back. I will never buy tickets from them ever again.

I lost the money for the tickets over $170.00 and out money for trip over $1000.00.

Terri of Lawrenceville NJ (01/02/08)
I purchased tickets from Ticketmaster for a December 19 2007 show on November 27, 2007 online. I confirmed my dates, as I was having out of town coworkers coming, and confirmed my purchase. The site went to an error page. I didn't have time to repurchase the tickets and signed off figuring I would purchase them later. I received a confirmation email for my tickets but the tickets were for the next day, November 28th! I then had to purchase the tickets again at the box office for the correct show and ticketmaster is refusing to refund their error!! I am furious. I am able to expense this purchase but I refuse to expense it twice!! They won't even admit that it is possible that the computer errored - saying that it never errors!! I paid a $60 convenience charge- and for what? I have disputed the second charge with my credit card.

I am out $240 minus the $60 service fee! But have disputed it and will see what happens

Melissa of Niagara Falls OTHER (12/27/07)
Tickets for Bonjovi went on sale Dec 7/07 at 10 am for the March 12 concert. I was nervous about getting the tickets online because of all the information I needed to put in precisely. I double and triple checked as I went along. I finally got on to get tickets, I got floor tickets, but didn't want those, so I tried again and got great seats. The confirmation came in a few times, again I triple checked that all the information was correct and sent it in.

When I tried to print the tickets a few days later I failed because it said the tickets I purchased were for Dec 7 show which was obviously over by now! I was furious!! I spent $300 and it's down the toilet now! I finally spoke to a supervisor. How could I get such great seats to a concert whose tickets actually sold out months ago the day of the concert? Makes no sense. Meanwhile if you try to get tickets in advance to the March show you get seats behind the stage? The supervisor tells me sometimes they release a block of tickets the day of the concert or at other times if after they set up the stage they see there is more room for seats. Wrong, because the seats were obviously there all along, they were middle first section above floor. Basically she said I was stupid because it certainly wasn't a computer error. I know I got the right date because I checked and rechecked. I am awaiting a call from their manager. I have been purchasing tickets online with ticketmaster for at least 15 years and never had a problem like this. What's the point of waiting for tickets the day they go on sale at 10 am if there is a possibility to purchase them at a random day and time. Does anyone know about this?

I am out $300.

Racheal of Goose Creek SC (12/22/07)
This may sound absurd but I was looking for Hannah Montana tickets through ticketmaster the day they went on sale. I had 4 others helping me via internet. The tickets sold out in less than one minute. I am among the other thousands, if not millions of mothers that couldn't get tickets due to scalpers. I wanted 2-4 tickets for my 10 year old goddaughter for the show in New Orleans. I find it ridiculous that a $65 ticket is now selling on stubhub, ebay, tickco, and many other sites for almost a thousand dollars. There must be a better way to control this type of issue.

Ticket scalping denies the true believers and fans of any chance at participating or supporting the people they love. Millions of little girls will be heart broken (including my goddaughter) because of some other unethical, greedy, lazy person's need to make a buc. Scalping should be ILLEGAL in all states and on line with no loop holes. If a person has a web site or an ebay account and is trying to pursue these types of unethical transactions, they should be shut down immediately with harsh punishment in fines. It's really sad how many little girls will be devastated by missing out on Hannah Montana because her parents can't afford to pay for $1000 tickets on ebay. Stop the madness!

Lori of Collinsville IL (12/19/07)
My husband was trying to get Hannah Montana tickets for our daughter for Christmas. How can a company start selling tickets at noon, but 2 and half MINUTES later the tickets are sold out? But if you go on the internet to any website selling tickets, there are a ton of tickets on stubhub, ebay, etc that start at $125.00 a piece. Ticketmaster even has a ticketswap and their ticket prices are inflated. How is a parent to explain to a child that the tickets are too expensive when they sold for $23.50 to $63.50? It should be against the law to scalp tickets? Why do these people get to buy them all up, jack up the prices and then sell them to make a profit? Shouldn't Ticketmaster, Hannah Montana and everyone else be outraged? I know I am.

Holly of Jacksonville FL (12/16/07)
I was online and had my phone ready for Hannah Montana tickets and after about 50 attempts at Ticketmaster and an automatic ringback from Ticketmaster set on my phone, I never got through on either one. I was ready to go for an hour before they went on sale, and never got an opportunity to buy any tickets anywhere - not even 1! I even called a local Ticketmaster in another state that didn't have tickets on sale and by the time I reached him it was 23 minutes later and everything was gone in Jacksonville and for the 2 days playing in Orlando as well.

I am a very disappointed mom and with 2 daughters. How do you tell them you can't go to see their favorite star (and how often is she ever going to come back to Jacksonville, FL?) because the online brokers are starting prices at $300-400 a piece. It's just absurd and incredibly unfair.

Crystal of Crown Point IN (12/15/07)
I went on the Tickemaster website before Hanna Montana tickets went on sale. I tried for nearly and hour to get tickets. I also tried to call Ticketmaster and the venue to no avail. I was however able to find tickets available through numerous vendors at jacked up prices. This is absolutley outrageous. How are everyday fans able to pay these inflated prices. How are these brokers able to do this legally? Something has to be done about this price gouging! Should I contact the better business bureau? What can I do?

I was to purchase these tickets for my stepdaughter and her father to go to this concert as a surprise for both of them for Christmas. Now I can't afford it.

Christopher of El Cajon CA (12/04/07)
I originally purchased 4 tickets to a concert that was cancelled and rescheduled to a date that conflicted with other commitments. Two of the tickets were supposed to be cancelled and the other two were supposed to be good for the show. I received an email confirmation that two of the seats were in fact cancelled and a refund would be credited in 3 to 10 days. When we went to the rescheduled show, the tickets that were supposed to be good were denied. I called Ticketmaster the next day, was hung up on multiple times, and got in an argument with one of the call center workers because he wouldn't transfer me to his supervisor, after he blamed the whole episode of the denied tickets on me. Finally, I spoke with a supervisor on the 5th or 6th call. He said he would investigate the issue and get back to me in a couple of days. I doubt I'll get my money back.

I'm out $142.50, plus $10 for parking.

Lisa of Charlotte NC (12/03/07)
I am on your web site reading all kinds of horror stories about scalpers and the general rules around this shady practice. What I don't see here is what Consumer Affairs is actually doing about it. This seems to be one of those issues where every entity looks the other way. Meanwhile, tickets for pretty much anything have increased astronomically over the past 10 or so years.

The practice of purchasing tickets for the sole purpose of reselling them for a profit is illegal in many states, but I do not see any type of enforcement activity for anything other than major consumer unhappiness such as that which occurred with the recent Hannah Montanna fiasco. I would like to know what is being done about this, and what consumers can do, if anything. It is such an unfair practice, and getting worse every year. Soon only the upper class or the very lucky will ever be able to afford to see shows.

My recent experience--trying to purchase tickets to WICKED - after selling out in 4 hours, hundreds of tickets are immediately available at third-party ticket vendors, for hundreds of dollars more than the original ticket price.

Theresa of East Brunswick NJ (12/02/07)
While attempting to get seats for the Lion King on Broadway, the ticket agent duped me and the management does not care. The representative who placed my order clearly told me that my tickets were for seats in row S 101 to 104. He had initially told me that he had row Y available, but after I had asked if he can find better seats, he searched and found seats in row S. Then he emailed me my tickets, but they were for row Y. He just wanted to get the tickets sold. I called their customer service specialist (and waited 25 minutes on hold) to let them know that they've got a representative that intentionally lied, but she said that she can't do anything about this. I did not want better seats or a better deal than I deserve, just take care of the customer service rep who duped me. Is this the way Ticketmaster works? I will never purchase tickets from them because I don't know what kind of seats I will get. What upsets me most is the principle...the representative is allowed to fool the customer into buying their tickets!

I spent a lot of time of the phone waiting, anticipating good seats, but ended up with none. They did refund my money. After one hour, seats for the buy one get one special were all gone.

Jill of Elizabeth PA (11/19/07)
I ordered tickets to see Bon Jovi during an American Express pre-sale and received tickets next to the stage. Four days later, I received an email that said the tickets I purchased were inadvertently sold to me and they would be exchanged (for much worse tickets, of course).

Deborah of Philadelphia PA (11/12/07)
Hannah Montana tickets? I blinked and they were gone! My a 11 year old daughter had been waiting for months when we found out Hannah Montana was coming to our area. I had purchased her a membership to MileyWorld.com - a fan club that also provided presale codes.

The morning that the Atlantic City NJ tickets went on sale, I was poised at my computer - hitting refresh until the tickets go on sale at 10 am changed to find tickets. My find tickets came back with no tickets available. I tried for 1/2 hour afterwards to no avail. The tickets were on scalper sites for exhorbinant costs afterwards. I have been trying every day on both the ticketmaster and the comcast tickets sites to get 3 tickets to either Atlantic City or Philadelphia concerts to no avail. This is disgraceful!

My daughter is extremely upset as am I.

Jean of Baltimore MD (11/10/07)
I too, tried to get Hannah Montana tickets for my daughters, ages 6 & 4. I was logged on, and when I tried to get through on the website, it wouldn't let me. The scalpers had already blocked everything. When my girls got home from soccer, they asked if I got tickets. When I said no, they were so disappointed and crying. Now they want Santa to bring them tickets. There's no way I can afford what all these websites are asking. I don't think it's fair for these hackers and scalpers to do this.

My sister was 10th in line at ticketmaster, and couldn't get any tickets either. It's pretty bad when you're kids can't get a ticket to a child's show. The inflated prices are outrageous and something needs to be done about this. I'll just have two disappointed kids come Xmas morning, and try my best to explain why Santa couldn't bring them their tickets.

I can't afford to pay $300 to $2000 a ticket. My kids ask almost every day if I found tickets yet. Now they think Santa can bring them. My girls watch Hannah Montana everyday she's on and just love her.

Jennifer of San Diego CA (11/06/07)
I purchased 3 tickets for the Police at Dodgers Stadium for June 23rd 2007. I was told by the agent over the phone while being guided through a map of the stadium where my tickets are going to be for 120.00 each ticket. When I arrived at the stadium it was to my horror that the tickets were not where I was told they were going to be and that they couldn't have been further from the stage if we tried!!!

It was horrible and we couldn't even see the stage, the sound quality was horrible because we were at the very back against the wall under big rain protectors and I was livid. I never would have purchased those tickets in those seats, not even for 10 dollars let a lone 120 each!!! I've written Ticketmaster twice now and do not believe that they even read their complaint letters as I have received the same mass letter from them both times saying the exact same thing that they are denying my refund. I didn't even ask them for a refund!!!

I will NEVER purchase anything from Ticketmaster EVER again. I will only go to venues where I can purchase tickets at the door and who are not affiliated with Tickemaster. They are a monopoly and do not care one little bit about their consumers.

Consequences are that I paid $120.00 dollars for each ticket and bought three at that price. The tickets ended up being not where the agent told me they would be.

Christopher of Merrimack NH (11/06/07)
Firstly, to give credit where credit is due, it was easy to order, pay for and print my tickets through ticketmaster.

That being said, ticketmaster is a massive ripoff. I highly suspect they vastly over-charge for their services. On top of this, they then place ads on your tickets and require that you waste ink printing them out.

I recently bought tickets to jimmy eat world in boston. The tickets were $25.00 each, and I ended up spending $103.55 after all of their BS charges.

$7.05 PER TICKET as a convenience charge. That's a 28% charge, which is totally insane.

$4.90 as a processing charge. That's a 6.5% charge. I don't think there are any financial institutions out there that charge that much to collect credit card payments.

$2.50 as a Ticketfast charge. That's a 3% charge. Basically they charge you $2.50 to EMAIL YOU THE TICKETS. Zero work on their part, totally automated. Even if they have to cover bandwidth, hosting, and system creation/design, this is still an insane amount to charge for emailing you the tickets. A total ripoff.

Then the clincher. I go to print off my tickets, and they are delivered in .pdf format. Each of the tickets is a full page long, and at the top it says this is your ticket present the entire page at the event. Well, 2/3 of the page are color advertisements. That means, they are being paid to send you this ticket, on top of the $2.50 they charge you, and you are wasting your ink. Considering the cost to run most printers is a few cents a page, ticketmaster is probably costing consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars, when you consider how many people are forced to use ticketmaster to get their tickets.

I'd say it's clear this company is milking consumers for as much as they possibly can with absolutely no justification. I've tried to contact them about this before via email and have been ignored.

Debra of Bucyrus OH (11/05/07)
I purchased 6 tickets through Ticketmaster, for a performance at Palace theatre, Columbus, OH. The website clearly stated that a child under the age of two DID NOT need a ticket, so I did not purchase one for my 21 mos. granddaughter. Upon entering the Palace, we were told that Ticketmaster had lied, and that this has happened many times. I was very embarrassed that my son had to buy a cheap ticket, when this was supposed to be a Christmas present.

Dan of Bainbridge Island WA (10/26/07)
I purchased two tickets online with Ticketmaster for about $75 two weeks before the show. The tickets never arrived. Then, a couple days after the purchase my credit card was being hit all over the Southwest with charges. Now my account is locked down while they investigate the dozens of charges in various cities.

I complained to Ticketmaster through their online form about never getting the tickets, and haven't heard a thing from them. Never again.

Carla of Marion, SC (10/08/07)
Hannah Montana is to be in concert in Charlotte, NC on 11/27/07 and tickets went on sale to the public 09/15/07 @ 12 noon.  The pre-sale tickets for fan club members went on sale 09/11/07. Before either sale, there were tickets being offered online at various ticket outlets for up to $2000 each!

I patiently waited until 09/15/07 and was online @ ticketmaster.com before noon and on the phone with the venue box office, ready to place my order. I never got an answer at the box office. At ticketmaster.com I requested four tickets, best available, and ticketmaster stated they were not available. I requested 3 tickets, then 2 and then 1, each time receiving the message that none was available. I continued trying until around 12:15pm and gave up.

I then searched other ticket outlets and found them for sale at the most inflated prices you could imagine. If tickets were available online before they even went on presale for fan club members or went on sale to the public.  There definately has to be something illegal going on with these ticket sales!!!

This same thing happened when I attempted to buy Daughtry concert tickets.

Brian of Highlands Ranch, CO (10/01/07)
I think Ticketmaster is allowing the hoarding of tickets for the children's concert Hannah Montana in Denver.

Tickets available from various ticket brokers offering seven tickets together, for an inflated price of $580 a piece, and as high as $1100 a seat. This is outrageous. Disney and Ticketmaster should be ashamed that they would allow fans to be gouged like this.

Melissa of Port Clinton, OH (10/01/07)
We purchased the official fan club membership in order to get pre-sale tickets for Hannah Montana in Cleveland,Ohio. The day of pre-sale, we logged onto Ticketmaster and got floor seats, but our credit card would not work. We tried 4 different cards. Come to find out Ticketmaster had put up notice that if you lived outside 75 miles of Cleveland and your order was paid for with a credit card that noted a billing address outside of the radius, your tickets will be automatically canceled!

There was no prior notification of this. How obsurd! Three days later for the public sale they increased the radius to 150 miles outside of Cleveland. But the concert was already sold out!

I'm so tired of Ticketmaster and their games!  How can they limit the buying radius?? Of course, somehow there are people in Las Vegas that purchased tickets and those are now for sale on EBAY for about $2,000 for 4 tickets to the concert in Cleveland! What is the deal??

Patricia of Nottingham, MD (10/01/07)
I was on Ticket Master 20 minutes before Hannah Montana tickets went on sale at 10:00a.m.  They were sold outat 10:01!  10.01!!

My friends were also on the website at the same time and had problems. 10 minutes later the tickets were on ebay selling for triple the price.  Hannah was coming on her birthday and I promised my daughter, who has been sick, these tickets.

I am very upset that they allow people to sell these tickets online to make money and my daughter, who is a true fan, can't go because I can't afford to spend $300 per ticket.

Paul of Pismo Beach, CA (09/29/07)
I ordered a ticket in Section 17 (a fantastic ticket) for October 30. I completed the transaction and received a confirmation e-mail that indicated I had one ticket in Section 17, Row 8, Seat 12, but no charges were indicated reflecting the amount of the ticket I ordered.

Below the section 17 listing was a listing for a ticket in the concourse section 8A (the worst section in the arena). Charges for $75.60 were listed.

I called customer service and they confirmed my worst fears.  I only had a ticket in section Con 8A.  She said that my ticket must have been inadvertently canceled and when an agent noted the error, they gave me the best ticket they still had available. The customer service said there was nothing she could do to make it right.

I feel I may have been a victim of unscrupulous business practices.  Earlier in the day, I had a similar ticket locked in for a Springsteen show and when I hit submit, TM said I had lost the ticket because the transaction timed out.

Bonnie of Granada Hills, CA (09/26/07)
Ticketmaster sold CDs for the Foo Fighters release party. The purchase of the music CD included a ticket to their live show.  According to the instructions on the Web Page and email confirmation, I was to show them the confirmation at Will Call, receive the CD booklet which was my ticket into the show. After the show I was supposed to turn in my booklet and receive the CD. This never happened.

At Will Call, I was only given a wristband to the show and TicketMaster's customer service number. She said that everyone was complaining about not receiving the CD and that it was a snafu at TicketMaster.

This is exactly what the confirmation page said, "When you purchase the album on Ticketmaster, you will be sent a confirmation page. Bring this, along with a government-issued photo ID, and pick up your album booklet at will call. This will serve as your entrance to the show. You can pick up the album once the show is over. CD Purchase is non-transferable."

Crystal of Cornville AZ (09/22/07)
I have not purchased any tickets because Ticket master is old out of them. I logged on to ticket master a few days after the sale for Hannah Montana concert was published. I wanted to purchase two tickets in a decent decent seating area. I tried the best seats, nothing! I then tried every other seat, nothing again! So I decided to surf the net and see if I could find them somewhere else. I did......For 2,3,4x and even more, than the tickets were actually worth!! Now I don't believe that I am the only person P***** OFF with this.

This is a kids concert! Ticketmaster should really set some boundaries with its sales. What the hell is the point of Ticketmaster if they are not the ones really selling the tickets? I went on several different websites whom had each acquired many tickets for this event. An example---a $30 ticket was selling at a minimum of $120! For the price they are charging for two first row tickets, my husband and I can take all four of my kids to Disney Land and still have money left over!

The only damage this has caused is knowing that I may never be able to take my only daughter to anything special because of the need to make a tremendous profit. I can well afford these tickets, but who in their right mind would give in to this crap!! Its the principal of it all!

Tom of New York NY (09/17/07)
I purchased tickets to the show Wintuk at Madison Square Garden on their website and was informed a few weeks later through email that I had been undercharged for the tickets and that I needed to contact ticketmaster to either cancel these tickets, ask them to call me regarding the matter, or give them my credit card number to pay the additional charge for the tickets. I immediately asked them to call me and they responded to my email, but never called until 11 days later when they called to inform me that the tickets had been cancelled since I never got back to them.

When I called them to discuss this I was on hold first for about 10 minutes and then after briefly explaining the situation was put on hold again for this time more than 30 minutes. No one did anything to help with the situation, except to say there was nothing they could do.

I would also like to say that Ticketmaster purposely has vague seating charts for almost all of their shows, even those that have full seating charts available on other websites. They obviously do this so that they can sell bad seats at full price to people who don't know any better. I have also found them completely unhelpful when dealing with them in person, or over the phone.

Jack of Burlingame CA (09/17/07)
I was buying tickets today 9/17/07 for a Bruce Springsteen show at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. Once tickets are selected, you have to complete the transaction quickly or the tickets are gone. I click to buy and suddenly get a web page that wants my Ticketmaster name and password. That is not supposed to come up. I did not have that info and lost the tickets which were on the floor.

I searched for new tickets and the best available were up high and on the side of the stage. I was not asked for a password and went through the buying process for other shows. A password was never required.

I did not want the tickets that were still available. Ii emailed Ticketmaster and called (left a message). I want to buy two floor tickets similar to the ones that I would have purchased if not for thier web site malfunction.

Mark of Johannesburg OTHER (03/03/07)

I received notification that the Police was going to be doing a tour. I registered with Ticketmaster and when I tried to enter my credit card details it kept on spitting out an error that I needed to enter my telephone number. The telephone number was a non-mandatory field and yet no matter what I did it didn't accept my details. I logged 4 separate support calls and still no one has come back to me regarding the problem.

The New York tickets for the Police concert are now sold out and living in South Africa its very difficult to get tickets another way other than online and through ticketmaster.

Gloria of Chicago IL (02/01/07)

On or about 1/26/07 I called Ticketmaster to purchase 2 tickets to the Soul Jam at Arie Crown (Chicago) on 2/17/07. I spoke to an agent who located the seats and told me the total price was $118.60. I attempted to use my AMEX card but I only could give her the account number and expiration date; I did not have the physical card with me so I didn't know the security code. I was advised to call back with the info and that my tickets would be on hold for 24 hours.

After talking to my husband, we decided we may not be able to attend the concert so I did not call back to get the tickets. Today (1/31) while doing a periodic online review of my AMEX account, there was a charge for Ticketmaster in the same amount as the 2 tickets. I clicked on "more details" since I knew the security info was never provided to Ticketmaster. The "details" reflected ticket(s) to the Joffrey Ballet for $118.60. I have never purchased tickets to the Ballet.

Patrick of Grand Rapids, MI (09/14/06)
On 09/01/06, I called Ticketmaster to purchase 50 tickets for the Detroit Lions VS SanFrancisco 49ers. I explained that I was in charge of a Church group bus trip and that I wanted groups of 2, 3, 4 and 5 tickets grouped together. The ticket service person told me that he could do this.  I paid $2,250.00 for the tickets, $262.00 service charge, $4.05 order processing charge, and a $14.50 UPS delivery charge for a grand total of $2531.05.

When I received the 50 tickets, no two were anywhere near each other, I received 50 scattered tickets. I called Ticketmaster and first they told me that I could get a refund, but not the service charge, I refused. They called me the following day and told me that now they wouldn't even give me a refund for the tickets. In their own words "You knew what you were getting when you bought them, you're just not happy with the seats".

I filed a dispute with Master card and they told me that the dispute process takes 60 days, by that time the game will be over.

Kristin of Newbury Park CA (08/11/06)
I recently purchased 4 tickets to a concert at the LA Forum, something I have done through TicketMaster many times before. The tickets were paid for using a Visa card online. Two weeks later I received the tickets via U.S. Mail. The tickets had the same appearance as all the other concert tickets I had purchased over the years. Three weeks before the concert, I was contacted by a TicketMaster rep to make sure that I knew I had purchased 4 parking tickets. Of course, by then, the concert was sold out. I was told I could return the parking tickets for a refund minus a service charge.

At no time in any way was there any indication that the tickets I was purchasing were in fact for parking. I know that there are things far worse that could happen, but I must admit, I am heartbroken because this was my favorite band and I was very much looking forward to seeing them perform. I have found online others who have experienced this as well.

I am suffering from a very rare, neurological disease which is progressive. I don't know how many more concerts I will be able to attend. This may have been my last chance to see my favorite group perform, and now I will not be able to.

Andrew of Denver, CO (04/28/06)
I bought 2 tickets to TOOL in Denver.  I was quoted on the phone as Row S Upper Orchestra. I double checked online to make sure that those seats were correct.

When I got my tickets they were Row F In Balcony B, so I went from best seats in the house to basically worst. Ticketmaster said they couldn't do anything at all.

Erica of Weymouth MA (04/26/06)
My boyfriend wanted to see Tool in Boston. He signed onto Ticketmaster and began calling the moment the tickets went on sale but found that it was already sold out. We searched several ticket brokers' sites and found that they already had hundreds of tickets selling at insane prices. I don't understand why there isn't some kind of regulation on this industry. Ticketmaster should do more to prevent scalpers and ticket brokers from buying up all of the seats to shows using unfair practices, and there should be some kind of regulation to protect consumers so that we aren't forced to buy tickets for several times their value.

The consequence is that fans of artists and sports teams can't get tickets to shows or events unless they deal with an outside agency, or risk buying from a scalper, and must pay prices high above the value of the tickets.

Daniel of Urbana IL (04/24/06)
I was informed the band Tool had scheduled a concert tour and were going to be playing the Auditorium Theater in Chicago on May 13, 2006. The tickets were to go on sale on April 22, 2006 at 11AM. I had my cell phone set to speed dial to the Ticketmaster office, the Auditorium Theater's box office number, as well as trying to purchase tickets online off of Ticketmaster's website. I was hoping I would get through to purchase 2 tickets to the concert at an already over-priced $66.66 each.

I began calling and trying to order online at exactly 11AM. I got a busy signal on the phone and the website said it was going to be 15 minutes before they could process my request. The phone lines were of course busy. The website only seconds later said that the tickets were not available. I kept trying my method for 20 minutes before I got through to the venue's box office and they automatically transfer me over to a Ticketmaster operator who informs me that the tickets sold out in 3 minutes!!! Hard to believe when they were only supposed to sell 2 tickets per person. I have learned that on ebay there were hundreds of tickets up for auction at drastically inflated prices some of which are more than 7 times the original cost.

I have talked to other Tool fans around the country who had the exact same experience as I did. I don't know what Ticketmaster is up to, but that sure sounds like there is a lot of backdoor sales to brokers to me.

Lee of Broomfield, CO (04/22/06)
I went online at 10am (the exact time the tickets went on sale) to purchase Tool tickets, as did several friends of mine.  We all have high speed internet DSL and not one of us were able to get tickets because it sold out in under 3 minutes. 

Looking at several different ticket broker websites, every single broker has the best seats and they are selling them for OUTRAGEOUS prices. The original ticket price for ALL seats was set at $66.66, but I can't find a ticket for under $300 bucks for the worst seats and the best seats are going for over $900 bucks per ticket.

If Ticketmaster is going to sell to brokers FIRST then they should not even offer to the general public. It's a rip off and shouldn't be legal.

Annette of New Vienna, OH (04/08/06)
My husband purchased tickets to see Kenny Chesney for us.  He knew that I wanted floor seats or I didn't want to go.

The agent that sold him the tickets claimed he gave us floor seats. After getting the confirmation number my husband again verified that these were in fact floor seats. The agent said something to the effect of floor seats, left side, 14 rows back. When we got to the concert we were not on the floor but in the top level stands, against the wall, behind the drop down lighting.

When I called ticketmaster I was passed from employee to employee for an hour. No one had any answers other than we cannot refund your money. Ticketmaster employees never mentioned that these were obstructed view seats.

There are two other shows of this artist that I wanted to see but will not because the tickets are through Ticketmaster. How can a company sell these tickets under false pretenses and not have to answer for their actions?

J. Hanalei HI (03/08/06)
My friend & I (on a conference call) called TICKETMASTER.COM at 213-480-3232 to order 4 tickets to Jimmy Buffett on 4/22/06 8pm in Irvine. The system was automated but allowed me to select the venue and date. It kept confirming...you requested Jimmy Buffett, you selected 4 general admission tickets at $20.00, you selected 4/22/06 at 8pm at Verizon Wireless...In the end it confirmed all of the info, asked for my credit card number, gave me a confirmation number & advised that I would be able to check the status of my tickets online.

So, I created a profile but the tickets weren't listed under my purchases. I kept checking back every couple of days & finally called to ask why I couldn't view them. Amy looked up my confirmation number & rattled off something about...parking, 4 general admission tickets seats 76-79...etc. When she was done, I inquired...Parking? I didn't purchase parking. She said, "well, yes you did, you purchased 4 parking passes." I inquired about my concert tickets & she said I didn't purchase them, I only purchased parking.

I asked to be transferred to a supervisor but she indicated she would transfer me to customer service. So when Jose got on the line, in a professional manner, I asked him to help me as I explained my situation. He looked up my info & he too confirmed only parking passes were purchased. I asked how this could happen as the automated system NEVER OFFERED PARKING PASSES (remember...my friend as my witness as we were on a conference call). He just kept on with the...well that is what I show you ordered.

OK, I told him, let's move on, I want 4 tickets to the concert. He looked it up & sold out! No tickets available. Nothing he can do for me but refund my parking tickets MINUS THE $2.00 CHARGE!

Amy of Nashville TN (02/04/06)
My husband was third in line at a Ticketmaster an hour before tickets for Van Morrison were to go on sale. Simultaneously, I was at home online and on the phone, ready to go at ten a.m., the magic hour. Funny, though, because even the first person in line did not get tickets as the concert was "sold out" even before the Ticketmaster location opened to sell tickets. Online, the classification did not change from "more info" to "get tickets" at the appointed time, and now, some ten hours later, has yet to show up as "sold out." Who got all those tickets?

Nicholas of Aurora CO (01/16/06)
Trying to purchase tickets for the AFC Championship game in Denver, CO, I found that there never were tickets for sale. They said they were going on sale but they were all dedicated to ticket brokers before the start of the sale. Of course now brokers are selling the tickets for up to 10 times their face value. I think its ridiculous to stage a pretend sale when they are already gone.

Susan of Ballwin MO (01/09/06)
I purchased a pair of concert tickets over the phone and was told that I had row B, seats 43&44. When my tickets arrived, they had sent me Row G, seats 37&38. I called to complain and was told to write to Mr O'Reilly, the head of customer service. I am extremely disappointed in his response to me that I have just received. He said that since the operator would have no reason to lie to me, I must've misunderstood. Impossible. I was originally told that they could listen to a tape of my phone call, but now he says it is my word against the operator's.

The only options they offer are to return the tickets for a full refund or to swap them for seats in the balcony. Both win-win for Ticketmaster and a loss for me. I would like to receive my money back because THEIR mistake cost me second row tickets.

Jeff of St. John IN (10/18/05)
Trying to purchase World Series Tickets for a game in Chicago. Tickets were to be released/available promptly at Noon central time on 10/18 via White Sox website (run by Ticketmaster) OR by phone. I called the day in advance to several different Tickemaster locations outside of the geographic Chicago area such as Little Rock, South Bend, Kentucky, Evansville, Alaska, etc and spoke with representatives in each of those locations. I specifically asked "is it possible for me to call YOUR office tomorrow to purchase World Series tickets in Chicago?"---each rep told me that would be fine.

I finally got through via phone to their Washington DC ticketmaster number and spoke with a woman at 12:08 p.m. (8 minutes after the tickets went on sale) and she told me that she could not help--that I could only call Chicago's office. What a joke! I should have had the opportunity to purchase tickets at 12:08 pm when I spoke with that rep. Instead, I lose out on my dream ticket.

Also, since Ticketmaster is basically a monopolistic entity in control of distribution of nearly every ticket in America---you'd think that they would have the MEANS to handle call volume and internet requests for tickets. Instead, their phones were overloaded and busy beginning 45 minutes prior to ticket sales beginning at Noon and did not clear up until a half hour after noon. A customer could not even be put on hold or told approximate hold time? The internet was overloaded and the site did not function properly.

The final insult???? Well... that was when I finally got a ticket offer over the internet at 12:20 (upper deck, section 557--poor ticket, but what the heck---I still got one, right?)--- WRONG! As I typed my e-mail and contact information and information--the website backed me out and said--"time up---ticket has been but back into general pool" WHAT A JOKE (BUT DEFINITELY NOT FUNNY!) This company should be ashamed of the way they conduct their business--especially in light of their brokerage fees and "convenience charges"!!

Don of Garland TX (09/20/05)
I purchased tickets this weekend for the Styx, Foreigner concert in Dallas. I used the Ticketmaster.com (where I have an account). When the on sale link came up, I got tickets in the front center section row N. I was very excited and purchased them within a minute of them coming up. You have 3:00 minutes to do this according to the system. I got my email confirmation and tickets only to find out I was in row V (8 rows behind the seats I agreed to pay for).

This also happened to me for the Maroon 5 concert a few months back. I sent an email complaint and phoned customer service to complain. I spoke to a customer service representative, an asst. supervisor and a supervisor.  Ticketmaster is a total monopoly and customer service clearly isn't a priority.  I have never been treated so poorly by a company!!!  It is ridiculous that we as consumers don't have better options than Ticketmaster

Connie of Hendersonville TN (08/08/05)
On saturday 8/6/05, I purchased, in person from a Ticketmast outlet, 4 tickets to an event in Nashville Tn. The top priced ticket was advertised at $40.00 each. I expected to pay some type of service charge, however, when the total was announced to me, I thought I had misunderstood. Four $40 tickets came to a grand total of $209.00. That's an additiona $12.25 per ticket.

Additionally, the price printed on each ticket reads $42.50 per ticket this is not the advertised price. This does not compute. How do they get away with this highway robbery? Because they're the only game in town, that's how. If you want to see any live entertainment in Nashville Tn, you have to purchase your tickets from these criminals. 

Tammy of Los Angeles CA (07/27/05)
I purchased 3 tickets for the Ringling Brothers Circus at the Staples Center for Sunday, 7/24 at 3:30 at Ticketmaster.com. First, I bought 2 tickets for myself and my 2 year old son. Since it was his first trip to the circus I wanted it to be special so I went all out for first row seats. After learning my father wanted to go, I went back online, searched out the correct date of 7/24 and time of 3:30, and bought one more for the seat next to ours. In all, I spent $300.

I took care not to order for the 11:30 show, as that is when my son naps. I printed my tickets out and put them aside. We got to the Staples center at 3:00, entered, loaded up on food, and went to our seats, and they were taken. Looking closer at our tickets, they said 11:30, not 3:30. My son had of course settled in one seat over and of course, did not want to leave. I was quite meticulous in my purchase process, so I put up quite an argument - partly because I had shelled out $300 for what I knew to be tickets for 3:30, and partly because my son was heartbroken.

The staff at Staples Center were heartless, as were the people on the Ticketmaster phone line. A woman approached me outside who had been witness to this and said the SAME THING HAPPENED to her (I got her phone number for reference if needed). Also, from what I read on this website, this also happend to a woman named Mary in Texas on 7/15 for the ballet. While I was trying to convince the staff they shouldn't throw us out - we spent a fortune on these seats and deserved to be there - we overheard them dealing with several other of the same instances.

There was obviously a problem in the ticketmaster system, and all victims were simply being shoved out of the building and told, tough luck. I called ticketmaster and they said there was nothing they could do for me or any of the other people that it happened to. They refused to credit me. I am absolutely certain I got tickets for the right time. I went online twice and bought tickets at 2 different times. Even if I had it wrong once, there couldn't be a way I would have done it twice. Besides, it has happened to so many other people.

Carolyn of Carson City NV (07/20/05)
I purchased my tickets at their website, at the end it said to get your $25 rebate click here. It never went to the website. I tried for over an hour, left the computer trying, and came back a couple of hours later to find it did not get there. I sent the customer support an email, and they told me I had to do the rebate at the same time of ordering the tickets. I wrote them back, asking for a mananger to call me two days in a row, and have received no response.

Mary of Katy TX (07/12/05)
I ordered tickets online for the Houston Ballet's performance of Romeo and Juliet, wrote the time and date on my calendar as I was purchasing the tickets. When they arrived, I put them in a safe place and took them out on the day of the performance only to discover the tickets were for the previous weekend. Thinking it may have been my mistake, I once again ordered tickets to the Circus from Ticketmaster (online again) and this time was extra careful to make sure I was selecting the proper day and time that I needed the tickets.

Once again, when I received the tickets I immediately checked the date and they, of course, were for a date I did not select. Ticketmaster says all sales are final, no exchanges, refunds, returns, etc. even when it is THEIR mistake. I printed out the purchase page online which shows I selected a different date than what was sent, yet they still refuse to deal with me! I have told all my friends and anyone who will listen that TICKETMASTER IS A RIPOFF!

For the ballet tickets, I still went to the ballet and purchased another set of two tickets, resulting in a loss of the original ticket price of over $80 plus new tickets in the amount of $40 (obviously not the same section).  I am currently attempting to sell the circus tickets for which I paid a total of $105.41.  If I cannot sell them and purchase new tickets (definitely NOT from Ticketmaster), I will not be able to take my daughter and her two friends to the circus as I promised.

Janine of Silver Spring MD (07/09/05)
I went to a Snoop Dogg and Game concert on Mother's Day of this year. The show was scheduled to begin at 7:30. The opening act came on at 8pm. When they were finished, we waited an hour before someone came out and told the audience that The Game was not coming, and Snoop was on his way. At 11pm, we left because Snoop was STILL not there.

I left because I had class and work the next day, and I had already waited 4 hours, so I figured that he would never come. I called Ticketmaster the next day to attempt to get my money back. They said that they can't give me my money back because the performer did FINALLY come. What time? 1am? Why should I wait around till midnight for a show that was supposed to begin at 7:30? Am I crazy, or is that wrong? I am in the process of dealing with them right now. I work for lawyers, so I may end up suing them if they do not help me.

Felipe of Huntington Beach CA (06/22/05)
After I had purchased my tickets online (ticketmaster.com) the concert was cancelled 48 hrs later. Ticketmaster did not refund the processing fee of $3.15 and the fast ticket fee of $2.50, which is a PDF file received via email. The disclaimer for cancelled concerts is buried under the terms and conditions link, and the verbiage for the refund is cloudy. If I buy a book at a bookstore and decide to return it, I will receive the full refund even after human intervention. It should be the same principle for online/automated purchases.

Dianne of Nashville TN (06/17/05)
Ticketmaster has a monopoly on the concert ticket market. Not only do they charge $3.25 parking per ticket, if there is no parking then they jack up the "convenience" charge (whatever that is). I recently purchased 2 $22.00 tickets. After all their charges my bill was $61.48. The "convenience" charge was $5.47 per ticket. I bought 2 $45.00 tickets that did not have parking so the "convenience" charge was $8.00 per ticket. What is a "convenience" charge and how do they get away with such a charge? There is NO way to buy tickets to most concerts without going through Ticketmaster. Hopefully I have purchased my last tickets through them. Can't somebody do something about Ticket"monster"?

Elizabeth of Dublin, Ireland (06/14/05)
I have joined the ranks of people who hate TicketMaster. You know...for The Last Supper in Milan, for the opera in Paris, for the symphony in Amsterdam...all I had to do was look up the booking desk number online and telephone them. At each place they were able to find an English-speaker to take my booking, to advise me on the best seating, and to charge me the price of the ticket without a service fee.

To make the booking for Kris Kristofferson this Saturday in Dublin, Ireland, I either had to have internet access to buy the tickets online OR use the voice recognition phone system that TicketMaster has put in place. In both cases, there is a 5 euro-per-ticket service fee to book the tickets. Even though a human is not involved in the process at all AND I'd be collecting the tickets at the box office so they don't even have to send them out to me. I realize this is Old News. But did not realize that it got worse... After 15 minutes on the phone going through menus, I finally by chance used the right key word at the voice recognition input part that allowed me to be transferred to an operator.

At no time was the option to talk to a live person given to me. And I've got a PhD in computer science and generally know how to proceed through voice menus. Unbelievable. Shame on you, TicketMaster. I hope Kris finds out that your difficult and expensive booking process is part of the reason his tour didn't sell out.

Jami of Chicago IL (04/11/05)
I attempted to get tickets (lawn for $28.00) for Tom Petty at Tweeter Center in Tinley Park thru the internet presale and kept getting an error messgae that the CIN# on my credit card was being denied by my bank. Called my bank (Bank One) and they said there is no problem, the error is with Ticketmaster. The next day I called to purchase using the same credit card with NO PROBLEMS, but was told by the rep that the only available seats were in the pavillion ($77.00!!) so I bought one.

Today, I checked the internet and there is in fact lawn available, but now I already have this more expensive ticket that is paid for (with the card they said would not accept.) Furthermore, after being on hold for 35 minutes on Saturday (I have my cell phone bill to support this) a supervisor told me that if I was this upset I should hang up and call back. He then hung up on me. I did not curse, or use abusive language. I am, however, extremely irate at their business practices, and lack of business ethics.

Nancy of Manchester CT (03/12/05)
Purchased 4 tickets on March 2nd for the Big East Basketball Tournament -Session 6 held at the Hartford Civic Center on March 8, 2005. Tickets sold for $28.50 each -- however the surcharges added on were outrageous!! The total cost of 4 tickets was $113.00 -- then a $7.00 Facility charge -- then a $26.00 convenience charge was added -- then a $3.05 Order processing fee. The cheapest mailing option offered me was UPS for $14.50 (for 4 measly tickets). I was not even offered a pick-up option at the Civic Center.

Bringing the final cost of four tickets from $113.00 up to $163.05. OVER FIFTY DOLLARS IN SURCHARGES !!!!!! This is a ripoff in my opinion. To top it all off -- I found the UPS delivery NOT at my front door as stated on tracking website but in the middle of my back yard -- thankfully it was not snowing that day (as it was on the very next day) or I NEVER would have found the tickets.

Diane of Eridge Green, England (02/21/05)
I live in the UK & tried to buy tickets online as a gift for my mother in KY. The next day I received an emal from Ticketmaster saying there was a problem with the addresses. I phoned to follow up and was told by Arturo that it was Ticketmaster's policy not to deliver to an address different than the billing address (of the payment credit card). Also, he would not allow my mother to collect the tickets 'will call' since she did not have the same name as me!

I therefore had to cancel the order. This was done during this same phone call with Arturo on Jan 8th at 2:15 central time. He told me that it may take a few days for the credit card refund to go through. I was surprised to see a transaction clear my credit card on the same date but waited for a refund. To my amazement there was no credit the following month so I phoned them to ask why not.

I was told that, Arturo had in fact, done exactly the opposite of what he told me he did. He did not cancel the order but put it through using a bogus address. My own address is in the UK and this can be verified with the credit card company. The tickets were shipped to a bogus address in the USA, not even my mothers (which is in KY). They refuse to refund me the $104 even though their own terms state "we can only ship tickets to the billing address on file with the credit card company that is used for your purchase".

Frederick of Chester PA (01/30/05)
I recently purchased tickets for a concert via advance purchase through Ticketmaster. I was given 2 seats and a section and the description told me that they were lower level. I had three minutes to agree to purchase or lose the tickets secured for me. When, I tried to pull up the seat location on the Ticketmaster site it would not pop up. So, I still purchased them and looked after I logged off form the computer to look at a map of the stadium in the telephone book. The tickets are not where the discription said. The tickets purchased are upper level seats, which I didn't want.

Laura of Manchester OTHER (01/30/05)
I booked 3 tickets for the green day concert in the UK months ago. All was fine, booked them for the 29th january because it was the only day i could get off work. The tickets came with weeks to go before the concert which was fine. Got to the venue and refused entrance as the tickets we had been sent were for the night before!!! Went to customer services and there must have been around four sets of people with the same problem, booked the saturday and got tickets for the friday! Unless I can find the paperwork which says that the tickets were for the saturday i can't even get a refund as it is classed as my mistake!

Jennie of Charlotte NC writes (9/25/01):
My husband ordered tickets for the TOOL concert here in Charlotte for Oct. 6th. We ordered online the day they went on sale which was about a month ago. We paid to have them shipped UPS three day shipping and they still haven't arrived. When we call or email, they give us a hard time and tell us that we will have to wait until 48 hours before the concert and if they haven't arrived then we can call them back.

We went through this for a Jimmy Buffet concert and never received the tickets then. We had to wait in line only to receive hand written tickets which is no good as a memento for a scrapbook. That may seem petty to some but we like to have the tickets we paid for not a hand written note. They don't have a problem taking our money. Not at all. They have a big problem giving you what you pay for. I have never been treated so poorly by any company. They are a monopoly and I don't think I will ever go to a concert again if I have to deal with them.

The Tool concert is in about 11 days so I know we aren't going to get them (seeing as how it has already been a month) and we will have to arrive at the concert a whole lot earlier and wait, wait, wait. Ordering online is supposed to be convenient but this is NOT. I don't dare ask for my money back. They are incredibly rude on the phone and talking to a manager does not do a thing for you. They are defensive and just plain ugly. I just don't understand why they can't tell me where my tickets are. Isn't that what they do?

Norma of Oakland, CA, writes (6/13/01):
On May 6, 2001 I placed an order for 2 tickets to see Sade. When I finished my order, a message came up on the screen telling me there was an error, and that the order was not processed. So I went through the whole procedure again and this time they went through. Then I get 2 separate e-mails thanking me for my orders, with two different confirmation numbers. A few days later I get e-mail telling me that the tickets have been printed. However I have not received the tickets, yet.

When I e-mailed ticketmaster and wanted 1) a refund on the extra two tickets that I didn't authorize to buy, and 2) that I haven't received the tickets as of yet, their response was to send me a canned e-mail telling me that in order to refund the tickets they need to arrive in their office the day before the event. I haven't received any tickets yets and although the concert is a month away, I'd like to clear this up now and not deal with the stress of the matter a day before the concert. It was about $250 charged all together for my tickets.

I was charged $66.40 for each set, even though I only ordered one. I used my ATM Mastercard to purchase these tickets, and because I only planned on one charge of $66.40, my bank charged me a total of $50.00 to cover the 2nd $66.40 charge, because I didn't have funds to cover it (I had no intentions of purchasing 4 tickets).

Susan of Holbrook, MA, writes:
On 8/2/99 I placed an order for 2 tickets to see Bonnie Raitt/Jackson Browne/Tweeter Center/Aug 26, 1999. When I finished my order, a message came up on the screen telling me my request has been aborted.

I waited a few minutes and when I received no confirmation number, I placed the order again. I got a confirmation number and the telephone number to call if I didn't receive the tickets in a week. Six days later, I received two sets of two tickets each. I was charged $66.40 for each set, even though I only ordered one.

I used my ATM Mastercard to purchase these tickets, and because I only planned on one charge of $66.40, my bank charged me a total of $50.00 to cover the 2nd $66.40 charge, because I didn't have funds to cover it (I had no intentions of purchasing 4 tickets).

So, these 2 tickets I wanted ended up costing me $182.80. I was told on the phone that I could return two tickets, but the only address given was a P.O. Box where I cannot get a return receipt.

They also told me there is nothing to be done about the $50.00 charge from my bank. I sent two e-mails to Ticketmaster asking for an address or some response. Even though they promise all e-mails will be answered in 4 hours, I have heard nothing.

I don't trust them to return my $66.40 if I send mail to a P.O. box, but they obviously don't care about one little customer. This is evident in their lack of response. Thank you.

Pearl of Bear, DE, writes (3/1/01):
I was just wondering how long the parties that govern ticket sales are going to allow Ticketmaster to rip people off and to dominate the market. Does anyone realize that you have to buy your tickets from Ticketmaster? Even when you go to the venue site, its Tickertmaster that is selling the tickets and charging a surcharge of $5.00 for every ticket.

Damage Resulting Lost time and money. Waiting in the freezing cold only to be told that they are having a lottery for the place in line. only to get the third number from the end of the line, only to get to the window to find out in 8 minutes that all seats are sold out, only to then step out of line, only to have them add another show, only to get back in line, 2nd person now, only to find out that the machine is stuck, only to find out 3 minutes later that all tickets are gone again, who the heck gets all of the tickets that are in seeing range? The promoter, the radio stations, the nieces, nephews, aunt, uncles, brother, sister, girlfriends, or maybe who will sleep with the bodyguards (fringe benefits you know) who gets them all?

Hilary of Nederland, CO, writes (1/24/01):
Two weeks ago I purchased tickets foe the NHL Allstar Fantasy for my sons 10th birthday, here in Denver. Ticketmaster's operator told me the package included tickets to the Fantasy program, NHL Practice and Oldtimers game. The tickets arrived and no oldtimers game tickets. I called Ticketmaster to find out what was going on and they said they do not sell tickets to the oldtimers game.

I didn't understand what they ment as the operator specifically said "oldtimers game follows the practice, be there at 9:00 am. My son. who's already told the world that he's going to the oldtimers game is distraught. I have spent more than 2 hours trying to get answers on the phone, I have been hung up on, lied to and humiliated and talked down to by these people and the anguish and frustraion just escalates as they put me on hold after hold. Business should not be run this way. There must be another ticket service out there, why can't I find them, is this a monopoly?

Catherine of Cedar Grove, WI, writes (11/14/00):
I went on the Internet on Sat., Sept. 30, 2000 at 9:15 pm. to buy tickets for "Blast" in Milwaukee. I wanted 3 tickets for the Sun., Oct. 1, 2000, 2 p.m. show. I inadvertently selected Sat., Sept. 30, 2000 at 2 p.m. (a show which had already taken place). I thought that TM's software would have stopped the sale -- but needless to say, it went through and I am out $185.85.

I have e-mailed, called, written Ticketmaster and notified my credit card co., Wi. Dept. of Consumer Protection and Federal Trade Comm. Ticketmaster either states that they have a "no refund" policy or they do not reply at all. While I realize that I selected the wrong date, I also realize that it was their web sites fault that I was allowed to purchase tickets to a past performance.

Loretta of Brooklyn writes:

I am talking about trying to buy tickets > today for a Ricky Martin concert. Mr.Mark Green did a report once before about how ordinary people cannot get through to places like Ticket Master because they are selling to hundreds of scalpers, who then in turn sell to people like me for 3-5 times the amount originally sold for. These scalpers buy hundreds of tickets at a time.

Something must be done about this horrible ticket buying problem that exists in New York City. This company needs to be monitored better. There is no way that a 2-day concert can sell out in less than 2 hours, and hundreds of people are just hearing busy signals!! Please help put a stop to the way that Ticketmaster sells to the public.

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