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Hannah Montana Fans Skip the Scalpers

Same-day tickets save the day for Kansas City fans

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 4, 2007

• Class Action Challenges NCAA Ticket Sales • Super Bowl Ticket Scams Flourish • Hannah Montana Fans Skip the Scalpers • Ticket Brokers Pony Up Hannah Montana Tickets • Missouri Scalping Crackdown Gets Results • Missouri Sues Hannah Montana Scalpers • Arkansas AG Probes Concert Ticket Scalping • Super Bowl Attracts Super Scams • Buying From A Scalper Can Be A Ticket To Trouble --- • Stubhub complaints • Ticketmaster complaints • Ticketman complaints

All the headaches and frustration a Kansas City mom endured to get two of the much-coveted tickets to Hannah Montana’s concert paid off Monday night.

Claire N. and her 8-year-old daughter joined more than 12,000 screaming young fans who packed Kansas City’s Sprint Center and had the rare opportunity to see the 15-year-old teen idol perform some of her most popular songs, including “Life’s What you Make It,” “Rock Star,” and “Pumpin’ up the Party.”

“It was worth it for the sake of my daughter,” Claire said of all hoopla surrounding the “Best of Both Worlds Tour” in which pop star Miley Cyrus performs as Hannah Montana and herself. “My daughter loved it and to see all the excitement she and her friends had…it was definitely worth it. My daughter even thanked me again this morning.”

Getting tickets to the concert turned out to be a nightmare for Claire – and parents across the country whose children have caught the Hannah Montana fever that’s sweeping the nation.

Claire tried in September to buy tickets -- online and over the phone right when they went on sale -- but discovered the concert was already sold out.

She and other Missouri fans, however, immediately found scores of Hannah Montana tickets at various brokers for hundreds of dollars over face value.

ConsumerAffairs.com heard from parents nationwide who experienced the same problems when they tried to buy Hannah Montana tickets for their children.

Claire also couldn’t get any of the 4,000 tickets that went on sale early through Hannah Montana’s fan club – even though her daughter is a member.

She finally snatched up two tickets in October -- thanks to action taken by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

The attorney general sued three brokers for allegedly scalping Hannah Montana tickets and -- at the same time -- reached an agreement with Ticketmaster to sell an additional 1,000 tickets to the rock star’s Kansas City concert.

Claire paid $56 dollars apiece -- or face value -- for two of those tickets when they went on sale in late October.

Unsold blocks

But on her way to Monday night’s concert, Claire discovered that scores of additional Hannah Montana tickets had suddenly become available.

Another mom -- whose daughter is friends with Claire’s -- told her that she bought two tickets around 4 p.m. That was a little more than three hours before the concert.

And that mom didn’t pay hundreds of dollars for the tickets, either. She paid $56 apiece for seats on the floor.

Claire’s cell phone started ringing as news spread that parents had another chance to get Hannah Montana tickets.

“My brother is down at the Sprint Center and says they’re releasing more tickets,” she said.

A few minutes later, her phone rang again.

“He got them,” she exclaimed. “He got two tickets!” And not just any tickets. Claire’s brother scored two front-row tickets.

“He got them at 4:50,” she said. “And he paid face value -- $56 apiece”

Before the concert started, Claire learned that a handful of other friends and family members were also able to get tickets -- at the last minute -- to much-touted concert that also features the Jonas Brothers.

“I know of five families that were able to get tickets just hours before the concert,” she said, clicking off their names. “The scalpers (brokers) turned in the tickets they couldn’t sell.”

Claire, however, met one scalper before the concert who had no trouble selling his tickets.

“He told me that he had 40 tickets to the show -- he sold 38 and kept two for himself. And he said that he made enough money off those tickets to pay for Christmas this year, next year, and then some.”

As Claire reflected on her Hannah Montana-mania experience, she said she learned a lesson about frantically trying to get tickets to popular concerts.

It’s a lesson she wants to share with other parents – especially those who live in cities where the pop diva has not yet performed on her concert tour.

“My message for other parents who are worried about getting Hannah Montana tickets is to be patient and go to the venue the day of the show,” Claire said. “Try not to buy tickets from scalpers because -- from what we witnessed in Kansas City -- you can get good tickets at the last minute for face value.

“So just be patient … good things happen to those who wait.”

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