30 replies to this topic

[YouOverThere]

Mme. Hermine, on 25 October 2010 - 09:46 AM, said:

I know this is going to sound naive, but why exactly would a ballet company have no other choice than to use the Overpriced Monopoly?  Are there regulations placed on who can sell their tickets when they use a particular venue?  Do they have no choice in the matter at all?  Seems a little odd.

TicketMaster/LiveNation is essentially the only US ticket vendor (TicketMaster has managed to absorb most of its competitors). The person to whom I complained about my ticket snafu said that there simply wasn't any other choice but to go with a foreign company, given that the Colorado Ballet was struggling to meet TicketMaster/LiveNation's high fees.

[abatt]

The newest charge (in addition to the Handling and Processing fees discussed above) is the "facility fee".  I think this started with Broadway shows, and it has now expanded to the Met Opera and Avery Fisher Hall here in New York.  So far the Koch Theater does not have a facility fee, but I suspect it's only a matter of time.

[Mme. Hermine]

Well evidently it's a condition of renting the theater.  Boo hiss.

[abatt]

Mme. Hermine, on 25 October 2010 - 12:35 PM, said:

Well evidently it's a condition of renting the theater.  Boo hiss.

The Met Opera is not renting the opera house.  It is their home base. Ditto with the organizations at Avery Fisher. The facility fee is just another way of squeezing additional income out of the customer, but hiding the additional charge until the end of the purchase transaction.

[Mme. Hermine]

Actually I was talking about Colorado and their theater with TicketMaster.

[YouOverThere]

Mme. Hermine, on 25 October 2010 - 11:07 PM, said:

Actually I was talking about Colorado and their theater with TicketMaster.

"Facility fees" are pretty common in Denver. My recollection is that I paid "facility fees" when I bought tickets for the local professional hockey team even though the arena is owned by the same company that owns the hockey team.

[YouOverThere]

The Colorado Ballet doesn't seem to have been impressed by my suggestion that they refund my will call and convenience charges, despite the fact that my ticket was not available at the will call window and that I derived no "convenience" from ordering online since I had to stand in line at the box office anyway.

[Helene]

I thought most programs in the US were free because they were subsidized by advertisers.

In Paris, you get a printed cast list for free.  If you want a program, it's 10 Euros.  That's much better than when I traveled in Europe as a student and couldn't afford the programs, which was the only way to get the cast list (although Paris might have been different even back then).

YouOverThere, I think it's inexcusable that you ordered a ticket in advance, and they didn't have it printed out for you.  Even moreso that if it was an error, they didn't walk or call over to have them expedite it ahead of ticket sales.  But they had your money in hand, and eager people waiting to put more cash in theirs...

[YouOverThere]

Helene, on 29 October 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

YouOverThere, I think it's inexcusable that you ordered a ticket in advance, and they didn't have it printed out for you.  Even moreso that if it was an error, they didn't walk or call over to have them expedite it ahead of ticket sales.  But they had your money in hand, and eager people waiting to put more cash in theirs...

The ticketing dept. at the Colorado Ballet has been a source of frustration for years, and the reason that I bothered to complain was more about trying to get them to pay attention to the problem than about the $11. The administrative side at the CB has always lagged behind the artistic side, though last year things seemed to be improving. Unfortunately, a number of key people left.

[Helene]

It's a very bad idea to anger loyal patrons with slap-in-the-face policies.

[YouOverThere]

YouOverThere, on 29 October 2010 - 08:22 PM, said:

The Colorado Ballet doesn't seem to have been impressed by my suggestion that they refund my will call and convenience charges, despite the fact that my ticket was not available at the will call window and that I derived no "convenience" from ordering online since I had to stand in line at the box office anyway.

I noticed today that there is a $5 credit from the Colorado Ballet on my credit card account, so it appears that they have refunded the will call fee.

[Helene]

I'm glad they made good on it.

[bart]

Helene, on 02 November 2010 - 06:11 PM, said:

I'm glad they made good on it.

Ditto.  A competent, audience friendly box office is an important public face of a company.  (It's what you hear and/or see BEFORE the orchestra begins playing and the curtain rises.)  That makes it a good box office important business investment.  

Let's hope the CB management calls a staff meeting to figure out a way to reducing such mistakes in the future and a way to handle things better when mistakes occur.

[Brioche]

I won't take credit for your refund YouOverThere - however after reading about your experience with the ticket office here, and having been a ticket office manager (and still working in a business that costumer satisfaction is key) I emailed the ticket office manager a lengthy correspondence in regards to their less then stellar performance and sited this website in regards to how far and wide we can communicate a bad (or good) experience.

YouOverThere, on 02 November 2010 - 02:56 PM, said:

YouOverThere, on 29 October 2010 - 08:22 PM, said:

The Colorado Ballet doesn't seem to have been impressed by my suggestion that they refund my will call and convenience charges, despite the fact that my ticket was not available at the will call window and that I derived no "convenience" from ordering online since I had to stand in line at the box office anyway.

I noticed today that there is a $5 credit from the Colorado Ballet on my credit card account, so it appears that they have refunded the will call fee.

[papeetepatrick]

I'm impressed!  This shows how to use the internet and boards and bleugs to produce results offline in a very productive way.  I'm sure you put the fear of something or other, Brioche.  All very cool.  I think we should all complain about any extra charges we find suspect, although I tend to avoid all of them by going to the box office directly, because I just like to, and there's always a fee avoided that way.  But that's not going to always be convenient. Obviously, when I get my tickets for LA events, I have to order them online or by phone, and pay some fees, but this thread shows them to have definitely gotten more complicated, just as that baggage fee was thrown at some of us unexpectedly last year, AND the workers tell you that 'it's always been that way' or are told to say that, if you ask (which I did.)