Ticketmaster And Kelly Clarkson Cost You $3.75

By June 15, 2007

Reader Shaun writes:

My wife wanted to go to an upcoming Kelly Clarkson concert and we bought tickets. Clarkson has now cancelled the concert and Ticketmaster is givinga refund; however, they won’t refund the processing fee. This seems ridiculous to me, they should be refunding the whole amount. Is there any grounds for them to keep my processing fee? Thanks!

Shaun

Sorry, Shaun. Ticketmaster’s processing fees are non-refundable, per their purchase policy. It seems you’ve stumbled upon one of policies that Ticketmaster is famously hated for. Sadly, you can’t take your business elsewhere, because Ticketmaster has licensing agreements with most of the large concert venues in the US.

Read Ticketmaster’s letter to Shaun inside.

Ticketmaster writes:
From: “Notification” Reply-To: “RightNowIncomingMail” Subject: Ticketmaster Alert for Kelly Clarkson at Honda Center Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:41:19 -0500

Hello, this is Ticketmaster Customer Service with an important notice regarding your order for Kelly Clarkson at Honda Center on Thursday, July 19, 2007. Kelly Clarkson has announced that she will not be touring this summer. Tickets for the tour can be refunded at the point of purchase.

If you purchased tickets via Ticketmaster.com or by phone, your credit card will automatically be credited the ticket price and convenience charges, and should post to your account within 7 to 10 business days. Please note, the $3.75 per order processing fee and any ticketFast or UPS delivery charges are non-refundable.

If you purchased additional tickets at a Ticketmaster retail location or the Box Office, please return your tickets to that location for your refund.

As future concert dates become available, current ticket holders will be invited via email, mail, or phone notification to purchase tickets through an exclusive presale, which will take place prior to the general on sale date for each concert.

If you have any questions, please contact us online at:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/h/asktm.html

Thank you for using Ticketmaster where we really appreciate the opportunity to do business with you!

—MEGHANN MARCO

Purchase Policy [Ticketmaster]
Ticketmaster [Wikipedia]
(Photo: CST)

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Comments

  1. Trackback says:
    June 16, 2007 at 8:03 pm

    Read at thedailyswarm.com. Read at consumerist.com.

  2. Asthmatic1 says:
    June 16, 2007 at 8:31 pm

    Don’t be fooled into thinking Ticketmaser is some innocent 3rd party in this situation. Generally – especially with Live Nation promoted concerts – they are splitting the “convenience fee” with the concert promoter.

  3. WhatANiceMom says:
    June 16, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Bought the tickets for my daughter. Did everybody here get charged $3.75/ticket? My letter from The Almighty TM says “Please note, the $4.75 per order processing fee and any ticketFast or UPS delivery charges are non-refundable.”

    So let’s see, that’s $4.75 plus the $1 ticketFast charge for something handled without any human service provided at all. I think I’ll send them a bill for the 25 minutes I spent repeatedly trying to get into their system. From the second the tickets went on sale I kept getting the message that no seats were available in the quantity I wanted (2). In between I would get a message that the request for tickets to this event were coming too frequently from my computer and I would have to wait awhile before trying again. And now I get to pay for the privilege of doing business with them. Anyone know a class action lawyer?

  4. Trackback says:
    June 18, 2007 at 8:03 am

    Its not the first thing that comes to mind for an industry insider, but when a concert gets canceled Ticketmaster does not refund the $3.75 processing fee, ticketFast charges or UPS delivery costs.nbsp; With the cancellation of the entire Kelly Clarkson tour, the policy has just created tens of…

  5. sinclair__ says:
    June 18, 2007 at 4:14 pm

    @tomok97: Every merchant is a 3rd party in the transaction. The status of Ticketmaster’s relationship to the concert provider is not my concern. When I buy a ticket from Tickermaster, my deal is with them and no one else, and they are responsible for a full refund if they do not deliver any product. If they are damaged due to a cancellation, they can go after the concert organizers.

    A merchant cannot avoid liability by claiming to be a go between. In my scenarios above, the customer’s claim is strictly against the merchant. If the merchant is a reseller, then the merchant may have a claim against it’s suppliers, but it is not up to the customer to persue such a claim. Again, any other system would be wide open to abuse. Ticketmaster is responsible for a full refund if the items is sells are defective.

  6. RamV10: The Axeman Returneth says:
    June 18, 2007 at 4:19 pm

    I think that we need to draw a line with this name calling. There’s only one person in the world who can be referred to as “Clarkson”, and it ain’t Kelly, it’s Jeremy.

  7. pestie says:
    June 18, 2007 at 5:11 pm

    @JKinNYC: Or maybe this is god’s punishment for buying Kelly Clarkson tickets.

    I was thinking, “Your wife wanted to go to a Kelly Clarkson concert? File for divorce!” Then I remembered that my girlfriend has the most abysmal musical taste on earth. Dammit.

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