Ticketmaster is the devil.

I went with Ticketmaster..

I closed my eyes and imagined the horror of what would be if TicketMaster were a health Insurance company.

Ticketmaster is winning? Seriously?

Need I remind people about United Healthcare and their $124.8 million/year salary for their CEO?

@HungryTuna: I just threw up in my mouth.

@Brawndo_The_Thirst_Mutliator: and the devil can sit on a tack.

UNH is bad, but they're not much worse than anyone else in their industry, and many of the problems related to that industry are too ingrained for any company to overcome, particularly due to the regulations that keep things as they are roughly.

Ticketmaster has no redeeming qualities or virtue whatsoever, and there is no reason for it to be as evil as it is except pure...evil.

As a medical biller, I have to go for UH ftw. All health insurers are scam artists, denying good claims in hopes that office staffers are to busy to challenge denials. Unfortunately, this is true in far too many cases (not at my company, though; we pursue denials like {insert appropriate similie here}).

Why yes. I'd LOVE to pay an extra fee for printing out my tickets on my own printer!

Ticketmaster FTW here, clearly.

@Hadoken3: I just cut myself, the thought of that makes me suicidal

@johnva: Then he must be doing a fine job. UHC is still a profit turner in this age, no guidance from them, but few others are giving that out.

TM is a bull-necked SOB of a company that loves to nickle and dime their clients, rivaling the telecoms and their billing tactics.

I picked United Healthcare because some people don't really have a choice but to use them (like if it's the company their employer uses). Ticketmaster can be avoided, but how are you going to handle those medical bills? Someone has to pony up - and if UH is all you've got, it makes things much, much worse when they screw up. You aren't going to a concert? Probably doesn't suck as much as not being able to get coverage for your child's heart condition, or getting them to pay for surgery.

What's wrong here? We're saying that concert tickets have a higher importance than peoples lives?

Ticketmaster should have been a higher seed. Pure evil.

Ticketmaster is the devil incarnate.

@johnva: Understood but does UHC screw people over the way TicketMaster does? I went with TicketMaster.

Honestly, I've had UHC for 4 years now and never had a problem.

@Zanorfes: no, we're clearly saying that ticketmaster is a worse company.

I have had UHC for a number of years now without any problems. Not that I love them, mind you, but as someone said above...they are not any worse than any other insurance company. My insurance problems have all been problems caused by the way the medical system is run in this country not United in particular. However, Ticketmaster is just a badly run company that exists only to charge fees that are beyond excessive for service that rarely even aspires to be as good as poor.

@Zanorfes: That is pretty much it.

Times like this are when it really sinks in that the vast majority of us are self indulging, conceited jackasses.

@notsogreatsatan: How horrible can a company that sells a product that you don't actually need be?

I have UHC and too do not have a problem.

On the other hand I have used Ticketmaster and hate them with a deep seething hatred.

@huadpe: Ticketmaster has no redeeming qualities or virtue whatsoever, and there is no reason for it to be as evil as it is except pure...evil.

I do agree 100%, but I also feel this way about ALL health insurance companies. Since I simply don't attend Ticketmaster events, I'm going with UHC.

@Jeremy82465: How did UHC get a #12 seed if everyone either doesn't have them or has them but has never had a problem with them?

Where are all of the people who sent the e-mails nominating them?

@pecan 3.14159265: it's strange to not have a choice in a supposedly free market for an evil so unfortunately necessary in this country.

I don't know where the insurance haters are but don't mention the words "convenience fees" near someone that likes live music.

@Brawndo_The_Thirst_Mutliator: I agree! Ticketmaster is just one Horrible Company. At least United Healthcare Tries.

publicly scalping tickets AKA "Convenience Fee" vs secretly scalping ICD9 charges in healthcare.... hmmm

I went with Ticketmaster because my company doesnt use United Health :-)

@Rectilinear Propagation: And on the flip side, I'd like to hear from someone who actually likes Ticketmaster. Does such a person exist?

@Zanorfes: Indeed.

@failurate: Exactly.

UHC is employer provided, and they decide if I live or die.

TM is event provided, and they decide if I am entertained

I'd rather be bored than dead.

@johnva: ticketmaster is a monopoly, united healthcare is not

More people have delt with Ticketmaster than United Healthcare. As far as deplorable behavior, especially in literal Life and Death situations, United would win hands down. But as for day to day evil and obvious gouging, Ticketmaster gets the crown/horns.

I can't make up my mind: UHC affects your health and can kill you vs. Ticket Master is just as evil, but you can elect to not doing business with them. I can't explain it, but for some reason, I hate Ticket master more.

@johnva: I have a feeling only healthy people are voting for ticketmaster, otherwise they would see the ridiculousness that is our healthcare system. As much as I hate service charges, and believer me I see them a lot, I hate rising healthcare costs and denial of claims. let's see, $12 service charge are refusing to pay for a $10,000 heart surgery? I'm going with UHC.

@LegoMan322: Yes, they do. They screw both their own customers (through systematic denial and delay of legitimate claims, etc) and health care providers. And it's worse than getting screwed on "convenience fees" because we're talking about people's health. Nickle and diming is what health insurance is all about, and the fact that UHC is apparently good at it just means they are good at successfully screwing people out of healthcare they've paid for insurance to cover.

@snowburnt: They're a monopoly to you if your employer chooses to go with them.

Ticketmaster sells itself it's own tickets and jacked up the price. What the heck.

Most health insurers are an expensive middleman, jacking up medical costs. I know because I sold insurance.

For example, for 2 hours of work I made about $2,000. I sold med sups and simply signed up people for the policies. Med Sups are really a necessary costs if you have Medicare. For the next 6-10 years or more I made from 15-22% of the policy EACH MONTH. So if they paid $100 I made $15-22 just for doing NOTHING. What a deal! This goes on for years, and the actual work involved in helping clients is almost nothing.

Now you tell me that's not a waste of money. After the insurance company gets their portion, how much is left for the patient and the doctors. Only recently I started realizing what a waste.

Well, we chose the system that let's big business care for our health, so that's what we get.

I didn't have much against Ticketmaster (my ticket buying is limited to local artists and I usually end up getting the tickets from the artist or their friends).

UH on the other hand, well... they stiffed my dad, badly, on a workers comp claim. Offered a man who had been supporting his family of four on $10K a year (this was in 1995 - not that long ago) due to his injury a settlement of 25k to go away. He took it, and now he's practically crippled thanks to the 'experimental' procedure they did on his back. UH - FTW!!!!

Ticketmaster: "Those bastards charged me $10 for parking!"

UHC: "Those bastards refused to give my wife cancer treatment and she will die without it!"

I mean Ticketmaster, seriously people? They suck but we're talking tickets for concerts vs. people's lives that are turned into business decisions. no contest.

i had to use ticketmaster's website recently, and their website was so broken it took 45 minutes to place ONE order. it's pathetic. not to mention the flipping gratuitous "convenience charge" (translation: we're going to charge you for our convenience) and extra charge for printing out your own tickets. epic fail.

@richcreamerybutter: What makes you think this is a "free market?" Look up "government subsidy" sometime. In a true "free market" most subsidized industries would fail. I'd love it if the government would subsidize my industry, but we have to compete in the "free market," and could theoretically go bankrupt or fail, with no bailout to save us. Yes, Thomas Friedman, the free market is a lie. The earth isn't flat, it's on a steep angle.

Are you kiddin' me? Are people that afraid of being "socialist" that they have to choose some company that offers a service most people don't need?
People need health care, and the US system is just plain bullocks. It's companies like United Health Care that are keeping us from being the "advanced" nation we claim ourselves to be.

@undefined: @LegoMan322: Yes, people CAN die if UHC does screw with them.

@johnva: Health-for-profit gets my ire up, and instinctively I'd like to go with UHC on this one. Positive (or simply not-negative) individual experiences not withstanding, UHC has been "ethically challenged" at times: [www.eeoc.gov] [www.fiercehealthcare.com]

However, I find myself leaning closer to Ticketmaster for a few reasons:
1) UHC is not representing all private insurers.
2) There are a slew of ins companies worse than UHC, and plenty worse than Ticketmaster (HealthSouth, anyone?)

Most importantly in my mind: UHC is simply one part of a larger, very problematic industry. Ticketmaster is its own industry, and can change the way business is done at the drop of a hat. It often does so just to squeeze more out of customers.

As much as I don't like the line of work UHC execs are in, my "as objective as possible" self still sees TM as marginally worse.

@snowburnt: Technically kind of true, but to be fair, UHC is huge (see: [www.pacificare.com]) and for many people it is their only option. Because of the way private insurance works in this country, most of us don't actually have a choice when it comes to our insurance.. many of us don't even have options when it comes to providers (if we want our care covered, that is).

Also, using Ticketmaster is not life-or-death, as is sometimes the case when using your healthcare.

Just sayin'.. still voting TM, still feeling just a little dirty for doing so.

AIG and PCA are the only two contenstants that can give TicketBastard a run for their money...

Not only are they corrupt, they spread it to the groups they deal with. NJ is making money off of us and they will not reveal how much. Open government my a@#, they need to be shot in the street for everyone to see

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/new_jersey_officials_wont_say.html

@HungryTuna: That is too scary to consider!!!

If I ignore the whole apples to oranges thing, its 'gotta be Ticketbastard. Granted the stakes are probably higher if your dealing with UHC than if you're dealing with Ticketmaster, but like some have said already it's not like UHC singlehandedly caused the mess that is the US healthcare system. Lots of choices out there for health insurance - not so for buying tickets. If UHC cleaned up their act and ran their business like a saintly charity, our healthcare system would still be in the crapper. Ticketmaster, on the other hand, is basically what's wrong with their whole industry. The monopoly wins, IMO.