Consumerist
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tickets
Ticketmaster Pays $50,000 Fine, Closes More Than 100 Deceptive Site
Ticketmaster will pay a $50,000 fine and shutter more than 100 deceptive brokerage sites as part of a wide-reaching agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan's office accused Ticketmaster's always shady subsidy, TicketsNow, of creating sites that masqueraded as local venues selling tickets at face value. The settlement also requires TicketsNow to wait until after Ticketmaster puts non-sporting events on sale before hawking tickets at outrageously inflated prices. More » -
refunds
U.S. Open Backtracks After Telling 42,500 People They'll Get No Refund For Spending A Day In The Rain
The U.S. Golf Association initially told 42,500 U.S. Open ticketholders who spent most of Thursday standing in the rain that they would be unable to refund or exchange their tickets. Then New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stepped in and convinced the USGA to make the washed-out tickets valid for entry on Monday. Tomorrow's forecast: rain. More » -
illinois
170 Bogus Tickets: Chicago Tests Ticketing Equipment With Your License Plate
When I read the headline for this story (it didn't mention Chicago), I bet myself a million dollars that the man had an Illinois license plate. I am now a millionaire. Or I will be as soon as I pay myself. More » -
scalping
It's Now Illegal To Sell A Ticket In New York For More Than $2 Over Face Value
Quick, go buy scalped tickets while it's still illegal to sell them for more than $2 over face value. The New York law allowing unlimited markups on scalped tickets expired last week, and Governor David Paterson has yet to sign an extension bill passed by the legislature. TicketsNow and StubHub are, of course, ignoring the law, because they've never been big fans of little things like laws or decency. More » -
travel
Delta Can't Be Bothered To Sell The Obese Two Adjoining Seats
Evan's on the large side and wants to buy two adjoining seats, but Delta doesn't seem to care whether or not he inconveniences other passengers. The airline won't assign two seats to the same passenger name, and if he buys a second seat under a different name, it won't necessarily adjoin the first. Delta also warned that "they will give [his] second seat away if they need it, even if [he] paid for it." One agent thought he had a solution, but it was going to cost Evan $200 more than Delta's online fares. More » -
travel
Use Codeshares To Find Cheap Summer Flights Abroad
Before locking in your summer fare to Europe, see if you can't find a better deal by searching an airline's codeshare partners. Airlines use codeshares to sell seats on each other's planes so they can reach destinations they wouldn't otherwise serve. Since ticket prices constantly fluctuate, codeshare partners often quote different fares for the exact same flight. Inside, reader Christiana shares how she used codeshares to save almost $300 on a flight to England... More » -
orbitz
Orbitz Can't Deliver On Tickets It Sold, But Can't Deliver The Refund Either
Austin bought two tickets to Aruba last December. By the end of February, Orbitz had changed his itinerary so many times that now they were only flying him as far as Atlanta, and 11 days later were flying him back from Aruba—it was apparently up to him to get from Atlanta to Aruba in the first place. At this point, the only option was to request a refund, which Orbitz said would take 60 days. Two months later, Orbitz told Austin that they'll give him his money back in 60 days. We're pretty sure that's 120 days total, and there's still no guarantee Austin will see his money. More » -
recession
Impoverished High School Seniors No Longer Able To Finance Gaudy Proms
The recession continues to rot America's cultural core, this time by attacking one of our most cherished traditions: prom. Gone are the ice sculptures and $1,000 dresses. America's children are now buying dresses off racks and trading limos for the family car. Imagine! More » -
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taken for a ride
At Six Flags, You Have To Pay A Fee To Print Your Own Tickets
We know Six Flags is desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy, but that's no reason to go all Ticketmaster on the people who want to have a good time at Magic Mountain in Los Angeles. More » -
pepsi
Pepsi Yankees Promotion Leads To Fans Chanting "Pepsi Sucks!"
It's probably never a good idea to offer Yankees fans free tickets for showing up and forming a crowd, because then you've got a crowd of Yankees fans with nothing to do, and that's not going to end well. In this case, after the fans found out that Pepsi over-promised the number of free tickets it was giving out, they turned hostile. More » -
scalpers
Whoops, You Paid $1,200 For Crappy Obstructed View Yankee Tickets
Thinking of buying some "secondary market" tickets? Well, you might want to do a little research before you open your wallet, according to the New York Times. Apparently, the new Yankee Stadium has some seats that are so godawful that they only cost $5 — unless you buy them from a scalper who charges you hundreds. More » -
united
United: If You Can't Fit In One Seat You Need To Buy Two
Starting today, United Airlines has a new policy. If you can't fit into a single seat, you need to buy another one or stay behind. More » -
stubhub
Help, StubHub Never Delivered My Tickets!
Vinay's StubHub tickets to see Lady Gaga never arrived in his inbox, but StubHub insists that they delivered the goods and refuses to issue a refund. StubHub's only communication with Vinay was a short confirmation email promising that the real tickets would arrive via SubHub's e-LMS system. The tickets still hadn't arrived the day of the concert, and armed with only a confirmation email in hand, Vinay was turned away from the venue. More » -
bad consumer
No, You Should Not Pay Your $206 Speeding Ticket With Urine-Soaked Coins
47-year-old Washington resident Michael Lynch tried and failed to pay a $206 speeding ticket with a plastic bag filled with coins and urine. Surprisingly, his special payment for doing 54 mph in a 35 mph construction zone didn't violate any laws... More » -
chargebacks
Woman Who Missed Obama's Inauguration Starts $10,000 AmEx Chargeback
See, here's why you pay for big ticket items with a credit card. A Chicagoan who gave $10,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) back in January to secure a spot at Barack Obama's swearing in, never got to see the event because of the security and crowd-control clusterfrak. Unfortunately, the PIC has ceased to exist, and has basically taken a "sorry about that, but thanks for your money" attitude, so she initiated a chargeback. The Washington Post reports:
American Express has given her an "interim" refund in full, pending a review that will involve the credit card company presenting to PIC officials all of Blessman's documentation on the services she feels she was denied.
"One Spurned Purple Ticket Holder Claims Victory" [Washington Post] (Thanks to Megan!) (Photo: Patricia Jones Blessman)
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fees
Have Airlines Run Out Of Annoying Fees?
So, it's not exactly good news, but between the toilet tax and priority boarding fees, Reuters thinks that airlines may have run out of "perks" worth excluding from a ticket's base price. The bad news? All those new airline fees aren't going anywhere. American Airlines, which last year pocketed an extra billion in "ancillary revenue," calls them "a pretty big success story." More » -
apologies
Ticketmaster Sells Phish Tickets Early, Then Cancels
Thousands of disappointed Phish fans are crying right now because Ticketmaster accidentally sold "a significant number" of 4-day passes to the upcoming show at Red Rocks — then canceled them. Phish fan and Consumerist reader Trevor has the scoop: More » -
scalping
Who's Scalping Those Concert Tickets? Artists And Agents, Frequently
The Wall Street Journal reported today that for many big name concert events, the people behind a good deal of the really expensive secondary market tickets are the artists themselves, along with their agents and promoters. Recent concerts where the artists and promoters resold tickets on the secondary market and split the profits with Ticketmaster include Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Elton John, and possibly Britney Spears.
More »
tickets
New York, 8:22 PM
Sun Jul 5
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