Melissa writes,

I'm hoping you can help escalate the Tavern on the Green Halloween scam where thousands of people were scammed into buying tickets for a party they never got to attend.

We were among the thousands that got stranded in front of Tavern on the Green in the pouring rain and mud for 2 hours only to find out the party was shut down by the police due to overcrowding. What started as an annoying line turned into a dangerous crowd that threatened to riot. I was pushed and shoved and could hear people yelling to storm the doors. I was near the front, so it became a very nerve-wracking experience, hoping they wouldn't start trampling everyone in front of them. No one ever came out to tell us what was going on; we could only gather information from whatever people in the crowd were hearing.

People spent $60 to $130 for a party that never happened. Tavern on the Green is blaming the promoters for selling too many tickets (apparently 4,000 over the actual # they were allowed) [I can't verify this number. - Ed.], but all the promoters' phones have voicemails that direct the blame to Tavern on the Green. Neither side is returning our money to the thousands of us.

It's amazing how irresponsible Tavern on the Green was as the crowd grew larger and angrier; maybe they didn't hear about last year's Walmart trampling?

If you were one of the people who got ripped off on Saturday, here's a Facebook group where you can share information with others and find out how to fight for your refund.

Update, November 4th 2009: Here's a message that was just sent out to members of the Facebook group:

Subject: Update on refunds issued!

Update from 7 on your side: UPDATE 12:31pm Wednesday 11/4/09

Alex and Leo Entertainment say they will be responsible for organizing the refunds. The statement says those who purchased valid tickets online using a credit card or PayPal should request a refund directly from the online ticket seller. Customers should also dispute this charge immediately with their credit card company.

The promoters also say "those who purchased tickets using cash should email their refund requests to Halloweenrefund@gmail.com." Each request "must include a copy of the ticket(s) purchased, together with the place and date of the purchase, as well as the ticket holder's mailing address. Alex & Leo Entertainment will process each request within four weeks of receipt."

It's advised when customers send your email get a documented record of when the email was sent and whether it was received/opened. If you find that refunds aren't received 4 weeks after delivery of email, contact the promoters at the email listed above. If that doesn't work, contact 7 On Your Side.

"Tavern on the Green Halloween party from hell, say booted patrons" [NY Daily News]
"We got scammed by Tavern on the Green 2009 Halloween!
Join" [Facebook]
(Photo: hmerinomx)

The ad said she was a buxom blonde who was also a die hard Phillies fan and that the price she'd pay for the tickets was "negotiable."

"I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!" the ad said.

When the cop answered the ad, police say he was offered a variety of sex acts in exchange for the tickets. She has now been arrested.

Phillies fan arrested for sex-for-tickets offer [USAToday]
(Photo:loop_oh)

Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, wrote in his online Holiday Travel Guide, "Holiday travel procrastinators do so at their own peril this year, and practical travelers should be shopping now and buying before the end ofOctober."

The problem (for consumers) is that since airlines have cut back on the number of flights this year, they have fewer unsold seats to fill—and that means no more last minute fare drops to top off the plane.

"Essentially, that's creating a sellers' market," said Jeff Pecor, a spokesman for Yapta.com, which alerts fliers to price drops even after the ticket has been bought so travelers can call the airline to claim a travel credit.

"While we're tracking roughly the same number of flights for this holiday season as last year, we have issued fewer price drop alerts on flights," he added.

"In Shift From '08, Holiday Airfare Is Soaring Daily" [New York Times]
(Photo: kynbit)

A couple of months ago, Pee Wee Herman announced that he'd finally be returning to the stage after 25+ years for a limited engagement series of performances at the Music Box Theater in LA. As a lifelong fan, I jumped at the chance to see this once-in-a-lifetime show. I called as soon as the tickets went on sale, purchased a pair (about $100) and scored a reasonably priced plane ticket (roundtrip Baltimore to LA for $250).

The stars had aligned and I was going to see Pee Wee Herman on November 14th. I couldn't believe it!

...then it all went to shit.

Two days ago, I received the following email notification from Ticketmaster:

Due to popular demand, the Pee-wee Herman Show is moving to a larger venue and has new dates. It will now take place in downtown Los Angeles at Club Nokia, LA Live. The new dates are rescheduled for January 12, 2010 through February 7, 2010.

As a previous buyer, you have an exclusive opportunity to exchange your tickets for any one of the new shows. Simply call Ticketmaster at 1-800-653-8000 and provide us with your original confirmation number. Seats will be exchanged on a first come, first serve basis. This exclusive opportunity will begin on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 10:00am and will end on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 10:00 pm. Tickets will be available to the general public on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 10:00 am.

But....but....but....I had already purchased my plane tickets. And what about all of those people who booked hotel rooms?! What were they going to do? This couldn't be happening. The Pee Wee I remember wouldn't have done this to me.

But I sucked it up. After-all, this was my one chance to see the man who had once inspired me to drunkenly do the "Tequila" dance on top of a bar. I couldn't miss this. No matter what.

I should have known better than to listen to myself. I'm an idiot. I should never listen to myself. And today at exactly 9:55AM EST, I began what would turn out to be a VERY long day with Ticketmaster.

9:55AM - First call to Ticketmaster....busy.

9:56AM to 10:05AM - Multiple calls to Ticketmaster...still busy.

10:06AM - Phew. I finally reach a Ticketmaster representative.

10:07AM - Ticketmaster representative informs me that the email that read "10:00AM" should have read "10:00AM PST". I hang my head in shame.

12:55PM (EST) - I begin calling Ticketmaster all over again. Busy.

12:56PM to 1:45PM - I call Ticketmaster more than 150 times on three different phones. Busy x150.

1:46PM - I reach a Ticketmaster representative. She seems confused about the ticket exchange. She tells me that her system won't let her access the event. I need to call back in one minute. I inform her that I had already been calling for more than an hour. She doesn't care. I begin to think that she secretly hates Pee Wee.

1:47PM to 2:15PM - I start over. Busy x75.

2:16PM - FINALLY. I get through to someone who can help me! She seems aware of the whole Pee Wee situation. By the tone of her voice, it sounds like a nightmare. She stays on the line with me as we pick the perfect tickets.

2:20PM - YES!!! I have tickets! Not only do I have tickets, but I have THIRD ROW tickets. It was a long process, but totally worth it. Third row. Wow!

And then God punched me in the face.

5:30PM - I begin reading people's complaints on Twitter about their ticket situations. Some people can't get through to Ticketmaster. Others couldn't get tickets that were comparable to the ones they had originally purchased. Others were being charged extra for their new tickets.

5:31PM - Wait. Being charged extra. I better check my bank account.

5:33PM - Fuck.

5:34PM - Fuck fuck.

5:35PM - It sinks in that I had just been charged $160 for this "exchange". That means I'm down $100 for the original tickets, $160 for this new and improved "exchange" pair of tickets, $250 for the airline tickets (PLUS whatever else they'll charge me for switching my flight)....oh, and....$30 for an overdraft fee.

Wait. Overdraft fee?! Yes. The helpful representative FORGOT to tell me that this was not the typical "exchange" most people in the free world are used to.

This exchange would require me to buy NEW, more expensive tickets without my knowledge.. And would require me to wait 2-3 weeks for a refund on my old tickets. And would force me to over-withdraw on my bank account.

5:36 PM - 8:45PM - I spend these next three hours on hold, occasionally talking to Ticketmaster representatives. Once in a while, I get through to a representative who inevitably transfers me to the next representative. I ask for supervisors. I get put back on hold. I ask for new departments. Back on hold.

8:46PM - I start losing it.

8:47PM - I begin realizing that I've just spent (ref: wasted) my entire day trying to fix problems related to Pee Wee Herman tickets. I'm too old for this.

8:49PM - I get through to a supervisor. In the wrong department. Of course.

8:50PM - I inform the supervisor of my situation and that: "I need this fixed now. No more waiting on hold. No more transfers. Just a resolution. I want my $30 overdraft fee back."

8:51PM - Back on hold. Supervisor needs to talk to Customer Service supervisor. Of course I wasn't talking to a Customer Service supervisor. That would make sense.

8:56 PM - Supervisor returns. He informs me that there's nothing they can do, but if I want, I can be put back on hold to talk to the Customer Service department.

8:57 PM - I tell him to have the Customer Service department call ME. Back on hold.

9:00 PM- Supervisor tells me that they don't make outside calls.

Ryan isn't the only person angry over the postponement, or even the only Consumerist reader. We wish we had secret powers over the mysterious fortress known as Ticketmaster.

Fans of Pee-wee Herman angry over show's postponement [LA Times]

(Photo: nyki_m)

Dennis writes:

Five days after I moved into my apartment in Brooklyn, NY in April of 2009, my car was towed for parking near a fire hydrant. I ended up spending $300 to get my car back. Later that month, I saw a Verizon van parked directly in front of a fire hydrant on the same street in Brooklyn for several hours. Even after I called the police, nobody came by to tow the Verizon van. So why does Verizon and the NYPD think that Verizon vans parked directly in front of fire hydrants is not a safety hazard?

We understand that the NYPD has a lot on its plate, but don't they have a dedicated parking enforcement division? We'd think that someone calling to say "hey, there's a van parked next to a fire hydrant" should sound like "here's $115 plus impound fines for the taking." Get on it.

If anyone from Verizon is reading, here's that plate number: 21500JR.

The team only took notice of her situation after her story appeared in the Washington Post on Thursday. Had she only explained her situation, this would never have happened. Never mind that she tried to do so repeatedly.

[Redskins General Counsel David] Donovan's e-mail began: "I was sorry to read in the Post your account of your financial difficulties that prevented you from being able to pay for your Redskins Club Seats in 2008. I wish that you had returned our calls in 2008 or reached out to me in response to the letters I and others had sent you and explained your situation. If that had happened, we never would have proceeded with the claim against you."

Hill said she phoned Donovan when she got home Friday night from a day at a real-estate office where she is trying to jump-start her flagging sales practice. She said she told Donovan that she had called the Redskins repeatedly and once drove to the team's ticket office at FedEx Field.

Hill said she had attempted to get a waiver of a year or two in her contract. "I must have talked to them eight or nine times," she said. "I talked to a number of different people."

Congratulations, Redskins, on being slightly less terrible than we thought you were earlier this week!

Redskins Tell Va. Grandmother She Doesn't Have to Pay $66,364 Judgment [Washington Post] (Thanks, G&A!)

PREVIOUSLY: Don't Have $5,300 For Season Tickets? The Washington Redskins Will Sue You Into Bankruptcy

(Photo: Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)

Good news for fans of the Iggles and Football Giants and um, that other team with the crazy owner, it's apparently "Washington Redskins Are Evil" day on Consumerist. Moving right along, this time we find our villain suing season ticket holders who find themselves too broke to continue buying season tickets.

The Washington Post introduces us to a 72-year-old grandmother who, while crying next to the Redskins hook rug she made, explains that she's had season tickets since 1960 — but is now being forced into bankruptcy by the team she so dearly loves.

You see, she's a real estate agent, and has been hit hard by the market crash. She asked the Redskins to put her contract on hold for a couple years while she gets back on her feet — but they said no. And then she sued her for breach of contract and got a default judgment of $66,364.

Hill couldn't afford a lawyer. She did not fight the lawsuit or even respond to it because, she said, she believes that the Bible says that it is morally wrong not to pay your debts. The team won a default judgment of $66,364.

"It really breaks my heart," Hill said, her voice cracking as the tears well and spill. "I don't even believe in bankruptcy.

The Redskins say they were unaware of this lady's situation and that "For every one [the Redskins] sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen."

They also told the paper that all NFL teams sue their fans, but the Post checked it out and found that the following teams do not sue their fans: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Jets, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. The Chicago Bears admitted to suing "in rare instances," and the New England Patriots sue "multiyear premium ticket holders." Everyone else declined to comment or didn't respond.

In all the Post found that the Skins sued 125 Redskin ticket holders for a total of $3.2 million.

The team won judgments totaling $2 million from 34 season ticket holders, most of whom did not hire an attorney and defaulted by not making an appearance in court.

For Redskins Fans, Hard Luck Runs Into Team's Hard Line [Washington Post] (Thanks, jpropagada!)
(Photo: Linda Davidson - The Washington Post)

The Post attained Redskins documents that proves the transactions took place. Redskins brass made like Shaggy and took the "wasn't me" route, insisting the sales spawned from a rogue inside team offices who violated franchise policy.

The Post reports:

"Somebody in the ticket office was doing something they shouldn't have been doing, and when it was discovered, it was all dealt with," Redskins Senior Vice President Karl Swanson said. "If the story is, this is a scandal, uncovered by Redskins, verified by The Post, or whatever, yeah, we're telling you: People got tickets who shouldn't have gotten tickets, and they were dealt with."

As if NFL tickets weren't expensive enough on their own, squeezing average-income fans out of the picture. The ticket mishap is as inexplicable as the team managing to miss the playoffs last year after starting off 6-2.

Redskins Fans Waited While Brokers Got Tickets [Washington Post]
(Photo: Morton Fox)
(Thanks, Michael M!)

He received this e-mail from Zipcar, dated July 28th:

Dear WARREN,

We have been notified of a Moving (red light) violation that occurred during your reservation with Malvern at Leroy St, Jun 27th, 8am to Jun 28th, 8am. The violation was issued by New York, NY, on Jun 27th, 9:25am (violation # xxxxxxxxxx).

To view a copy of the original violation, please sign in to your Zipcar account and use the following link:

http://www.zipcar.com/members/violation-view?m=xxxxxxxxx

As a result of this violation, Zipcar has charged $72.00 to your account. This includes payment of the violation, any late fees, and an additional fee of $20.00, which helps us defray the cost of processing. If you have any questions about the violation, please contact the issuing municipality directly. For additional information about Zipcar penalties and policies, please go to http://www.zipcar.com/help, or access the Member Help Center from the help menu on the reservation screen.

This is all very well and good, except for the minor detail that he had already paid that ticket directly. He wrote back:

I did get a moving violation on Jun 27, although
fortunately it didn't involve any traffic lights. Anyway, I already
paid the full fine ($130) to New Paltz Town Court on Jul 20, so I'm
going to initiate a credit card fraud action against you (Zipcar) to
recover the $72.

Was this unreasonable of Zipcar? Warren thought so. Observant readers will notice that nearly three weeks passed before Warren was able to pay the fine directly to the town, and Zipcar automatically charged his account for a ticket one week after that—one month after the ticket was issued.

If the ticket was $130, where did Zipcar get $52? Do they get some kind of bulk discount?

Lesson learned: Pay traffic or parking fines as quickly as you're able when renting a car.

(Photo: *Brujita*)

The shop owner, Dale Ferris, says that he was basically storing the car for free until Taylor could pay for the repairs, and it "needed a good run" to make sure the spark plugs were clean.

"I was doing him a favor," Ferris says on the news clip in a jeez-you-guys-need-to-chill-out voice.

But Taylor told WSBTV, "I don't think any other dealership would have driven my car home."

"Car Supposed To Be In Repair Shop; Owner Gets Toll Ticket" [WSBTV.com] (Thanks to Mark!)

As part of the agreement, TicketsNow will cease operating any Web sites that have misleading domain names and will refrain from affiliating with any Web sites that use similarly deceptive tactics. As a result of Madigan's investigation, TicketsNow has already disabled more than 100 suspect Web sites.

"Our investigation revealed that consumers who purchased concert tickets at TicketsNow Web sites often believed they were purchasing tickets from the actual event operators for their original value," Madigan said. "This agreement will substantially impact how the TicketsNow online brokers market popular event tickets so that consumers clearly understand that they are making purchases from a ticket reseller at marked-up rates."

In the course of the investigation, Madigan's office determined that TicketsNow, which is based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., was operating hundreds of affiliated ticket resale Web sites with misleading domain names that incorporated into the Web site URLs unique names of local venues, sports teams or performers. The TicketsNow-affiliated Web sites failed to clearly state that they were ticket resellers and had obtained tickets from secondary sources, such as season ticket holders, event promoters and venue operators, in advance of the public sale. As a result, consumers did not realize that they were ordering marked-up tickets from a TicketsNow-affiliated reseller.

The wires aren't yet saying how long TicketsNow will need to wait before reselling tickets at inflated prices.

This isn't the first time Ticketmaster has been pressured into abandoning questionable business practices. Back in February, Ticketmaster settled a complaint from New Jersey's Attorney General by agreeing to stop linking directly to TicketsNow. It just goes to show how many questionable practices Ticketmaster exploits.

MADIGAN: TICKETMASTER AGREES TO SHUT DOWN DECEPTIVE TICKET BROKER WEB SITES (Press Release) [Illinois Attorney General]
TicketsNow, Illinois Atty Genl Reach Agreement On Marketing [The Wall Street Journal]

Not everyone was happy with this deal. U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) says the half-price refund offer isn't fair. "It's only half a solution," Israel said. "People paid $100 for these [Thursday] tickets and they should be fully repaid."

Throughout the morning Friday, lawyers in the attorney general's office studied the inclement weather policy and pointed out weaknesses in it.

Fay acknowledged that he had heard vigorous complaints from fans after the Thursday round was called off after only 3 hours, 16 minutes. "We understand that our ticket policy is both vague and rigid," Fay said, "and I think some people were upset with the vagueness of it and some people were upset with the rigidity."

He indicated that the USGA had been in talks with representatives for Cuomo and Gov. David Paterson, who was at the course Friday.

U.S. Open tickets cost $100 and up. If it rains again tomorrow, the USGA plans to refund half the ticket's value.

No Refund or Exchange to 42,500 With Tickets [The New York Times]
No refunds or rain checks for U.S. Open ticketholders [Golf.com]

Meet Tom. He is the proud owner of the license plate "0." His family has had the plate for 40 years. Apparently, it didn't occur to the City of Chicago to check to see if someone was using the "0" license plate before they decided to use it to test their ticketing equipment.

Since 1997, Tom has been receiving all kinds of tickets. Parking tickets. Expired meter tickets. Street sweeping tickets. Tickets for running stop signs and red lights. He's even gotten tickets for parking his taxi on a residential street. Though the article doesn't specifically mention it, he doesn't seem own a taxi. He also probably doesn't own a bus, but he has a ticket for parking one illegally.

UPI says that Tom has been trying to clear up the issue, (for 12 years, we assume) but has so far been unable to get anyone to help him. Until now, of course.

"The test violations should have been dismissed in the database. The majority of the cases (Tom) contested successfully. But we are taking steps to rectify the situation so in the future an actual registered plate number will not be used to do the testing," Revenue Department spokesman Ed Walsh told the Chicago Tribune. He said that the Department of Revenue was unaware that the "0" plate was in circulation.

'0' plate gets 170 mistaken tickets [UPI via Fark]
(Photo:Michael_Lehet)

StubHub spokesman Sean Pate said his company has been following the action in Albany closely and was continuing to operate under the status quo.

"New Yorkers have enjoyed an open and free market for ticket resale for the last two years which has seen average resale prices decline sharply," Pate said. "We have every confidence they will continue to do so once the governor has reviewed this legislation to continue the open resale marketplace for tickets."

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who has pitched capping the resale of tickets at 25% above face value, said brokers should respect the 1984 rules.

"The law is the law," Brodsky said. "They shouldn't be winking at it."

The legislature is considering ways to ban TicketMaster from offloading tickets to TicketsNow at outrage markups. Any final legislation will likely include retroactive extension of the ticket scalping law, so go haggle while you can!

Ticket markups capped as NY scalping law expires [AP]
(Photo: colros)

Evan writes:

I'm a fat person, I fully admit it. So I decided to do what everyone says fat people should do and purchase a second seat from Delta Airlines for a flight I needed to NYC this fall. More room for me, happier seatmates, Delta can keep the extra meal and coke. Only, I can't. For all this hullaballoo in the press about wanting fat people to buy another seat, the airlines make it impossible.

First of all, Delta doesn't offer one shred of information about this topic on their website. So you're left to guess what their official policy is, although in this article they say something about "offering the passenger the option of purchasing an additional seat. Um, how?

Here's what happened to me. First, I try to order two tickets online, but it says tickets cannot be assigned the same name. So then I try to call customer services, where after many times on hold while he checks with another person, the agent said he could help me. Only he gave me a price of nearly double the online price. After I protested, he gave me several different prices, finally ending on one that was $200 more than what I was looking at in front of me online. I told him I'd have to think about it.

I called back and spoke to another customer service agent who tells me that it can be done, but I have to speak to the department who assists with online purchases and they can help me make my purchase. After one of the longest periods I have ever spent on hold, I spoke to yet another agent who told me that I could try putting in a middle initial on one of the names to purchase the two seats, however he said, just so I know, they will give my second seat away if they need it, even if I paid for it. At this point, I had spent 1.5 hours on the phone (most of it on hold) and I hung up in a rage.

I sent a complaint email, but I've heard nothing back.

Okay, I'm big. You can hate me for it if you want, it seems to be all the rage, but if I'm willing to pay double, what's the problem? Why isn't my money good enough? By not allowing me to purchase the tickets, and by making it very difficult to find information or use online services, it really amounts to discrimination. Shame on you, Delta.

Honestly, what do you expect from an airline that tells passengers with special needs to ask for "Complaint Resolution Officials?" You can try contacting Delta's customer relations managers at either beth.reed@delta.com or leigh.attaway@delta.com. If they can't help, call Delta C.E.O. Richard Anderson and tell him that you hope to one day sit next to him. His number is (404) 715-2600.

(Photo: Dan)

She writes:

My husband is from England. In researching fares for a possible surprise family visit in a month or so, I had commented to him that Virgin had some good fares in the $800 range - better than I would have expected for his nearly-summer time frame (when fares nomally skyrocket).

Being the industrious guy that he is, however, he checked cheaptickets.com. I've used the site before, but haven't found a deal better through it than I have through Virgin (or BA's) website. Normally, any cheaper fares involve one or two stops or are on carriers I don't prefer over VA/BA and the price difference isn't huge anyway.

Imagine my shock when my husband pointed out what he found (see attached screen captures). I had always noticed that the VA flight I routinely take to and from the UK is cross-listed as a Continental Airlines flight, but I never imagined VA would allow such a price difference. Is this a taxes thing? What gives?

The Continental flight costs $551 all-in. The VA flight? $845 all-in. (And having looked at the VA site's price matrix, there was nothing around those dates approaching $551 on offer from Virgin.)

Go to England, everyone!

Or am I missing some fine print?

There's no fine print, but if anything goes wrong, you'll need to deal with the airline issuing the tickets, not the one flying the plane.

So how do you find codeshares? First, find your desired flight number and punch it into a flight tracking service like Flight Stats. Look for a section breaking out specific codeshares and the flight numbers associated with the other airlines. Then, go to each airline listed and search for the codeshared flight number to compare the price. Once you've found the lowest fare, book it and start packing!

(Photo: So Cal Metro)

Here's his story in his own words:

Dec 7, 2008: I get online to buy some plane tickets for my honeymoon. I end up at Orbitz.com and purchase 2 round trip tickets to Aruba for Late June. I paid extra to get a direct flight from Chicago, IL to Aruba. Over the month, "Itinerary Change" emails keep trickling in. All in all, my flight ended up being Chicago to Atlanta to Charlotte to Aruba. I asked for some sort of monetary compensation for the extra layovers since I had initially paid extra for that direct flight. This request was promptly rejected. I wasn't happy, but what could I do...so I just took it.

February 22 2009: I get ANOTHER "Itinerary Change" email. This one was rather cryptic. I put off investigating it until the weekend. Upon closer inspection, I was now being flow from Chicago to Atlanta. My next flight was out of Aruba to Miami 11 days later!!! No where was it clearly stated that I was not being flown TO Aruba, and that half my flights had been cancelled. Well, I obviously had to call in at this point since my "Itinerary Change" left me stranded in Atlanta to find my own way to Aruba! After working with them on the phone for literally over 4 hours...they came to the conclusion that there was no way they could get me to Aruba. At this point the said "If you would like, we can refund your money". I said that I really wanted to just get to Aruba, but if that couldn't happen, that yes, I wanted my money back. At this point, they informed me that it would be 60 DAYS until they'd refund my money!!! I had 2 tickets at OVER $700 each sitting out there, and was not gonna get my money back for 30 days!!! I wasn't happy, but they informed me it was "policy" to do that. So at this point I inquired about the refund of the over $80 I had spent to get insurance on these tickets. The response that I got was "Sir, we don't offer refunds on insurance policies. We told you when you bought it that you couldn't cancel this policy." Well, to me, that seems a bit flawed when I really didn't want to cancel the policy or the plane tickets....THEY DID IT! As I complained about this, they informed me that "I could write a letter to a manager at the Insurance company and they may waive the no refund rule and give my money back." I couldn't believe my ears. But once again, what could I do. So I set out to wait my 2 months to get my money back.

April 23rd, 2009: I've now bought another set of plane tickets. I've closed on a house. Money is tight. So my 60 days has passed, on the nose. No sign of the money. I call Orbitz once again to find out why I STILL haven't received my money. They give the off the cuff answer of "sir, it will take 60 days to receive your money". I explain that I have waited the 2 months and that I still don't have anything back. I get put on hold for some crazy length of time...and upon his return, the representative says to me..."Oh, sir, you requested your refund on February 22nd, correct?" I said, "No, you guys cancelled my plane tickets on Feb. 22 and YOU issued my refund by force." He says back, "Well sir, you will have your refund within 60 business days."

Seriously? I have to wait almost 3 months to get my money back for a plane ticket that THEY cancelled? This is outrageous! They didn't offer me an interest free loan to pay the tickets 3 months after I bought them!! Heck no! They took my money the very day I ordered them. They were VERY prompt about billing my Credit Card! I think that it is an outrage that they are even allowed to sit on my nearly $1800 for 3 months when I have NOTHING from them. NOTHING!! No tangible items, no promise of flights for my honeymoon, nothing. Yet they can take their sweet time returning my money.

Girls spent a median of $750 in 2007, compared with $400 for boys, according to New York event-production firm Fame Media. But formalwear, flowers, fancy wheels and the like can reach $1,300, planning website PromSpot says.

"There are such high expectations that it keeps a lot of kids from enjoying what should be a highlight of their high school career," said Debra Pankow, a family economics specialist at North Dakota State University.

Some schools are pulling the plug. Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsborough, Mass., canceled its junior prom this year because of anemic demand for tickets — even after admission was reduced to $25 a head from $40. The region's jobless rate hit 8.7% in February, up from 4.8% in February 2008.

Other students are willing to suffer a few dings to their grown-up image to get to the prom. Some teens in West Virginia and Illinois are shelling out less than $10 a headto ride to the dance on school buses.

Others aren't leaving school grounds. Until last year, about 75% of schools held their dances off site, said Shep Moyle, chief executive of Indiana-based Shindigz Party Supplies, which has clients nationwide. He estimated that as many as half were hosting cheaper dances on campus this year.

God, you'd think we were living in Canada or something.

Opting for prom without all the frills [The Los Angeles Times]
(Photo: Suviko)

Jim writes,

I was on the 6 Flags website to purchase tickets for Magic Mountain (Los Angeles).

For the privilege of printing my tickets with my own paper and ink, I must pay $5. Granted, the tickets are $39.99 online compared to $59.99 at the gate. So, even with the $5 printing charge, I've saved quite a bit, but it still strikes me as very, very wrong.

The other online purchase options were:
      $10 UPS Ground
      $15 UPS Expedited
      $5 First Class Mail

Maybe Six Flags Magic Mountain should also charge people who don't buy tickets at all, but just look at the prices on their website. After all, that's using up website pixels too.

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If you can manage to get through the terrible user-interaction-required ad at the start of the embedded video, you can watch footage of petulant Yankees fans pouring Pepsi on the sidewalk while chanting, "Pepsi sucks! Pepsi sucks!" One woman gets really indignant for the camera, asking, "How do you do this big show, use us in the media circus as ponies, and then not give us what you promised us?" We think maybe she's using Pepsi as a pony in her own circus (watch the clip and you'll see), but she still has a point.

Pepsi is trying a different route now and giving away tickets over the air through a partnership with a local radio station.

"Pepsi Promotion Ends With Chants of 'Pepsi Sucks'" (Thanks to Nick!)

From the New York Times:

Earlier this week, tickets for Sections 239 and 201 were selling for over $200 on StubHub, without the sellers' necessarily mentioning that the view was obstructed. Though the Yankees had previously recognized that these seats were not ideal and lowered the price for them, independent marketplaces like StubHub and eBay leave it up to the sellers to disclose whether or not a view is obstructed.

That is how a visibly upset Adrian Rea, a Yankee fan from Binghamton, N.Y., wound up spending $1,200 for four tickets in Section 201. Rea had no idea that he would not be able to see right field.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have bought them," he said. "I would have even paid more if I could have had seats that weren't obstructed.".

Whoops.

It Depends on Your View: Yankees Tickets From $5 to $2,625 [NYT] (Thanks, Charles!)
(Photo: John Dunn for The New York Times)

In order to fly for no extra charge, passengers now have to be able to sit in a single seat, buckle their seat belt (with an extender) and put the arm rests down. If you can't do this, you're going to need to buy another ticket — unless there is already a seat available with another open seat next to it.

Spokesperson Robin Urbanski Janikowski told MSNBC, "If there is another seat on the airplane that is next to an empty seat, we will re-accommodate our guest in that seat and there is no charge."

Here's the official word from United:

For the comfort and well-being of all customers aboard United flights, we have aligned with other major airlines' seating policies relating to passengers who:

are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin;
are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or
are unable to put the seat's armrests down when seated.

Any customer ticketed on a United or United Express flight and meeting one or more of these criteria must either purchase a ticket for an additional seat, or purchase an upgrade to a cabin with seats that address the above-listed scenarios. The seat purchase or upgrade must be completed for each leg of the itinerary. If a customer meeting any of the above-listed criteria decides not to upgrade or purchase a ticket for an additional seat, he or she will not be permitted to board the flight.

This policy applies to tickets purchased on or after March 4, 2009, for travel on or after April 15, 2009.

Please understand that we care a great deal about all of our customers' well-being, and we have implemented this policy to help ensure that everyone's travel experiences with United are comfortable and pleasant.

A few more details. The extra seat will be charged at the same rate as the first seat, but if there are no more seats available the passenger will be required to rebook on the next United flight that has seating available. If the passenger doesn't want to do this, they'll be given a full refund.

Your extra ticket will come with extra baggage allowances, so if you'd checked two bags and paid a first and second bag fee— you'd be charged two first bag fees instead.

Carry-on limits, however, are the same.

Passengers requiring extra space [United Airlines] (Thanks, Bob!)
(Photo:So Cal Metro)

I am writing you in hope of getting some advice on how to deal with an issue I had with a StubHub purchase I recently made. My end goal is to receive a refund.

On Friday, March 13th, I purchased three (3) GA tickets to Lady Gaga's Saturday, March 14th 10pm show at Mezzanine in San Francisco via Stub Hub since the show was sold out. I purchased these tickets at 2:36PM on the 13th and received a confirmation email saying that my order had been placed. This email contained an order number (#20475030). At 3:09 PM I received an email titled "Pick-up/Delivery Info #2075030). I didn't bother to open this email because when I purchased the tickets, the website stated the tickets would be delivered via e-LMS (StubHub's fancy name for PDF printable tickets). I made the wrong assumption that the tickets were attached to this email. So Friday passed and my mind was at ease. Saturday came around, and I was now ready to go to the show. I logged into my email account just after 8PM to print the tickets and read that another email will contain the attachments. I admit I should have logged in earlier and printed the tickets, but I figured StubHub is a reputable company, and I had received my order confirmation. I thought to myself ok fine, there must be another email with the e-LMS tickets. I go through my inbox and to my horror there are no more emails from StubHub after the 3:09 PM email. At this point I started freak out as I paid $534.70 for these tickets. I called StubHub through their customer line (866 STUBHUB) only to find that their customer service closes at 7PM PT on weekends. So now it's less than 2 hours before the show and I have no tickets in hand. I decided that the best thing to do is to head to the show with a receipt in hand and hope that I can get in. So I head to the show and send a quick email to customerservice@stubhub.com stating that I haven't received the tickets yet. Of course, without tickets in hand, I (and my two other friends) didn't get in and pretty much no recourse for the night. At this point, we decide to go out and I would call StubHub on Sunday when they are open.

So at 12:12PM I called StubHub customer service. I spoke with a young lady named Felcia and explain the situation. She asked me for my order number, my email address, and my billing zip code. She looked up the information and says that StubHub did in fact send me the tickets through e-LMS on Friday, March 13th. At which point I say I did not receive them or we wouldn't be having this conversation and I would like a refund. She then asked me if I had checked my spam filter. I responded, "Yes". She then proceeds to tell me that their nothing they can do since StubHub sent the tickets. And again I re-iterated that I did not receive them and StubHub should refund my money. She said they cannot do so. After a few minutes of this, I asked her if she can trace the email. She says, "No". At this point, I asked for a supervisor, hoping that maybe there is some recourse. Felica, at this point, tells me that I can't speak to a supervisor because there is nothing a supervisor can do to help. I ask again, stating that I'd still like to speak to one and again she refuses this time adding that no supervisors are available for these types of issues. At this point I was at my wits end, and I hung up.

I decided to immediately call again and hope that another agent may be more sympathetic to my issue. This time I spoke to a gentleman named Ben. I explained the situation, and he again looks up my information says that the tickets were delivered at 8PM on Friday, March 13th. I tell him that I did not receive the tickets, and at this point Ben and I have a discussion about the difference between the meanings of the words "sent", "delivered", and "received". I tell him that just because Stubhub sends something doesn't mean that they were delivered and/or received. He then says that they are marked delivered when StubHub knows that they have been received on the other end. I proceed to ask him on how StubHub would know that I received them if he couldn't check my inbox directly. He has no answer to this. Since I work in a related industry, I know tracking an email is possible with HTML email and a tracking pixel, StubHub's emails to me are plain text and do not contain a tracking pixel. Ben then says that he will contact their engineers and trace the e-LMS email, but he cannot refund my money at this point This strikes me as odd as Felicia told me they couldn't trace the email. I asked how long will this take and he says 2-3 hours and that is where I am at now.

I am now out $534.70 and with what seems very little recourse. I purchased the tickets through a visa debit card and hoping for some advice. I will forward the two order confirmation emails that I did receive from StubHub about this purchase as well.

Vinay later added:

I just wanted to update you, in case my email was posted on consumerist.com. I just received a call back form Ben at stubhub, and since their e-LMS system shows that the tickets were sent; they will not be able to refund my money. I asked him how he traced the email to guarantee they were delivered, and he still did not have an answer. I told him that I still did not receive the tickets and therefore they were not delivered, I and would still like StubHub to do the right thing and refund my money, at which point he said he felt that the matter was closed and that StubHub is doing the right thing. I asked him for a supervisor, which he tried to get, but none were available since their corporate office was closed. I then asked him for the corporate executive service number of email address. He refused my request. So at this point I am still out of $534.70 .

I am hoping that some publicity to the matter will help StubHub do the right thing. I am also looking for any advice you might have on the matter.

Vinay isn't going to win a he-said she-said battle with StubHub unless he gets a powerful friend on his side. File a chargeback and make StubHub convince your credit card company that they delivered the tickets.

"It was nasty. It reeked," said Sgt. Phil Anderchuk.

Anderchuk called a U.S. postal inspector to see if federal law had been broken, and learned that it's not against the law to mail a box of bodily fluids, as long as it's properly packed and doesn't emit an obnoxious odor. (Court staff could only smell the contents once they opened the package).

So the sergeant sealed up the box and mailed it back to Lynch — with $27.30 postage due if Lynch wanted his change back.

The Multnomah County courthouse mailroom supervisor says that obscenity-laced payments are "a common daily occurrence," and the office refuses to accept more than $20 worth of coins.

Lynch tried to pay the fine with a standard check, but he addressed it to the wrong agency. He tried again, but made it out for the wrong amount. His ticket is now with a collections agency, which might be more accepting of urine-soaked payments.

Washington man streams his anger — but still must pay traffic ticket [The Oregonian]
(Photo: formatc1)

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)

Experts generally agree that airlines are running out of ways to charge for items that customers currently take for granted. But that won't stop carriers from introducing new items and services to sell on flights, said Andrew Watterson, an airline consultant and at Oliver Wyman, a management consulting company.

"Unbundling was the trend, and that did create lots of value in the airlines. The future is in rebundling," said Watterson.

He noted the influx into coach cabins of superior-quality meals, day passes to airport lounges and the option to purchase frequent flyer miles. All these can be purchased on some airlines for additional fees.

BTC's Mitchell agreed. He said that airlines are beefing up their merchandising and soon will sell many more perks in cabins that previously did not have access to them.

"They're going to use the cabin for all manner of merchandising," Mitchell said.

"There's all kinds of opportunities," he said. "You have a captive audience."

Oh boy, merchandising, just we wanted on our next flight!

We're sure the airlines will eventually find a way to keep the fee spigot from stopping up; like, oh, charging more for existing fees, maybe?

U.S. airlines may have reached limit on new fees [Reuters via Rick Seaney]
(Photo: ragekagekaren)

Last night, word spread like wildfire on numerous Phish fan message boards that tickets for the band's recently announced 4-night stand at Red Rocks Amphitheater were available for purchase on Ticketmaster.com. Fans were in disbelief, since the public onsale date for the Red Rocks concerts is scheduled for Thursday, March 26. But sure enough, those brave enough to enter their account information received immediate confirmation emails from Ticketmaster.

After the window closed, fans immediately began speculating about how this could happen and whether or not Ticketmaster would honor the purchases. Considering Phish's rabid fanbase, the limited capacity of Red Rocks (9450), and that these would be Phish's first Red Rocks dates in 13 years, these tickets promised to be the most difficult to secure of any for Phish's summer tour. Those who successfully ordered the tickets were overjoyed at the ease with which they'd just gotten 4 day passes and at face value!

More skeptical fans went into overdrive, reading Ticketmaster's terms of service. Upon close inspection, they found the Ticketmaster escape clause:

If the amount you pay for a ticket is incorrect regardless of whether because of an error in a price posted on this web site or otherwise communicated to you, or you are able to order a ticket before its scheduled on-sale or presale date or you are able to order a ticket that was not supposed to have been released for sale, then: Ticketmaster will have the right to cancel that ticket (or the order for that ticket) and refund to you the amount that you paid. This will apply regardless of whether because of human error or a transactional malfunction of this web site or other Ticketmaster operated system.

Phish fans awoke this morning to find that Ticketmaster had indeed canceled all orders overnight. Fans who had missed the "magic window" rejoiced that they still had a (slim) chance of getting tickets at face value through the public onsale. Fans who suffered the cancellations debated how best to express their dismay. Suggestions included mass emails to members of Congress, phone calls to promoter AEG, class action lawsuits, and other fanatical measures.

Conspiracy theories raged. The most popular centered around the idea that a Ticketmaster insider briefly "opened the window" to allow ticket brokers access to tickets before the public onsale date.

This evening, Phish issued the following statement, found on the front page of their website.

Eventually, jilted fans received an email directly from Ticketmaster North America President David Butler. The text follows:

Dear Phish fan:
Unfortunately, the tickets that you ordered from Ticketmaster for performances of Phish scheduled at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre between the dates of July 30th and August 2nd, 2009 were put on sale inadvertently, allowing you to order tickets before they were supposed to have been released for sale to the general public. The sale of these tickets prior to the scheduled onsale date was the result of an inadvertent error on the part of Ticketmaster. While we strive to be perfect, errors do occur, albeit rarely. Per our stated policy and our practice Ticketmaster refunds purchases in such situations and cancels the tickets. In this case, while we asked the credit card companies for an authorization code at order time, we did not and will not charge your card for the purchase price and have canceled your order for tickets.

In addition, we'd like to show our sincere regret for this error by providing you with a gift certificate in the amount of $50.00 that is redeemable for any purchase for tickets to qualifying events on Ticketmaster.com or through our call centers as long as your order was in accordance with our standard order guidelines. You should receive this gift certificate in the next two weeks.

We are sorry that we were not able to provide you with the tickets you ordered and hope that we will have the chance to serve you better in the future. We encourage you to visit Ticketmaster at the scheduled onsale for Phish at Red Rocks currently scheduled for Thursday March 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm MT.

Sincerely,
David Butler
President
Ticketmaster North America

People are shocked that Ticketmaster engaged in such a good will gesture. Guilty conscience much?

Anyway, fans would obviously rather have the tickets than a $50 voucher that will be worth $27 after handling fees and convenience charges. As it stands, very few fans will be able to beat out the scalpers and their automated ticket bots to purchase tickets at face value, and most people who get to attend the Red Rocks shows will undoubtedly pay $500+ for each night's ticket.

No offense to your Phishfandom, but this sort of thing makes us feel really lucky to not like any band well enough to buy from a ticket scalper. Fun should not be this stressful.

Although that by itself isn't exactly the worst thing in the world—artists surely can charge whatever they feel like for tickets if they think customers will buy them—Tickemaster takes great pains to mislead the consumer and hide the true seller from the public on their secondary ticket sites like TicketExchange and TicketsNow:

Joseph Freeman, Ticketmaster's senior vice president for legal affairs, says that the company's "Marketplace" pages only rarely list tickets offered by fans.

...

Virtually every major concert tour today involves some official tickets that are priced and sold as if they were offered for resale by fans or brokers, but that are set aside by the artists and promoters, according to a number of people involved in the sales.

The WSJ story notes that for a recent Britney Spears concert, secondary market tickets priced at over $1000 were "offered in small batches, each at a price, such as $1,164.01, that mimics prices set via online auctions," and marketed with the phrase, "Browse premium seats plus tickets posted by fans." Ticketmaster removed the "fans" line after WSJ contacted them with questions.

We think when artists sell tickets, they should announce whether they're selling the inflated tickets themselves. It's not like that's gonna turn away superfans who'll pay out the nose—Prince is quite transparent in his astronomical ticket prices, and he doesn't exactly play to empty houses.

The recent Bruce Stringsteen ticket fiasco didn't involve such reselling—Springsteen said through his manager that "we do not ever release tickets to the secondary ticket market nor do we ever accept payment from them." But otherwise, if it's a major act and you think it's a random, faceless person on the other side of the page gouging you for tickets, it's quite possibly the artist doing it, with Ticketmaster helping to hide their identity.

"Concert Tickets Get Set Aside, Marked Up by Artists, Managers " [Wall Street Journal] (Thanks to Ibid!)
(Photos: Jon Bon Jovi, Anirudh Koul; Celine Dion, Anirudh Koul; Billy Joel, Samira Khan; Dr. Rockso, Anirudh Koul)

After waiting in line ~10 minutes I swipe my credit card only to get the following message "Tickets cannot be found, please try another machine." After trying several other machines, I quickly realize that nobody can find their tickets.

Jason and his girlfriend waited in the normal ticket line to get help, and were asked to provide a confirmation number. The only problem was, the receipt Fandango emailed to Jason didn't provide one.

The box office staff suggest I call fandango for a refund, as they are "not authorized" to refund tickets purchased via fandango. It is now 8 o clock, and I am getting a bit upset. [The showtime was 7:55. -Ed.] Finally, an enterprising staff member decides to enter my credit card information into a mysterious web-enabled computer. Miraculously, after 10 more minutes, she finds proof that I had, in fact, purchased tickets and proceeds to print them out for me.

Jason and his date went to the theater and found a single open seat on the front row, which they shared. Which we guess is romantic in a way.

Jason complained to Fandango about the terrible experience, but Fandango's response pushed the blame back on Regal Union Square:

Please be assured that in conjunction with our theater partners, we are in the process of streamlining our ticket redemption process. Additionally, a representative from our organization will be in contact with Regal Union Square Stadium 14 to see if we can assist in rectifying the problem with their kiosks. The kiosks are owned and operated by the individual theater, not Fandango. Because the kiosks are beyond our control, we are not able to offer you a refund of our service fee due to kiosk malfunction.

We understand that there may be times that a kiosk is not functional, so we do make an effort to make sure our customers are aware that other redemption resources are available in these cases. The order confirmation page does instruct our ticket purchasers to "ask Theater Personnel for help or ask them to call Fandango's Theater Support Hotline" should any problems arise.

Jason is pretty angry at Fandango, but we think Regal's to blame on this one, largely because (like we said) they always seem to have kiosk problems. Here's what we don't understand about Regal's handling of the situation:

• If multiple customers were having problems, we would assume more than one person had complained to a Regal employee. Why didn't Regal have someone intercepting and resolving kiosk issues for the affected customers?
• Why wasn't the Regal employee trained to contact Fandango for help as soon as Jason described the problem? Pushing this responsibility onto the customer, as Fandango did in its response to Jason, is unacceptable. The customer shouldn't have to be responsible for conveying troubleshooting instructions between the two companies.
• Why, seriously, did the Regal employee go ahead and print the tickets for a show that had already started? Surely Regal can and should refund the tickets for a missed showtime when the delay is clearly not due to any error on the customer's part.

We think Regal needs to reimburse you for the price of those 3D tickets—at $15 each, they're not cheap, and that doesn't even count the Fandango surcharge. Jason, try contacting Regal Entertainment directly at their corporate contact page.

Diller blames artists for your lousy ticket experiences, by the way:

"Ticketmaster does not set prices, Live Nation doesn't set prices. Artists set the prices," Diller said on a conference call. "Everyone else is just a distributor or a service provider."

Lawmakers say they'll give the merger a supposedly thorough review:

The agreement would "send ticket prices through the roof," U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said today in an e-mailed statement.

"I will take a very close look at this merger before anything moves forward," said Schumer, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and called on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to view the deal skeptically.

The new company will be called Live Nation Entertainment, which Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff confirmed on a conference call was a deliberate attempt to get away from the negative associations of his current company.

Oh, also, it was Visa's fault that they couldn't sell those Springsteen tickets more fairly. Diller said so.

"Live Nation, Ticketmaster to Merge in All-Stock Deal " [Bloomberg]
(Photo: gruntzooki)

"Ticketmaster, Live Nation in merger talks" [Reuters] (Thanks to WeSeed!)
(Photo: Anirudh Koul)

Alex says:

USAirways charged me an extra $25, on top of what the agent said was the amount that "includes all taxes and fees", when I booked 2 tickets on the same itinerary, one of them discounted using an E-Air Check Plus (which was issued for a previous inconvenience). Now, the EACP cannot be used on line, and therefore USAirways' policy is to let you book on the phone without a booking fee (I checked this).

When I called back to ask about the mystery charge the agent told me the following two contradictory things—-

1. They probably charged a booking fee because the SECOND (non-discounted) ticket could have been purchased on line.
2. The booking fee for my ticket (international travel) should be $35, not $25, so she wasn't sure it was a booking fee.

The agent asked her supervisor if I could get a refund, and the response from the supervisor was (not surprisingly) no.

But here is the great advice: the supervisor suggested that I issue a chargeback. Really. I seriously doubt this is official USAirways policy, since chargebacks cost them extra money, but I was very surprised to hear this advice from anyone at their call center, let alone a supervisor.

I've contacted Executive Customer Support and requested the dispute paperwork from the Credit Card company. Any advice? If I dispute the mystery charge (which is charged separately from the travel on my cc), can they cancel my tickets?

We have never tried a chargeback for just an airline fee before, so honestly, we have no idea what is going to happen. It really depends on the bank and the airline.

Before you go ahead and follow the supervisor's advice — try contacting US Airway's executive office again. You can also try emailing your story to this address.

Has anyone out there tried a chargeback for just a fee? Did it work? Would you recommend it? Help Alex out in the comments.

(Photo:Zonaphoto.com)

Our tipster sent the following letter to the NFL, Buccaneers, and Tampa Sports Authority:

Good afternoon,

I apologize for the number of individuals included on this communication as I was unsure who to contact about this.

I had a very negative experience at Raymond James Stadium while attempting to attend the Buccaneers/Raider NFL football game. My day started poorly as I was forced to go to three different entrance gates because I was "wearing the wrong colors" before I could obtain admittance with my ticket to the game.

The game went without incident up until the first score of the game by the Raiders. I stood in celebration, and before the extra point was even kicked, I was being led away by stadium personnel. Once out of the stands, I was placed in handcuffs, although I was not resisting the stadium personnel's requests, or read my rights and placed under arrest. I was lead to a single person holding cell where my possessions were removed, and I was subjected to a full body frisking. After being detained for roughly 30 minutes, I was released outside of the stadium, and informed that I could not return to the stadium.

As a long time fan and supporter of the NFL, I am greatly disappointed by my treatment at today's game. I feel like I was personally singled out due to my team affiliation, and this was totally unwarranted. I was not intoxicated or found to be in possession of any illegal substances. I was not being verbally or physically abusive to any other fans or players. There were no requests to adjust my behavior prior to this either, which was not causing an issue as multiple witnesses can attest to.

I understand the stadium has the right to remove any attendees as stated on the ticket, but my treatment today was completely unacceptable. I came down to Tampa Bay from New Jersey specifically to see this game, and then was stripped of the ability to enjoy the game. I would like to know if there are any options by which I may file a formal complaint against the personnel at the stadium? I wish I could provide you with more information as to the individuals involved, but they would not provide me with that information prior to my removal.

Any assistance in this matter would be appreciated. Thank you and I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday.

Steve has promised to send along a picture of himself getting along just fine with the Bucs fans near him, and considering he wrote a polite, coherent complaint letter only a couple hours after the game ended, we're inclined to believe him when says he wasn't drunk or abusive. We hope Tampa is able to make it up to him, perhaps by paying for his tickets, and maybe his travel expenses.

(Photo: Getty)

And let's not forget the exorbitant booking fee for using miles for one of our tickets. The actual FLIGHT was only $280 round trip per ticket, but with the booking fee TO USE THE MILES TO PURCHASE A TICKET, we wound up paying over $500.

When Dean tried to convert the two tickets into travel vouchers, the airline charged him another $300. And that, readers, is when the airline killed off one of their better customer relationships.

For a trip that requires two roundtrip tickets priced at $280 each, or $560 before taxes, United managed to tack on over $800 in additional fees:

Dean doesn't have a permalink to his post—it's just up on the "News" section of his front page—so we're reprinting it below for posterity:

There seems to be a trend with me lately - it seems that, without fail, if I am on the phone with United Airlines, it's going to end in me cursing them out.

First, let me point something out. I used to be a devotee to United Airlines. For years, when we had trouble flying on American or Delta or *shudder* Southwest, United was always there as our rock - flights were usually smooth, we got decent service, and life was good. We signed up for frequent flier cards, (Even got a free upgrade to First class from L.A. to Chicago once) and I got a credit card that would give me bonus miles with them. I also had sort of a soft spot for them in my heart, given that my Grandfather worked maintenance for them for most of his life in San Francisco. After his memorial, I wound up taking a bunch of his old United memorabilia home with me, and I'm always going to treasure it, no matter what.

But coincidentally, that particular flight was where the love affair started to go south. See, it was around June, and it was when they started adding on fees for the second checked bag - which we didn't know about until we got to the gate, of course. I understood, to a degree - fuel prices were at an all-time high, and the airlines had to make up for the difference somehow. But I do clearly remember mentioning to the gate agent that "Heh... you KNOW those fees aren't going to go away when fuel prices come down again." How right I was.

Now, of course, fuel has dropped to the lowest price it's been in YEARS, and have they removed the fee? HA! They went one step further... because in early October, we booked a flight home so we could spend Christmas with our families. During that phone call, I discovered that not only had they added a fee for the FIRST checked bag (WHO flies without checking at least ONE bag?!) but they had increased the pet-in-cabin price from $85 per direction (It had previously been $75 the year before) to ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS per direction. Considering we'd be taking Selphie both ways, that adds up to MORE than the price of a ticket - just for the privelege of putting a dog carrier under the seat in front of us. And let's not forget the exorbitant booking fee for using miles for one of our tickets. The actual FLIGHT was only $280 round trip per ticket, but with the booking fee TO USE THE MILES TO PURCHASE A TICKET, we wound up paying over $500. The pet-in-cabin charge would be paid at the gate, of course. And don't forget the roughly $80 extra we would have to pay just to check our bags. This was the first instance where the phone call ended in extreme profanity.

Now, of course, we're MOVING BACK to California. We no longer have need for a flight from Austin to Sacramento. So, I decided to call United and see if it would be possible to convert the tickets into travel vouchers that we could use at another time. Certainly, said the reservations agent! There's only a fee of $150 per ticket to do so.

THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS?! FOR YOU TO PRESS A FEW BUTTONS AND CHANGE SOME INFORMATION IN A COMPUTER?! Needless to say, that phone call did not end in a civil fashion. I don't care if these people aren't personally responsible for these fees. They're representatives of United, and as such, they deserve to hear what I have to say. Take your fees and shove it.

And so, here and now, I officially renounce United Airlines. Call it whatever you want. A denouncement. A boycott. I don't care - the long and the short of it is this - I will never willingly fly United again, and I would urge anyone to whom customer service is important to boycott them as well. And not just United - I pledge, here and now, to never fly on another Star Alliance airline, either - domestically, this means no flying on US Airways. (Not exactly a huge loss) And I'm going to keep this up until United elects to rescind their fees for the first and second bags, and until the silly fees like $175 for a pet-in-cabin go away. But I'm not silly enough to think that the actions of one man are enough to get something done. That's why I'm calling on you guys.

I'm sure I'm not the only one furious with United Airlines for the treatment I've recieved - I'm sure many, many others have had the same experiences. Tomorrow, I will be writing up an actual, paper letter and sending it off to United, and I encourage you to do the same. If you feel so inclined, their mailing address is as follows:

Customer Relations
WHQPW
United Airlines
PO Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666

Whether the fees go away or not is immaterial. I'm just pissed that United has $500 of my money that I'm never going to see again, and they're holding it hostage unless I pay an ADDITIONAL $300 to make use of it sometime in the next year. And so, I'm going to throw in my one profanity in this entire post - I say this so that people like my mom who don't really care for profanity can stop reading now.

Fuck you, United Airlines. You just lost a devoted customer.

Real Life Comics (Thanks to Arthur!)
(Photo: Getty Images)

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[Lifehacker] (Photo: balmes)

A Modern Monopoly

Did you know you aren't Ticketmaster's primary customer? Sure, you and your friends bought 141 million tickets last year, but Ticketmaster's loyalty belongs to their true customers: venues and promoters. Ticketmaster secures its monopoly by goading them into multi-year agreements that empower Ticketmaster to act as their exclusive vendor. In exchange, Ticketmaster gives them money. Lots and lots of money. Several million dollars upfront, sometimes.

Ticketmaster doesn't earn a cent from a ticket's face value. It all goes straight back to the venue, promoter, and talent. To sweeten the deal, Ticketmaster also shares a slice of its exorbitant fees, giving venues and promoters an incentive to support Ticketmaster's outrageous markups. "It's not us!," they can whimper. "It's that damn TicketBastard!"

Ticketmaster's 9,000+ exclusive agreements makes them the gatekeeper to 90% of the nation's arenas and amphitheaters, 70% of our clubs and small theaters, and most of our basketball, hockey, and football games.

So What Am I Paying For?

• The Service Charge

  This is Ticketmaster's cash cow. The majority of their $1.2 billion in revenue comes from this all-encompassing charge. It appears on all tickets, and cannot be escaped.

• The Facility Charge

  This is the venue's cash cow. Sure, they also take a slice from the ticket's face value, but they want more, dammit, and they get it here.

• The Processing Charge

  Wait a minute... didn't you pay a service charge? What's the difference between processing and service? Right, there is none. Well, technically that's not true. The service charge is refundable and the processing charge is not. Ticketmaster claims that the processing charge covers their expenses for taking your order and finding you seats. Sounds like service to us.

• The Convenience Charge

  By far, the most annoying name for a fee. It's the price you pay for printing out the tickets you bought, even after paying a service and processing fee.

It's supposedly an accomplishment that Ticketmaster is even willing to disclose its fees, but knowledge in this case leads to anger, not power. In any other instance, pricing transparency by itself is a good thing because it empowers consumers to compare prices and shop around. Ticketmaster's exclusive agreements, however, undercut any potential price shopping.

Why Hasn't Anyone Destroyed Ticketmaster?

Pearl Jam tried and failed. The band landed before Congress to publicly brand Ticketmaster as an evil monopoly.

The heart of their issue was ticket pricing, but Ticketmaster had a history of screwing Pearl Jam:

• For a Seattle concert, Ticketmaster agreed to donate $1 of their $3.25 service charge to charity. Right before the tickets were set to go on sale, Ticketmaster reneged and threatened not to sell the tickets unless they could boost the service fee by $1 to cover the cost of their "charitable" contribution. Ticketmaster ended up stiffing the charity.
• Ticketmaster then wanted to charge a $3.75 service fee on an $18 ticket. Pearl Jam forced them to list the charge separately, and it wasn't until the band threatened to go to another venue that Ticketmaster acquiesced.
• When Pearl Jam tried to bypass Ticketmaster in Detroit by selling tickets through their fan club, the ticket giant threatened to sue the concert promoter for violating their exclusive agreement. Ticketmaster ended up disabling the promoter's ticket machine.
• In New York, Ticketmaster threatened the Paramount Theater for violating their exclusive agreement after Pearl Jam told fans over the radio to visit the theater to buy tickets at the box office.

For the band's 1994 tour at the height of their popularity, they tried to cap prices at $18 and limit surcharges to 10%. Ticketmaster refused and the tour was canceled.

How The !@#$ Is This Not A Monopoly?

We dunno, but President Clinton's Justice Department thought Ticketmaster's arrangements were a-ok. Pearl Jam retained the über-corporate lawyers at Sullivan and Cromwell to needle the Justice Department into investigating Ticketmaster for antitrust violations. After a brief investigation, the Justice Department ruled that people were only indirect buyers, and that Ticketmaster's true customers were venues, since they were the ones consuming Ticketmaster's services. The venues weighed in on Ticketmaster's side and seemed to voluntarily hand over their business, so there was apparently no monopoly.

If Only They Weren't So Evil

Ticketmaster might be less reviled if it wasn't so frustratingly difficult for consumers to beat out resellers and other middlemen to buy tickets for themselves to popular events. Chicagoist's failed attempt to get tickets to the American League Championship Series is all-too familiar:

A refresh of the page gives us a new scrambled word to fill in and then we're thrown into a que. Wait time estimated at 15 minutes or more! WTF? We watch in anticipation for the number to get smaller and after a few minutes, it does. Now it says 11 minutes. A few minutes more, and it's down to 7 minutes.

But wait! Now it says 14 minutes! What's going on here? We think something fishy's going on, so we open another browser window to see what those wait times do. It remains at 15 minutes. The first one keeps jumping from a short as 6 minutes all the way back to 15 minutes again. Not good

Finally, we seem to be getting close. Now this is about 25 minutes after Noon, but it's finally at 4 minutes. Then 2 minutes, back to 4, then 2, now 1 and then...

We get some sort of warning because another Ticketmaster window is open! We close that window, but in the meantime the first window sends us back to the original event page to select quantity and level again. We're shit out of luck! There will be no ALCS tickets for Chicagoist, all because Ticketmaster's computer system isn't built to handle exactly the type of transactions that are most critical to their business.

The same thing happened to us last year when we tried to buy playoff tickets for the Rangers. We were working computers, phones, anything with a hook into Ticketmaster, but we couldn't connect to anyone. Within 10 minutes, all the available tickets were gone. Real fair.

Are There Any Viable Alternatives?

Cracks are finally starting to form in Ticketmaster's money-encrusted shell, but the competition doesn't inspire confidence. Everyone looks at Ticketmaster's 30% surcharge and thinks how good all that undeserved cash would look in their pocket.

Live Nation, the largest U.S. promoter, is in the process of ditching Ticketmaster to build their own ticketing system, but only because they want to upsell junk and expensive packages while keeping the lucre for themselves.

Major League Baseball bought up a stake in Tickets.com, which will soon become their primary ticketing agent, but Tickets.com also levies a 30% service fee. MLB also ditched Ticketmaster for secondary ticket sales in favor of StubHub, which charges the buyer and seller a combined 25% fee.

TicketWeb was once an alternative for smaller shows, but they were gobbled up by Ticketmaster. Bandsintown is still around as an aggregator for small shows. While they don't sell tickets directly, the site will point you to Ticketmaster alternatives, if any are available.

You can also try using Brown Paper Tickets, which bills itself as "Fair Trade ticketing," but it can be difficult to find a participating venue.

Oh Come On, There Has To Be Some Viable Alternative

For the committed, there is really only one true alternative: abandon hope and the internet and take an urban field trip to the box office.

PREVIOUSLY: Why Do Ticketmaster Events Sell Out Instantly?
Ticketmaster Levies Entirely Believable $327 Per Ticket Convenience Charge
Live Nation To Challenge Ticketmaster, Sell Fans More Junk

Sprintholidayoffer.com [Official Site via Fry's Forum] (Thanks to Luis!)

[Parent company] Event Tickets LLC has an unsatisfactory rating from BBB due to its performance, which includes nearly 100 instances of non-delivery of tickets, nearly another 100 complaints involving refunds and exchanges, and on about 200 occasions, the company has failed to even respond to BBB or consumers to resolve issues.

Remember, avoid this company when buying tickets. We've heard only bad things about them, and have yet to hear of any sort of resolution or follow-up story that would make us change our minds.

"BBB Warns Sports Fans, Concert-Goers, and Theater Buffs: Beware of TicketsMyWay.com" (Thanks to Cheriset!)
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