Though many have tried, no online ticket sellers have even come close to touching Ticketmaster. It doesn’t hurt that its parent company is Live Nation, which owns or operates many of the biggest concert venues and promotes the biggest touring acts. Is Amazon one of the few companies with enough size and reach to actually take on Ticketmaster? We might soon find out. [More]
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Facebook Launches Yet Another Standalone App, This Time For Events
By 10.7.16
More than two years after Facebook forced mobile users to download the standalone Messenger app if they wanted to start private conversations with “friends,” the big blue social juggernaut could going down that road again with the launch of another standalone app for events. [More]
1-in-4 Photographers, Florists, Limos & Caterers Jack Up Prices When You Say “Wedding”
By 4.26.16
The average wedding may now run you in excess of $31,000, but are you being billed extra for the event just because it’s a wedding? A new report claims that some event vendors charge customers extra when they hear the word “wedding.” [More]
It's National Consumer Protection Week!
By 3.8.10
The FTC has designated this week National Consumer Protection Week, so all scams will be put on hold and businesses won’t overcharge you until next Sunday. What, no? That’s now how it works? Ah… it looks like it’s more about consumer education, which is also a good thing since that will help consumers protect themselves year round. For adults, here’s a whole page of various scam prevention tips, fact sheets, and videos. If you’re an educator, you can enroll in the National Financial Capability Challenge and get an “educator toolkit” to help you teach students how to be smart consumers. There’s a section for businesses too, with information on how to protect customers’ personal info and deter ID theft. [More]
Did NBC's Coverage Of The Winter Olympics Suck?
By 3.1.10
As a product, NBC’s broadcast of the 2010 Winter Olympics seemed pretty disappointing to a lot of online users. TechCrunch points out that a recent analysis of comments on Twitter, blogs, and forums, shows a wide range of dissatisfaction with NBC’s coverage, with the biggest percentage focused on content: 19% of the complaints were about the tape delay of events (what a former NBC sports exec once called “plausibly live”), and 20% were about there not being enough actual sporting events shown. [More]
Ticketmaster Agrees To Only Sell Tickets It Has
By 2.19.10
Ticketmaster has settled with the FTC over charges that it used “deceptive bait-and-switch” tactics when selling concert tickets, reports the Los Angeles Times. As usual for this kind of settlement, Ticketmaster admits no wrongdoing. For instance, the FTC noted that in one case “the same set of 38 tickets for the Springsteen concert in Washington were sold and resold 1,600 times,” and Ticketmaster waited as long as three months to let affected customers know, which is a clear example of not doing anything wrong. [More]
California Is Having A Garage Sale!
By 8.26.09
This Friday and Saturday, the state of California is going to hold a massive garage sale (they’re actually calling it that) to try to get rid of surplus state property while also raising enough money to pay the bills for another month. If you’re in Sacramento you can attend the event in person. If not, you can still take a look at the things they’ve posted on eBay. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a cool car!
Woman Who Missed Obama's Inauguration Starts $10,000 AmEx Chargeback
By 3.26.09
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.
By 9.19.08
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This Saturday (September 20th) is the Better Business Bureau’s “Secure Your ID” day: in select cities, “bring up to three boxes or bags of paper documents that contain your personal information and we’ll shred them.” Or, you know, just do it yourself all year long. [BBB]
