While there is now a federal law on the books banning ticket-buying bots in an attempt to give real, live humans a better chance at scoring admission to popular events, these automated scalpers are squirrelly little suckers. In an effort combat this problem, Ticketmaster is launching a new program that will use ticket buyers’ profiles to help verify they’re actually humans. [More]
scalpers
New Bot-Blocking Legislation Could Make It Easier To Score Tickets To Popular Events
By 12.8.16
About a week after New York barred scalpers from using bots to scoop up tickets to sporting events, concerts, and other popular attractions, the U.S. Congress has sent its own anti-bot legislation to President Obama to sign. [More]
New York Bars Scalpers From Using Bots To Snap Up Tickets Before Everyone Else
By 11.29.16
Perhaps you’ve been here before: you’re waiting patiently, albeit a bit anxiously, for the moment when you can buy tickets to a concert or sporting event online. But despite your best efforts and quick action, you find that someone has swooped in and snapped up all the tickets, leaving you to the mercies of online resellers that may jack up the cost of tickets. [More]
Colorado Investigating Scammers Who Hoard DMV Appointments, Sell Them To Undocumented Residents
By 1.8.16
When something is free, but it’ll take a long time to get it, there’s always the chance that someone will try to take advantage of the situation to make a profit off impatient people. In Colorado, the attorney general’s office is investigating a scalping scheme that involves scammers hoarding driver’s license appointments with the Department of Motor Vehicles, then turning around and selling them to undocumented residents. [More]
Moms Try To Snag Taylor Swift Tickets, Get Scammed Twice
By 9.30.15
Two moms wanted to take their daughters to see Taylor Swift when she played in St. Louis recently, but didn’t have tickets. That’s fine: that’s what the underground ticket economy is for, right? In theory, but they managed to get scammed twice in one night by two different ticket sellers, and almost missed the concert. [More]
Church And State Officials Really Mad At Scalpers Of Papal Procession Tickets
By 9.14.15
Pope Francis is visiting three East Coast cities this week, bringing holiness and traffic snarls everywhere he goes. While tickets to papal events are usually limited to parishioners living nearby, the city government in New York made 40,000 tickets available by lottery for a procession in Central Park. Free tickets by free lottery. Naturally, people are trying to sell these tickets for hundreds or thousands of dollars online. [More]
New Circle In Hell Opens Up For Scalpers Selling $60K Tickets To Sandy Benefit Concert
By 12.7.12
You want to go see the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, Billy Joel and more? Sure you do, so do I. But to the scalpers that are trying to turn a profit by reselling tickets to a star-studded benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy, I have one thing to say to you: You are slime. [More]
LCD Soundsystem Fights Back Against Scalpers By Adding More Shows In NYC
By 2.12.11
You’re not the only one who hates scalpers who drive up the price of tickets from say, $50 to $500 — even the bands with the show in question get ticked off, as is the case with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. [More]
Apple Bans Man From Ever Buying Another iPad
By 4.19.10
Apple has banned a blogger from buying any more iPads. Ever. Like, for the rest of his life, he is not allowed to buy a single one. He will die an old man, still clutching the same iPad, forbidden from ever upgrading. Porkay? [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]
Whoops, You Paid $1,200 For Crappy Obstructed View Yankee Tickets
By 4.17.09
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.
Ticketmaster Agrees To Stop Linking To TicketsNow
By 2.23.09
When the recent Bruce Springsteen ticket sales event blew up in Ticketmaster’s stupid face, it brought down the wrath of New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. Now Ticketmaster and New Jersey have reached a settlement that will change how the company conducts business across the U.S. Here’s what will change:
Ticketmaster Redirects Woman To TicketsNow, Sells Tickets That Don't Exist For Over $800
By 2.13.09
Will the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger be good for customers? Why of course it will! Just take a look at this awesome purchasing experience Ticketmaster managed to provide recently:
By 2.5.09
../..//2009/02/05/are-you-a-new-jersey/
Are you a New Jersey resident who was screwed out of Springsteen tickets by the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow “technical glitch”? The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs would like to hear from you. There’s a small box on the lower right corner of the home page that will take you to a complaint form. [NJ Consumer Affairs via MetsPolice]
Congressman Wants Ticketmaster Investigated For 'TicketsNow' Website
By 2.4.09
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D) of New Jersey has asked the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate the relationship between Ticketmaster and its reseller website, TicketsNow, after consumers who tried to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets encountered technical problems that prevented purchase, and were then redirected to TicketsNow where prices were “hundreds of dollars above face value” (actually, more like “thousands of dollars,” based on our check just a few minutes ago).
Wanna See The Red Sox Play The Reds? You Must Also Buy Tickets To Three Other Games
By 3.14.08
A Bostonian now living in Cincinnati, reader Patrick was excited to see that this year’s Major League Baseball schedule includes a Red Sox at Reds series. He went to the Reds’ ticket website to buy tickets for his family, friends, and himself. That’s where things got ridiculous.
Round 3: Ticketmaster vs Wachovia
By 3.14.08
This is round 3 in our Worst Company In America contest, Ticketmaster vs. Wachovia. Their crimes?
StubHub Releases Names Of 13,000 Ticket Resellers To Patriots
By 10.22.07
The New England Patriots last week received the names of 13,000 people who bought or sold Pats tickets through StubHub. Season ticket holders are rightly concerned that the Pats may now revoke the subscriptions of those who circumvented the Pats’ own Ticketmaster-run system.
