Well, I've gone and got a bee in my bonnet again.
I was planning on buying some tickets through Ticketmaster today, but stopped when I noticed that as well as their service charge (in this case, £4.50 per ticket) they wanted to fleece me on my order processing fee.
As well as the traditional methods of getting your tickets (delivery and collection from the box office) they are offering a new service called TicketFast. You simply receive a PDF file, print it and take it on the night.
However, they're still charging the same amount as it costs to have them delivered by post or to collect. Why?
Anyway, their help guides aren't really that helpful, other than mentioning that they need to pay for the scanning hardware at the venues. So I couldn't resist firing off an email...
I was planning on buying some tickets through Ticketmaster today, but stopped when I noticed that as well as their service charge (in this case, £4.50 per ticket) they wanted to fleece me on my order processing fee.
As well as the traditional methods of getting your tickets (delivery and collection from the box office) they are offering a new service called TicketFast. You simply receive a PDF file, print it and take it on the night.
However, they're still charging the same amount as it costs to have them delivered by post or to collect. Why?
Anyway, their help guides aren't really that helpful, other than mentioning that they need to pay for the scanning hardware at the venues. So I couldn't resist firing off an email...
I'll let you know if I get a reply.Why does TicketFast cost the same as collection from box office and standard post?
Standard post - you print out, handle and post the tickets. Hence the £3.25 charge
Box office collection - tickets need to be printed out, handled and administered out. Hence the £3.25 charge
TicketFast - I use MY printer, ink and paper to print out a ticket. Cost to TicketMaster - the negligible cost of an email. Systems costs are presumably handled by the service charge. Why the £3.25 charge??
Your order processing fee guide quotes:
"If we incur ticket delivery costs, these will be included in the Order Processing Fee. Examples include postage and packaging, or the support of newer delivery methods such as ticketFast, where scanning hardware is required at participating venues."
I cannot believe that it is costing £3.25 per order up and down the country in every venue to pay for the scanning hardware. If it does, you should have used a different hardware provider.
And if you're sticking by this excuse, when will the fee come down?