TicketMONSTER

(photo from Newser.com)

Yes I have a gripe with Ticketmaster. For my part, I usually try to avoid getting tickets from them if they are the online seller of choice of an event I want to see (thank goodness most Broadway shows are handled by Telecharge which I think has a more reasonable service charge). I, instead, try to get tickets directly from the box office. This time however, getting tickets to An Evening With Sutton Foster I had to go through them since I got a Ticketmaster giftcard from Lani for my birthday. Generally, tickets to theatre events are already quite pricey so this time when I saw their added charges, I was dumbfounded:

Convenience charge: $10.15 per ticket

Facility charge: $ 2.50 per ticket

Order Processing Fee: $ 4.50 per order

So for a single ticket it comes out to almost $ 15 of added fees! They are charging $ 10.15 per ticket for a convenience charge???!!! I mean I think that would be acceptable if it were PER ORDER not per ticket! Plus another $ 4.50 for an order processing fee? What exactly is that for? Shouldn't the Convenience charge cover that already since I didn't really have to talk to a "real" person for my order? Ticketmaster is already making so much money because it has a monopoly of most major venues be it concerts, plays and sporting events in most of the country and yet they still have these exorbitant charges. When would it be enough?