Ticket Master Scam Continues

I and two other friends were set to buy tickets to see Suga (aka Min Yoongi of BTS), in Chicago. Two of the three (strength in numbers) applied for CODES from Weverse, in conjunction with the Ticket Master pre-sale. Those of us who had ARMY memberships through Weverse, were first in line for tickets. Like most things in life, nothing is a guarantee, however, we were in good position to acquire them on Wednesday, March 1st.

Ticket Master stated that those who applied and were verified as members, would be notified if they were eligible to purchase tickets, on February 28th. We anxiously awaited, but unfortunately neither one of us received a CODE. Instead we received (as many did) the following email.

“Due to extremely high demand for the ARMY MEMBER Presale, you are currently on the waitlist.

Should additional presale tickets become available, registrants will be randomly selected to move off the waitlist and will be notified via text message with information on how to shop for tickets.

Due to the limited quantity of tickets available, if demand from Verified Fans exceeds supply, there will not be a General Verified Fan Presale or Public Onsale.”

In other words, it would be a sell-out and no further sales would be possible. Now I could understand if a venue sells all their tickets… However, the following day, the tickets that were no longer available, were now for sale through various other online sellers for outrageous prices, with most starting at over $320 per “cheap” seats and upwards to $8000 for main floor. So, wouldn’t you, like me, wonder, where did these EXTRA seats come from? If a venue is sold out, how can all these seats exist?

If you weren’t aware of the recent fiasco experienced by Taylor Swift and her fans, please acquaint yourself with the following article. This was not a one time fluke, and currently, Ticket Master along with Live Nation Entertainment are being investigated by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s anti-trust subcommittee.

Suspicions continually arise since TM and LNE control the market. Senator Klobuchar charges that Ticketmaster and its parent company, the concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment, do constitute a monopoly, controlling 70% of the big concert ticket market, leaving fans and artists alike nowhere else to go.

Earlier today I was contacted by a friend who also attempted to purchase tickets via Ticket Master. This was not a singular moment, as many others expressed the same sentiment while trying to purchase Suga tickets for various tour dates.

“I’m sure you heard about the platinum pricing during the sale as well. I was selecting seats then they doubled in price in check out. Which is why I ended up with GA. Ironically VIP was the cheapest available ticket at over $400. Even that went up to over $600 in check out, but it was selling out at that point so I went for it. TM is such a scam!!”

I fondly remember buying tickets for dozens of concerts over the years, when the standard procedure was, stand in line at the venue itself, or purchase tickets on the phone. In other words, first come, first serve. No games, no gimmicks. However now, you may spend hours online, only to be bumped off (for various reasons) and if you are able to login once more, you have now lost your place in line, and possibly have 2000 people ahead of you. So, in other words, you are starting over from scratch.

Here’s a recent incident from a woman attempting to buy tickets for the Swift concert. And according to numerous individuals, this is not an uncommon occurrence.

Penny Harrison, spent several hours just trying to sign on: “I signed on at 9:30 in the morning, and at 10:00 it kicked me out, and then you just sign back on again. So, by the time I got in, it was 4:30 in the afternoon,” she said. The problems continued for several hours as she tried and failed to purchase seats. “Any time I would click on something and try to put it in the basket, it would say, ‘Somebody else got those tickets, try again.’ I kept clicking, ‘Somebody else got those tickets.’ I kept trying to sign on all night.”

P.S. She never got tickets for her daughters.

In closing, I’m glad to see that they are finally being investigated. Currently, we have no other choice than to deal with Ticket Master, since they control the vast majority of musical and sports events, the entertainers themselves, as well as the venues.

To contact Senator Klobuchar, you may email her at:

https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/email-amy

Addendum April 2023

Robert Smith of Cure confronts Ticket Master

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